Buying a cabinet and millwork shop in Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay has 102 established cabinet and millwork shops by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 84% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Cabinet and millwork shops in Tampa Bay come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $226,000 a year
- Price about
- $746,000
- Your cash
- $104,000
- Could pay you
- up to $92,000 a year
- Earns about
- $632,000 a year
- Price about
- $2.1 million
- Your cash
- $292,000
- Could pay you
- up to $256,000 a year
- Earns about
- $1.4 million a year
- Price about
- $4.8 million
- Your cash
- $668,000
- Could pay you
- up to $586,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 3.3 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 16 |
| 20 to 29 years | 48 |
| 30 to 39 years | 24 |
| 40 years or more | 14 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 20 |
| $1M to $2M | 12 |
| $2M to $4M | 6 |
| $4M to $8M | 7 |
| Over $8M | 7 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Pinellas | 43 |
| Hillsborough | 33 |
| Polk | 13 |
| Pasco | 10 |
| Other counties | 3 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Tampa | 22 |
| Clearwater | 8 |
| Lakeland | 8 |
| Largo | 8 |
| Plant City | 5 |
| Safety Harbor | 5 |
What the best cabinet and millwork shops have in common
- Repeat builders and contractors who pay on fair terms, plus some homeowner work for margin.
- A CNC router and design software that turn drawings into cut lists quickly, which saves labor on every job.
- Estimates based on what past jobs actually cost, so prices cover real hours and material.
- A shop lead and installers who don't need the owner on site.
- Signed jobs lined up for several weeks or months.
- Good warranty records and few callbacks after installation.
- A clean, well-ventilated shop with dust collection and a proper spray booth.
- Relationships with designers and architects who specify the shop's work on their projects.
- A showroom or portfolio that helps homeowners say yes.
What to check before you buy
- How much depends on the biggest customers, especially one or two builders whose pace could slow when the housing market cools.
- Money owed to the shop: builder payment terms, slow payers, and any liens filed to get paid.
- Job costing on recent jobs: estimated versus actual hours and material.
- Machine condition, especially the CNC router and edgebander, with service records.
- Warranty claims and callbacks, and what they cost to fix.
- Formaldehyde compliance paperwork and labels, and supplier statements for the panels in stock.
- The finishes the shop sprays, how it disposes of solvent waste, and any DEP permits or notifications.
- The building: electrical service, dust collection, fire protection, spray booth and lease terms. Wood dust and finishes are a real fire risk, so ask about inspections.
- Deposits already collected for jobs not yet built, which you'll be expected to honor.
Questions to ask the owner
- Which builders or contractors give you the most work, and how long have they been with you?
- Who estimates and designs jobs today?
- How far ahead are you booked?
- How often do you get callbacks, and what causes them?
- How do you handle formaldehyde paperwork and labels, and do you glue veneer onto panels yourselves?
- Who runs the shop floor when you're with customers?
- What equipment would you buy next?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a cabinet and millwork shop in Florida.
Owning a company in Tampa Bay
The local economy
Tampa Bay, as we draw it, runs from Citrus County south through Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough, and east into Polk: Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Brooksville, Inverness, Lakeland and Winter Haven. Tampa is the business center, with Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, the University of South Florida and MacDill Air Force Base, home to the headquarters of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Financial services, insurance and health care employ many people, and the Gulf beaches of Pinellas bring tourists and seasonal residents.
Polk County sits on Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando and has become a center for warehouses and distribution, alongside its older citrus and phosphate industries. To the north, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus are more suburban and rural, with many retirees. Home service companies, the building trades, medical practices and auto businesses all have a deep customer base across the region.
What's different about owning a company here
Hurricane Helene's storm surge in September 2024 and Hurricane Milton two weeks later both hit the region hard. Flood zones and insurance costs now matter in any deal near the water. Ask how the business came through those storms, what it claimed, and whether its building sits in a flood zone.
The labor market is deep by Florida standards, though skilled tradespeople can still be hard to find. New homes have pushed north and east into Pasco and eastern Hillsborough, and along Interstate 4 in Polk, bringing demand for services with them. Coastal Pinellas is more seasonal than inland Tampa or Lakeland. The bay itself shapes a service company's territory: crossing a bridge at rush hour can turn a short distance into a long drive, so look at where the customers actually are.