Single-plumber shop, no service agreements, fleet over 9 years, owner runs all jobs
§ 01 · Observed
What was documented in diligence.
Revenue: $340,000 — 100% from emergency dispatch and residential project work. No service agreements. Owner performs all work above $500 job value personally. Fleet: 3 vans at 9.2-year average; one van with 178,000 miles and documented transmission issue. No other master plumber on staff. Owner stated no intent to hire before transition — continuity plan absent. Replacement labor normalization on 40 hours/week at $92/hour loaded: $191,000 annual reduction. Post-normalization SDE negative.
§ 02 · Outcome
What happened.
Buyer submitted LOI at 2.7× stated SDE. After owner-labor normalization, adjusted SDE was negative. Deal terminated — no fundable structure exists for a business requiring owner-operator labor to generate positive SDE.
§ 03 · Structural Pattern
How this deal fits the four-pillar framework.
Lower-band conditions on all four pillars: negative normalized SDE after owner-labor replacement, no recurring revenue, single-owner license with no continuity path, and aged fleet with imminent replacement needs. This is the canonical lower-band plumbing pattern: a profitable lifestyle business that is not a transferable operating enterprise.
This is an anonymized composite drawn from observable structural patterns in the sample window. It is not a specific deal. The structural pattern, band placement, and outcome reflect commonly observed combinations; a future consented case study will replace this entry.
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