Buying a plumbing and HVAC company in Orlando and Central Florida

• Real cross-selling: a meaningful share of customers who have used both trades, not two businesses that happen to share an office.
• Technicians trained to spot work for the other trade, such as an HVAC technician who notices a failing water heater in the same garage.
• Membership or maintenance plans that cover both trades and that customers renew.
• A capable lead for each trade, since few people are experts in both.
• Licensed qualifiers for both trades (the license holders the company works under), ideally not the departing owner, or a clear plan to replace them.
• Dispatch, pricing and job costing in one software system, so you can see margins by trade.
• Revenue mostly from service and replacement, not from one or two builders.
• One brand customers recognize for both trades, rather than two names they don't connect.

• Which licenses the company actually holds. Look up each qualifier on the DBPR's license search at myfloridalicense.com. A shop that advertises both trades may hold one license and subcontract the other.
• Revenue and gross margin by trade. Combined shops often have one strong side carrying a weaker one.
• The seasons: how well plumbing work fills the cooler months after the summer air conditioning rush.
• Membership plan terms, what's promised in each trade, and whether the promised visits actually happen.
• Warranty obligations on system replacements and repipes.
• Pay, turnover and key people in each trade, and whether any could leave with customers.
• Truck inventory, tools and the age of the fleet on both sides.

• Who qualifies each trade, and what are their plans after a sale?
• How much of your revenue is plumbing and how much is HVAC, and how has that mix changed?
• How many customers have used both trades in the last two years?
• Do your maintenance plans cover both trades, and how many renewed last year?
• Who runs each side day to day?
• Do you subcontract any work in either trade?
• What are your busiest and slowest months, and how do you keep both crews busy?

This region covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Sumter and Marion counties: Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Sanford, Clermont, Leesburg, Ocala and the large retirement communities of Sumter and Lake counties. Tourism is what the area is best known for, built on the theme parks, the hotels, the vacation rental homes around Kissimmee and the Orange County Convention Center. It's far from the only business. The University of Central Florida and the military simulation and training offices near it support a technology base, and health care is a major employer.

Marion County is horse country, with thoroughbred farms around Ocala, and it has added warehouses and distribution centers along Interstate 75. Retirees in Sumter and Lake create steady demand for medical practices, home care, home maintenance and auto services. The building trades, restaurants, and companies that serve hotels and rental homes do well across the region.

Central Florida is inland, so storm surge isn't the worry it is on the coasts. Hurricanes still bring wind damage and flooding, though: Hurricane Ian flooded neighborhoods in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties in 2022. Ask whether the business or its customers were affected.

Tourism keeps demand steadier through the year than in markets that depend on winter residents, with busy stretches around school holidays. Hotels, parks and restaurants compete hard for workers, which pushes up wages for any company that hires hourly staff. New homes have spread fast in Osceola, south Lake and southeast Orange counties and around Ocala, so check whether a company's customers are in growing areas or older ones. Traffic on Interstate 4 limits how much ground a service company can cover in a day.