Buying a dry cleaner in South Florida

• Loyal customers who come often, and a growing delivery or commercial business that doesn't depend on office dress codes.
• A plant with modern, well-maintained machines that don't use perchloroethylene ("perc"), the solvent EPA is phasing out of dry cleaning. Newer machines also use less solvent and energy, but they do nothing about what older machines left in the ground.
• A clean environmental record at the site, backed by testing.
• Several revenue sources: wash-and-fold, alterations, household items, commercial work.
• Experienced pressers and spotters who plan to stay. A good spotter saves garments, and customers notice.
• A long lease with a landlord who understands the business and its environmental history.
• Turnaround times customers can count on, with few lost or damaged items.
• Point-of-sale software that tracks customers, orders and garments.

• The site's environmental history: at least a Phase I environmental site assessment (a records and site review), and likely soil and groundwater testing (a Phase II) if perc was ever used there. Cleanup costs can be large; talk to an environmental attorney before you sign anything.
• The plant's DEP registration, whether the site was accepted into the cleanup program before 1999 (and still qualifies), and what DEP's online records show.
• Equipment age, solvent type, boiler condition and maintenance records.
• Revenue for five years, by service.
• Customer counts and delivery routes.
• Utility costs, which run high for boilers and presses.
• The lease, including environmental clauses and who is responsible for contamination.
• Unclaimed garments and customer damage claims.
• Drop-off stores and lockers: leases, volume, and whether they're worth keeping.

• What solvent do your machines use, and how old are they?
• Has perc ever been used here, and has the site ever been tested for contamination?
• Is the plant registered with DEP, and was the site ever accepted into the state cleanup program?
• How has your revenue changed over the last five years?
• How many delivery and commercial customers do you have?
• Who runs the plant day to day?
• What does your lease say about environmental issues, and what does the landlord know?

South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.

Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.

Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.

Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.