What should I check before buying a forklift repair business?

A forklift repair business depends on its reputation and its response time. Customers run warehouses that stop when a truck is down, so they stay with the shop that answers the phone and sends a good technician. A buyer is taking on that reputation, a group of skilled people and a set of service relationships. None of them transfers automatically, so each deserves a direct look.

Maintenance contracts and customers

Ask for every planned-maintenance agreement, with its start and end dates, how it renews and whether the customer can cancel on notice. Read whether it can be assigned to a new owner or needs the customer’s consent. Find out how much work comes from a few large warehouses. Losing one account can change a small shop, so ask your lawyer how to handle consents in the agreement.

Technicians and vans

Technicians are the business. Ask who has been there longest, which brands each one is trained on and whether any plan to leave. Meet them early, with the owner’s permission. Look over the service vans, their tooling and their maintenance history, and ask whether vehicles and diagnostic equipment are owned, leased or financed. Our page on key employees who quit before closing is worth reading.

Parts supply and work orders

Ask where parts come from, whether the shop has accounts with manufacturers or distributors and whether those accounts depend on the current owner. Then read a sample of work orders. Complete, consistent records show a shop that is organized. Sparse ones make it hard to tell what the shop actually does, how quickly jobs are finished and how often customers come back.