Custom Metal Fabricator, Florida Commercial & Industrial Shop

$4.0M

Revenue

$1.1M

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a long-established custom metal fabrication shop in Florida serving commercial and industrial accounts on repeat production work. The core operation cuts, forms, welds, and assembles made-to-order parts and weldments for manufacturers and other business customers who outsource their metal content rather than build it in-house. This is a B2B production supplier, not a walk-in retail shop, which means the customer base is sticky and relationship-driven. Work is quoted job by job, which lets the shop reprice as steel and material costs move, protecting margin during input inflation.

The numbers are the headline: roughly $4 million in annual revenue against approximately $1.1 million in EBITDA, a 27.5 percent margin that is strong for a fabrication shop. Gross profit is described as healthy for the category, and the operating company is being offered debt-free at close aside from ordinary working capital. Notably, $2 million in FF&E (the presses, saws, welders, and CNC equipment that actually make the product) is included in the asking price, which is a meaningful hard-asset floor on the deal.

What makes this notable for an operator is the org depth combined with an obvious growth lever. Staff below ownership already handles estimating, programming, and floor supervision, so the shop does not live entirely in the owner's head. At the same time there is no formal outside sales program, meaning current revenue is entirely inbound and relationship-fed. A buyer who bolts on even basic sales coverage has a clean path to grow a business that is already throwing off seven figures with no marketing spend.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is the standout: roughly $1.1 million EBITDA on $4 million revenue is a 27.5 percent margin, well above typical job-shop fabrication, and the seller is offering a quality-of-earnings bridge post-NDA. Repeat production work for business accounts means the revenue is not one-and-done project churn, it recurs as customers reorder parts and weldments.
The moat is switching cost and relationship lock-in. Manufacturers who outsource metal content build their part specs, tooling knowledge, and quality expectations into a single fabricator, so they do not re-shop the work every quarter. That stickiness is why demand is described as relationship-driven and why the shop runs with no formal sales effort.
Job-by-job quoting is an underrated margin protector. When steel and material costs move, pricing moves with them because each job is repriced, unlike fixed long-term contracts that get squeezed during inflation. This is a real structural defense that has clearly held up given the margin profile.
The operator advantage is unusually clean here. Staff below ownership already runs estimating, programming, and floor supervision, so the business does not collapse when the retiring owners leave. Combined with $2 million of included equipment and a debt-free close, a buyer inherits a functioning production organization, not a founder-dependent shell.

How to improve it

Stand up an outside sales function in the first 90 days, even a single hunter with a quota. The listing explicitly flags no formal sales program today, so revenue is entirely inbound; adding coverage to existing manufacturing hubs in the region is the most obvious lever to grow past $4 million without new capacity.
Build a systematic reorder and account-management cadence. Repeat customers should be on scheduled check-ins and forecast reviews so you capture more of their metal spend and prevent them from splitting orders across other shops. Formalize the informal relationships before the owners walk.
Analyze machine utilization and shift structure against the $2 million equipment base. If the presses, saws, and CNC gear are running one shift, a second shift or better scheduling can lift throughput on assets you already own, expanding EBITDA without capex.
Tighten estimating and job-costing discipline. With job-by-job quoting driving margin, small improvements in quote accuracy and scrap tracking flow straight to the bottom line. Institute post-job margin reviews to catch underpriced work before it becomes a habit.
Reduce customer concentration risk by diversifying the account base. If a handful of manufacturers drive most volume, use the new sales function to add logos in adjacent industries so the loss of any one account is survivable.
Cross-train and document the estimating and programming knowledge. The staff below ownership is a strength, but you want that expertise captured in SOPs and a second person for each critical role so the business is not exposed to a single key employee departing.
Evaluate secure long-term supply agreements or blanket POs with top customers. Converting relationship-based repeat work into formalized annual agreements makes the revenue more predictable and materially raises the multiple at your eventual exit.

Diligence notes

Scrutinize the QoE bridge and how EBITDA reconciles to SDE. The listing quotes $1.1 million EBITDA and separately references roughly $1.1 million of seller's discretionary cash flow, so confirm exactly which add-backs are included and whether a replacement management salary has been deducted, because a working-owner shop often needs a real GM after the sellers retire.
Map customer concentration and reorder patterns in detail. Since demand is relationship-driven and repeat, verify what percentage of revenue comes from the top 3 to 5 accounts and how long those relationships have existed. Concentration is the single biggest risk in a job-shop that has no outside sales program.
Assess the real estate arrangement carefully. The property can be purchased or leased separately, so nail down lease terms and rent (or purchase price) before modeling returns, because an above-market related-party lease can quietly consume the reported EBITDA.
Inspect and independently value the $2 million FF&E. Confirm the age, condition, and remaining useful life of the presses, welders, and CNC equipment, and quantify near-term capex needs. Included equipment inflates perceived value if half of it is near replacement.
Verify the depth and durability of the staff below ownership. Interview or confirm the tenure of the people running estimating, programming, and floor supervision, and understand retention risk through the ownership transition. The whole thesis of a clean handoff depends on that team staying.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →