Welcome back to Wednesday’s Spotlight. Today, we are looking at Worship Interiors Group, a Southern California church pew restoration business acquired by Greyson Boerner. The company is on track to grow revenue from $1.38 million to approximately $2 million in its first year under new ownership, while headcount has increased from 7 to 11. The interesting part is how that growth exposed new challenges across capacity, labor management, pricing, and margins.

When Greyson Boerner acquired Worship Interiors Group, the Southern California church-pew restoration company had generated roughly $1.38 million in revenue and $600,000 in seller’s discretionary earnings during its final year under the previous owner. The business is now on track to achieve approximately $2 million in annual revenue, and headcount has grown from 7 to 11, including shop-floor workers, an operations manager, and a virtual assistant.

The company was 28 years old when Boerner acquired it. Its founder had previously sold new church pews but repeatedly lost projects to companies offering restoration. He eventually left to start his own restoration business, building a shop that removes pews from churches, transports them to its facility, repairs and refinishes them, and returns them for installation. A typical project can take about a month, while the restored pews may last another 25 to 30 years.

Boerner found the company after spending a year and a half searching for a business. He had previously worked in real estate acquisitions, music, digital marketing, and software startups. His initial acquisition search focused on software and e-commerce, but high valuations and competition led him to a local business with an established workforce and a service that could not be easily replaced by technology. After reviewing more than 100 businesses and submitting approximately six letters of intent, he found the listing through a local broker’s email list.

The listing described the company only as a furniture-repair business with approximately $1.2 million in revenue and $400,000 in profit. Boerner learned that it specialized in church pews after signing a nondisclosure agreement. During diligence, he also discovered that a nearby competitor, three to five times his size, had recently closed after operating for around 60 years. Based on those estimates, the former competitor may have generated between $3.5 million and $5 million annually, prompting its customers and employees to look for alternatives.

Boerner agreed to pay approximately $1.15 million to $1.2 million, initially equivalent to about three times the advertised $400,000 in earnings. He financed the acquisition through an SBA loan with roughly 15% down and no seller note. While the transaction was under a letter of intent, the company continued growing and finished the year with approximately $600,000 in SDE. Because the purchase price did not change, the effective acquisition multiple fell closer to two times earnings.

The transition created immediate operational problems. A key employee resigned on Boerner’s second day, reducing the capacity of a seven-person production team. Most shop employees spoke Spanish as their first language, which made it difficult to communicate project requirements and address quality or scheduling problems. Boerner eventually hired a bilingual operations manager with construction experience to provide day-to-day supervision, allowing him to spend more time on sales, marketing, and company systems.

Sales also slowed during the first few months after the acquisition. He and the former owner contacted churches directly while the pipeline was being repaired, and Boerner worked seven days a week for approximately six to eight months. The closure of the larger competitor eventually helped. Worship Interiors Group hired one of its salespeople and a skilled shop employee, gaining both additional capacity and practical knowledge of how the larger operation had managed its work.

Boerner also introduced basic systems that the company had previously handled largely on paper. The business began using Notion to document procedures, assign responsibilities, and track weekly measures such as shop production, leads, and proposals. Google Ads generated enough demand that the company temporarily paused the campaigns because the shop lacked the capacity to handle the increased workload. Relationships with new-pew manufacturers and distributors created another source of referrals, since churches comparing replacement with restoration often move between the two options.

The increase in revenue has not produced the same increase in margins. Worship Interiors Group has invested in machinery, vehicles, an operations manager, and additional employees to support a larger operation. Running more projects simultaneously has also exposed the loss of labor hours due to employees switching between jobs. The larger operational challenge now is to convert additional volume into higher margins by improving pricing, labor tracking, and project scheduling.

California cannabis cultivation facility asks $10.5M on $6M revenue and $2M EBITDA

Asking price: $10.5 million
Revenue: $6 million
Average EBITDA: $2 million over three years
Asking multiple: 5.25x EBITDA
FF&E: $10 million included
Estimated replacement cost: $15 million-$20 million
Real estate: Leased

Established in 2017, the company operates from a leased, fully licensed cultivation facility with an experienced management team handling daily operations. Key employees are expected to remain after the sale. The business has maintained profitability despite sharp declines in wholesale cannabis prices and widespread operator exits across California.

Translation, if you own one: Replacement cost may create a barrier to entry, but buyers still value the business primarily on earnings. Despite estimated replacement costs of up to $20 million, the asking price is anchored at 5.25x EBITDA.

Source: Established Cannabis Cultivation Facility

A line of credit can create serious cash-flow pressure when owners treat it as permanent capital instead of short-term financing. On Friday, we show how LOCs are meant to work, which terms give the bank control, and how a personal guarantee can become a problem at the worst possible moment.