Buying a plastics or chemical manufacturer in South Florida
South Florida has 101 established plastics and chemical manufacturers 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, 73% 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
Plastics and chemical manufacturers 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
- $314,000 a year
- Price about
- $1 million
- Your cash
- $145,000
- Could pay you
- up to $127,000 a year
- Earns about
- $792,000 a year
- Price about
- $2.6 million
- Your cash
- $366,000
- Could pay you
- up to $321,000 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 | 27 |
| 20 to 29 years | 40 |
| 30 to 39 years | 20 |
| 40 years or more | 14 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 14 |
| $1M to $2M | 12 |
| $2M to $4M | 13 |
| $4M to $8M | 7 |
| Over $8M | 9 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 51 |
| Broward | 35 |
| Palm Beach | 15 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami | 24 |
| Pompano Beach | 7 |
| Doral | 6 |
| Davie | 5 |
| Hialeah | 5 |
What the best plastics and chemical manufacturers have in common
- Supply agreements with repeat customers across several industries, so a slump in boatbuilding or construction doesn't idle the plant.
- Pricing that passes raw material changes through to customers, ideally written into the agreements.
- Well-maintained presses and equipment with spare capacity, and spare parts on hand for the machines that matter most.
- Clear, signed records of which molds and formulas belong to whom.
- A quality system and the certifications customers require, such as ISO 9001, or medical device standards for medical work.
- Process technicians and a maintenance lead with years at the company.
- A clean environmental and safety record, with permits and reports kept current.
- Products or formulas of its own, which earn more than contract work.
What to check before you buy
- An environmental site assessment of the property, especially where chemicals are stored or spills could have happened. Lenders often require one for manufacturing sites.
- Permits, inspection reports and any violation notices.
- How much of sales goes to the largest customers, and the terms of supply agreements, including how much notice a customer must give before moving work.
- A mold list, signed off by customers, showing who owns each mold and what condition it's in. Worn molds may need costly repair soon.
- Raw material suppliers, and how price changes are passed on.
- Machine age, maintenance logs and energy costs. Molding and extrusion use a lot of electricity.
- Safety records, including injury logs and any serious incidents.
- Product liability insurance, and any claims involving parts that failed in customers' products.
Questions to ask the owner
- Who are your largest customers, and do you have written supply agreements with them?
- Which molds and formulas belong to the company, and which belong to customers?
- What do you do when resin or other raw material prices go up?
- What permits does the plant hold, and have there been any inspections or violations?
- What chemicals are stored on site, and how much of each?
- Who runs production and maintenance day to day?
- How close is the plant to full capacity?
- Which products carry EPA, FDACS or DBPR registrations or permits, and whose name are they in?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a plastics or chemical manufacturer 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.