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New Deals: A car wash and detailing center, montessori school, and 3 other finds

Plus, warning signs about a prospective business acquisition

Today's Sponsor

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

I’m excited to share 5 new businesses for sale worth checking out in this Market Watch issue. Each was handpicked from hundreds of fresh listings, with our quick take on why it stands out. First up…

🔥 Community Top Picks from the Last Market Watch Issue:

#1: Commercial Kitchen Safety Training School in FL with $976K in EBITDA (link)
#2: Landscaping Business in TX with $921K in EBITDA (link)
#3: Multi-Location Auto Body Shop in CA with $1.07M in EBITDA (link)

Today’s issue is sponsored by SMB Deal Hunter Pro, our accelerator that helps business buyers find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash-flowing business in 6–12 months.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Our investment arm, Hunter Equity Partners, is entering 2026 with a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities we plan to invest in.

We’re now opening this up to a small number of family offices and private investors ready to deploy $1M-$10M into durable, cash-flowing businesses to invest alongside us.

👉 If you’re interested in exploring a potential partnership, reply with a brief sentence about you and we can share our Q1 pipeline.

COMMUNITY WINS

Here’s what one SMB Deal Hunter Pro member shared this past week:

👀 Heads up: we’re currently onboarding a limited number of Pro members who plan to buy a business in 2026. We’ve spent the last year…

  • Helping our members close over $115M in deals

  • Doubling the amount of M&A advisors that every Pro member has 1:1 access to

  • Building an off-market marketplace that has hundreds of listings no one else has access to (with more added every single week)

So, if you’re ready to take action this year…

NEW DEALS

These deals span the country. For custom-sourced deals in your area, click here.

1/ Car Wash & Detailing Center

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: $2,100,000
💼 EBITDA: $535,000
📊 Revenue: $1,200,000
📅 Established: 2018

💭 My 2 Cents: Most car washes chase volume through $20 express tunnels, but this operation built a $535K EBITDA business by going the opposite direction and serving the high-end market exclusively. By focusing on luxury, exotic, and enthusiast vehicles, the business commands higher tickets per service and builds a loyal customer base that treats car care as an experience rather than a chore. Founded in 2018, it's still relatively young but has already built a 45% EBITDA margin, which tells me the pricing power and operational efficiency are dialed in. What's most interesting is the growth runway: introducing membership programs or prepaid wash packages could smooth cash flow and increase customer lifetime value, while expanding into ceramic coatings, paint protection film, or premium detailing tiers would tap into the high-margin accessory market that luxury car owners readily spend on. I'd want to confirm the facility ownership structure and whether the real estate is included or leased long-term, dig into the customer acquisition strategy and average ticket size by service type, and understand whether capacity constraints limit growth or if the facility could handle increased volume with minor staffing additions. As the car wash industry consolidates around express tunnel chains, hand detailing operations serving the luxury segment remain too specialized and relationship-driven to roll up efficiently, which protects local operators like this one.

2/ Montessori School with Real Estate

📍 Location: Texas
💰 Asking Price: $9,800,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,800,000
📊 Revenue: $4,100,000
📅 Established: 2015

💭 My 2 Cents: Private education with owned real estate is one of the rare small business models where you're buying both a cash-flowing operation and a hard asset that typically appreciates over time. This Montessori school sits on nearly 15 acres with 11 buildings, outdoor classrooms, a working farm, and multiple shovel-ready expansion sites, meaning the $7.5M property value alone covers most of the purchase price while the educational operation throws off $1.8M in annual profit. What really stands out is the infrastructure: a dedicated STEAM/Maker Space facility and agricultural zones give the school a differentiated curriculum that appeals to families willing to pay premium tuition for experiential learning. The campus can accommodate significant enrollment growth without major capital outlays, and the school has already completed the accreditation process to become voucher-eligible starting Fall 2026, which should unlock a broader customer base as state funding flows in. I'd want to dig into current enrollment capacity versus maximum buildout, tuition pricing relative to local competitors, and teacher retention given how critical staffing is in private education. The 5.4x asking price multiple reflects the real estate value and growth runway, but it also tells me this deal is best suited for a buyer who wants to own an appreciating asset while running a stable, community-focused business that benefits from the long-term shift toward school choice and alternative education models.

3/ Commercial Roofing Company

📍 Location: New Hampshire
💰 Asking Price: $2,690,000
💼 EBITDA: $813,867
📊 Revenue: $3,902,706
📅 Established: 2019

💭 My 2 Cents: Getting repeat work from hospitals and national restaurant chains tells you everything about a roofing contractor's execution quality, and this operation has managed to build that trust in New England's competitive commercial market. They specialize in flat roofing systems for commercial and institutional clients, with revenue split evenly between competitively bid new construction and repeat or referral work, which shows they're both winning fresh projects and keeping existing customers happy. The 10-person crew is led by someone with 40 years of roofing experience, and the sale includes $275K in specialized equipment, both of which add stability and reduce the technical risk for a buyer without deep roofing knowledge. The owner currently handles sales, estimating, scheduling, and HR, which presents both risk and opportunity depending on how transferable those relationships and skills prove to be. I'd want to dig into the project pipeline and whether institutional clients have preferred vendor agreements, understand margin differences between bid work and negotiated repairs, and assess whether the crew can handle more volume or if capacity constraints are limiting growth. The real upside here is that flat roofing on commercial buildings isn't optional, it's a maintenance necessity driven by building lifecycles and weather exposure, which means demand stays consistent regardless of broader construction trends.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Reagan went from a career in corporate tech sales to owning a 36-year-old commercial plumbing company in Dallas cash flowing $860K/year. He shares how he:

