Southeast Metro Landscape Construction & Snow, 30-Year Minnesota Contractor

$1.1M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 30-plus year landscape construction company operating in the Southeast Metro of the Twin Cities out of Dakota County, Minnesota. The core work is design and install of custom hardscape and softscape projects: patios, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, walkways, plantings, and professional landscape lighting. It runs with 11 full-time employees and a base of documented systems, estimating templates, and vendor relationships built over three decades.

The standout feature here is a snow removal book covering more than 35 commercial and residential sites, which layers seasonal recurring revenue on top of the project-based construction work. That mix smooths out the natural lumpiness of a pure install shop and gives the business a reason to touch customers year-round in a market with reliable winters. Management reports consistent year-over-year revenue growth, though actual top-line is not disclosed.

At $1,088,368 in SDE, this is a genuinely large landscaping operation, not a two-truck outfit. The owners are retiring and offering seller financing plus a hands-on transition, and the commercial building with office, garage stalls, and a fenced storage yard is available separately for $350,000 outside the asking price. The reputation, systems, and crew are the real assets changing hands.

Why we like it

SDE of $1.088M on an 11-person landscaping crew is real cash flow, well above the typical mom-and-pop install shop that trades on this platform. A business throwing off seven figures at the owner level has room to absorb a manager salary and still service acquisition debt comfortably.
The snow removal contracts across 35-plus sites create genuine seasonal recurring revenue that offsets the boom-and-bust nature of hardscape installs. That counter-cyclical winter revenue keeps crews and equipment productive when the build season slows, which is exactly the kind of durability that supports valuation.
Thirty-plus years and a strong Southeast Metro reputation mean the phone rings on referral and repeat work, not paid ads. In a fragmented local trades market, that brand equity and word-of-mouth flow is the moat, and it is hard for a new entrant to replicate quickly.
The business comes with documented estimating templates, job documentation, and operational systems, which is rare for a trades company and materially de-risks the transition. Systems plus a retiring seller offering training and financing gives an operator a real runway to step in without reinventing the back office.

How to improve it

Build out the recurring lawn care and landscape maintenance line, which the listing flags as an opportunity but is clearly underdeveloped. Maintenance contracts carry higher margins and predictable monthly billing, and every hardscape client is a warm lead for an ongoing maintenance agreement.
Aggressively grow the snow removal book beyond the current 35 sites by targeting commercial property managers and HOAs on multi-year contracts. Locking in seasonal contracts before winter smooths cash flow and increases enterprise value since recurring revenue commands a higher multiple than project work.
Install a real digital marketing and lead-gen engine, since the company still relies heavily on referrals. A modest spend on local SEO, Google Local Services ads, and a portfolio-driven website could meaningfully increase qualified inbound for high-ticket hardscape jobs.
Tighten job costing and crew utilization tracking against the existing estimating templates. Even a few points of gross margin improvement on labor and materials flows straight to SDE, and better data lets you bid tighter and win more profitable work.
Explore geographic expansion into adjacent suburbs where the brand is not yet known but the demographics support high-end outdoor living spend. A second crew or a satellite operation can leverage the same back office and estimating systems.
Consider acquiring the real estate at $350,000 if the numbers work, since owning the building, garages, and fenced storage yard removes landlord risk and can be financed separately. Controlling the facility protects the operation and adds a hard asset to the balance sheet.
Develop a repeatable upsell path from hardscape installs to landscape lighting and outdoor kitchen add-ons. These are high-margin attachments the crew already knows how to build, and structured proposals can lift average project value.

Diligence notes

Get actual gross revenue and a multi-year P&L, because SDE without a top-line makes it impossible to judge margin quality or verify the claimed year-over-year growth. Confirm whether the $1.088M SDE is normalized and what owner add-backs are baked in.
Scrutinize the split between project-based hardscape revenue and recurring snow removal, since a business overweighted on lumpy one-time installs is far riskier than one with a durable maintenance and snow base. Ask for the snow contract terms, renewal history, and how many are multi-year versus season-by-season.
Verify owner dependence, because a 30-year founder who personally holds customer relationships, bidding know-how, and vendor rapport is a real transition risk. Understand who actually sells and estimates jobs today and whether that function can survive the owners leaving.
Assess the crew: tenure, whether key foremen will stay post-sale, and how exposed the business is to seasonal labor availability in Minnesota. Losing an experienced install lead can gut both quality and capacity in a single season.
Confirm equipment condition, ownership status, and any deferred capex, since professional-grade landscaping and snow equipment is expensive to replace and can hide near-term costs. Get a fixed-asset list and understand what is owned free and clear versus leased or financed.
Clarify the real estate structure and pricing, since the building at $350,000 is offered separately and you will need a lease or purchase decision at close. Understand market rent for the facility if you do not buy it, because that cost directly reduces go-forward cash flow.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →