Co-authored by Andy Johnson of BottomLine Development Group www.WeAreBDG.com and
Ed Young, Fabricators Coach www.FabricatorsCoach.com
Most fabricators start their shops because they love working with their hands. Some were drawn to the independence of being their own boss, while others were motivated by the satisfaction of creating something beautiful and lasting from raw stone. Whatever your reason, you took the leap, poured your time, money, and energy into it, and built something real — a shop that provides for your family, supports your team, and adds value to your community. That’s something to be proud of.
But after the shop is running, the trucks are moving, and the schedule is full, another question starts to surface: is all this work actually building wealth — or just keeping you busy? Growth often feels like success, but more jobs, more equipment, and more employees don’t automatically mean you’re getting ahead. They can just as easily mean more stress, more debt, and more hours. The goal isn’t to build a bigger business; it’s to build one that rewards you, not one that constantly requires you. The real difference between surviving and thriving comes down to this:
Is your business simply paying you for your time,
or is it creating wealth that works for you?
If the shop runs only when you’re there, if cash flow tightens when you step away, or if every major decision depends on you, you may not truly own a business — you might just own a job with overhead. And that’s fine if you’re happy staying there. But if you want your business to become an asset that produces lasting wealth and not just income, you have to start thinking differently about what you’ve built.
Think for a moment like an investor instead of an operator. If you had invested the same time, energy, and money you’ve poured into your shop into an S&P 500 index fund, you would have averaged around 11% a year — no customers, no remakes, no broken blades, and no overtime. The reason you chose to run your own business instead is because you believed you could do better. You believed your control, skill, and effort could outperform the market. But if your shop isn’t generating a return that beats that benchmark, it’s a sign that something in the business model — not your work ethic — needs adjustment.
When you begin to think like an investor, your questions change. Instead of asking, “How much did we make this month?” you start asking, “How much more valuable did my business become this month?” That single shift in perspective is where real wealth creation begins. It’s the difference between working for your business and having your business work for you.
A big part of that shift is financial clarity. Too many shop owners treat their books as a necessary evil — something to send to the CPA once a year so taxes can be filed and forgotten. But those numbers tell a story, and if you know how to read it, that story reveals exactly how your business functions. It shows whether your margins are healthy, whether your pricing actually covers your true costs, and whether your cash flow can support your operation without constant stress. Used correctly, your financials become a powerful decision-making tool. They highlight where money is earned, where it leaks out, and where opportunity lies hidden in plain sight. When you can interpret those patterns, you gain clarity and control — two of the most important ingredients in building lasting wealth.
That’s where the distinction between a CPA and a CFO becomes critical. A CPA looks backward. Their job is accuracy, compliance, and making sure you stay out of trouble with the IRS. And every business needs that.
But a CFO looks forward. They connect the dots between your financial data and your goals. They help you understand not just what happened, but why it happened — and what to do next. A CFO’s role is strategic; they turn numbers into insight and insight into action.
For most small to midsize fabrication shops, hiring a full-time CFO doesn’t make sense. That’s where a fractional CFO fits perfectly. A fractional CFO gives you access to high-level financial expertise and strategic guidance without the overhead of a full-time executive. They help you interpret the story your numbers are telling, identify opportunities for growth, and design a plan to steadily increase the value of your business. In short, your CPA helps you stay compliant. Your fractional CFO helps you build wealth.
Turning your shop into a true asset doesn’t happen overnight, but it also doesn’t require a total overhaul. It’s a process of small, intentional steps that build on one another. The first step is to get clear on your numbers. Understand your true costs, your gross margin by job type, and how much cash you need to operate each week. You can’t improve what you don’t understand. The next step is to create predictable profit. Wealth isn’t built on occasional big wins — it’s built on steady, reliable results. Study what causes profit to swing from month to month — pricing mistakes, rework, material waste, scheduling issues — and start closing those gaps.
Once you have predictable profit, focus on building systems that scale. If your shop runs smoothly only when you’re on-site, it’s not scalable or sellable. Document the key processes that make your business run — quoting, scheduling, production, quality control, and installation. Systems allow others to execute consistently so you can focus on strategy instead of firefighting. And as you build systems, you also need to build people. Developing leaders beneath you is the only way to multiply your time and grow your company’s value. When decisions, problem-solving, and accountability are shared, your business gains momentum that no single person can sustain alone.
A fractional CFO can help bring all of these pieces together — connecting your numbers, systems, and leadership development into a coherent strategy. Their job isn’t just to tell you how you performed last month, but to help you plan how to perform better next month. When these elements come together — clear numbers, consistent profit, scalable systems, capable leaders, and sound financial strategy — your business becomes more than a paycheck. It becomes a wealth-building asset.
You’ve already proven that you can build something solid and real. Now it’s time to take the next step — turning what you’ve built into something that builds for you. Wealth doesn’t come from working harder; it comes from working with direction and intention. When you start viewing your shop as an investment, you lead differently, plan differently, and think differently about the future.
If you want help figuring out how to make this shift, give me a call.
If you are struggling with your business or if you’re just stressed out or want to discuss the content of this article, visit my website and hit the SCHEDULE FREE CALL button or contact me at Ed@FabricatorsCoach.com. We’ll talk about your situation, and I’ll help you develop a plan to reduce the chaos, make more money, and get your life back, oh, and be more successful!
If you enjoyed this article and want to hear more from Ed on this and other key Fab Shop topics, check out our podcasts (www.fabricatorscoach.com/podcasts) and videos (search YouTube for Fabricators Coach).
In addition to having run a countertop fabrication shop, Ed has also helped many fab shop owners become very successful. He is a seasoned manufacturing manager and coach who has helped hundreds of companies from single person startups to large international corporations. As a former business owner, he understands the responsibility to make payroll while also satisfying customers. Ed can be reached at Ed@FabricatorsCoach.com . If you want help implementing this tool, Schedule a Call with Ed. If you enjoyed this article and want to hear more from Ed on this and other key Fab Shop topics, check out our podcasts (www.fabricatorscoach.com/podcasts) and videos (search YouTube for Fabricators Coach).