Service Business Owners Can't Work Out What the Business Is Worth
12 posts across 7 communities since Apr 2023; 33% from r/sweatystartup.
“Hello everyone been looking into the car wash industry for a few months and I came across this abandoned car wash not too far from my house. It has a daily traffic count of 26k and according the property records it was just bought by an individual for $290k from a franchise that…”
“Emergency plumbing. You can put off buying a new couch. You can’t really put off sewage coming up through your shower. But “people will always need it” and “the business will always make money” are two different things. Plenty of businesses selling necessities still go under…”
“Any opportunity to move to the closest large city? There will always be more jobs with a larger population and more businesses.”
Several posts highlight the challenges faced by service businesses like cabinet manufacturing, construction management, car washes/laundromats, and HVAC. The focus is on finding ways to increase profitability through design services, subcontracting, or unique business models, often bypassing traditional shop overhead.
SOURCES (13)
“Emergency plumbing. You can put off buying a new couch. You can’t really put off sewage coming up through your shower. But “people will always need it” and “the business will always make money” are two different things. Plenty of businesses selling necessities still go…”
“Any opportunity to move to the closest large city? There will always be more jobs with a larger population and more businesses.”
“Imagine you have limited amount of money in the bank and you need to start a cash-flowing construction or home service business. What specific trade or niche would you pick in todays world? submitted by /u/cwall12 [link] [comments]”
“again...what??? You were surprised to hear it costs the same to drive 30m to a short job as it does 30m to a long job? A wash and a paint correction do not have the same fixed costs. It costs more in product to do a maintenance wash than it does to do a one step paint correction. A one step paint correction you're not spending more than a handful of $ in product AND consumables. A maintenance wash you've got a lot more products, and most are more expensive than a one step polish. Like in”
“https://preview.redd.it/f71uhd5lpvdh1.png?width=984&format=png&auto=webp&s=aa114c8d323d818040ac7b5471a9159d9e8d6663 submitted by /u/bookflow [link] [comments]”
“That's pretty good, you stay busy, I like guys like you. I don't do service work, mostly construction so my total numbers are much higher but materials count for 3/4 of that amount on the low end.”
“Hey guys, I’m just curious about the plumbing company and how hard it is to build a plumbing company in WA that makes 300k? Solo op? submitted by /u/FitLeave0000 [link] [comments]”
“There is an area of my town that have only has one carwash and no laundromats. I’m considering building a car wash and laundromat in one building. My only concern is, does the demographic of the area have large weight on if there would be demand for a laundromat? It is a nicer part of town and not many poor people or low income housing near it. I feel like carwashes can be feast or famine during the summer as people don’t need to wash often. The winters people are always trying to wash salt off.”
“I own a cabinet manufacturing company in Calgary. We do B2B, so we build boxes and doors for other businesses to sell. Over the years I've watched a pattern. The guys making the best money aren't the ones with the biggest shops or the fanciest CNC machines. It's the ones who figured out they can design kitchens, source cabinets from manufacturers like us at wholesale, mark them up 40-60%, and sell the full package to homeowners. No shop. No employees. Just a tape measure, some design”
“I’m looking to start a residential construction management company focused entirely on home extensions. We won't employ any in-house tradesmen, own any vans, or swing any hammers. Instead, we act purely as the General Contractor/Project Manager. We take the architect's drawings, sub out 100% of the work to vetted local trades on fixed-price contracts, and act as the single point of contact for the homeowner. We make our money by adding a 15–20% management markup on top of the base build”
“Owners constantly over- or under-estimate this, so here's the honest version from someone who does it for a living. Most main-street service businesses (cleaning, landscaping, HVAC, etc.) sell for a multiple of SDE - Seller's Discretionary Earnings = net profit + your salary + your perks + one-time expenses added back. Typical ranges I see on real deals: - Owner-dependent, under ~$250k SDE: 2.0-3.0x - Some management in place, recurring revenue: 3.0-4.0x - Truly turnkey, contracts/recurr”
“Hello everyone been looking into the car wash industry for a few months and I came across this abandoned car wash not too far from my house. It has a daily traffic count of 26k and according the property records it was just bought by an individual for $290k from a franchise that abandoned it. I cant say I’ve seen it in operation since the pandemic at least and almost forgot about it until I drove by a few days ago but the current owner has yet to make any repairs etc. so I was thinking maybe the”