So my shower drain's been driving me crazy - like, water pooling around my ankles every morning. Figured maybe it's time to look into buying an existing drain cleaning business instead of just hiring one. Yeah, weird pivot, but hear me out.

Getting the Ball Rolling

Opened my laptop first thing after coffee. Straight up Googled "drain cleaning service for sale" hoping for something easy. Man, the mess! Got buried under:

• A million ads for Roto-Rooter franchise opportunities (not what I want)
• Local service pages begging me to CALL NOW FOR $99 CLEANING
• Random plumbing supply sites selling actual snakes, not businesses

Gotta say, super annoying. Felt like digging through a clogged pipe myself.

Platform Hopping Time

Remembered those "business for sale" sites exist. Tried a big one first. Searched specifically using "drain cleaning" and "plumbing service". Filtered for established small businesses, not franchises.

Scrolled... and scrolled some more. Saw a lotta junk:

• Tons of landscaping companies (wrong!)
• Used food trucks (random!)
• One listing for a "Water Jetting" company... with no equipment included? Pass!

Switched to a different platform focused on trades. This felt better.

Hitting Pay Dirt (Sort Of)

Targeted my search way harder this round. Used filters for service businesses, established for at least 3 years, and included equipment.

Boom! Few more promising ones popped up:

• "ABC Drain Solutions" - 5 year old business, claims $300k/year revenue. Comes with a van and two hydro-jetters.
• "Quick Flow" - Owner retiring. Smaller operation, mostly residental. Van, snakes, small jetter.

Finally! Actual listings! Contacted both just to get some docs. Now the real digging starts. Gotta see if the numbers are real or just snake oil.