Hudson Valley Electrical Contractor - 42-Year Local Operator

$2.1M

Revenue

$731K

SDE

4.5x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 42-year-old electrical contracting company in Newburgh, New York, serving the Hudson Valley with both commercial and residential work. The business does roughly $2.07M in revenue at a $731K SDE, which is a stout 39.7% margin for a trades business. It runs with 8 full-time employees, foremen who manage active job sites, and an owner who currently handles estimating, project management, sales, and customer relationships. The work is turnkey, including materials and supplies, and the company has built deep referral relationships with commercial general contractors and residential customers over four decades.

The moat here is reputation and relationships, not technology. In a fragmented local trades market, four decades of trusted local presence translates into repeat business and referral flow that newcomers cannot easily replicate. The business operates from an 8,000 SF leased facility on a major highway and services multiple municipalities and counties across the region.

The listing markets the deal as semi-absentee, but read carefully: the owner still controls the highest-leverage functions of the business, namely estimating, sales, and customer relationships. That is the real risk and the real opportunity. A buyer who can systematize estimating and step into those relationships inherits a high-margin, recession-resilient trades business with SBA financing available at 4.51x SDE.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is genuinely strong for a trades business, with $731K SDE on $2.07M revenue for a 39.7% margin that is well above the typical electrical contractor benchmark. Margins like this usually signal disciplined estimating, low overhead, and pricing power earned through reputation rather than chasing low-bid commodity work.
The moat is 42 years of embedded local relationships in a fragmented market that competes on reputation and reliability rather than scale or capital. Repeat and referral business from commercial GCs and residential customers is sticky and expensive for new entrants to dislodge, which protects the revenue base.
Electrical work is recession-resilient and increasingly tailwinded by electrification demand, EV chargers, generators, and panel upgrades. Power is non-discretionary, and the move toward electrified homes and buildings means structural demand growth on top of a stable maintenance and repair base.
An existing electrical contractor or trades operator can step in and immediately add crews, capacity, and software, while keeping the established brand and referral engine. The 8-person team with experienced foremen running job sites means the operational backbone transfers, and the deal is SBA eligible, which lowers the equity check.

How to improve it

De-risk and document the estimating function the owner currently controls before he walks. Build a repeatable estimating playbook with historical bid-to-win data so the highest-margin lever in the business does not leave with the seller during the 6-month transition.
Implement modern field-service software for scheduling, dispatch, and CRM, which the business currently lacks. Better job costing and crew utilization on a $2M base can directly lift margin and reveal which job types and customers actually drive the 39.7% SDE.
Lean hard into electrification demand by formalizing service lines around EV charger installs, whole-home generators, and panel upgrades. These are higher-ticket, growing categories that fit existing licensing and crews, and can be marketed to the existing residential customer base immediately.
Diversify customer acquisition beyond referrals by adding a basic digital presence, paid local search, and a service agreement or maintenance program. The business has relied on word of mouth for decades, so even modest demand-gen spend should produce incremental jobs.
Pursue tuck-in acquisitions of smaller local electrical contractors whose owners are also aging out. The fragmented market and the buyer's improved systems create a roll-up opportunity where you bolt on crews and revenue at low multiples and integrate them onto your platform.
Expand crew capacity to capture demand the company is likely turning away. With foremen already managing sites, adding journeymen and apprentices lets you scale project volume without proportionally scaling overhead, improving operating leverage.
Renegotiate or evaluate the facility lease and consider whether buying the building or a comparable property makes sense at $30K annual rent. Owning the real estate would convert rent into equity and could be financed alongside the operating acquisition.

Diligence notes

Quantify exactly how much of revenue and gross margin flows through owner-controlled estimating and key customer relationships. The semi-absentee framing is generous given the owner runs estimating, sales, and PM, so understand customer concentration and how transferable those relationships truly are.
Validate the 39.7% SDE margin by separating owner add-backs, true compensation, and any below-market labor or unbilled owner hours. A margin this high for an electrical contractor warrants scrutiny on what is being added back and whether the number is sustainable under new ownership.
Examine the backlog, work-in-progress, and revenue mix between commercial GC work and residential. Commercial GC relationships can be lumpy and tied to a few builders, so confirm there is no single-contractor concentration that could crater revenue.
Confirm licensing, insurance, bonding, and workforce continuity for the 8 employees and foremen. Electrical work is license-gated in New York, so verify the qualifying license situation post-sale and whether the buyer or a key employee can hold the required licensure.
Review the lease terms, remaining duration, and renewal options on the 8,000 SF highway facility. At $30K rent with room for fleet and inventory, ensure the lease transfers cleanly and there is no relocation risk that would disrupt operations during transition.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →