Full-Service Electrical Contractor, 40-Year Nebraska Firm

$3.8M

Revenue

$651K

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a full-service electrical contractor established in 1982 and operating in Nebraska, delivering turnkey electrical services across new construction, remodeling, system upgrades, troubleshooting, and repairs. The service menu is deep and diversified: project management, power distribution, interior and exterior lighting, emergency power systems, control system design and engineering, fiber optic installation, fire alarm and security systems, data cabling, and electrical consulting. That breadth lets the company capture the full electrical scope on a project rather than subcontracting pieces out, which is where margin and stickiness live.

The business runs on 22 employees (21 full-time, 1 part-time) and has built a strong regional reputation for on-time, on-budget delivery. At $3.8M in revenue and $651K in SDE, it is throwing off roughly 17 percent owner earnings, which is healthy for an electrical contractor of this size and signals disciplined bidding and job costing rather than volume-chasing.

With 40-plus years of operating history, this is the kind of boring, essential trade business that keeps compounding through cycles. Electrical work is non-discretionary and increasingly technical, and the company's move into low-voltage, fire alarm, security, fiber, and control systems positions it against the demand tailwinds in data infrastructure and building automation. The seller staying on post-close is a meaningful de-risker for a first-time trades buyer.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is solid for a specialty trade at this scale, with $651K SDE on $3.8M revenue, roughly a 17 percent margin. That level of profitability on a full-service electrical book suggests real pricing discipline and job costing rather than winning work on price alone.
The moat is 40-plus years of regional reputation plus a licensed, 22-person workforce, which is nearly impossible to replicate quickly in a labor-constrained trade. Electrical work requires licensing, bonding, and skilled journeymen, so the barrier to a new entrant stealing this book is high.
Demand tailwinds are strong and durable: the company already does fiber optic installation, control systems, data cabling, fire alarm, and security, which ride electrification, building automation, and data infrastructure spend. This is not a business tied to one shrinking end market.
Electrical service and maintenance is non-discretionary, which makes cash flow resilient through downturns. Buildings still need power distribution, emergency systems, code compliance, and repairs regardless of the economy, giving this a recession-resistant revenue base.
Seller is committed to staying post-transaction to support both transition and long-term growth, which materially lowers execution risk for a buyer without a master electrician license or trade background.

How to improve it

Segment revenue between project/new-construction work and recurring service/maintenance, then push hard on building a contracted service base. Service and maintenance agreements carry higher margins and smoother cash flow than lumpy bid work, and they raise the eventual exit multiple.
Formalize the low-voltage divisions (fiber, data cabling, fire alarm, security, controls) as a distinct, marketed profit center. These lines have higher margins and less competition than commodity power work, and standing them up as named offerings can win larger commercial and data infrastructure jobs.
Implement or upgrade job-costing and scheduling software to tighten bid accuracy and crew utilization. On a 22-person shop, a few points of labor efficiency and better change-order capture flow straight to the $651K SDE line.
Build a recruiting and apprenticeship pipeline given the skilled-labor shortage. The single biggest constraint to growing an electrical contractor is journeymen, so investing in training and licensing your own crews protects capacity and enables geographic expansion.
Reduce owner dependence by documenting estimating, project management, and key customer relationships during the seller's transition period. Codifying how bids get priced and jobs get run protects value and makes the business sellable again at a premium.
Pursue adjacent recurring revenue such as emergency power system testing, generator maintenance contracts, and fire alarm inspection agreements. These are mandated, repeat-cycle services that layer predictable revenue on top of project work.

Diligence notes

Reconcile the figures: the listing shows $651K as both EBITDA and SDE across different fields with asking price not disclosed. Confirm whether the $651K is owner-benefit inclusive of salary or a true EBITDA figure, since that dramatically changes the valuation and the return math.
Analyze customer and project concentration over the last three to five years. A regional contractor can carry hidden risk if a handful of general contractors or one large recurring client drive most revenue, so pull a customer-by-year revenue breakdown.
Verify licensing, bonding capacity, and how the master electrician license transfers post-sale. If the license is tied to the departing owner or a single key employee, that is a deal-critical issue that must be solved before close.
Examine the backlog, work-in-progress, and revenue mix between new construction and service. New construction is cyclical and tied to local development, so understand how much of the $3.8M is repeatable service versus one-time project wins.
Assess workforce stability and wage exposure for the 22 employees, including tenure, journeyman-to-apprentice ratio, and any union or prevailing-wage obligations. Skilled-labor turnover is the primary operational risk in this business.
Review the reason for sale and the seller's specific post-close commitment in writing, including duration and role. The listing frames the owner staying on positively, but confirm the retention terms, compensation, and what happens to key-man relationships if they leave early.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →