How much does a Restaurant Ice Bin Cleaning cost to buy?

A typical Restaurant Ice Bin Cleaning sells for 1.4x to 3.3x seller's discretionary earnings. With estimated SDE of $63K, expect to pay roughly $88K to $208K before adjustments for assets, debt, growth, and local market quality.

How much does it cost to start a Restaurant Ice Bin Cleaning?

Startup costs range from $4K to $45K depending on location, equipment, and scale.

Route

Restaurant Ice Bin Cleaning

The dirtiest clean-looking thing in the restaurant

Bottom line

Accessible entry point; validate local supply before buying.

Restaurant ice bin cleaning routes deep-clean, sanitize, descale, and document ice bins, soda ice wells, hotel ice machines, bar wells, and ice-storage areas. It is a simple food-safety niche with a surprisingly strong sales hook: ice touches drinks directly, but bins are easy for staff to neglect.

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Acquisition score

Margin · multiple · SBA data

72Excellent

Avg revenue

$180K/yr

$50K–$550K range

Profit margin

35%

~$63K SDE

Multiple

1.4–3.3×

of SDE

Est. buy price

$88K–$208K

startup: $4K–$45K

How It Works

Operators schedule monthly or quarterly stops, empty and protect ice, scrub bins and drains, descale mineral buildup, sanitize contact surfaces, document before-and-after photos, and tag completed equipment. Revenue comes from recurring per-location service, emergency cleanups, filter changes, drain cleaning, and bundled ice machine maintenance referrals.

BizBite verdict

Watch / verify

Restaurant Ice Bin Cleaning 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.

72Excellent

low data confidence · 40/100medium financing fit

Why it may work

+Attractive 35% 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

Deal Calculator

Priced off $63K SDE — can this deal service its own debt?

3.09×

DSCR · Lender-comfortable

Purchase multiple — 2.2× SDE ($140K)

Category range: 1.4×–3.3× SDE

Down payment — 10% ($14K)

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

$140K

2.2× of $63K SDE

Cash to close

$18K

$14K down + ~3% closing

Debt service

$2K/mo

$20K/yr on $126K loan

Cash-on-cash

234%

cash back in ~6 mo

Debt service coverage · what the lender sees

3.09×+$4K/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

+Route-dense recurring service with low startup cost
+Strong visual before-and-after content for sales and retention
+Can attach to hood cleaning, kitchen deep cleaning, bar maintenance, or ice machine service
+Food-safety framing makes it easier to justify regular schedules

Cons

-Small tickets require dense routes or bundled services
-Night or off-hour work may be required
-Must use food-safe processes and avoid contaminating active ice supply

Best For

Kitchen cleaning routes, bar maintenance vendors, ice-machine techs, and owner-operators targeting restaurant clusters

Operating Costs

Costs include sanitizer, brushes, descaler, towels, PPE, buckets, portable pumps, photo documentation, labor, and mileage. July 2026 research found cleaning businesses can produce 20-35% margins when route density and labor control are strong; BizBite models ice-bin cleaning as a higher-margin specialty add-on but with smaller average tickets than full kitchen deep cleans.