About RetireFromTrades

RetireFromTrades is operated by Quixta Ventures LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in India. It is a set of free, honest valuation tools and guides for owners of roofing, plumbing and HVAC companies who are thinking about selling or retiring. It is written by Anand Ashok, the founder, who writes and maintains the guides from public research and the sources listed on each page. We are not a business broker, and nothing here depends on whether you sell.

Who writes it

Anand Ashok writes every page and keeps it up to date. Each page shows the date it was last reviewed, and every number on it links to the original source so you can check it yourself. When a page uses our own estimate rather than a published figure, it says "our estimate".

Why the site exists

Owners get plenty of letters about selling and few straight answers. Our research found these gaps:

• Most free calculators want something from you. Many are run by software vendors such as ServiceTitan, by buyers such as Infinity Home Services, or sit next to a buyer's sell your business page. The tool is built to start a sales conversation.
• Roofing has no public sold-deal benchmark. BizBuySell publishes sold-deal multiples for HVAC and plumbing, but for roofing only asking prices, with a median asking multiple of 3.16x SDE on 147 listings. Asking is not selling, and we point that out wherever we show roofing numbers.
• The headline price is not what you keep. The top questions owners bring to NRCA are about cash at closing, money paid later and taxes. Owners on forums ask whether an offer is enough to retire on. Software that does that math is sold to advisers, for example Maus at $299 to $499 a month, not to owners.
• Selling to private equity is only one path. Family, a key employee, an ESOP or a slow wind-down can all be the right answer, and a tool built to win listings has little reason to show them.

These gaps matter to a lot of people. Census data shows 49.1% of construction-sector employer business owners are 55 or older. No public source gives the figure for roofing, plumbing or HVAC alone.

How pages are researched and reviewed

• Public sources only. Every fact comes from a source you can open, such as government data, license boards, statutes and published deal data, linked where it is used. Every source we rely on is listed with the date we checked it on where our numbers come from.
• Our numbers are labelled. Published figures are stated as what that source reported. Anything we worked out ourselves is called our estimate. Every multiple our calculator uses is labelled illustrative until it has been checked against verified closed deals. The formula, the version number and the change log are on how we calculate value.
• What we could not find, we say, instead of guessing.
• Outside review is planned, not done. We plan to add paid reviewers: a CPA, and an M&A attorney or an experienced M&A adviser. None are named yet, and no page has been checked by one so far. When a reviewer checks a page, their name, credential and the review date will appear on it. Reviewers will be paid for their time and will not receive referral fees from the site.
• Corrections are public. If you find an error, email support@retirefromtrades.com or use contact. We check it, fix it if we got it wrong, and list the fix with its date in the corrections log on the methodology page.

How the site is paid for

The free estimate and the tools cost nothing. We make money from an optional $99 Full Report, and we take no referral fee from any broker. Every revenue line, live and planned, is on how we make money.

What we do not do

• We are not a broker. We do not list, market or negotiate the sale of any business, and we take no part in any sale.
• We only ask for a phone number if you request a broker introduction, and it is optional. We never call you for marketing.
• We never pass your details to a buyer or a broker unless you tick the box for that introduction.
• We never ask for your SSN, EIN, tax returns or bank logins.
• We are not paid by any buyer or private equity firm we write about.
• We do not give tax, legal or investment advice. We explain how things work and tell you what to ask your CPA, attorney or planner.

Change log

• 2026-11-09: Page published. Same day: named the operator, Quixta Ventures LLP, and the support inbox, support@retirefromtrades.com.