  • Got under LOI 41 days after his onboarding call and closed in 5 months

  • Only put 5% down and extended his loan from 10 to 13 years

  • Structured a 4-year operating agreement with the seller to solve the licensing issue people run into with plumbing businesses

4/ Integrated Landscaping and Outdoor Services Business

📍 Location: Minnesota
💰 Asking Price: $9,000,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,333,884
📊 Revenue: $14,321,968
📅 Established: N/A

💭 My 2 Cents: Most landscaping companies struggle with seasonal cash flow, but this business cracked the code by building four interlocking service lines that feed off each other. The core landscaping and snow removal unit provides year-round revenue, while the trucking arm handles logistics for both internal jobs and third-party clients, the landscape supply branch generates material sales, and an in-house repair division keeps equipment running without outsourcing downtime. This vertical integration means lower costs, faster response times, and the ability to cross-sell across a captive customer base that competitors can't easily replicate without building out fleet, yard space, inventory systems, and skilled labor all at once. The asking price of roughly 6.7x EBITDA is steep, but the deal includes $6.6M in tangible equipment and assets, which narrows the gap between purchase price and hard asset value while providing real replacement cost protection. I'd want to dig into how much of the revenue flows between divisions versus coming from external customers, understand the split between commercial contracts and residential work, and assess whether the snow removal business carries concentration risk with municipal or HOA accounts. With climate volatility driving demand for reliable snow management and landscaping companies increasingly looking to diversify beyond mowing and maintenance, this platform is set up to keep winning work that smaller, single-service operators simply can't handle.

5/ Premanufactured Steel Structure Installer

📍 Location: Nebraska
💰 Asking Price: $3,950,000
💼 EBITDA: $1,017,387
📊 Revenue: $5,525,295
📅 Established: 1960

💭 My 2 Cents: Steel structure installation is one of those specialized trades where relationships with manufacturers and a track record of safe execution matter more than slick marketing. This Nebraska outfit has spent over six decades putting up everything from grain bins and pole barns to airplane hangars across agricultural, commercial, and public-sector customers, with typical projects ranging from $40K to $500K. What really stands out is their status as a consistently recommended installer by Behlen Manufacturing, a world-renowned steel building supplier, which effectively functions as a built-in lead generation engine and validates their reputation for quality workmanship. The sub-two-week project cycles are a huge advantage here, improving cash conversion and limiting the working capital strain that plagues contractors stuck managing months-long timelines. The business comes with $2.4M in work-in-process, $1.5M in the pipeline, and roughly $1.1M in tangible assets, plus it runs semi-absentee with a strong general manager handling daily operations. I'd want to understand installer retention and training given the specialized nature of steel erection work, how dependent the pipeline is on Behlen referrals versus direct customer relationships, and whether the crew and equipment can handle additional volume or geographic expansion. With infrastructure spending holding steady and agricultural operators continuously upgrading storage capacity, this business sits in a durable corner of the construction market where technical expertise and safety records create real barriers that keep fly-by-night competitors out.

THE BEST OF SMB TWITTER (X)

Challenges facing independent sponsors (link)

What clients really want (link)

2 kinds of businesses to avoid (link)

Top reasons for deals dying post-LOI (link)

The point where growth stops helping the business (link)

Tips for above-average success in business (link)

Warning signs about a prospective business acquisition (link)

COMMUNITY PERKS

Ready to buy and operate a $1M+ business? Partner with my team and get expert support at every step.

Want to invest passively in SMB acquisitions? Get access to investment opportunities.

Get a personal introduction to my preferred SBA 7(a) lender, non-SBA lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, or legal counsel

Raising capital for your deal? I’ll connect you with investors from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

Interested in selling your business? I’ll help you connect with buyers from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

RECENT PODCAST EPISODE

Imagine this. You buy an overnight delivery route business with somebody you met on Craigslist, and, on your first night, two of your key drivers don’t show up.

That horror story was not imagination for Joe and Colin. But, after personally driving over 400 miles a night for the first few months, they made it work. Today, they've done 15 acquisitions across consumer brands, e-commerce, and financial services.

In this episode, Joe and Colin explain how they figured out how to work on the business instead of in it.

And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

THAT’S A WRAP

See you tomorrow!

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Disclaimer

This publication is a newsletter only and the information provided herein is the opinion of our editors and writers only. Any transaction or opportunity of any kind is provided for information only; SMB Deal Hunter does not verify nor confirm information. SMB Deal Hunter is not making any offer to readers to participate in any transaction or opportunity described herein.