Dru & Sunshine Coast Business Broker Steve Blaby recently had a conversation around selling a plumbing or a plumbing supply business in Australia.

They drew on the recent industry transactions they’ve been involved in to provide insight to prospective sellers. Some key takeaways from their discussion were:

Key Consideration – Licensing Arrangements

When buying a plumbing or any trade business, buyers are looking for operations where the licenses match what they want to do with the business and are secured into the future. If the departing seller is a the key license holder, this is bad for saleability. Plumbing business operators looking to sell would ideally be licensed through other staff members who will stay with the business after a sale transaction.

Plumbing Supply – Niche Is More Attractive

The stock standard plumbing supply industry is very competitive with major players Tradelink & Reece responsible having strong competitive advantages. Because of this, buyers in this industry are more attracted to niche focused plumbing supply businesses.

Buyer Demand

The demand for both plumbing trade and plumbing supply businesses is moderate. Should a business be set up correctly (i.e. no loss of licenses for Trade, niche focus for Supply) it will sell as it’s an attractive proposition to a large buyer pool who don’t necessarily need to already be in the industry. Operations that are over dependant on the current owner however will struggle to sell in the current market.

Would you like us to take a look at your plumbing business and assess how saleable it may be? Book a complementary consultation with an expert broker today.