Kent & Tamarack is a Colorado business broker for people who own a trade or service company and want to sell it. Plumbing shops, HVAC companies, electricians, roofers, landscapers, cleaning crews, pest control outfits and small builders. Companies with trucks, a crew, a phone that rings and an owner who has carried the load for a long time.
Most of the owners we talk to have never sold a business before. They will do it once. They want to know what it is worth, who might buy it, how to keep it quiet and what happens to the people who work for them. We answer those questions in plain English, and you set the terms from the first call to the last signature.
The founder answers the phone. Call (983) 900-6537 and you talk to the person who will do the work.
Who we help
We work with owner-run companies where the owner still knows the customers by name. A typical owner has run the company for many years, has a crew of a few people or a few dozen, and is thinking about retirement, a health change, or simply wanting the weekends back.
Some owners have a son or daughter who does not want the business. Some have a key employee who might buy it but has no idea how to pay for it. Some get a call from a competitor or an out-of-state group and want to know if the offer is fair. All of those are good reasons to talk to a business broker before you say yes to anyone.
We have guides for the trades we see most:
- Selling an HVAC business, where service agreements and the age of your techs carry a lot of weight.
- Selling a plumbing business, where the master license and the service-call mix matter.
- Selling a construction company, where the backlog and the bonding history come up early.
- Selling a landscaping business, where maintenance contracts and equipment drive the price.
If your trade is not on that list, call anyway. The way a sale works is much the same for an electrician, a garage door company or a commercial cleaner.
How a sale works
Four steps, at your pace.
1. A private first call
You tell us about the company and what you want your life to look like after the sale. Maybe you want to walk away in six months. Maybe you want to stay on part-time for a year to hand over the big customers. There is no paperwork, no cost and no obligation.
2. What it is worth
We look at your books, your crew, your trucks and equipment, and your customer list. Then we give you an honest price range and the reasons for it. If something is holding the value down, we tell you, and we tell you what it would take to fix it.
3. The right buyer
We search quietly. Buyers first see a short profile with no company name. Every buyer signs a confidentiality agreement before they see who you are, and we check that a buyer has the money and the experience before they get that far. You meet the serious ones and you choose.
4. A clean close
We help you work out the price and the terms: how much is paid at closing, whether any part is paid over time, how long you stay on, and what happens to your people. We work with your accountant and your attorney the whole way, and we stay with you until the deal closes.
Confidential from the first call
In a trade business, word travels fast. Your techs talk to other techs at the supply house. Your customers hear things from their neighbors. A competitor who learns you are selling may tell your best customers you are on the way out.
So privacy comes first. Nobody hears your name until they sign a confidentiality agreement. We do not call your shop line unless you ask us to. Buyers do not walk through your shop while your crew is working unless you set that up. You decide when your employees and your customers hear the news, and we help you plan what to say to them.
Business valuation, in plain terms
A business valuation for a trade company comes down to a few plain questions. Buyers pay for earnings they can count on.
How much does the company earn for an owner in a normal year? We start with your tax returns and your profit and loss statement, then add back the costs that will not carry over to a new owner, like your own truck or a family member on payroll who does not work in the business.
How much of the work comes back? Maintenance agreements, service contracts and repeat commercial customers are worth more than one-time jobs, because the buyer can see the money coming.
How well does it run without you? If every estimate, every big customer and every license runs through you, a buyer sees risk. A company with a field manager and an office person who can run the day is worth more.
How clean are the books? Records that match the tax returns make a buyer, and the buyer's bank, much more comfortable.
We will not promise you a number on the first call. Anyone who quotes a price before seeing the books is guessing, or selling you something. What we promise is an honest range and the reasons for it, so you can decide what to do next.
Succession planning before you need it
Business succession planning sounds like something for big companies. For a trade owner it means one thing: deciding who takes over and getting the company ready for that day.
The best time to start is one to three years before you want to step back. That gives you time to move key relationships onto a manager, get the books clean, sort out the licenses and leases, and look at more than one kind of buyer. A sale to a larger competitor, to a private buyer who wants to own and run a company, or to your own employees can each work. The state of Colorado runs an employee ownership office that helps owners look at a sale to their workers, and we can talk you through how that path compares with an outside buyer.
Owners who wait until they are worn out or sick often take the first offer that shows up. Starting early keeps the choice in your hands.
A business broker near you, anywhere in Colorado
We are a Colorado firm and we work statewide. The first conversation is a phone call. When it is time to look at the business, we come to you. Each region has its own buyers and its own pace, so we have written about each one:
- Denver business broker, for the city and the metro suburbs from Brighton to Castle Rock.
- Colorado Springs business broker, for the Pikes Peak region and Pueblo.
- Northern Colorado business broker, for Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley and the towns around them.
- Boulder County business broker, for Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette and nearby towns.
- Western Slope business broker, for Grand Junction, Durango and the mountain and valley towns west of the Divide.
If you searched "sell my business Colorado" and landed here, the next step is easy. Call (983) 900-6537 or email hello@kentandtamarack.com. Tell us a little about the company. We will tell you honestly whether now is a good time to sell, and what it would take to get the result you want.