How do I find a line striping business for sale?

Line striping is a small trade, and few owners list a striping firm under that name. The work is often done by a sweeping company, a paving contractor or a property-maintenance outfit that paints lines on the side. That means the search takes a bit of patience. Cast a wide net, expect to hear about a business before you see an ad for it, and keep your first questions short and practical.

Search terms that surface these firms

Try line striping, line marking, parking lot painting and pavement marking, then add your city or region. Check listing sites under maintenance, contractor and services categories as well as paving. A line striping firm may be filed under any of them. Some owners write "parking lot services" and mention striping in a single line of the description, so read past the headline before you move on.

Where the owners actually are

Some striping owners run one or two trucks and may not have thought about a sale. Property managers, paint and line-marking material suppliers, and paving crews know who is busy and who is slowing down. Ask them politely who does good work. A short, respectful letter or call to an owner, saying you are looking to buy a striping firm and keep the name and crew, may start a conversation.

What to ask first

Open with the equipment and the customers. Ask what trucks and striping machines the business owns, how old they are and who services them. Then ask who the repeat customers are, whether they hire on a schedule or call when lines fade, and whether the owner does the painting personally. Those answers show whether the work depends on the owner.

• Ask whether striping is the main work or a side line to paving or sweeping.
• Ask for the customer list by type, such as property managers, retailers or municipalities.
• Ask which jobs repeat each year and which were one-off.
• Ask who holds the layout drawings and records for each lot.

If paving is also on your list, how to find a paving company for sale covers that trade, and what to check before buying a parking lot cleaning business is useful when sweeping comes bundled.