When Your Cabinet Business Feels Easy… That’s Your Warning Sign

Every industry goes through cycles but few were hit harder by the whiplash of the COVID renovation boom than the cabinet world. And in the middle of all this, there’s a simple idea Alex Hormozi shares that couldn’t be more relevant to cabinetmakers right now:

When business feels easy, that’s when you should push harder.

He’s right.

And our industry is living proof.

During COVID and for about a year afterward the home renovation market exploded.

People weren’t traveling.

They weren’t spending on events, sports, or vacations.

They were sitting in their kitchens staring at old cabinets… and they had money to spend.

So they renovated.

Every cabinet shop got busy.

Showrooms were booked out.

Installers were buried.

Project pipelines were overflowing.

Even shops with terrible systems, terrible customer experiences, and terrible pricing strategies looked successful.

Because demand hid every weakness.

It didn’t matter if your quoting system was slow.

It didn’t matter if your margins were thin.

It didn’t matter if your follow-up was lazy. It didn’t matter if your marketing didn’t exist.

Work fell into your lap.

And that’s where the trouble began.

The boom made the cabinetry industry look easy.

People with a CNC in a garage, or a table saw and ambition started shops overnight.

And because demand was so high, even brand-new shops with zero business skill were suddenly “successful.”

They didn’t have:

• A pricing model

• A sales process

• A marketing strategy

• A follow-up system

• A financial plan

• A production workflow

• Any idea what overhead was actually going to cost them
  
  

But it didn’t matter.

The market was so hot, everyone looked like a genius.

A false sense of security settled over the entire industry.

People started to believe: “This is the new normal.”

But it wasn’t normal.

It was a bubble.

The frenzy is over.

Travel is back.

Renovation spending normalized.

Interest rates climbed.

Consumers slowed down.

Pipelines shrank.

Leads thinned out.

And suddenly:

The shops that never learned real business fundamentals are panicking.

And the shops that forgot them are struggling just as much.

This is why everyone is now competing on price:

Not because customers magically became cheap…

But because most shops:

• Never learned how to sell

• Never learned how to market

• Never learned how to position themselves

• Never learned how to follow up

• Never learned how to justify value

• Never learned how to run predictable operations

• Never learned how to price profitably
  
  

And during easy times, they didn’t have to.

But now?

Now it’s a knife fight.

And the only thing that wins is skill.

This isn’t theory.

This isn’t “nice to have.”

This isn’t “when things pick up.”

This is mandatory if you want to survive and grow during the downswing.

1. Fix Your Pricing (Or You Will Lose)

You cannot compete on price.

Not with your overhead.

Not with your materials.

Not with your labor.

Not with your timelines.

Competing on price is slow suicide.

You MUST:

✔ Recalculate your true costs
✔ Rebuild your margin structure
✔ Stop apologizing for your pricing
✔ Say NO to work that doesn’t profit

2. Fix Your Sales Process (Because You Probably Don’t Have One)

Most cabinet shops don’t “sell.” They quote.

And quoting is NOT selling.

You MUST:

✔ Control the conversation
✔ Set expectations early
✔ Stop sending PDFs into the abyss
✔ Follow up 7+ times
✔ Present your value like a premium brand

3. Increase Your Lead Flow (Waiting Is Not a Strategy)

If your entire lead strategy is: “We get referrals…”

You’re already behind.

You MUST:

✔ Update your website
✔ Modernize your messaging
✔ Build an email nurture sequence
✔ Create a real referral program
✔ Launch a simple cabinet-project funnel

4. Fix Your Follow-Up (This Alone Could Save You)

80% of sales require 5–12 follow-ups.

Most cabinet shops follow up… once.

You MUST:

✔ Build a 30–60 day follow-up sequence
✔ Use email, SMS, AND phone
✔ Lead the customer, don’t just “check in”
✔ Assume the sale isn’t dead until you’ve exhausted every touchpoint

5. Clean Up Operations (The Market Is Unforgiving Now)

During the boom, mistakes were covered by cashflow.

Now they bleed you dry.

You MUST:

✔ Eliminate rework
✔ Standardize installs
✔ Fix the handoff from sales → production → install
✔ Improve communication
✔ Tighten scheduling
✔ Protect your margins

6. Rebuild Your Positioning (Blend In = Get Priced Down)

Right now every shop looks identical: “Kitchens. Quality. Craftsmanship.”

That’s not branding.

That’s wallpaper.

You MUST:

✔ Own a niche
✔ Upgrade your brand assets
✔ Stand for something
✔ Become the OBVIOUS premium choice in your market

If customers can’t tell why you cost more,
they will not pay more.

7. Play Offense While Everyone Else Cuts Back

The biggest mistake shops make in downturns?

They go defensive.

Cut marketing.

Cut visibility.

Cut innovation.

Cut sales effort.

And then they wonder why revenue falls.

You MUST:

✔ Market louder
✔ Follow up harder
✔ Quote faster
✔ Improve customer experience
✔ Expand your designer network
✔ Strengthen builder relationships
✔ Steal market share while competitors hide

Everything in this checklist is built into the framework inside my book:

👉 The P.R.O.F.I.T. System

How cabinet shops build predictable revenue, strong margins, and a business that doesn’t burn them out.

Inside, you’ll learn:

• How to price confidently

• How to build a real sales system

• How to create consistent, reliable lead flow

• How to eliminate bottlenecks

• How to communicate like a premium shop

• How to stop depending on word of mouth

• How to build predictable, stable growth
  
  

If you want to not only survive the downturn but grow during it, this is the roadmap.

👉 Get your copy here: If you haven't already

The boom didn’t build stronger businesses.

It built complacency.

It made bad shops look good.

It made good shops coast.

It made new shops believe the game was easy.

It covered every crack with revenue.

Now those cracks are splitting open.

This downturn will create two kinds of cabinet shops:

1. The ones who panic, compete on price, shrink, and disappear.

2. The ones who fix their systems, rebuild their foundations, and grow while everyone else hides.

You get to choose which one you become.

But doing nothing is also a choice and it’s the one that takes you out of the game.

If you want control, momentum, profitability, and stability…
You have to build it now, while you still can.

Start today.
Before the market decides for you.

David W Baker