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Full Editorial Writeup
This is a 20-year-old civil engineering practice in Polk County, Iowa (the Des Moines metro) that bundles civil engineering, landscape architecture, and land surveying under one roof. It serves residential and commercial developers, landowners, and builders, handling projects from concept through approval including site design, landscape planning, lot surveying, and subdivision platting. The one-stop-shop model gives clients a single point of coordination and consistent communication across the full land development workflow, which is where this firm has earned its reputation for responsive, dependable delivery.
The numbers are tidy: $1.53M in revenue, $698K of owner cash flow, and $389K of EBITDA, with a lean team of seven (six full-time, one part-time). The gap between SDE and EBITDA, roughly $309K, is the owner's compensation add-back, which tells you this is still very much an owner-operator practice where the seller is likely a licensed PE carrying client relationships and project sign-off. The asking price of $1.4M on $698K SDE pencils to 2.01x, which is reasonable-to-cheap for a profitable licensed services firm but reflects the key-person and real-estate-cycle risk inherent in a land development consultancy.
The business is marketed as relocatable out of a 2,500 square foot leased office at $3,600 a month, with $172K of FF&E included. Its fortunes are tied to the residential and commercial development pipeline in central Iowa, which is the core reason this deal needs careful cyclicality diligence despite its clean margins and long operating history.
Why we like it
- Earnings quality is strong on paper: $698K SDE on $1.53M revenue is a 46% owner-earnings margin, and $389K of EBITDA after a market owner salary is healthy for a seven-person services shop. A firm that throws off this kind of cash on a $3,600 monthly rent and modest headcount has real operating leverage and little capital intensity.
- The 20-year track record and bundled service model (engineering plus landscape architecture plus surveying under one roof) create genuine switching friction for developers who value single-point coordination. Licensed PEs and the firm's platting and subdivision-approval know-how are a regulatory moat that a new entrant cannot replicate overnight.
- The 2.01x multiple is attractive for a licensed, profitable professional services firm, and at $1.4M the deal is small enough to clear SBA thresholds comfortably. If the cash flow is defensible, the debt service coverage is wide even in a down year.
- An incoming owner who is a licensed PE or who retains the senior engineers can grow this by simply adding capacity. The listing itself flags drone surveying, 3D modeling, and construction inspection as adjacent services, meaning there is clear organic runway without needing to acquire new clients from scratch.
How to improve it
- Lock in the licensed engineering staff before and immediately after close with retention agreements and equity or bonus structures. In a professional services firm the stamps and the client relationships walk out the door with people, so securing the six full-timers is the single highest-value first-90-day move.
- Add drone-based surveying and construction inspection as new line items, as the listing explicitly suggests. These are high-margin services you can sell into the existing developer base with modest equipment spend, turning one-time project clients into repeat, multi-phase engagements.
- Formalize a recurring or retainer relationship with the top developer and builder clients so revenue is less lumpy and project-by-project. Master service agreements or preferred-vendor status smooth the pipeline and make the firm more valuable at the next exit.
- Build a documented project management and pricing system so delivery is not dependent on the retiring owner's judgment. Standardizing scoping, change orders, and billing protects margin and makes the firm scalable beyond the founder's personal oversight.
- Diversify the client base geographically and by project type to reduce exposure to the central Iowa residential development cycle. Since the business is marketed as relocatable, pursue commercial, municipal, and public-sector work that holds up better when private homebuilding slows.
- Invest in a real business development motion, such as a dedicated rainmaker or targeted outreach to larger regional developers. The firm has grown on reputation and referrals, so adding a repeatable sales engine could meaningfully raise utilization of the existing engineers.
Diligence notes
- Identify exactly which professional licenses (PE, PLS, landscape architecture) are held by whom, and confirm whether the retiring owner is the stamping engineer. If sign-off authority leaves with the seller, you need a licensed replacement in place at close or the firm cannot legally deliver its core work.
- Pull revenue by client and by project type for the last three to five years to test customer concentration and cyclicality. A land development consultancy can see revenue swing hard with the homebuilding cycle, so understand how this firm performed in 2008 through 2011 and in any recent slowdown.
- Reconcile the $698K SDE against tax returns and bank statements, and scrutinize the add-backs that bridge $389K EBITDA to $698K SDE. Confirm the owner compensation add-back is realistic for the work the seller actually performs, because replacing a working PE owner costs real money.
- Review the backlog and signed project pipeline at close, not just trailing revenue. Services firms are only as strong as their forward work, so verify there are committed engagements to carry the first year and that referral relationships transfer to new ownership.
- Confirm the lease terms, transferability, and the relocatable claim. At $3,600 a month the occupancy cost is trivial, but understand whether the client base is tied to the Des Moines metro before assuming the business can actually move.
Source
- Established CT Survey & Civil Engineering Firm, 100-Year New Haven County Practice
- Nationwide Contracting Distribution & Service Co - Multi-Service Construction Platform
- St. Louis Underground Utility Contractor, 38-Year Water & Sewer Specialist
- Railroad Construction & Maintenance Company, Midwest & Southeast Rail Infrastructure Contractor
- MEP & Fire Protection Engineering Firm, 2006 Manhattan Consultancy
- Union Electric Contracting Company, 25-Year Long Island Electrical Contractor
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