Commercial HVAC, Refrigeration & Pool Equipment Service, 22-Year Fort Lauderdale Contractor

$1.0M

Revenue

$624K

SDE

3.2x

Multiple

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 22-year-old commercial mechanical services business out of Fort Lauderdale that repairs and maintains refrigeration, HVAC, and pool equipment for commercial clients. It started as a restaurant equipment repair shop and expanded into three balanced lines: roughly 40% commercial refrigeration, 40% commercial HVAC, and 20% pool heaters and cooling systems. The pool niche is notable because it is equipment-focused (heaters, cooling, lighting, Zodiac control systems) rather than pool building or cleaning, which keeps it in the higher-margin technical repair category.

The customer base is diversified across restaurants on recurring service contracts, commercial and retail properties, hospitality businesses, and institutional clients. That recurring contract layer plus a strong referral reputation is what has kept this thing running for over two decades with just four people (two full-time, two contractors). It is a lean, tech-heavy operation founded and run by two brothers now retiring.

At $2M asking on $624,337 SDE, this is a 3.2x deal that is SBA prequalified, with the catch that the buyer must hold a valid HVAC contractor's license. That license requirement is both a barrier and a moat: it thins the buyer pool but also protects pricing power for whoever qualifies. The real estate is not included and leases separately at $1,800/month, which keeps the multiple clean and comparable to a pure operating comp.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is strong for a shop this size: $624,337 SDE on $1.03M revenue is a ~61% owner-earnings margin, which tells you this is high-value technical repair work, not low-margin volume labor. The recurring service contracts with restaurants create a predictable base rather than pure break-fix chaos.
The moat is the HVAC contractor's license requirement plus 22 years of referral reputation. SBA financing is gated to licensed buyers, which shrinks competition for the deal and protects margins from unlicensed price-cutters in the market. Three diversified service lines mean no single vertical can sink the business.
Market tailwinds are real in South Florida: heat, humidity, and a dense commercial and hospitality base mean refrigeration and HVAC failures are non-negotiable emergencies. Pool equipment for a warm-weather region adds a third essential line that most competitors do not bundle.
This is textbook recession and pandemic resistant. Restaurants and commercial properties cannot operate with a dead walk-in cooler or failed AC, so this spend survives downturns. The seller explicitly notes strong recession and pandemic resistance, and the business economics back that claim up.

How to improve it

Convert one-off customers into recurring service agreements. With refrigeration and HVAC serving restaurants and hospitality, a structured preventive maintenance contract program would smooth revenue and raise the multiple on exit. This is the single biggest lever on a business currently running heavily on referrals.
Layer in real marketing and a proper lead engine. The listing openly flags growth through expanded marketing, meaning this has grown on word-of-mouth alone for two decades. A basic Google Local Services presence, review generation, and outbound to commercial property managers could add meaningful volume with existing crews.
Address the technician bottleneck before growth. At four people including two contractors, the business is capacity-constrained and dependent on skilled labor. Recruit and license one or two additional techs early so revenue growth is not capped by headcount in a tight trades market.
Systematize dispatch, invoicing, and job tracking with field service software. A lean shop of this size likely runs on informal systems tied to the brothers' knowledge. Implementing software like ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro de-risks the key-person dependency and improves cash collection cycles.
Push price on emergency and after-hours service calls. Refrigeration failures for restaurants are true emergencies where speed matters more than price. Tiered emergency pricing and service-level guarantees can lift margins on work customers cannot delay.
Cross-sell the three service lines into the existing base. A refrigeration customer often also needs HVAC service, and hospitality clients may have pool equipment. Mining the current book for multi-line accounts is low-cost revenue with no new customer acquisition.

Diligence notes

Verify SDE quality and owner add-backs closely. The listing claims $624,337 SDE against $1.03M revenue, a very high margin that hinges on how the two owners' labor and compensation are treated. Confirm whether the SDE assumes replacing both owners' technical work, because if you must hire two licensed techs to replace them, real earnings drop materially.
Understand the licensing requirement and your path to qualify. SBA approval and legal operation require a valid HVAC contractor's license, so a buyer without one needs a qualifying employee or must acquire the license. Confirm whether either departing brother holds the master license and how that transfers.
Scrutinize customer concentration and contract terms. Restaurants with recurring service contracts are the backbone, so pull the actual contract list, terms, cancellation clauses, and revenue per account. High concentration in a few restaurant groups would be a material risk given how thin the team is.
Assess key-person risk given both owners are the technical core. With only two full-time employees, both being the retiring brothers, the operational knowledge and customer relationships likely sit with them. The one-year transition offer is good, but validate documented procedures and whether the contractor workforce can carry the load independently.
Confirm the fleet condition and separate real estate lease terms. The sale includes three service vans and tools, so inspect vehicle age and maintenance status since replacement costs hit cash flow. Also nail down the $1,800/month facility lease terms in writing, since the property stays with the seller.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →