The numbers
As stated by the listing on October 14, 2026.
- Asking price
- $725,000
- SDE
- $300,000
- Gross revenue
- $950,000
- Multiple
- 2.42x
- Established
- 2010
Why we like it
A commercial building's cleaning contract is not a discretionary purchase. It is written into the lease or the property management agreement, it recurs every week whether the economy is good or bad, and the only real question is who gets paid to do it. That is what makes janitorial work different from most small businesses: the demand already exists before the owner shows up. This Dallas County business operates under a franchise brand, and franchise structure here matters more than usual, because commercial cleaning franchises come in two very different shapes. In one, the owner runs crews directly, buying equipment and managing payroll. In the other, the owner's real job is signing and supporting smaller unit franchisees who do the actual mopping, with the parent business collecting a slice of each account instead of performing the labor. The listing does not say which this is, and that single fact changes almost everything about what a buyer takes on, from payroll exposure to how many nights a week the owner is personally working. Either way, the franchisor sets brand standards, takes a royalty off the top, and typically has to sign off on any change of ownership. Growth in this trade rarely comes from one big account. It comes from stacking enough small, recurring contracts onto the same nightly or weekly routes that adding one more building near an existing stop costs far less than starting a route from nothing.
No personal licence needed
Commercial janitorial work does not typically require the owner to hold a state-issued professional license, unlike a contractor, electrician, or similar trade. Clients and the franchisor will generally expect the business to carry liability insurance and often a fidelity bond covering cleaning staff, since crews work unsupervised in other people's buildings, but that is an insurance requirement, not a personal credential. Separately, the franchise agreement itself almost certainly requires the franchisor's written consent before this sale can transfer, which is a contractual gate rather than a licensing one, and should be confirmed early since it can delay or kill a closing timeline.
What worries us
- The franchise model is unstated and changes the deal entirelyWhether this is a hands-on unit franchise or a master franchise that sub-licenses the cleaning work to others determines labor costs, owner hours, and what's actually being sold. The listing doesn't clarify this, and it needs to before any value judgment on the 2.42x multiple means anything.
- Commercial cleaning contracts tend to be easy to leaveJanitorial accounts are typically cancellable on short notice and get rebid periodically, so stated revenue is only as durable as the account list behind it. A buyer should see how concentrated the $950,000 is before assuming it repeats.
- Labor turnover sits underneath the marginCleaning crews, whether employees or subcontractors, tend to turn over quickly, and rising labor costs or chronic understaffing can erode the SDE even while revenue holds steady.
The callSuits a buyer willing to dig into the franchise structure and contract list before closing, not one looking for a simple, self-explanatory operating business.
Our calculations
Our standard SBA 7(a) acquisition structure applied to the asking price. Assumptions below.
Sources
| SBA 7(a) loan | $685,966 |
| Seller standby note | $38,109 |
| Buyer cash at close | $38,109 |
| Total sources | $762,184 |
Uses
| Purchase price | $725,000 |
| Closing costs (est.) | $21,750 |
| SBA guaranty fee | $15,434 |
| Total project | $762,184 |
- Monthly payment
- $8,783
- Annual debt service
- $105,391
- DSCR
- 1.57xSTRONG
- Injection check
- Meets 10% ($76,218 against $76,218 required)
- Closing costs estimated at 3% of asking price
- Owner salary of $120,000, loaded
- Rate of Prime + 2.25% = 9.25%
- 10-year term, fully amortizing
- Injection split half cash, half seller standby note
How we would go about buying it
The order matters. Every step below is free until the last one, and each is a chance to walk away before it costs you anything.
- 1
Call the broker, not the bank
The listing is brokered, so the broker is the gate. Ask for the CIM and the last three years of tax returns, and expect to sign an NDA first. Do this before you talk to a lender: no lender will size a loan without the numbers, and the broker will not release them to a lender you have not engaged.
Open the listing - 2
Ask these before you spend anything
Specific to this business, from our read of the listing. The answers decide whether the numbers above survive contact.
- What is the franchise brand, and is this a unit franchise running your own cleaning crews, or a master/area-developer franchise that sells cleaning contracts and sub-licenses the actual work to smaller unit franchisees?
- What are the royalty and marketing fund percentages, how many years remain on the franchise agreement and territory, and does the franchisor need to approve this sale before closing?
- How many active accounts make up the $950,000 in revenue, what's the largest single account as a share of that, and what notice period lets a customer cancel?
- Are the cleaning crews W-2 employees, 1099 subcontractors, or sub-franchisees, and what has turnover looked like over the past two years?
- Is any cleaning equipment, vehicles, or a facility leased rather than owned, and do those leases transfer with the sale?
- 3
Take it to lenders who do this size
Talk to more than one. Rate is the least of it: the lender who has done fifty of these in Texas will close, and the one who has done two will waste your quarter. Below are the lenders whose typical deal size actually fits this one.
- 4
Structure the offer around the coverage
Our structure clears the floor at 1.57x, and a lender will run its own version with its own add-backs. If the earnings come back lower than stated, the price has to come down or the seller note has to grow. Model both before you make an offer.
Model it yourself
Who we would call
Active Texas acquisition lenders whose typical deal size fits this one.
- Huntington National Bank
142 loans in TXmedian $422,000median rate 9.25%~32 days to first disbursement
- Live Oak Banking Company
133 loans in TXmedian $825,000median rate 9.00%~20 days to first disbursement
- First Internet Bank of Indiana
45 loans in TXmedian $980,000median rate 9.75%~23 days to first disbursement
Loan counts and medians are that lender’s change-of-ownership loans in Texas, FY2025 to FY2026 Q3. Funding speed is the lender’s national median from approval to first disbursement. Names link to our data profile for each lender.
The fine print
The statements this write-up makes about the trade and its rules, as opposed to the figures, were checked against public sources on October 12, 2026. 5 claims were checked.
Run your own numbers
The deal analyzer models price, seller note, equity injection, and DSCR under current SBA terms, with every assumption adjustable.
Open the deal analyzerListing facts as stated by the listing on October 14, 2026, not independently verified. Structure, payment, DSCR, and injection figures are our own computation under the assumptions above, using the Prime rate as of September 28, 2026. Lender shortlist from the SBA 7(a) FOIA file, FY2025 to FY2026 Q3, as of June 30, 2026. Methodology. See an error? Email us and we will correct it.