A electrical contractor in Carmi is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Mt. Carmel — 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 electrical contractors playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Carmi file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
Carmi market
Selling a electrical contractor in Carmi
A electrical contractor in Carmi is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Mt. Carmel — 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 electrical contractors playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Carmi file.
Carmi is White County’s seat on the Little Wabash — a small southeastern courthouse town with farm and energy remnants, facing Indiana more than St. Louis.
Evansville-adjacent and local buyers show up. Dual-state questions appear when customers sit across the Wabash. Owner-dependent professional practices need a transition. This is not Harrisburg’s Shawnee seat and not Lawrenceville’s US-50 border crossing.
Carmi has about 4,748 residents in White County, inside the Carmi area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Mt. Carmel, Fairfield. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Mt. Carmel is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
3x–4.5x SDE
Typical timeline
4–9 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
White County
Population
4,748
Metro
Carmi
Nearby comps
Mt. Carmel, Fairfield
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
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.
Carmi demand for electrical contractors is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 4,748 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Electrical Contractor in Carmi
What a Carmi buyer will underwrite on this electrical contractor
Carmi is not a collar-county density play. A electrical contractor here usually sells to an owner-operator who already covers Mt. Carmel, Fairfield, not a platform that needs a hired dispatcher and a second licensed person. Municipal registrations still reset on a new entity.
Electrical Contractors statewide typically plan around 3x–4.5x SDE and a 4–9 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Carmi shop. Buyers here usually argue licensed electrician count, commercial vs residential mix, backlog of contracts, fleet and equipment.
Closing clock for this Carmi file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: Illinois has no statewide electrician license. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Carmi application of it.
Carmi is a small town market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Mt. Carmel, Fairfield, not a platform that needs $2 million of earnings to pay for diligence. SBA 7(a) and seller financing usually matter more here than a headline multiple.
Buyer pool
Who buys a electrical contractor in Carmi
Evansville-adjacent and local.
Illustration: a Schaumburg-area electrical contractor with a Chicago supervising electrician on staff, a suburban service truck, and a backlog of tenant-improvement and service-call work. Not a closed sale.
A electrical contractor whose customers already sit in Mt. Carmel, Fairfield is a larger business than one that stops at the Carmi city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this Carmi electrical contractor
Electrical buyers recast backlog quality, not last year’s data-center overtime. Add back owner W-2, then haircut bid jobs that will not transfer and any prevailing-wage spike. If the seller is the only person who can pull permits in Chicago or the home-rule suburb that feeds the book, subtract a supervising electrician before you apply 3x–4.5x SDE.
Illustration only — not a quote for any Carmi shop. A electrical contractor whose tax return shows $166,000 of net profit is not worth $166,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $90,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $15,500 of discretionary benefits, $6,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $12,500 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $75,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $215,000. At the planning range 3.0x–4.5x, enterprise value is $645,000 to $967,500. Mid-range 3.75x is $806,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Carmi buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 3.75 times $215,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $806,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.
SDE line items
Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
+ Interest expense
+ Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
+ Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
+ Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
− Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
= Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Carmi electrical contractor — not a quote
Net profit
$166,000
Owner W-2
$90,000
Benefits
$15,500
One-time
$6,000
Personal
$12,500
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$75,000
Recast SDE
$215,000
Planning EV at 3.75x
$806,250
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for electrical contractors.
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.
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1x3.0x8x
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.
White (Carmi) uses state CBS-1. Wabash / Indiana adjacency on some businesses.
Illinois has no statewide electrician license. Chicago requires a licensed supervising electrician; many suburbs register electrical contractors municipally. Those registrations are not automatic asset transfers. A buyer who cannot put a supervising electrician on the payroll loses the municipal work that justified the multiple.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in Carmi
For a electrical contractor in Carmi, the first labor question is: A staying supervising electrician for the cities that matter.
Farm and energy remnants. Owner-dependent professional practices need a transition.
Southeastern. Realistic close is local capital plus SBA.
Diligence
What a serious electrical contractor buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: A staying supervising electrician for the cities that matter; Service-call mix versus bid construction; Backlog that is contracted, not hoped; Union or open-shop alignment with the buyer’s model; Low GC concentration and transferable property-manager accounts.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Carmi business: Who can pull permits in each municipality the company actually works; Contract backlog, bid-vs-negotiated mix, and retainage aging; Licensed electrician count versus helpers and the seller’s own hours; Fleet, benders, testers, and whether tools are owned or on the truck as personal property; Union vs open-shop reality and any PLA exposure; Customer concentration among GCs, property managers, and municipalities.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a Carmi electrical contractor buyer
Most Illinois owner-operator acquisitions use SBA 7(a). This is a payment sketch, not an approval.
SBA 7(a) loans are the most common financing for business acquisitions. Estimate your monthly payment and required down payment based on the purchase price.
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yrs
Down Payment Required—
Loan Amount—
Est. Monthly Payment—
This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only. Actual SBA loan terms depend on your credit profile, the specific lender, and current market conditions. Contact us to connect with SBA-approved lenders in Illinois.
Sale steps
How to prepare a Carmi electrical contractor for sale
Recast this Carmi electrical contractor. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Carmi buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this electrical contractor pull a permit or see a patient in Carmi, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the Carmi 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 Carmi limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in White County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
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.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois electrical contractors hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Carmi file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Answers for owners and buyers in White County, including local closing steps.
Illinois electrical contractor businesses typically sell for 3x–4.5x SDE. Businesses with commercial contract backlogs, multiple licensed electricians on staff, and low customer concentration tend to command the higher end.
No. Electrical licenses are personal credentials — they do not transfer. Buyers need to either hold their own license or hire a licensed master electrician. This is a standard deal point we plan for early in every transaction.
Buyers include PE-backed trades platforms, larger electrical contractors looking to grow their geographic footprint, and licensed electricians ready to own their own operation. Illinois's active construction market keeps buyer demand strong.
There is no hard minimum, but businesses generating $500,000 or more in annual revenue tend to attract the largest buyer pools, including institutional buyers. Smaller businesses still sell well to individual buyers.
In most sales, buyers want to retain the existing team. Experienced, licensed electricians are a core part of the business's value. We structure transitions to protect your team and maintain continuity.
Most Carmi asset sales file Illinois Form CBS-1 at least 10 business days before closing. White County does not use Chicago’s 45-day city notice unless the business also operates there. Municipal licenses and the lease still need their own calendar.
The first serious call in Carmi is usually an owner-operator or a neighboring shop, not a coastal fund. White County buyers already know the trade area. Seller financing and a clean lease matter more than a headline multiple.
No. The planning multiple for electrical contractors is a statewide starting point, not a Carmi appraisal. Buyers in White County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Electrical Contractor Brokerage Near Carmi
We serve electrical contractors owners and buyers across White County and the surrounding region.