Great Deal — If You’re Allowed To Run Itsmart_display

This commercial landscaping contractor is listed at $3.5M, doing about $7.7M in revenue and $1.37M in cash flow.

At this size — you’d expect strong returns.

And surprisingly… it delivers.

Deal Snapshot

After Financing

Here’s what you actually take home:

About $845K per year after debt.

That’s elite cash flow for a deal at this price.

Why It Looks Attractive

On paper, this is a strong deal:

• Near-market valuation at ~2.6x cash flow
• Very strong DSCR at 2.7
• Down payment recovered in under 6 months
• Nearly 50 years of operating history
• Massive equipment and receivables included

This is exactly what buyers are hunting for at this size.

But The Margin Tells A Story

There’s one issue:

Margins are 17.6% vs ~27% industry average.

In landscaping, that usually means:

• Heavy labor costs
• Operational inefficiency
• Or pricing pressure on contracts

So while the deal works — it’s not a perfect operator.

The Real Barrier

Now here’s what actually matters:

You need a C-27 contractor license to run this business.

And that changes everything.

• Most buyers don’t have it
• You can’t just step in and operate
• You either need to qualify… or rely on someone who does

Why This Matters

This isn’t just a detail.

It’s a gate.

The deal might look great — but if you can’t legally operate it, the numbers don’t matter.

And even if you partner with a license holder…

• You introduce dependency risk
• You reduce control
• You complicate the structure

The Real Insight

This is a buyer-filtered deal.

Not everyone gets to buy it.

And that’s why the pricing can stay reasonable despite strong cash flow.

BizHub Verdict

This deal scores an 8.2 / 10.

Strong cash flow. Fair pricing. Proven history.

But it only works if you can actually run it.

Great deal on paper…

But not for most buyers.

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Want to see the original listing? View it here →