You opened in the nineties. You still open the doors most mornings. Your back tells you it is time, but your crew, your customers and your name are tied up in the place, and you don't want to hand it to someone who will gut it. We buy owner-run service businesses, keep the people, and take over on your timeline.
By Chad DeAbreu, founder of TradeBrain and partner at Sea2Sky Investments ยท Updated October 2026
Most small service businesses in BC are bought by one of three buyers: an employee or family member, a competitor, or a local operator-investor. TradeBrain is the third kind. We buy owner-run trade and service businesses directly, keep the staff, and pay part of the price at closing and the rest over an agreed period. We have done it ourselves: TradeBrain acquired Doggy Tales Whistler, a dog walking company, on January 1, 2026, and runs it today with its team of walkers.
Larger businesses, with $250,000 to $2 million in annual profit, are a fit for Sea2Sky Investments, the Whistler acquisition partnership TradeBrain's founder Chad DeAbreu is a partner in.
of Canadian small business owners plan to exit within ten years (CFIB)
of them have a written succession plan (CFIB)
median days on market for an auto repair shop sold in 2025 (BizBuySell)
Baby boomers still own 62% of Canada's small and mid-sized businesses, and most of them are heading for the door in the same decade. The businesses are fine. The buyers are thin.
A good tradesperson earns a solid wage with no risk. Buying you out means a few hundred thousand down, a personal guarantee on the rest, and a bank asking for management experience they don't have yet. Most do the math and stay where they are.
Running the place means quoting, chasing parts, managing personalities and making payroll on Friday whether or not the money came in. Your crew has watched you do it for years. Plenty of them have quietly decided they don't want it.
A business on the open market can sit for months while you keep running it and wondering who has seen the listing. The longer it sits, the more the asking price drops, and the more likely your staff hear about it before you tell them.
TradeBrain runs the back office for trade and service businesses: money, people and admin. We also buy them. In January 2026 we acquired Doggy Tales Whistler, a dog walking company, kept its walkers and clients, and put our own systems behind it. Chad, our founder, is also a partner in Sea2Sky Investments, a Whistler-based partnership of three local operators that buys well-run service businesses in the Sea to Sky corridor, the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast. When we buy, we are buying your crew and your customers, not a building to flip.
The people who do the work are the business. We screen every deal on who stays, and the first ninety days after closing are spent keeping them. Nobody gets a surprise letter.
Same phone number, same crew showing up, same standard. We add the systems behind it: quoting, invoicing, scheduling and payroll that run without one person holding it all in their head.
We value the business on what it earns, explain the number line by line, and don't play games with it. If we are not the right buyer, we will tell you early and point you to someone who might be.
Coffee or a call about the business and what you want from the next few years. If it looks like a fit, you share two or three years of financials and we work out what the business earns once a manager is paid a real salary to do your job. Nobody on your team needs to know yet.
A plain-language letter of intent. We buy the assets of the business, which keeps the deal clean for both sides. Part of the price is paid at closing and the rest over time from the business itself, so you keep a stake in it doing well.
You choose how long you stay involved, from a few weeks of introductions to a longer advisory role, paid separately from the purchase price. You introduce us to the crew and your key customers, and then you get your mornings back.
Auto repair shops, electrical contractors, plumbing companies, HVAC, landscaping, pet care and similar trade and service businesses. Usually 3 to 30 people, steady repeat customers, and an owner who is ready to step back. Anywhere in British Columbia, with the most interest in the Sea to Sky corridor, the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast. Businesses earning $250,000 to $2 million a year in profit are often a better fit for Sea2Sky Investments; we will tell you on the first call which one makes sense.
Tell us a little about your business and when you're thinking of stepping back. Chad will reach out personally. Nothing you send here is shared with anyone.
You'll talk to Chad DeAbreu
Founder of TradeBrain, partner at Sea2Sky Investments. Lives in Pemberton.
Prefer email? chad@tradebrain.ca. Chad replies within one business day.