Pueblo West started as a planned land development in the late 1960s, on open ground a few miles west of Pueblo. It took years to fill in. The census counted 29,637 people here in 2010, and by 2020 the count was 33,086, in about 12,500 homes. That is roughly 3,400 more people in ten years.
That growth brought a lot of trade owners with it. Plenty of plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, handymen and landscapers live in Pueblo West and run their company from the same property. The truck sits in the driveway, the parts sit in the garage, and the office is a corner of the kitchen.
Kent & Tamarack helps owners like that sell. We work only with small trade and service companies, and every sale we handle stays private until the owner decides otherwise.
A place with its own rules
Pueblo West is a census-designated place, not an incorporated town. An elected board runs the metro district, which provides local services such as water and fire protection. Pueblo County handles the sheriff, and planning and zoning.
For a business owner, this matters in small ways that become big in a sale. A buyer who wants to keep the company at a property in Pueblo West will want to know what the county allows there. Some buyers will want a commercial yard instead. Either way, it is better to know the answer before a buyer asks.
The home-shop question
Selling a company that runs from your home is a little different from selling one with its own building. The business and the house are tangled together, and a buyer needs them pulled apart.
Here is what we sort out with you early:
- Which trucks, trailers and tools belong to the company and which are personal.
- Where the inventory and parts will go after the sale.
- Whether the business phone number and email are in the company's name or yours.
- Whether you own any land or a shop building that could be sold or leased to the buyer as a separate deal.
- How much of the household bills run through the business books, so the buyer sees what the company really earns.
That last point is common and nothing to be ashamed of. Many owners pay for a phone, a vehicle or part of the utilities through the company. When we prepare the numbers for a buyer, we add those items back so the company's true earnings show. Your accountant helps us get this right.
Houses that are reaching the age for repair
A lot of Pueblo West was built in the boom of the 1990s and 2000s. Houses from those years are now old enough that water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners, roofs and electrical panels are coming due. That is steady work for a local service company, and a buyer can see it in the area itself.
If your company already does a lot of replacement and repair work for these homes, show it. Repeat customers, maintenance plans and a good share of jobs coming from referrals all tell a buyer that the work will keep coming after you leave.
Between Pueblo and the mountains
U.S. Highway 50 runs through Pueblo West and on to Canon City, about 30 miles west. The northeast edge of the district touches I-25, and Lake Pueblo State Park runs along the south side. A company based here can reach Pueblo, the St. Charles Mesa, the lake area and the Fremont County towns without much trouble.
A buyer will want to see how far your crews drive and where the profitable work sits. If most of your best jobs are within a few miles of home, that is worth saying. If you also run regular routes to Canon City or Colorado City, show how those trips pay for themselves. A buyer who lives in Pueblo may not want long drives west, and a buyer from Fremont County may want exactly those routes. Knowing which is which helps us decide who to call first.
Who buys a Pueblo West company
Buyers for small companies out here come from close by. A Pueblo company may want your customers on the west side. A key employee may want to take over and pay part of the price over time. Someone moving to the area for the lower cost of living, compared to the Front Range cities to the north, may want to buy a working business instead of a job.
For a home-based company, the buyer pool is usually a person more than a corporation. That makes the handover even more personal. We take time to find someone who will treat your customers the way you have.
Keeping quiet when the truck sits in your driveway
When the company lives at your house, your neighbors see everything. A strange car parked out front twice in one week gets noticed. So we keep buyer visits off your property until late in the process. Early meetings happen by phone or somewhere neutral, and a buyer sees your name only after signing a confidentiality agreement. Your crew hears about the sale from you, at the time you pick.
What your company is worth
A home-based trade company has a value. It depends on what the company earns for an owner, how steady that is, the equipment, the crew and how much of the work depends on you being there. We do not guess at a number on the phone. After we look at your books, you get an honest range and the reasons for it, plus a list of what would raise it.
How a sale runs and who answers
The process has four steps: a private first call, a fair look at value, a quiet search for a buyer, and a close with your accountant and attorney. You can read about each step. Plumbers may also want our page on selling a plumbing business.
To talk it over, call (983) 900-6537. You will reach the founder. If your company is based in town, see the Pueblo page.