Buying a fire and security company in Orlando and Central Florida

• Monitoring and inspection contracts that make up a large share of revenue, with few cancellations. Buyers pay most for this part.
• Inspection findings turned into repair jobs, quoted and done before the customer calls someone else.
• Commercial customers spread across many buildings and property managers, so losing one doesn't hurt much.
• Technicians with the right state credentials and the industry certifications that inspections require.
• Monitoring contracts that can pass to a new owner, with a reliable monitoring center behind them.
• Careful estimates on project work, and little reliance on one general contractor.
• Inspection and service records in software, showing every building's schedule and history.

• Monitoring accounts and inspection contracts in detail: value, terms and cancellations over three years.
• Whether the contracts can be transferred to you. That may depend on whether you buy the company itself or only its assets.
• The monitoring center agreement: cost per account, and who owns the customer relationship.
• Deficiencies (problems found during inspections) not yet repaired, and any liability if a system failed.
• Claims or lawsuits after fires or break-ins.
• Who holds each license and certificate, and whether they'll stay.
• Background checks and training records for every alarm employee, since gaps are a licensing problem for the company.
• Older alarm panels that report over phone lines or cellular networks that carriers have shut down.

• How much of your revenue comes from monitoring and inspections, and how has that grown?
• How many monitoring accounts and inspection contracts do you have, and on what terms?
• Who monitors your accounts, and could that agreement pass to a new owner?
• Whose licenses and certificates does the company work under?
• How many problems from recent inspections are still waiting on repairs?
• How much of your work is new systems bid through general contractors?
• Have you ever been sued after a system didn't work as expected?

This region covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Sumter and Marion counties: Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Sanford, Clermont, Leesburg, Ocala and the large retirement communities of Sumter and Lake counties. Tourism is what the area is best known for, built on the theme parks, the hotels, the vacation rental homes around Kissimmee and the Orange County Convention Center. It's far from the only business. The University of Central Florida and the military simulation and training offices near it support a technology base, and health care is a major employer.

Marion County is horse country, with thoroughbred farms around Ocala, and it has added warehouses and distribution centers along Interstate 75. Retirees in Sumter and Lake create steady demand for medical practices, home care, home maintenance and auto services. The building trades, restaurants, and companies that serve hotels and rental homes do well across the region.

Central Florida is inland, so storm surge isn't the worry it is on the coasts. Hurricanes still bring wind damage and flooding, though: Hurricane Ian flooded neighborhoods in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties in 2022. Ask whether the business or its customers were affected.

Tourism keeps demand steadier through the year than in markets that depend on winter residents, with busy stretches around school holidays. Hotels, parks and restaurants compete hard for workers, which pushes up wages for any company that hires hourly staff. New homes have spread fast in Osceola, south Lake and southeast Orange counties and around Ocala, so check whether a company's customers are in growing areas or older ones. Traffic on Interstate 4 limits how much ground a service company can cover in a day.