The numbers
As stated by the listing on September 4, 2026.
- Asking price
- $363,900
- SDE
- $279,700
- Gross revenue
- $1,080,900
- Multiple
- 1.30x
- Established
- 2020
- Employees
- 321
Why we like it
A package that misses the last outbound truck of the day does not get another chance until tomorrow, and for a surgical tray, a blood sample that degrades, or a factory line waiting on one part, tomorrow is not an option. FedEx, UPS and the postal network run on fixed hub cutoffs, and the calls that cannot fit that schedule go to a courier who will put a car on the road within the hour. This company works that gap across Raleigh, apparently running routed daily pickups, the recurring lab or pharmacy stop that happens whether or not anything urgent occurs, alongside on-demand rush jobs priced for the emergency. The rush work pays better per mile but arrives unpredictably; the routed work is duller but is what fills a driver's day and makes a week plannable. Start with the split between the two, because a book built mostly on one-off rush calls swings hard with the local economy, while one anchored in standing medical or industrial pickup routes behaves more like a subscription. The listed headcount, more than 300 against a bit over a million dollars in revenue, only makes sense if most of that roster is part-time or on-call drivers picking up shifts rather than a fixed crew, which is ordinary for this trade but changes what a buyer is actually managing on day one: a driver network, not a small team.
No personal licence needed
Running a general courier and delivery business does not require the owner to hold a professional license, and driving the cargo vans or cars typical of this work does not require a commercial driver's license since they fall under the 26,001 pound weight threshold. If a meaningful share of the work is medical specimen or pharmaceutical delivery, drivers typically need bloodborne pathogen and HIPAA handling training and the company may carry hazmat or cold-chain compliance paperwork, but these are operational requirements rather than a personal license the buyer must hold. Confirm with the seller what portion of jobs falls into that category and what training or certification currently covers it.
What worries us
- Driver network management, not a small crewA roster in the hundreds, even mostly part-time or on-call, means the job is scheduling coverage across shifts and zones rather than supervising a handful of employees, and that dispatch skill does not transfer automatically to a new owner.
- Concentration in a few standing accountsIf the routed, recurring side of the business (the daily lab or pharmacy stop, for instance) is what makes the revenue predictable, losing even one or two of those anchor accounts could take a disproportionate bite out of cash flow.
- Worker classification exposureCourier companies that lean on independent contractor drivers to handle a large, flexible roster carry a real risk of misclassification challenges, and a buyer should understand how these 321 workers are actually classified before assuming the current cost structure holds.
The callSuits a buyer who wants to run dispatch and manage a large driver network, not someone looking for a small, hands-on owner-operator business.
Our calculations
Our standard SBA 7(a) acquisition structure applied to the asking price. Assumptions below.
Sources
| SBA 7(a) loan | $344,308 |
| Seller standby note | $19,128 |
| Buyer cash at close | $19,128 |
| Total sources | $382,564 |
Uses
| Purchase price | $363,900 |
| Closing costs (est.) | $10,917 |
| SBA guaranty fee | $7,747 |
| Total project | $382,564 |
- Monthly payment
- $4,408
- Annual debt service
- $52,899
- DSCR
- 2.75xSTRONG
- Injection check
- Meets 10% ($38,256 against $38,256 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.
- Ask for a breakdown of revenue between standing routed accounts (recurring daily/weekly pickup stops, such as lab or pharmacy runs) and one-off on-demand rush jobs, and how concentrated the routed revenue is in the top few accounts.
- Ask how many of the 321 listed workers are W-2 employees versus 1099 independent contractor drivers, and what classification documentation and insurance coverage exists for each group.
- Ask what share of jobs involve medical specimens, pharmaceuticals or other regulated cargo, and whether the company holds any hazmat, bloodborne pathogen or HIPAA business associate paperwork tied to that work.
- Ask how dispatch is actually run day to day: software-based routing versus the owner personally taking calls and assigning drivers, and how much of the customer relationships sit with the owner rather than the company.
- Ask about the vehicle fleet: how many vehicles the company owns outright versus drivers supply themselves, their age, and whether any near-term replacement spend is coming.
- 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 North 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 2.75x, 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 North Carolina acquisition lenders whose typical deal size fits this one.
- Live Oak Banking Company
68 loans in NCmedian $550,000median rate 9.25%~20 days to first disbursement
- Huntington National Bank
30 loans in NCmedian $450,000median rate 9.25%~32 days to first disbursement
- Fidelity Bank
20 loans in NCmedian $1,052,900median rate 9.75%~20 days to first disbursement
Loan counts and medians are that lender’s change-of-ownership loans in North 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 3, 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 4, 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.