{
  "title": "How to Buy a Landscaping Business: Deals, Checks, Crews and SBA Loans",
  "url": "https://acquisitions.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-landscaping-business/",
  "author": "Moran Pober",
  "publisher": "Acquisitions.com",
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "updated": "2026-10-23",
  "section": "Buying a business",
  "keyword": "how to buy a landscaping business",
  "short_answer": "Find landscaping companies through marketplaces, brokers and owners you contact directly. Check the maintenance contracts and renewal rate, the mix of maintenance and design-build, the crews and any H-2B visa workers, the equipment, the monthly cash flow through the seasons and customer concentration. Most buyers pay with an SBA 7(a) loan of up to $5 million, their own cash and a seller note.",
  "facts": {
    "Owner bids, schedules and handles every customer": "You are buying a job until you replace them",
    "One customer over a quarter of revenue": "One lost contract can break the loan payments",
    "Most revenue from one-off design-build": "Next year's revenue is not yet sold",
    "Crews depend on visas with no backup plan": "A bad visa year can cut capacity",
    "Fleet past its useful life": "Year-one capital costs you did not price in",
    "Tax returns lower than the P&L": "Price on the tax returns, not the story",
    "Monthly cash flow that goes negative in winter": "You need more working capital than you think"
  },
  "sources": [
    "https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/7a-loans",
    "https://www.sba.gov/document/sop-50-10-lender-development-company-loan-programs",
    "https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/programs/h-2b",
    "https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/immigration/h2b",
    "https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2b-non-agricultural-workers/cap-count-for-h-2b-nonimmigrants",
    "https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2026-05-14_R44306_9c5435ffeac32c0e0f406f536bf41bedf240d100.html",
    "https://www.bls.gov/ooh/building-and-grounds-cleaning/grounds-maintenance-workers.htm",
    "https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-standards-pesticide-applicators",
    "https://acquisitions.com/data/asking-multiples/"
  ],
  "license": "Facts may be quoted with attribution to Acquisitions.com and a link to the url above."
}