What Does Private Equity Look for in a Home Service Company?

Private equity firms are buying home service companies. KKR reportedly agreed to buy A1 Garage Door Service for about $2 billion in September 2026, and Ken Goodrich sold Goettl to private equity buyers twice. Most carpet cleaners will never sell at all, because most are owner-operators whose business is really their own job. The numbers a buyer checks are the same ones that show whether you own a business or a job, and they sit in our 2026 Carpet Cleaning Benchmark Report. The full story is in Don’t Take My Word for It. Which do you own?

Key Takeaways

• Private equity buys home service companies when the results are predictable, which means booking rate, average job, repeat rate and revenue per truck are tracked and written down.
• KKR reportedly agreed to buy A1 Garage Door Service for about $2 billion in September 2026, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the deal.
• Ken Goodrich says the sweet spot for exit multiples is about $20-25 million of EBITDA, where bigger and better financed buyers compete for a deal.
• Tommy Mello advises owners to get sale-ready with clean books, management depth and recurring KPIs, even if they never sell.
• Most carpet cleaning companies are owner-operator businesses that never sell, so the real payoff of tracking your numbers is a business that runs without you.

Why is private equity buying home service companies?

Because the results repeat when someone runs the business on numbers. Goodrich bought Goettl in 2013 at about $11 million in revenue and a $3 million annual loss, grew it to $250 million, and sold to private equity buyers in 2018 and again in 2021, as he explains in his Owned and Operated interview with John Wilson. In September 2026, a Reuters report said KKR agreed to buy A1 Garage Door Service for about $2 billion. Neither KKR nor A1 has confirmed it.

What size company does a fund want?

A much bigger one than most cleaning companies. Goodrich says the sweet spot is about $20-25 million of EBITDA, because below that you get worse buyers and worse terms. Mello has described his 2022 recapitalization with Cortec Group as just under $30 million of EBITDA at a multiple he called in the 20s. A carpet cleaner with two or three crews is not on a fund’s list.

A carpet cleaner with two or three crews is not on a fund’s list. Most carpet cleaning companies never sell at all. The large majority are owner-operators, and when one does change hands it usually passes to family. Franchisees who leave often hand the territory back to the head office, which resells it. That comes from decades of watching this industry and its owner forums, so treat it as experience, not a statistic.

Why do most carpet cleaners never sell?

Because many owners have a job, not a business. When the owner is the technician, the salesperson and the person answering the phone, the company is worth little more than its equipment, and a buyer has nothing to buy except the trucks. A business that does not depend on the owner, books a steady share of its calls and brings customers back has something to sell. It is also easier to own while you still run it.

What do buyers check before they pay?

Whether you ever sell or not, these are the numbers that show a real business. A buyer of any size would ask for them, and they sit in our 2026 Carpet Cleaning Benchmark Report:

• Booking rate on new-customer calls: 25-35% for a typical operator, 50% or more for top operators.
• Average residential job: about $180 typical, $450-600 or more for top operators.
• Repeat rate: 10-15% typical, 60% or more for top operators.
• Revenue per truck per year: $100-190K typical, $250K or more for top operators.
• Owner hours on the truck: 40 or more per week for a typical owner, close to zero for top operators.

The last row matters most to a buyer. A business that only runs when the owner is on the truck is hard to hand to anyone. Mello says most people look at the wrong data, so start by tracking the right ones.

What is the 1,000-day plan?

It is Goodrich’s method for raising a company’s value on purpose. Before taking a private equity partner, he whiteboarded a plan with his management team to grow the business’s value tenfold in 1,000 days, with monthly milestones and a required state for revenue, profit, team and facilities at each step. He says the sale closed at ten times the prior valuation on day 996. You do not need a fund to use the idea. Pick a number, set the milestones and review them monthly.

What should a small owner do now?

Start recording the numbers. Take the 30-minute call review, measure your speed to lead and write your results on the 30-day whiteboard. Mello says every business should race toward a sale, because a business that can be sold is a business that is well run. Whether you ever sell or not, the work is the same.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will private equity buy a carpet cleaning company?

Almost never. Funds look for much larger businesses, about $20-25 million of EBITDA by Goodrich’s account, and most carpet cleaners are owner-operators who never sell at all. The numbers still matter, because they decide whether you own a business or a job.

Who is buying A1 Garage Door Service?

KKR reportedly agreed to buy A1 Garage Door Service for about $2 billion in September 2026, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the deal. Neither KKR nor A1 has confirmed it. Tommy Mello founded A1 in Phoenix in 2007.

What is EBITDA?

EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Buyers use it as a quick measure of what a business earns from operations, and they price a company as a multiple of that number.

What does owner dependence mean to a buyer?

It means the business only works when the owner does the work. Top operators in our benchmark spend close to zero hours on the truck, while a typical owner spends 40 or more. A buyer pays less for a company that depends on one person.

How long does it take to get a business ready?

It depends on where you start. Goodrich used a 1,000-day plan to grow his company tenfold in value before a sale. For a small owner, 30 days of tracked calls and a monthly review is a realistic first step.

Final Thoughts

Do not take my word for it. Check what the owners who sold already say, then check your own numbers against the benchmark. A business that tracks its booking rate, average job and repeat rate is worth more to any buyer and easier to run for you. If you want help building that, book a Growth Bottleneck Strategy Session and we will go through your numbers together. You can also read how fast to answer a web lead next.