The numbers
As stated by the listing on September 10, 2026.
- Asking price
- $328,900
- SDE
- $318,472
- Gross revenue
- $1,442,318
- Multiple
- 1.03x
- Established
- 2021
- Employees
- 2
Why we like it
A privacy fence around a South Carolina pool is not decor, it is code: a barrier requirement, usually a self-closing, self-latching gate on anything at least 48 inches tall, that a homeowner cannot skip past inspection. Layer onto that the covenant packets new subdivisions hand out, which spell out fence height, material, and setback before a homeowner can put one up at all, and in a corridor like Greenville that has spent a decade adding rooftops, that paperwork turns into a steady stream of one-time jobs rather than a seasonal rush. This company installs both residential and commercial fencing with two employees and an owner still in the field, on a book of business the seller says ran $1.4 million last year. That is an unusual amount of revenue to move through two people in a trade that is mostly digging post holes and setting panels by hand, so the first thing to pin down is how much of the install work is subcontracted out, because hired crews rather than employees change both the margin and how much of this business actually leaves with the seller's relationships. Fence work does not repeat the way a service contract does: a homeowner buys once and is gone. Growth here comes from wherever the referral pipeline sits, whether that is builders framing new subdivisions or the HOAs enforcing the covenants, and whichever one it is, that relationship is worth finding before anything else.
You probably need a licence to run this
South Carolina licenses contractors above certain project value thresholds through the Contractor's Licensing Board, and fencing work can fall under that depending on job size. The listing does not say whether the seller holds a license or registration personally or through the business entity, and licenses of this kind generally do not transfer automatically to a new owner. A buyer without one would likely need to either qualify personally, put a licensed employee on staff, or confirm with the state board that this specific trade and job sizes fall below the threshold that triggers the requirement.
What worries us
- Revenue per employee is unusually high for the tradeTwo employees generating $1.4 million in claimed revenue is well above what a hand-labor installation crew typically produces, which suggests significant reliance on subcontracted labor. If so, the buyer is really underwriting a network of sub crews rather than a trained staff, and that network's loyalty may run to the seller personally.
- One-time, referral-driven sales with no recurring contract baseFence installation is not a repeat-service business like lawn care or pest control. Once a fence is up, that customer is largely done, so the pipeline depends entirely on new referral sources, builders, HOAs, or word of mouth, that may not transfer cleanly to a new owner.
- Owner still working in the fieldWith only two employees and an owner who is active in operations, the business likely depends on the owner for estimating, crew supervision, or sales relationships that a new buyer will need to either learn quickly or replace.
The callSuits a hands-on buyer comfortable managing subcontracted crews and building referral relationships from scratch, not someone seeking a passive, recurring-revenue business.
Our calculations
Our standard SBA 7(a) acquisition structure applied to the asking price. Assumptions below.
Sources
| SBA 7(a) loan | $311,192 |
| Seller standby note | $17,289 |
| Buyer cash at close | $17,288 |
| Total sources | $345,769 |
Uses
| Purchase price | $328,900 |
| Closing costs (est.) | $9,867 |
| SBA guaranty fee | $7,002 |
| Total project | $345,769 |
- Monthly payment
- $3,984
- Annual debt service
- $47,811
- DSCR
- 3.85xSTRONG
- Injection check
- Meets 10% ($34,577 against $34,577 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 share of last year's revenue came from new-construction/builder work versus individual homeowner replacement or repair jobs, and are there any written agreements with builders, developers, or HOAs that a buyer would inherit?
- Of the installation labor, how much is done by the two W-2 employees versus subcontracted crews, and if subs are used, are they exclusive to this company or shared with competitors?
- What is the signed and deposited job backlog at close, meaning how much customer deposit money has already been collected against fence installs not yet completed?
- Does the business or the seller personally hold any South Carolina contractor license or registration tied to project size, and does it transfer to a new owner or does the buyer need to requalify?
- What are the material supplier accounts (wood, vinyl, chain link, aluminum) and do their pricing, credit terms, or volume discounts transfer with a change of ownership?
- 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 South Carolina 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 3.85x, 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 South Carolina acquisition lenders whose typical deal size fits this one.
- Huntington National Bank
27 loans in SCmedian $479,800median rate 8.75%~32 days to first disbursement
- Live Oak Banking Company
17 loans in SCmedian $825,000median rate 8.75%~20 days to first disbursement
- First Internet Bank of Indiana
8 loans in SCmedian $559,500median rate 9.50%~23 days to first disbursement
Loan counts and medians are that lender’s change-of-ownership loans in South Carolina, 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 September 7, 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 September 10, 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.