Buying a cabinet and millwork shop in Treasure Coast
Treasure Coast has 26 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, 85% 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 Treasure Coast 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
- $138,000 a year
- Price about
- $455,000
- Your cash
- $64,000
- Could pay you
- up to $56,000 a year
- Earns about
- $311,000 a year
- Price about
- $1 million
- Your cash
- $144,000
- Could pay you
- up to $126,000 a year
- Earns about
- $335,000 a year
- Price about
- $1.1 million
- Your cash
- $155,000
- Could pay you
- up to $136,000 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 | 4 |
| 20 to 29 years | 7 |
| 30 to 39 years | 12 |
| 40 years or more | 3 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 7 |
| $1M to $2M | 1 |
| $2M to $4M | 4 |
| $4M to $8M | 1 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Martin | 9 |
| St. Lucie | 7 |
| Indian River | 6 |
| Other counties | 4 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Stuart | 6 |
| Vero Beach | 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 Treasure Coast
The local economy
This region covers Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties on the Atlantic coast and Okeechobee and Highlands counties inland: Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Sebastian, Okeechobee, Sebring and Avon Park. Port St. Lucie is the largest city and has grown quickly as a suburb within reach of Palm Beach County to the south.
The coast draws retirees and winter residents, and health care, construction, real estate, boating and sport fishing are big parts of the economy. The coast lies in the Indian River citrus district, named for the lagoon. Inland, Okeechobee and Highlands are cattle, dairy and citrus country around Lake Okeechobee and along the ridge near Sebring, with many retirees of their own. Home service companies, the building trades, marine businesses and medical practices find steady customers here.
What's different about owning a company here
The coast is seasonal, with winter residents filling restaurants, golf courses and service schedules, and summer is quieter. Hurricane Nicole came ashore near Vero Beach in November 2022, and the region has a long history of storms, so check insurance, flood zones and how a business came through recent ones.
Water quality in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon is a recurring problem, and in a bad year it can hurt fishing, boating and tourism businesses. Inland, distances are longer and the labor pool thinner. A company in Sebring or Okeechobee may be one of very few of its kind nearby, which can mean loyal customers and little competition, but also few people to hire. Most new homes on the coast are going up in and around Port St. Lucie.