What should I check before buying a pool maintenance route?

A pool maintenance route is a list of customers, a schedule and a truck. You are not buying a building or a brand so much as the habit of those customers to keep the same person servicing their pool. Your checks should test how firm that habit is, and how much of it belongs to the current owner.

Service agreements and seasonal bookings

Ask to see the agreements behind the route. Are they written or verbal, weekly or on request, and can customers cancel at any time? Check how many stops also book the spring opening and fall closing, since that work shapes the year. Compare the customer list with the invoices and with the owner’s calendar.

Route density and running costs

Stops close together mean less time driving and more time servicing. Ask for a map of the route and note the long gaps. Then look at what it costs to run: chemicals, fuel, the truck, insurance and any helpers. Ask who supplies the chemicals and whether the supplier terms carry over to you. Ask which equipment is part of the sale.

Will customers stay after the handover?

Customers often know the owner by name. Ask the seller to introduce you on the route, and to stay for a period while you learn it. Ask how often customers have left in the past, and why. Find out whether any customer is large enough that losing one would change the picture, and speak with them if the seller allows.

The seller’s side of this is covered in how to sell a pool cleaning business with a seasonal route.