Big equipment. Repeat customers. Real margins.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 05, 2026   |   Read online The $2M Business of Drilling Holes in Dirt Big equipment. Repeat customers. Real margins. Welcome to the JackQuisitions newsletter, You can build a $2 million-a-year business drilling holes in the dirt. Not for oil or water, but to help engineers and environmental consultants figure out what’s happening underground. The opportunity? Own the specialized equipment they don’t want to buy and become the subcontractor they keep calling. The $2M Drilling Business You’ve Never Heard Of Stop Missing Calls. Start Capturing Revenue. Every missed call could be a missed job. You need to start thinking this way. Quick Staffers provides pre-trained talent specifically for home service businesses, helping you add the support you need without building an entire in-house team. From CSRs and outbound callers to recruiters and AR/AP clerks, Quick Staffers handles the recruiting, payroll, compliance, and infrastructure. With salaries starting at $550/week, you can expand your team, answer more calls, and keep your operation moving without adding more to your plate. Build Your Team With Quick Staffers Ready For Your Next Acquisition? Check out these acquisition opportunities that caught my eye this week: Established 24-year plumbing business serving residential and commercial customers. Five full-time employees, thousands of past clients, strong backlog, and significant expansion potential. 20-year nationwide electrical contractor generating $12.8M revenue and $3M adjusted EBITDA, with five employees, government contracts, and a $10M asking price. 50-year plumbing and heating company generating $1.36M revenue and $569K SDE, with four employees, strong local demand, and a $2.5M asking price. The Opportunity Underground Environmental and geotechnical drilling is one of those businesses most people never think about. But every time someone buys an old gas station, redevelops an industrial property, or starts a major construction project, somebody needs to figure out what’s happening underground. That’s where the driller comes in. Read: This “Boring” Business Can Make $5,000 a Day Environmental consultants need soil and groundwater samples. Engineers need to understand the soil and rock supporting a new warehouse, apartment building, bridge, or highway. The drilling company owns the equipment and expertise required to get that information. And there are multiple ways to get paid: Mobilization fees to get your equipment to the site Daily rig rates that can run thousands of dollars Per-foot drilling charges Monitoring well installation Additional labor and materials Standby, decontamination, and other field services The equipment creates a meaningful barrier to entry. A used Geoprobe can easily cost $100,000 to $200,000, while larger rigs can approach $400,000. That eliminates a lot of the competition you see in lower-cost service businesses. But the part I like most is the customer base. You don’t need 10,000 customers. You might need 20 or 30 environmental consulting, geotechnical engineering, civil engineering, and contracting firms that regularly need drilling work. If I were starting this business, that’s where I’d focus first. I’d build a list of every environmental and engineering firm within my service area. Then I’d figure out which ones subcontract their drilling and start selling directly to them. The pitch isn’t complicated: We answer the phone, show up when promised, keep our equipment running, document everything correctly, and make your project easier. From there, I’d expand around the same customer base. Start with direct-push environmental work, then add monitoring wells, geotechnical sampling, hollow-stem auger capabilities, rock coring, and difficult-access equipment as demand justifies the investment. Most importantly, I wouldn’t rush to become the environmental consultant. I’d rather have five consulting firms winning projects and all five calling me when they need drilling. They get to avoid spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment, training, maintenance, and specialized employees. I get to become the boring subcontractor they can’t operate without. That’s a business model I like. My Final Thoughts I love businesses where specialized equipment creates a natural barrier to entry, and a relatively small customer base can keep you busy. Become the subcontractor that engineering firms rely on, and there’s a real opportunity to build something big underground. Happy hunting, Jack How do you feel about today's JackQuisitions newsletter? 👍 👎 😐 Disclosure: Some of the content and links in this newsletter are sponsored or affiliate links, which means we may receive payment or earn a commission if you click through or purchase. 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