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Carbondale, Jackson County

Carbondale Food Truck for Sale

A food truck in Carbondale is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Marion — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Carbondale file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.

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Carbondale market

Selling a food truck in Carbondale

A food truck in Carbondale is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Marion — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide food trucks playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Carbondale file.

Carbondale is Southern Illinois University’s city in the Shawnee hills — campus, SIH medical, and a student downtown that Marion’s interstate retail does not replicate.

SIU’s calendar dominates student-facing books; summer vacancy is the first diligence question. Campus liquor and rental licenses do not automatically follow an asset sale. Healthcare practices are the year-round story; buyers who have owned a campus town will underwrite August and January, not the average month, and Chicago PE is rare.

Carbondale has about 24,729 residents in Jackson County, inside the Carbondale-Marion area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Marion, Herrin, Du Quoin. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Marion is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Planning facts

Typical multiple
1.5x–2.5x SDE
Typical timeline
3–8 months
SBA eligible
Usually conventional
County
Jackson County
Population
24,729
Metro
Carbondale-Marion
Nearby comps
Marion, Herrin, Du Quoin
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
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Jackson County demand

Southern Illinois demand

Downstate and southern Illinois businesses are thinner on platform buyers and thicker on neighboring operators. Seller financing and a clean lease do more work than a headline multiple.

CBS-1 still applies. Local clerks and landlords set the real calendar.

Carbondale demand for food trucks is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 24,729 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.

Food Truck in Carbondale

What a Carbondale buyer will underwrite on this food truck

Food and liquor in Carbondale close on the lease and the local board as often as they close on prime cost. Jackson County health and — if the room pours — local-control liquor are Carbondale clocks, not a statewide multiple. Neighbors already compare this room to Marion, Herrin, Du Quoin.

Food Trucks statewide typically plan around 1.5x–2.5x SDE and a 3–8 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Carbondale shop. Buyers here usually argue route/event contracts, vehicle condition, equipment, social media following.

Closing clock for this Carbondale file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Carbondale application of it.

Carbondale is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Marion, Herrin, Du Quoin, not a platform that needs $2 million of earnings to pay for diligence. Financing is usually a conventional bank or private capital.

Buyer pool

Who buys a food truck in Carbondale

Buyers who have owned a campus town. Healthcare (SIH) supports practices. Chicago PE is rare.

Illustration: a single permitted truck working the West Loop and a suburban office park two days a week, commissary in a shared kitchen, seller cooking every service. Not a closed sale.

A food truck whose customers already sit in Marion, Herrin, Du Quoin is a larger business than one that stops at the Carbondale city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.

SDE recast

How a buyer will read the books on this Carbondale food truck

Food-truck recasts on repeat vending locations and contracted office parks, not a festival weekend. Add back owner-cook hours, then pull event-only spikes and any second truck that sat. Vehicle capex and commissary rent are not optional. A 1.5x–2.5x SDE band is planning language for a thin, operator-dependent asset — not a restaurant multiple.

Illustration only — not a quote for any Carbondale shop. A food truck whose tax return shows $51,000 of net profit is not worth $51,000 × a rumor multiple.

Add back the owner’s $36,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $22,000 of discretionary benefits, $4,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $8,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $11,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.

Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $110,000. At the planning range 1.5x–2.5x, enterprise value is $165,000 to $275,000. Mid-range 2.00x is $220,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Carbondale buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.

At 2.00 times $110,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $220,000 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.

SDE line items

  1. Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
  2. + Interest expense
  3. + Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
  4. + Depreciation and amortization
  5. + Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
  6. + Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
  7. + Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
  8. − Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
  9. = Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Carbondale food truck — not a quote
Net profit$51,000
Owner W-2$36,000
Benefits$22,000
One-time$4,000
Personal$8,000
Replacement labor (subtract)−$11,000
Recast SDE$110,000
Planning EV at 2.00x$220,000

Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for food trucks. Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.

Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—

Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.

Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.

$
1x 3.0x 8x
Estimated Value Range — to —

This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.

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Jackson County closing

Licenses and closing steps for a Carbondale sale

Jackson (Carbondale) uses state CBS-1. SIU-adjacent liquor, rental, and restaurant licenses are not automatic transfers.

Chicago Mobile Food Vendor licenses (and the associated commissary and parking rules) are famously specific and do not automatically transfer with the truck title. Suburban and downstate towns each issue their own mobile-food permits. County health stickers sit on the truck and the commissary agreement. The truck title, fire suppression, and propane certifications are part of the license stack.

Labor and lease

What has to keep working on Monday after close in Carbondale

For a food truck in Carbondale, the first labor question is: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck.

Southern Illinois University calendar dominates. Summer vacancy is the first diligence question on student-facing books.

The southern Illinois university city. Model the academic year.

Diligence

What a serious food truck buyer will open

Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Contracted weekday slots, not festival luck; A transferable Chicago or municipal mobile license; Truck mechanical and suppression condition; Commissary that a buyer can keep; A concept that is not only the seller’s personality.

Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Carbondale business: Title, mileage, hood suppression, generator, and propane file; Commissary contract assignability and health stickers; Chicago or municipal mobile-food license transfer path; Standing office-park or brewery slots versus festival-only income; Social following that is the seller’s face versus the concept; Whether a second permitted truck is real capacity or a parts donor.

Sale steps

How to prepare a Carbondale food truck for sale

  1. Recast this Carbondale food truck. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Carbondale buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
  2. Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this food truck pull a permit or see a patient in Carbondale, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
  3. Tell the truth about the Carbondale trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the Carbondale limit.
  4. Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Jackson County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
  5. Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
  6. Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois food trucks hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Carbondale file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
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