Buying a staffing firm in Tampa Bay

• A spread of clients, with no single client dominating hours billed. Losing one big warehouse account can erase a year's profit.
• Gross margins that hold up when clients renegotiate or put the work out to bid.
• Long-standing clients with written agreements covering rates, payment terms and who is liable for what.
• Few workers' compensation claims and a real safety program for placed workers, which keep premiums down.
• Recruiters with a deep pool of workers, tracked in a proper applicant system rather than in someone's phone.
• Clients that pay on time, with little bad debt.
• A specialty with skilled workers, where clients pay more for the firm's ability to find people.

• Workers' compensation: the job classifications used, claims history, and the experience rating (a score based on past claims) that sets the premium. Make sure placed workers are classed for the work they actually do.
• Payroll taxes. Taking over more than half of a business or its assets can make you liable for the seller's unpaid Florida taxes, including reemployment tax (Florida's unemployment tax), unless you get a certificate of compliance from the Department of Revenue first (section 213.758). A buyer that carries on the business can also take over the seller's reemployment tax record and rate, good or bad (section 443.131).
• How much depends on the biggest clients, and contract terms on who pays for accidents at client sites.
• How long clients take to pay, and any factoring agreements that must be paid off at closing.
• I-9 forms and E-Verify records.
• Overtime and wage compliance, and the risk when clients direct the work.
• Agreements with recruiters and account managers, including non-solicitation terms.

• Who are your five largest clients, and what share of gross margin do they produce?
• What workers' compensation claims have you had in the last five years?
• How do you fund payroll before clients pay?
• Do any clients use you for their whole workforce rather than temporary help?
• How would you find 20 workers if a client needed them next week?
• Which client relationships depend on you personally?
• Have you had any wage, tax or immigration audits?

Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.

Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.

Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.

The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.