What is different about buying a commercial millwork company?

Commercial and architectural millwork is a project business. The shop builds casework, panelling, reception desks and fixtures for jobs run by general contractors, and most of that work is won by bidding against other shops. That changes what a buyer should look at. A residential cabinet shop depends on homeowners and builders; this kind depends on a small number of estimators, drafters and project managers, and on how well the shop prices work it has not yet seen.

Estimating is the core skill

Ask who prices the bids and how. A shop that wins work at a margin it can actually build to is very different from one that wins by underbidding and then absorbs the loss. Ask to see a few past bids beside the finished job costs. Find out whether the estimator is the owner, and whether that knowledge sits in a person, a spreadsheet or a documented method that a new owner could use.

Shop drawings, project managers and the floor

Commercial jobs run on approved shop drawings, so drafters and project managers matter as much as the people at the saws. Ask who coordinates with the contractor and the architect, who handles revisions, and how long each of those people has been there. If one person holds most of the relationships, plan for what happens when they leave, and ask the seller how a handover would work.

Progress billing and slow collections

Ask how the shop is paid: if contractors pay in stages, payment may lag behind the work. Review the receivables by customer, look at what is billed but not yet collected, and ask about disputes or holdbacks still outstanding. Questions about holdback rights and lien claims belong with your lawyer, who can tell you what applies to the contracts in front of you.

Judging the backlog

A backlog is only as good as its contracts. Ask for the list of signed jobs with the customer, the stage of completion and the expected finish. Separate signed work from verbal commitments and from bids still pending. Separate remaining work from work already completed, and note how many jobs depend on one contractor.