Buying a personal services business in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• A brand and reputation that don't rest only on the owner's name and face. A business named after its founder can still sell, but plan for a long handover.
• A steady referral network of venues, vendors, attorneys or other professionals that sends work to the company, not just to the owner.
• Staff who can deliver the service and manage clients without the owner.
• Written client contracts with clear deposits, cancellation terms and scope.
• Booked future revenue, such as signed weddings or events for the coming year.
• Good client reviews and few complaints.
• Systems for proposals, scheduling and payments, rather than everything on the owner's phone.

• How much revenue depends on the owner personally, and whether clients would stay with someone else.
• Bookings and deposits for future events, and how they're handled in a sale.
• Client contracts: cancellation and refund terms, and any disputes.
• Vendor and venue relationships: in writing, or only personal?
• Reviews and complaints, including any filed with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which takes consumer complaints in Florida.
• Busy and slow seasons, and cash flow through the slow months.
• Any licenses required, and who holds them.
• Liability insurance, especially for events.
• How prices are set, and whether they've kept up with vendor and venue costs.
• How much the owner works, including nights and weekends, and who would cover that time after a sale.

• Where do most new clients come from?
• How many clients know you personally, and how would they feel about a new owner?
• What bookings and deposits do you have for future events?
• Who on your team handles clients from start to finish?
• What contracts do you use with clients and with vendors?
• Does any part of the business need a license, and who holds it?
• What does your slowest season look like?

This region covers Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Putnam counties: Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Macclenny and Palatka. Jacksonville merged with most of Duval County in 1968, which makes it the largest city by land area in the lower 48 states.

The economy leans on logistics, the Navy and financial services. Logistics runs through JAXPORT, major rail lines and the meeting of Interstates 95 and 10. The Navy has Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport. Insurance and health care matter too. St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, and Amelia Island draw steady tourism. Trucking and logistics firms, the building trades, medical practices and home services all fit this market.

Northeast Florida is less seasonal than South or Southwest Florida, with fewer winter residents and more year-round employers. Direct hurricane landfalls have been less common here than on other parts of the coast, but storms still bring flooding along the St. Johns River and the beaches, so check insurance costs and flood zones.

Military families bring skilled workers and working spouses into the labor pool, though they also move on when orders change. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau have added the most new homes, and companies serving those suburbs have grown with them. Georgia is close, and some companies here serve customers across the state line. Work in Georgia may need Georgia licenses, so ask how much revenue comes from there and who holds those licenses.