Small Shop, Big Deal: Fundamentals of Manufacturing

You’ve closed deals on restaurants, service firms, and retail shops. But when a machining company or fabrication shop hits your desk, do you feel a little out of your depth? You’re not alone. Manufacturing businesses are some of the most lucrative transactions, yet many brokers steer clear simply because the shop floor feels foreign.

This course changes that.

Small Shop, Big Deal cuts through the jargon and gives you a practical, no-engineering-degree-required framework for understanding small manufacturers, how they make money, where the risk hides, and how to talk fluently with both buyers and sellers. Using real-world examples from job shops, fab shops, sheet metal operations, welding businesses, and custom cabinet makers, you’ll learn to walk onto a shop floor, ask the right questions, and explain what you see in plain language that builds confidence on both sides of the deal.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Follow the money from raw material to finished product and spot where it leaks
• Read a manufacturing P&L through the right lens, including materials, labor, and overhead
• Identify the red flags that kill deals: owner dependency, customer concentration, aging equipment, weak WIP tracking, and more
• Use a practical “shop walk” checklist so your first facility visit looks like anything but your first
• Set buyer and seller expectations early and protect your deal through closing
• Manufacturing deals aren’t harder. They’re just different. This course gives you the edge to pursue them with confidence.

Recommended for newer brokers and those building their manufacturing practice. No technical background required — just a working knowledge of financial statements.