Buying a manufacturing business in South Florida
South Florida has 236 established manufacturing businesses 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, 72% 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
Manufacturing businesses in South 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
- $226,000 a year
- Price about
- $746,000
- Your cash
- $104,000
- Could pay you
- up to $92,000 a year
- Earns about
- $590,000 a year
- Price about
- $1.9 million
- Your cash
- $273,000
- Could pay you
- up to $239,000 a year
- Earns about
- $1.1 million a year
- Price about
- $3.5 million
- Your cash
- $487,000
- Could pay you
- up to $427,000 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 3.3 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 | 66 |
| 20 to 29 years | 100 |
| 30 to 39 years | 31 |
| 40 years or more | 39 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 42 |
| $1M to $2M | 33 |
| $2M to $4M | 16 |
| $4M to $8M | 20 |
| Over $8M | 11 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 153 |
| Broward | 50 |
| Palm Beach | 29 |
| Other counties | 4 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami | 88 |
| Hialeah | 29 |
| Pompano Beach | 11 |
| Fort Lauderdale | 8 |
| Medley | 8 |
| West Palm Beach | 8 |
| Opa Locka | 6 |
| Doral | 5 |
What the best manufacturing businesses have in common
- Products the company owns, with registered trademarks and documented designs that competitors can't easily copy.
- Several sales channels, so one retailer or marketplace can't sink the business by changing its terms.
- Steady reorders from long-standing accounts, and a few products that sell year after year without redesign.
- A known cost for each product, with prices that cover it after shipping and returns.
- Equipment and tooling that the company owns and maintains, including molds and dies kept at suppliers.
- Backup suppliers for key materials and parts.
- Production that runs without the owner on the floor.
- A customer email list and reviews that keep selling without constant advertising.
What to check before you buy
- Sales by product, channel and customer for three years. Trends matter: a product line that peaked two years ago may still be carrying today's numbers.
- Gross margin by product: what's left after materials, labor, shipping and returns.
- Trademarks, patents, domain names and marketplace accounts registered to the company. Marketplace accounts can be hard to transfer, so check each platform's rules.
- Product liability insurance and any claims, recalls or safety complaints.
- The equipment list and its condition, and tooling kept at suppliers, with proof the company owns it.
- Retailer agreements: chargebacks, return rights and payment terms.
- An inventory count, with slow-moving stock valued realistically.
- Test reports and certificates for products that need them.
Questions to ask the owner
- Which products make most of the profit?
- Who are your largest customers, and how long have they been buying from you?
- Does the company own the trademarks and designs?
- What's your backup if a key supplier can't deliver?
- Have you had any recalls, injuries or complaints about your products?
- How much do you spend on advertising for online sales?
- Who could run production if you stepped away?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a manufacturing business in Florida.
Owning a company in South Florida
The local economy
South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.
Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.
What's different about owning a company here
Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.
Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.