A painting company in Sycamore is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to DeKalb — 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 painting companies playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Sycamore file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
Sycamore market
Selling a painting company in Sycamore
A painting company in Sycamore is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to DeKalb — 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 painting companies playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Sycamore file.
Sycamore is DeKalb County’s seat: a courthouse square, the Pumpkin Festival, and a quieter downtown than NIU’s DeKalb a few miles west.
County-office professional services and household routes are the story. Do not borrow NIU seasonality unless the customers are actually students. Buyers treat this as the civic twin of DeKalb, then price it as a small county-seat city, not a campus town.
Sycamore has about 17,788 residents in DeKalb County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include DeKalb. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from DeKalb is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
2x–3.5x SDE
Typical timeline
4–8 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
DeKalb County
Population
17,788
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
DeKalb
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
Rockford, the I-90 industrial belt, and Wisconsin-line towns draw owner-operators and regional manufacturers more often than a Loop platform.
State CBS-1 still applies. Price the customer list and the license holder, not a Chicago multiple.
Sycamore demand for painting companies is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 17,788 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Painting Company in Sycamore
What a Sycamore buyer will underwrite on this painting company
Construction in Sycamore is contracted backlog and whoever can pull the next municipal permit. DeKalb County and Sycamore clerk registrations are the local file. Bonding and prequalification sit on a person. They reset.
Painting Companies statewide typically plan around 2x–3.5x SDE and a 4–8 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Sycamore shop. Buyers here usually argue commercial contract backlog, crew size, equipment, builder/property manager relationships.
Closing clock for this Sycamore file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) certification is required for compensated work on pre-1978 housing — it is federal and personal to the firm’s certified renovator. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Sycamore application of it.
Sycamore is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from DeKalb, 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 painting company in Sycamore
SBA buyers who understand university towns; agricultural-service buyers in the townships. PE only for scaled routes.
Illustration: a residential-and-light-commercial painting company in Elmhurst with three crews, RRP on the owner only, and a summer exterior book that the seller wants treated as year-round. Not a closed sale.
A painting company whose customers already sit in DeKalb is a larger business than one that stops at the Sycamore city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this Sycamore painting company
Painting recasts on crew-week contribution and contracted commercial maintenance, not a single HOA-exterior year. Add back owner-painter hours, then isolate weather-delayed exteriors and any lead-abatement job that needs extra credentials. A 2x–3.5x SDE band assumes crews that show up without the seller on the scaffold and a book that is not only summer exteriors.
Illustration only — not a quote for any Sycamore shop. A painting company whose tax return shows $109,000 of net profit is not worth $109,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $61,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $25,000 of discretionary benefits, $16,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $7,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $23,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $195,000. At the planning range 2.0x–3.5x, enterprise value is $390,000 to $682,500. Mid-range 2.75x is $536,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Sycamore buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 2.75 times $195,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $536,250 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 Sycamore painting company — not a quote
Net profit
$109,000
Owner W-2
$61,000
Benefits
$25,000
One-time
$16,000
Personal
$7,000
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$23,000
Recast SDE
$195,000
Planning EV at 2.75x
$536,250
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for painting companies.
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.
$
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.
DeKalb County uses state CBS-1 plus City of DeKalb and Sycamore licenses. Student-housing and downtown retail near NIU have lease and seasonality issues.
EPA RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) certification is required for compensated work on pre-1978 housing — it is federal and personal to the firm’s certified renovator. Illinois has no statewide painter license. Municipal contractor registration and the Home Repair and Remodeling Act apply on residential. Commercial and prevailing-wage work add their own packets. RRP is the license sellers forget.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in Sycamore
For a painting company in Sycamore, the first labor question is: Interior and commercial work that prints in February.
Northern Illinois University drives restaurants, rentals, and services on an academic calendar. Summer cash flow must be explained. Farm-service businesses follow a different clock.
I-88 between Chicago and the Quad Cities. Two economies: campus and corn.
Diligence
What a serious painting company buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Interior and commercial work that prints in February; RRP certifications on staying renovators; Crews that are not the seller; Property-manager contracts with term; Workers-comp and height file a carrier will renew.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Sycamore business: Interior vs exterior vs commercial-maintenance mix across seasons; RRP firm and renovator certifications on people who stay; Crew model and whether the seller still cuts in every room; Property-manager or builder concentration; Spray equipment, lifts, and any lead-job history; Workers-comp class versus actual height and commercial work.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a Sycamore painting company 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—
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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 Sycamore painting company for sale
Recast this Sycamore painting company. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Sycamore 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 painting company pull a permit or see a patient in Sycamore, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the Sycamore 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 Sycamore limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in DeKalb 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 painting companies hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Sycamore file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Answers for owners and buyers in DeKalb County, including local closing steps.
Buyers start with seller’s discretionary earnings, then apply a planning range around 2x–3.5x SDE. That is a statewide starting point, not an appraisal. The lease, licenses, and how much of the book depends on the owner move the number more than a rumor multiple.
Most prepared Main Street sales take about six to twelve months. Clean books and an assignable lease help. License transfers and landlord consent are what add weeks.
No statewide painting contractor license. Commercial and prevailing-wage work has its own paperwork. Interior residential routes sell on crew tenure, not a single insurance rebuild year.
Buyers will pull weather-driven spikes. Recurring commercial touch-up contracts support a better multiple than one hail season.
Yes. Buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement before they see the name. Your staff should not learn the sale from a listing photo. Key people may hear near a signed letter of intent.
Most Sycamore asset sales file Illinois Form CBS-1 at least 10 business days before closing. DeKalb 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 Sycamore is usually an owner-operator or a neighboring shop, not a coastal fund. DeKalb County buyers already know the trade area. Seller financing and a clean lease matter more than a headline multiple.
No. The planning multiple for painting companies is a statewide starting point, not a Sycamore appraisal. Buyers in DeKalb County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Painting Company Brokerage Near Sycamore
We serve painting companies owners and buyers across DeKalb County and the surrounding region.