Preparing to sell an owner-operated business in Phoenix.

The Phoenix business mix

• Climate-driven home services: HVAC repair and replacement, pool service, roofing, solar, pest control and landscaping across Maricopa County. In a desert summer, air conditioning service is not optional, and maintenance agreements are common.
• Construction trades and suppliers working for home builders in the West Valley, Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Buckeye.
• Advanced manufacturing suppliers: machine shops, industrial and cleanroom services, electrical contractors and staffing firms serving the semiconductor plants in Chandler and north Phoenix.
• Logistics and distribution along I-10 and I-17, serving Southern California and the wider Southwest.
• Healthcare and senior services: home care, dental, physical therapy, medical equipment and services for a large retiree population that grows each winter.
• Hospitality and tourism in Scottsdale and Tempe: restaurants, golf-related businesses, and event and resort services.

Buyer types active in the Valley

Relocating owner-operators

People moving from California, the Midwest and the Northeast who want to own a business where they now live. Many finance with an SBA 7(a) loan, which can go up to USD 5 million, and the lender underwrites the business as closely as the buyer.

Search funds and ETA buyers

Entrepreneurship-through-acquisition buyers looking for recurring revenue, such as service agreements, and a team that can run without the founder.

Private-equity add-ons

Home services, healthcare and industrial services platforms buy Arizona companies to add technicians and coverage in a growing market.

Strategic acquirers

Companies from Southern California, Las Vegas and Texas expanding into Arizona, and local competitors buying for trained staff, which is scarce in a fast-growing metro.

What Phoenix owners often miss before a sale

• Summer-heavy revenue. HVAC and pool businesses earn much of the year between May and September. Three full years of monthly figures let a buyer see the pattern instead of a weak quarter.
• The contractor license. An Arizona Registrar of Contractors license is held through a qualifying party. If that person is the owner, a buyer needs a replacement in place before closing.
• Worker classification. Fast-growing trades often rely on 1099 contractors. How workers are classified affects what a buyer inherits, so have your CPA and attorney review it early.
• Builder and plant concentration. Suppliers to one large home builder or one fabrication site carry concentration risk. Written contracts and a record of renewals reduce it.
• The lease and the property. Where a sale involves a lease or real property, that part also runs through the broker licensed in Arizona. Check the lease term and assignment clause early.

Before you go to market

Twelve to twenty-four months of preparation changes the result more than any negotiation does. For a Phoenix business that usually means clean books with business and personal spending separated, service agreements and key customer terms in writing, and a manager who can run the busy season without you. Buyers pay for a business they can step into and discount one that only works with the founder on site.

How a Phoenix business is valued

Buyers and lenders usually start from seller's discretionary earnings: profit before the owner's salary, interest, depreciation and documented one-off costs. A multiple is applied that reflects size, recurring revenue, customer concentration and how much the business depends on the owner. Two checks follow. The debt-service test asks whether a buyer financing the purchase could pay the loan from the cash flow with room to spare. The asset floor shows what trucks, equipment, inventory and receivables support on their own. Our valuation work produces a written range with each of these steps shown.

How the process runs

1. Conversation. A confidential discussion of the business, the numbers and your timing. No cost, no obligation.
2. Valuation and preparation. A written range from tax returns, bank statements and payroll, and a list of what to fix before buyers look.
3. Marketing, buyer introductions and negotiation. In Arizona, these steps are run alongside a broker licensed in Arizona, and we work with them. We prepare the valuation, the file and the figures the process relies on.
4. Deal structuring advice and closing. Advice to you on structure, seller financing, earn-outs and working capital, with diligence and closing handled alongside your attorney and CPA.

Every engagement is agreed in writing and signed before any work begins. The first conversation is confidential and carries no cost or obligation. See the United States overview, or our pages on San Diego and Los Angeles.