Buying a linen and uniform service in South Florida

• Many route customers on written agreements that renew, with few cancellations.
• Dense routes, so each truck serves many customers in a small area and fuel and driver time per stop stay low.
• A plant with room to grow and equipment that's been maintained, not run until it breaks.
• Tight control of linen inventory, with losses tracked and customers charged for replacements.
• Efficient water, gas and electricity use, often helped by water recycling or heat recovery equipment.
• Drivers who stay and keep customers happy, since they are the face of the business.
• A mix of customer types, so a slow tourist season doesn't hit every account at once.

• Customer agreements: term, automatic renewal, price increase rights, and whether they can be assigned. Read a sample of real signed agreements, not just the template.
• Revenue per stop and per route, and how many customers are past due.
• Plant equipment age and the cost of the next major replacement (washers, ironers, boilers).
• Several years of utility bills, since water, sewer, gas and electricity are major costs.
• Linen in service: its value, age and how fast it's being replaced. Worn inventory means a big purchase soon after you buy.
• An environmental site assessment, especially if the site ever had dry cleaning or fuel tanks.
• Truck condition, maintenance records and leases.
• Workplace injury records, since plant work involves heavy, hot machinery.

• How many route customers do you have, and how many canceled last year?
• How close is the plant to full capacity?
• When were the major machines last replaced or rebuilt?
• What do water, sewer and gas cost each month, and have you had any violations?
• How do you track lost linen and charge for replacements?
• Has the site ever been used for dry cleaning or had fuel tanks?
• Who brings in new accounts today?
• Do you launder shop towels for auto shops or factories, and how are they handled?

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.

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.