Buying a commercial cleaning company in Panhandle and North Florida

• Many customers, none too large, so losing one doesn't hurt badly. Watch for one property manager who controls several buildings.
• Customers who have stayed for years, including through price increases.
• Prices based on the hours each building actually takes, with profit tracked by account.
• Area managers or supervisors who check the work and handle complaints without the owner.
• Specialized work that's harder to replace, like medical offices, floor care or buildings that require security clearances.
• A steady way to hire and train, because turnover never stops here.
• Written agreements with every customer, not handshake deals.
• Customers who've added services over time, a sign they trust the company in their building.

• Revenue by customer, and the five largest customers' share.
• Contract terms: length, notice period, price increase clauses, and whether the contracts can be transferred to you.
• Customer turnover: accounts gained and lost each year for three years.
• Labor cost per account, overtime, and pay compared with local competitors.
• How cleaners are paid: as employees with taxes withheld, or as contractors with nothing withheld. If contractors, ask your accountant about the risk.
• Immigration paperwork (Form I-9) for every employee. Florida also requires employers with 25 or more employees to check new hires through E-Verify.
• Insurance claims: damage to customers' property, accusations of theft, injuries.
• Who customers deal with, and whether they'll stay.
• Supervision: how many buildings each supervisor checks in a night, and what happens when a cleaner doesn't show.

• How many accounts do you have, and how long has the average customer been with you?
• Which accounts did you lose last year, and why?
• Are your cleaners employees or independent contractors?
• How do you know a building was cleaned properly?
• When did you last raise prices, and how did customers react?
• Who brings in new accounts now?
• Which customers buy extras like floor care, and how do you price it?

This is our largest region by area. It runs from Pensacola east through Milton, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Panama City and Tallahassee, and down into North Central Florida around Gainesville, Lake City and Live Oak, with many rural counties along the way. We also include Hardee County, around Wauchula.

The economy has several anchors. The military is a big one, with Naval Air Station Pensacola, Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field and Tyndall Air Force Base. Tallahassee is the state capital and home to Florida State University and Florida A&M University, and Gainesville has the University of Florida. The beaches from Pensacola to Panama City Beach, including Walton County's coast, draw summer visitors. Inland, timber, farming and small manufacturing matter, and towns like Apalachicola and Cedar Key make their living on the water. Contractors, defense and government service firms, restaurants, lodging and farm businesses all have markets here.

Plan for distance first. Pensacola is closer to New Orleans than to Gainesville, so most companies serve one local area, and you should know exactly where the customers are. Most of the Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River runs on Central time, an hour behind Tallahassee.

The beach season peaks in summer, the opposite of South Florida, while Gainesville and Tallahassee slow down when students leave. Hurricanes have hit hard: Michael came ashore near Mexico Beach as a Category 5 in 2018, and Idalia in 2023 and Helene in 2024 struck the Big Bend coast. Military base budgets and state government spending matter to many companies. Near the Alabama and Georgia lines, ask how much revenue comes from across the border, where other states' licenses may apply. Rural counties have small labor pools, so a company's key employees matter even more here.