Buying a flooring and tile company in Orlando and Central Florida

• A mix of homeowners, designers, remodelers and builders, with no single builder dominating.
• A showroom or designer relationships that bring in better-paying retail work, where the company earns on both material and installation.
• Installers who have worked with the company for years, with documented insurance. Good tile setters are hard to find, and customers judge the company by their work.
• Accurate measuring and ordering, so jobs don't stall waiting for a missing box of tile.
• Good prices and terms from suppliers, and little stock that won't sell.
• Few callbacks for cracked tile, lifting floors or countertop seams.
• For countertop shops, well-kept equipment and skilled templaters and fabricators.
• Clear written estimates and change orders, so customers know what they're paying for.

• Revenue by type of work (showroom retail, remodelers, builders, insurance restoration) and the largest customers' shares.
• Margins on each, since builder work at a fixed price per square foot can be thin.
• Inventory: what's on hand, how old it is, and special-order stock nobody picked up.
• Customer deposits on open jobs, and whether the materials have already been bought.
• Installers: employees or subcontractors, how they're paid, and proof of insurance.
• Callbacks, warranty claims and disputes with builders over failed work.
• For countertop shops: equipment condition, dust controls and any OSHA inspections.
• Showroom lease terms, and whether the landlord must approve a sale.
• Supplier and distributor agreements, and whether exclusive product lines would carry over to a new owner.

• How does your work split between showroom customers, builders, remodelers and insurance jobs?
• Who are your installers, and how long have they worked with you?
• Who are your main suppliers, and are any terms tied to you personally?
• What happens when a customer's tile cracks or a floor lifts a year later?
• How much inventory do you carry, and how much is slow-moving?
• Who measures, estimates and sells when you're not there?
• When you cut stone for countertops, how do you keep the dust down?

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.