Buying an equipment or electronics manufacturer in Southwest Florida

• Products the company owns, with designs, software and patents documented and in the company's name.
• Customers spread across industries, including some on long-term contracts, so one program ending doesn't empty the order book.
• Repair, spare parts and service work on equipment already in use, which tends to repeat.
• Engineers besides the founder who understand the designs and can support customers.
• Current certifications that customers need: quality systems, safety listings, aerospace or medical standards.
• More than one source for critical parts, or enough stock to ride out shortages.
• Low warranty and return rates that are actually tracked.
• A backlog of firm orders, not just forecasts.
• Products designed so they can be updated when parts are discontinued.

• Who owns the designs, software and patents, and whether employees and contractors have signed agreements assigning their work to the company.
• How much of the business rests on a few customers, and contract terms, including warranties and limits on liability.
• Inventory: how old it is, how much is excess or obsolete, and how it's valued.
• Past product liability and warranty claims, and what the company has promised on products already sold.
• Certifications, their next audits, and whether they're tied to the site or to the company.
• How the products are classified for export, and any past export problems.
• Agreements with key engineers, and whether they're likely to stay.
• Parts that will soon be discontinued, and the cost of redesigning around them.
• For a shipyard: the waterfront lease or submerged land lease, Longshore insurance and claims history, and an environmental assessment of the yard.

• Which products do you own the designs for, and which do you build to customer designs?
• Who besides you understands the core designs?
• What share of sales comes from your top three customers?
• Do you sell to defense, aerospace or medical customers, and what do they require?
• Have you had any product recalls, failures or liability claims?
• Which parts are hardest to get, and who else makes them?
• Which certifications or registrations will need updating after a sale?
• For a shipyard: who are your main customers, and how do you handle Longshore insurance?

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.

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.