Buying a Landscape Business

When you are ready to purchase a business, you are likely to inevitably work with a business broker, likely a different agent for each business, most of whom have little or minimal experience in the Landscape Industry. We welcome you to contact us directly and let us represent you and find the right Landscape Business for you. There is no other brokerage firm in the SE United States with collectively as much experience in the landscape industry. We close more Landscape Business acquisition deals than any other brokerage firm. We are the #1 Business Brokerage Firm specializing in the acquisition and sales of LANDSCAPE related businesses. It is important that you have a broker/agent that understands the Landscape Industry as buying a business is one of the biggest investments in your lifetime.

It is important to identify the size/price of the business, type/scope of the business and service area that you are seeking. The size/scope of the business will be dictated by your budget (available capital). If you are a cash-buyer, then we must budget for the purchase price of the business, expenses related to the acquisition and post-closing work-capital requirements. If you are seeking institutional SBA bank financing, then it is important to get you pre-qualified from the onset, so we know what size/price business is within your budget.

Once we have established the size/price range, then we can talk about what type of landscape business you are most interested in. There are so many variations of landscape businesses with regard to the owner/management involvement, type of services offered as well as other complexities to consider. Following are some of the key questions to consider before we begin to filter which businesses fit your criteria.

1. WHAT LEVEL OF OWNER INVOLVEMENT ARE YOU SEEKING?
   • Very involved physically and administratively (Price Range: 2x NET)
   • Administrative and Operational Management (Price Range: 2.5x NET)
   • Administrative/Accounting Only / Part-time (Price Range: 2.75x NET)
   • Absentee-Owned / Minimal Involvement (Price Range: 3x NET)

   NOTE: Price Range will increase with business size, quality, type/scope and asset value

2. WHAT IS YOUR GEOGRAPHIC PREFERENCE?
   • There are businesses with a small/tight service area while there are others that cover multiple cities or counties. But the base site for the business is typically of most importance to buyers.
3. WHAT TYPE OF LANDSCAPE BUSINESSES WOULD YOU CONSIDER?
   • Residential Landscape Maintenance w/ some Landscape Project revenue
   • Commercial Landscape Maintenance w/ some Landscape Project revenue
   • Landscape Design and Installation
   • Tree Trimming
   • Irrigation (Sprinkler System) Service
   • Pest Control/Fertilization Services
   • Retail Garden Center -or- Landscape Nursery
   • …and any other outdoor service-related businesses.

A common misconception is that anyone seeking to purchase an established landscape business MUST have experience in the landscape industry to succeed. About 80% of the ownership transitions involve new owners with NO or minimal experience in the landscape industry and they continue or grow the business for years to come. Most landscape businesses include some level of supervisory or management in place with experience in the industry. Follow up interviews with buyers suggest the learning curve to be short with regard to the physical or technical aspects of the business, whereas the most important element to maintain or grow the business is customer, financial, employee and marketing management skills. General good business acumen is the key to success in any industry.