Commercial Ice Machine Cleaning Service
The hidden food-safety chore inside every restaurant ice bin
Bottom line
Worth studying, but do not buy without strong local proof.
Commercial ice machine cleaning services descale, sanitize, inspect, and document restaurant, hotel, healthcare, convenience-store, and office ice machines. The surprise angle: ice is food, but many operators forget the machine until slime, scale, cloudy ice, or a health-inspection issue forces action.
Avg Revenue
$380K
Profit Margin
30%
Acquisition Multiple
1.7x - 4.2x
Startup Cost
$25K - $140K
How It Works
Technicians schedule quarterly or semiannual visits, shut down the machine, remove scale, clean bins and components, sanitize food-contact surfaces, change filters, inspect condenser performance, and leave a service log. Revenue comes from recurring cleaning plans, filter changes, minor repairs, emergency calls, and referrals into refrigeration service.
Revenue Range
BizBite underwriting snapshot
Pass for now
Commercial Ice Machine Cleaning Service has enough high-level data for a first look, but BizBite has not assigned a category-specific operating model yet. Treat the score as preliminary.
Category-level fit before lender-specific diligence.
Weak source data caps the final score.
Why it may work
- +Attractive 30% estimated margin profile
Be careful
- !Source link status has not been verified yet
- !No last-checked date yet
- !No SBA category enrichment yet
- !No category operating model yet
- !Low data confidence
Pros
- +Recurring food-safety task with visible before/after value
- +Low equipment cost compared with full refrigeration contracting
- +Easy cross-sell to restaurants, hotels, healthcare, offices, and convenience stores
- +Filter replacement and minor repairs add ticket size
Cons
- -Trust and documentation matter because customers serve the ice to guests
- -Some HVAC/refrigeration contractors already bundle the service
- -Routes must be dense enough to avoid travel eating the margin
Best For
Food-service maintenance operators who can package ice-machine cleaning as a simple recurring compliance and quality-control plan
Operating Costs
Costs include cleaning chemicals, sanitizer, replacement filters, PPE, hand tools, technician labor, vehicles, insurance, and light parts inventory. Margin resembles specialty cleaning and small equipment service: strong on scheduled routes, weaker on one-off emergency calls with travel time.
SBA Financing Estimator
Adjust the deal — see if it cash flows after debt service
Estimates only. Excludes owner compensation, capex, working capital draws, and taxes. Margin assumes average occupancy and volume. Actual SBA terms vary by lender and borrower profile.
Where to Buy
Ice equipment article highlighting that cleaning, maintenance, and upkeep are recurring tasks that protect machine economics
Commercial ice-machine economics article discussing low production cost, cleaning/sanitizing time, and maintenance routines
Cleaning-business calculator noting recurring contracts create steadier income and reduce marketing costs versus one-off jobs
Acquisition Score
Scores margin (30), entry multiple (25), SBA market depth (20), category risk (15), and deal momentum (10). Higher = better acquisition candidate.
Quick Facts
- Category
- service
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Buy price
- $646K–$1.6M
Buyer's Toolkit
Essential tools to get started
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Largest business-for-sale marketplace in the US
SBA loans and business acquisition financing — get funded fast
ROBS financing — use retirement funds to buy a business tax-free
Bookkeeping for small business owners — hands-off financials
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