The numbers
As stated by the listing on September 12, 2026.
- Asking price
- $1,150,000
- SDE
- $553,721
- Gross revenue
- $1,403,321
- Multiple
- 2.08x
- Established
- 2020
- Employees
- 7
Why we like it
A low-voltage landscape lighting system doesn't fail all at once, it fails one fixture, one transformer, one bad connection at a time, and the homeowner who has never opened the buried junction box calls back whoever wired it in the first place. That is the quiet mechanism behind this trade: the install is a one-time project, often tied to a new build or a landscaping overhaul, but the wiring layout lives only in the installer's records, and most fixture manufacturers route warranty labor through the original contractor rather than pay a competitor to open someone else's system. This Orange County company runs installation and service crews across new construction and existing homes in the Orlando area, with seven employees doing the digging, wiring and fixture work under an owner who still works in the business. Start with the split between new installations and service or maintenance revenue, because installs are lumpy and tied to whichever builders and landscapers are currently referring work, while relamping, transformer swaps and warranty calls on systems this company already installed are the closest thing the trade has to a subscription. The real growth lever here isn't finding new customers, it's deepening the base of systems already in the ground: every install adds another yard that will need service for as long as the wiring holds, which is most of a decade."
You probably need a licence to run this
Florida regulates electrical contracting under state law, and while low-voltage landscape lighting sometimes falls outside full electrical contractor licensing, Orange County and most Florida municipalities still require some form of local specialty or low-voltage contractor registration to pull permits and operate legally. The listing does not say whether the current owner holds this personally or whether the company operates under a licensed qualifying agent who could stay on. A buyer without the right credential should confirm whether one transfers with the sale or whether a licensed employee or subcontractor can be hired to hold it, before assuming this is a simple change of ownership.
What worries us
- Owner dependence and licensingThe owner still works in the business and may be the one holding whatever contractor license or local registration the company needs to legally pull permits, which is a personal credential risk on top of the usual knowledge-transfer risk of a working owner leaving.
- Referral relationships drive lumpy revenueNew installation work in this trade typically flows from a handful of builder and landscaper relationships rather than broad marketing, so revenue can swing hard if even one or two of those referral sources dry up or follow the departing owner.
- Seller-reported financialsThe $553,721 SDE and $1,403,321 revenue figures are the seller's own numbers, not independently audited, so they should be verified against tax returns and bank statements before the buyer relies on them for loan sizing.
The callSuits a hands-on buyer comfortable managing field crews and chasing builder relationships, not someone wanting a passive, contract-backed recurring revenue stream.
Our calculations
Our standard SBA 7(a) acquisition structure applied to the asking price. Assumptions below.
Sources
| SBA 7(a) loan | $1,091,845 |
| Seller standby note | $60,658 |
| Buyer cash at close | $60,658 |
| Total sources | $1,213,161 |
Uses
| Purchase price | $1,150,000 |
| Closing costs (est.) | $34,500 |
| SBA guaranty fee | $28,661 |
| Total project | $1,213,161 |
- Monthly payment
- $13,979
- Annual debt service
- $167,750
- DSCR
- 2.50xSTRONG
- Injection check
- Meets 10% ($121,316 against $121,316 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 the $1,403,321 in revenue is new installation versus recurring service, relamping, transformer replacement and warranty work on systems the company already installed?
- Who holds the electrical or low-voltage contractor license or local registration the company operates under, is it the owner personally or the business entity, and does it transfer to a new owner or require a qualifying agent?
- How many of the current jobs and revenue trace back to a small number of builder or landscaper referral relationships, and are those relationships documented or purely personal to the owner?
- What is the age and condition of the vehicle fleet, trenching equipment and installation tools included in the sale, and is any of it leased?
- Does the company carry warranty obligations on fixtures and lamps already installed at customer sites, and who is responsible for that labor after 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 Florida 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 2.50x, 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 Florida acquisition lenders whose typical deal size fits this one.
- Huntington National Bank
146 loans in FLmedian $408,500median rate 9.25%~32 days to first disbursement
- Live Oak Banking Company
111 loans in FLmedian $898,500median rate 9.00%~20 days to first disbursement
- First Internet Bank of Indiana
81 loans in FLmedian $990,000median rate 10.00%~23 days to first disbursement
Loan counts and medians are that lender’s change-of-ownership loans in Florida, 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 10, 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 12, 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.