Buying a logistics company in Southwest Florida
Southwest Florida has 24 established logistics companies by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 92% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Logistics companies in Southwest Florida come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $186,000 a year
- Price about
- $567,000
- Your cash
- $79,000
- Could pay you
- up to $84,000 a year
- Earns about
- $267,000 a year
- Price about
- $814,000
- Your cash
- $114,000
- Could pay you
- up to $120,000 a year
- Earns about
- $694,000 a year
- Price about
- $2.1 million
- Your cash
- $296,000
- Could pay you
- up to $313,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 3.0 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 2 |
| 20 to 29 years | 18 |
| 30 to 39 years | 3 |
| 40 years or more | 1 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 3 |
| $1M to $2M | 1 |
| $2M to $4M | 2 |
| Over $8M | 1 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Manatee | 9 |
| Collier | 5 |
| Lee | 5 |
| Other counties | 5 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Sarasota | 5 |
What the best logistics companies have in common
- Many long-standing customers, not one dominant account.
- A margin per shipment that holds up when freight rates rise or fall.
- Customers who buy more than one service, such as customs clearance, trucking and storage, and are harder to lure away.
- Trusted carriers and agents, and a routine for checking their authority and insurance on every load.
- Experienced staff, not only the owner, who know the customers.
- Software that tracks every shipment and invoice.
- For warehouses, customer contracts that run several years and a lease that outlasts them.
- A clean record with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Customs and other agencies.
What to check before you buy
- Revenue and margin by customer and service (truckload, ocean, air, warehousing).
- How fast the company pays carriers, and any unpaid carrier claims.
- Past cargo claims and insurance, including coverage for loads the company arranges but doesn't haul.
- Customer and warehouse contracts: length, whether they can be transferred to you, and limits on liability for lost or damaged goods.
- Who holds the customs broker license or FMC qualification, and whether they'll stay after the sale.
- Software and data: who owns the systems and customer data, and what they cost.
- What customers owe and how overdue it is. A broker that gives shippers long payment terms is lending them money.
Questions to ask the owner
- Who are your top ten customers, and who looks after each one?
- How do you check carriers before you give them a load?
- Who holds the customs or FMC licenses, and will they stay?
- What happened to your margins when freight rates fell?
- Have you had any cargo claims or payment disputes with carriers?
- How much revenue comes from customers you brought in personally?
- What software runs the business, and do you own it or rent it?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a logistics company in Florida.
Owning a company in Southwest Florida
The local economy
This region covers Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties on the Gulf coast and Hendry, Glades and DeSoto inland: Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton, LaBelle, Clewiston, Moore Haven and Arcadia. The coastal economy runs on people who choose to live or spend the winter here: retirees, seasonal residents, and the construction, real estate, health care, financial and home services that follow them. Tourism, golf and boating add to it.
Inland, the economy is agricultural: sugarcane around Clewiston, citrus, cattle and vegetables, with Immokalee in Collier County a center for farm work. The building trades, pool, landscaping and pest control companies, property managers, medical and dental practices, and marine businesses tend to do well along the coast.
What's different about owning a company here
This is one of Florida's most seasonal markets. From roughly January through April, restaurants, shops and service companies run at full speed. Summers are slower, so look at monthly revenue, not only the yearly total. The coast has taken two major hurricanes in recent years: Ian came ashore at Cayo Costa in Lee County in September 2022, and Milton at Siesta Key in Sarasota County in October 2024. Rebuilding brought a wave of work for contractors that won't last forever, so ask how much recent revenue came from storm repairs. Insurance costs and flood zones weigh on every property.
Housing costs near the coast make hiring hard, especially around Naples. New communities east of Interstate 75 in Lee, Collier, Charlotte and Manatee keep service companies busy.