CE Pro January 2023 - 31

mergers and acquisitions.
According to the survey,
about 15% of all integration
companies have more than
51 employees. While there
are very few pure custom
installation fi rms of that size,
there are retailers and large
home security companies
doing custom installation,
which likely accounts for
many of the big CE pros. As
noted earlier, the median
number of employees is 11.
Revenue fi gures for the
market mirror the cottage-business
base. Nearly
one-in-four installation
companies earn less than
$500,000 in total revenues,
with 13% pulling in less than
$250,000. On the other end
of the spectrum, 17% of CE
pros bring in more than $10
million. Again, many of those
larger fi rms are likely retailers
or etailers with installation
operations, or large security
companies with massive
RMR subscriber bases.
Heading into 2023, there
are many unknowns. Beyond
just infl ation, supply chain
and the tight labor pool,
there appear to be headwinds
ahead from a sloweddown
housing market, a
stagnant commercial offi ce
market, and the media
drumbeat of a " new variant "
of COVID. Thus, integrators
are cautiously optimistic
heading into the new year,
with 66% expecting revenue
growth. Another 14% expect
income to be fl at, while 20%
expect revenues to fall.
According to respondents,
they are expecting to grow
revenues by 6.5%. That is
solid growth, but well below
the 11.6% they predicted
heading into 2022. But
given the market is coming
off a year of incredible
growth, perhaps a relatively
slow-growth year is a good
opportunity to solidify the
2022 Average Residential Project Price
Less than $5K 13%
$5k to
$10K
$10K to $20K
$20K to $30K
$30K to $50K
$50K to $100K
$100,000+
13%
22%
13%
13%
15%
11%
In 2022, the median residential project price point was
$31,925, up from $29,184 in 2021, or about 9%. Dealers did a
median of 50 residential projects in 2022.
cepro.com
$5K to
$10K
$10K to $20K
$20K to $30K
$30K to $50K
$50K to $100K
$100,000+
In 2022, the median commercial project price point was
$38,844, up 29% from last year. The median number of
commercial projects was eight.
January 2023 CE Pro | 31
staff and operations versus
facing the chaos of another
rapid-growth cycle. Even
still, 7% of integrators expect
to grow by more than 50%
in 2023. On the fl ip side, 3%
of dealers believe their revenues
will be down by more
than 20% next year.
Given the industry is
primarily made up a small
entrepreneurs, it's no
surprise that one-third of
all custom installation fi rms
(33%) are home-based, while
two-thirds (67%) have offi ce
space. Compared to last
year's data, this year's study
reveals that 6% more CE
pros opted to move out of
their home offi ces in 2022
and set up a commercial offi
ce headquarters. Last year,
39% of dealers reported
working from their homes.
Some home-based
integration companies (over
13%) also utilize their own
house as a showroom for
clients, while one-in-fi ve
custom integration fi rms
(20%) are home-based with
no showroom. Having a
commercial offi ce location
does not necessarily mean
you have a showroom.
Indeed, more than one-infour
companies (26%) have
commercial offi ce space but
no showroom. Nearly a similar
number (24%) have appointment-only
showrooms,
while 17% of integrators allow
walk-ins to their showrooms.
If you count the home-based
showrooms, in all more than
half of dealers (54%) have
some type of showroom.
Supply Chain and RMR
Focusing on the supply
chain situation, as noted
earlier dealers report a
median of six unfi nished
projects while they are
waiting for equipment. Some
CE pros report they had no
supply chain issues this year,
2022 Average Commercial Project Price
Less than $5K 11%
13%
15%
17%
13%
23%
8%
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CE Pro January 2023

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