Residential & commercial trades
Route density and repeat revenue price higher than headline revenue, every time.
Roofing, plumbing and electrical, landscaping, facilities, janitorial and pest control are all bought on the same logic: how much of the work comes back on its own, and how tightly it clusters geographically.
Who acquires in this sector.
The buyer set determines the process. These are the parties we approach on a mandate here, and the reason each of them pays.
What moves the number, and what moves it back.
Both lists are what buyers in this sector actually examine. The first is where preparation earns its return. The second is where processes lose ground once diligence opens.
What lifts the multiple
Worth fixing twelve to twenty-four months before you go to market.
- Recurring contracts and route densityScheduled, repeating work in a tight geography is the core of the valuation.
- Branch-level P&L disciplineNumbers a buyer can read by location, not one consolidated figure.
- A licensed, retained crewLabour is the binding constraint in every one of these trades.
- Commercial mixCommercial contracts are larger, longer and less seasonal than residential call-outs.
- Local brand and search positionInbound demand that does not have to be bought is a durable advantage.
What gets discounted
Found in diligence if it is not addressed first, and repriced when it is found.
- Storm, insurance or one-off project revenueNon-repeating work is stripped out of the run rate before a multiple is applied.
- Owner-controlled scheduling and pricingThe operating system in one person's head is the most common value cap in the trades.
- Subcontracted crewsCapability the buyer cannot retain, and often a classification exposure as well.
- Claims and safety historyInsurance and workers compensation history is diligenced early and priced hard.
- A single commercial client carrying the branchConcentration risk in a sector where contracts can be re-tendered annually.
How a process runs here.
Geography is the asset. Buyers map density before they price, so a business that is deep in two markets usually sells better than one that is thin in six. Where consolidation is active in your trade, the timing of a process matters as much as the preparation.