Why Most Millwork Shops Struggle to Scale

Running a construction business today feels harder than ever.

Owners are buried in estimating, staffing problems, scheduling headaches, and nonstop project demands. Most feel like they’re working harder every year but not gaining enough freedom in return.

That’s exactly why this conversation between Dominic Rubino and Jacob Deis from Formation Millwork matters.

Jacob shared practical lessons from growing a commercial millwork company in Colorado Springs — and many of those lessons apply to every construction trade.

Whether you run a cabinet shop, HVAC company, plumbing business, renovation company, or electrical contracting business, the same problems show up over and over again:
• Too much work on the owner
• Weak systems
• Poor visibility into operations
• Hiring struggles
• Low-margin projects
• Constant overwhelm

Here are the biggest takeaways from the episode.

Stop Bidding Every Job

One of the smartest things Jacob shared was simple:

“We don’t bid projects we know we can’t win.”

A lot of contractors waste huge amounts of time estimating jobs that don’t fit their team, strengths, or capabilities.

Formation Millwork became more profitable when they focused on projects that matched their experience and operational strengths.

That means:
• Better margins
• Better installs
• Happier crews
• Less stress
• Better client relationships

For many contractors, growth starts by saying “no” more often.

Culture Is More Than a Mission Statement

Formation Millwork recently went through a complete rebrand.

But according to Jacob, it became much bigger than just changing the company name.

The rebrand forced the team to define:
• Their values
• Their long-term vision
• How they communicate
• Who they want to work with
• What kind of culture they want to build

Jacob explained that culture became part of hiring, leadership, meetings, and even customer relationships.

That matters because construction companies with strong culture usually:
• Retain employees longer
• Communicate better
• Handle pressure better
• Scale faster

Contractors Need Better Operational Metrics

Most business owners know their sales numbers.

But very few track operational numbers consistently.

During the interview, Dominic and Jacob talked about dashboards, scorecards, throughput tracking, and labor efficiency.

These numbers help owners spot problems before they become disasters.

Examples include:
• Available labor hours
• Missed production time
• Throughput
• Estimating hit rates
• Project manager capacity
• Overtime trends

Without operational visibility, contractors are forced to guess.

And guessing gets expensive fast.

Owners Need to Escape the Day-to-Day

One of the biggest themes in the episode was owner capacity.

Jacob explained that many small business owners wear too many hats:
• Estimator
• Project manager
• Salesperson
• Leader
• Problem solver

That works for a while.

But eventually, growth stalls because the owner becomes the bottleneck.

The solution?
Systems.
Delegation.
Planning.
Leadership development.
Operational clarity.

Not more hours.

Why This Episode Matters

This episode is valuable because it’s honest.

There’s no fluff.
No fake “overnight success.”
No unrealistic business advice.

Just practical lessons from construction business owners dealing with real-world problems every day.

If you want to improve:
• Profitability
• Leadership
• Estimating
• Hiring
• Systems
• Culture
• Time management

…this episode is worth your time.

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More about Jacob Deis: LinkedIn | Company's website| Instagram

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