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Manufacturing M&A episodes
- Episode 3: What Buyers Really Look for in a Manufacturing Business | IMTS 2026
A profitable manufacturing company isn't automatically a valuable one.
Buyers want to know what happens when the owner steps away.
Recorded live at IMTS in Chicago, Mike Fritz sits down with Dave from EBITDA Growth Systems to unpack the factors that can strengthen — or quietly destroy — the value of a manufacturing business.
Dave started welding and machining train car wheels at just 13 years old before going on to build, operate, and sell businesses of his own. Today, he works with manufacturing owners to improve performance and build companies that are less dependent on the person at the top.
In this episode, Mike and Dave dig into:
• Why owner dependency creates risk for buyers
• How to decouple yourself from day-to-day operations
• The "vacation question" Mike asks acquisition targets
• Why customer concentration can dramatically reduce valuation
• How ERP systems, standardized processes, and clean financials strengthen a business
• Why revenue alone doesn't determine what a company is worth
• How leadership depth and company culture show up during due diligence
• What owners can start doing now to make their businesses more transferable
• Dave's approach to helping owners increase the value of their companies
• The philosophy behind Mike's new book, Built for Exit, launching this NovemberThe goal isn't simply to make your company sellable.
It's to build a company that runs better, creates more value, and gives you options when the time eventually comes to step away.
As Mike puts it:
"Run your company like you're gonna sell it even if you never do."
🎧 Listen now on the Manufacturing M&A Podcast.
#Manufacturing #ManufacturingMA #MachineShop #BusinessValuation #ExitPlanning #EBITDA #MergersAndAcquisitions #IMTS2026
49 min - Episode 2: Don’t Buy a Company Until You Listen to This
The value in manufacturing M&A is made on the purchase. Not the exit.
In Episode 02, Mike Fritz, who's bought shops at multiples as low as 1.56x, lays out the full buying framework: how to know what to look for, how to avoid the landmines, and how to make sure every deal moves you toward your actual goal.
Key topics covered:
- Why jumping multiple brackets beats growing revenue every time
- How to start with the end in mind before you ever open a financial statement
- First acquisition vs. bolt-on- why the rules are completely different
- What a growth play looks like (good capabilities, solid customers, low capacity)
- The key man trap and how one seller's relationships can torpedo your deal post-close
- Vertical integration- why it's brilliant in theory and dangerous without the right operational team
"I have never hit a target I did not know was there. And a lot of times in acquisitions, we don't think about it like that."
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and all major podcast platforms.
Connect with Mike Fritz
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikefritzinvestor/
Follow the Manufacturing M&A Podcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-ma-podcast/28 min - PILOT EPISODE: Why Most Manufacturing Companies Will Never Sell
The Manufacturing M&A Podcast is here — and we're starting with a gut check.
Most machine shops will never sell. Owners spend decades building something they can't exit, and most of them don't find out until it's too late. Episode 1 is about changing that.
I'm Mike Fritz. I've bought nine manufacturing companies, sold several, and spent my career helping shop owners prep and exit their businesses the right way. This podcast is the resource I wish I'd had when I started — practical, no fluff, straight from the shop floor.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why so many shops end up just piecing off the equipment
- The 6 things buyers are actually evaluating when they look at your shop
- Why customer concentration is a deal-killer even with 20-year customers
- How decoupling yourself from operations moves your multiple from 2x to 4x
- What documented systems actually mean — and why "having systems" isn't enough
- Why landing a long-term contract is one of the best times to consider an exit
"The value of your business rises the more decoupled you are from the operation."
New episodes drop on the first and third Tuesdays of every month. Subscribe so you don't miss one.
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.
Connect with Mike Fritz
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikefritzinvestor/Follow the Manufacturing M&A Podcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-ma-podcast/23 min
About Manufacturing M&A
From the publisher's feed
Manufacturing M&A
Building Valuable Manufacturing Companies
MM&A is the podcast for manufacturing owners, operators, investors, and acquisition…
entrepreneurs who want to build stronger, more valuable industrial businesses.
Hosted by Mike Fritz— manufacturing operator, growth strategist, and CEO of American Precision Partners, MM&A dives into the real-world strategies behind buying, scaling, operating, and selling manufacturing companies.
After acquiring 9 companies in just 37 months, Mike brings a rare operator-first perspective to the world of manufacturing M&A. This isn’t theory from Wall Street. It’s practical insight from inside the shop floor, leadership meetings, due diligence processes, customer negotiations, and operational turnarounds that determine whether a company creates value — or destroys it.
Each episode explores the systems, leadership structures, financial drivers, operational disciplines, customer strategies, and growth decisions that make manufacturing companies scalable, transferable, and valuable.
Whether you’re preparing to buy your first company, scale through acquisition, or eventually sell your business, MM&A gives you the operator-focused playbook for building a manufacturing company that lasts.
Buy. Build. Grow. Exit.
Hosted by Mike Fritz— manufacturing operator, growth strategist, and CEO of American Precision Partners, MM&A dives into the real-world strategies behind buying, scaling, operating, and selling manufacturing companies.
After acquiring 9 companies in just 37 months, Mike brings a rare operator-first perspective to the world of manufacturing M&A. This isn’t theory from Wall Street. It’s practical insight from inside the shop floor, leadership meetings, due diligence processes, customer negotiations, and operational turnarounds that determine whether a company creates value — or destroys it.
Each episode explores the systems, leadership structures, financial drivers, operational disciplines, customer strategies, and growth decisions that make manufacturing companies scalable, transferable, and valuable.
Whether you’re preparing to buy your first company, scale through acquisition, or eventually sell your business, MM&A gives you the operator-focused playbook for building a manufacturing company that lasts.
Buy. Build. Grow. Exit.