How much does a Mobile Document Shredding cost to buy?

A typical Mobile Document Shredding sells for 2x to 5.8x seller's discretionary earnings. With estimated SDE of $182K, expect to pay roughly $364K to $1.1M before adjustments for assets, debt, growth, and local market quality.

How much does it cost to start a Mobile Document Shredding?

Startup costs range from $80K to $450K depending on location, equipment, and scale.

Route

Mobile Document Shredding

Compliance by the bin, shredded in the parking lot

Bottom line

Worth studying, but do not buy without strong local proof.

Mobile document shredding routes send secure shredding trucks to offices, medical clinics, law firms, banks, schools, and government customers. Clients pay for recurring locked-console pickups or purge days, and the operator sells peace of mind: confidential records are destroyed on-site with a certificate of destruction.

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Acquisition score

Margin · multiple · SBA data

56Strong

Avg revenue

$650K/yr

$180K–$2.2M range

Profit margin

28%

~$182K SDE

Multiple

2–5.8×

of SDE

Est. buy price

$364K–$1.1M

startup: $80K–$450K

How It Works

Operators place locked shred consoles at customer sites, run scheduled pickup routes, shred paper on-site or at a plant, issue certificates, bale the material, and sell recycled paper where possible. Revenue comes from recurring console service, one-time purge jobs, hard-drive destruction, and compliance-heavy accounts.

BizBite verdict

Watch / verify

Mobile Document Shredding 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.

56Strong

low data confidence · 40/100medium financing fit

Why it may work

No strong positives yet. More verified data needed.

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

Deal Calculator

Priced off $182K SDE — can this deal service its own debt?

1.97×

DSCR · Lender-comfortable

Purchase multiple — 3.5× SDE ($635K)

Category range: 2×–5.8× SDE

Down payment — 10% ($64K)

SBA minimum equity injection is 10% for change-of-ownership

Interest rate — 10.50%

Typical SBA 7(a) range: 9.5–12% (prime-based)

Loan term — 10 years

Standard SBA 7(a): 10 years for business acquisition

Purchase price

$635K

3.5× of $182K SDE

Cash to close

$83K

$64K down + ~3% closing

Debt service

$8K/mo

$93K/yr on $572K loan

Cash-on-cash

108%

cash back in ~12 mo

Debt service coverage · what the lender sees

1.97×+$7K/mo after debt

Most SBA lenders want ≥1.25× coverage; 1.5×+ is a strong file.

SDE = revenue × margin estimate for this niche; it includes owner compensation, so budget your salary out of cash flow. Excludes working-capital injection, capex reserves, and taxes. Actual SBA terms vary by lender and borrower.

Pros

+Recurring route revenue from offices and clinics
+Compliance needs make switching vendors annoying
+Purge jobs create high-ticket bursts
+Route density improves margins quickly

Cons

-Shredding trucks are expensive and maintenance-heavy
-Security processes and chain-of-custody documentation matter
-Paper volumes can decline in some office markets

Best For

Route-service, records-management, janitorial, or B2B local-service buyers who can sell trust and reliability

Operating Costs

Costs include shredding trucks or plant equipment, locked bins, drivers, fuel, maintenance, insurance, NAID-style security controls, recycling logistics, uniforms, and sales to offices and professional firms.