Revenue Mix
Recurring / Maintenance revenue 18–35% of total revenue < 12% Cash flow highly seasonal; winter crunch guaranteed Average ticket (repair call) $325–$650 < $275 or > $900 without flat-rate Underpricing or over-scoping → margin erosion Replacement / Install revenue 40–65% > 75% Lumpy cash flow, high working-capital needs
Gross Margin
Overall gross margin 38–52% < 35% Labor or material leak — immediate OCF killer Material margin on parts 35–50% markup < 25% markup Giving away $100k–$300k profit yearly
Labor
Field tech labor (incl. burden) 38–48% of revenue > 52% Overtime, bad routing, or low pricing — kills 8–15% net CSR / Call-center labor 4–7% > 9% Over-staffed phones or poor conversion Management / Overhead labor 6–10% > 14% Too many supervisors or owner doing low-value work Technician utilization 78–88% billable < 70% $150k–$400k lost revenue per year
Marketing & Sales
Total marketing spend 6–10% of revenue > 13% or < 4% Burning cash or lead starvation coming Cost per booked call $45–$110 > $160 Lead gen bleeding cash Sales close rate (in-home) 42–68% < 35% Pricing, presentation, or trust issue
OpEx
Vehicle & fuel total 7–11% > 14% Fleet too big or no telematics Facilities (rent + utilities) 2.5–5% > 7% Over-sized warehouse or retail office Software / Tech stack 1–3% > 4.5% Paying for duplicate tools
Working Capital
Accounts receivable days 28–42 days > 50 days Owner funds payroll with credit cards Inventory turns (parts) 6–10× per year < 4× $50k–$250k dead stock Cash on hand 45–90 days of OpEx < 30 days One slow month = bounced payroll
Balance Sheet
Fixed assets % of total assets 45–60% > 70% Too many trucks or owner real estate Debt service coverage ratio > 1.8× < 1.25× Bank will call line or block loans Owner salary + distributions 8–15% of revenue > 22% Draining equity instead of building it
Profitability
EBITDA margin 12–22% < 8% Valued on SDE (2–3.5×) instead of EBITDA (4.5–7×)
Personnel
Owner still doing field work 0–5 hrs/week max > 15 hrs/week #1 reason stuck under $3M No full-time Ops Manager Required at $1.8M+ Missing at $3M+ Owner is the bottleneck