Buying a flooring and tile company in Treasure Coast

• 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 Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties on the Atlantic coast and Okeechobee and Highlands counties inland: Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Sebastian, Okeechobee, Sebring and Avon Park. Port St. Lucie is the largest city and has grown quickly as a suburb within reach of Palm Beach County to the south.

The coast draws retirees and winter residents, and health care, construction, real estate, boating and sport fishing are big parts of the economy. The coast lies in the Indian River citrus district, named for the lagoon. Inland, Okeechobee and Highlands are cattle, dairy and citrus country around Lake Okeechobee and along the ridge near Sebring, with many retirees of their own. Home service companies, the building trades, marine businesses and medical practices find steady customers here.

The coast is seasonal, with winter residents filling restaurants, golf courses and service schedules, and summer is quieter. Hurricane Nicole came ashore near Vero Beach in November 2022, and the region has a long history of storms, so check insurance, flood zones and how a business came through recent ones.

Water quality in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon is a recurring problem, and in a bad year it can hurt fishing, boating and tourism businesses. Inland, distances are longer and the labor pool thinner. A company in Sebring or Okeechobee may be one of very few of its kind nearby, which can mean loyal customers and little competition, but also few people to hire. Most new homes on the coast are going up in and around Port St. Lucie.