SELLING, WITH CLARITY
For janitorial and specialist commercial cleaning firms, show how contracts become staffed, supervised and profitable site service. Separate regular cleaning from periodic projects, and distinguish work performed internally from specialist subcontracting.
Start a confidential conversationWHAT A BUYER NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND
Record fees, agreed frequency, actual labour hours, supervision, supplies and subcontractor costs. Identify scope changes and unbilled extras. Revenue can remain stable while labour requirements rise. Reconcile representative sites to payroll and invoicing so buyers can assess the cost of maintaining the promised service.
Prepare customer start dates, renewals, cancellation terms and lost contracts with reasons where known. Group sites controlled by one property manager or customer. Distinguish signed commitments from informal renewals. Many locations do not necessarily mean diversified revenue, particularly when one decision-maker controls several contracts.
Map supervisors, relief coverage, training and recruitment. Review employee and subcontractor terms with advisers. Describe access procedures without sharing keys, alarm codes or unnecessary personal information in early diligence. Buyers need a controlled handover plan for both people and access to customer premises.
Organise service checks, complaints, rework, insurance and equipment records. Identify customer-owned supplies or assets and prepaid work. Agree staged communication and transition responsibilities suited to each contract. Do not promise retention before counterparties and transaction requirements have been reviewed with the appropriate advisers.
PREPARING FOR A SALE
Use this as a preparation checklist. An initial inquiry only needs your contact details and a brief introduction; keep sensitive records for a later, agreed review.
Explore business valuationFROM PREPARATION TO HANDOVER
Our business-value focus is approximately CAD5–50 million, not an annual revenue threshold. The preparation questions are editorial guidance; they do not establish a valuation, buyer interest or transferable approval.
Begin with a non-sensitive introduction. Keep customer identities, employee information and detailed financial records for a later, agreed review.
A LITTLE MORE CLARITY
They show a billing pattern. Assess scope, cancellation rights, retention and delivery cost before treating them as sustainable recurring earnings.
Plan communication with advisers around confidentiality, obligations and continuity. Initial enquiries should not contain access codes, personal employee records or identifying customer documents.
BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER
Practical reading for owners thinking about what comes next.
YOUR NEXT CHAPTER STARTS HERE
Start with a confidential conversation about selling your business. A few details are all we need to begin.
A confidential first conversation
Space to explore your options
No commitment to list your business