Julie Hottinger, Janna Hottinger·September 5, 2024

White Collar Sisters Buy a Blue Collar Business | Julie and Janna Interview

Julie Hottinger (former public health PhD and political staffer) and her sister Janna Hottinger (chief of staff to a major-city mayor) partnered to buy Signature Woodworking, a 30-year-old commercial cabinet and millwork company in Minneapolis, in October 2023 for $2.1m — equal to the business's revenue and roughly 2.8x its $750k SDE. The deal was financed with a classic SBA structure: 80% SBA loan, 10% seller note, and 10% equity split between the two sisters, plus a $250k working line of credit. As two women with no business or industry backgrounds buying into a skilled-trades construction business, they faced repeated friction during a two-year search — including an asphalt seller who called the night before closing to back out — but found a seller in Signature's retiring founder who believed in them, trained Julie personally, and helped win over a skeptical long-tenured crew. Nine months in, the business is on pace to roughly double revenue to $3m, driven by a post-COVID office renovation wave and the seller's total absence of marketing; the primary constraints are cash flow (4-6 month payment cycles as a GC subcontractor), customer concentration (two GCs account for 50-60% of work), and difficulty hiring skilled cabinet makers. Janna remains in her full-time job and plans to join the business in 3-5 years, with a longer-term vision of building a hold-co across multiple acquisitions.

Deal facts

purchase price: $2.1m
multiple: ~2.8x SDE
sde ebitda: SDE $750k
revenue: $2.1m (2022)
financing structure: SBA loan + 10% seller note + 10% equity down (split between two partners); line of credit ($250k) included in package
notes: Business had 7 employees; no marketing budget; bare-bones P&L; seller had not given raises since pre-COVID. Revenue projected to reach $3m in first full year of ownership. Margins ~33% SDE/revenue at time of purchase.

Why this business

They wanted something they could learn without going back to school, in the home/construction services space where they had connections through a mentor. After two years of searching and looking at franchises, epoxy flooring, and asphalt companies, they chose a 30-year-old commercial cabinet and millwork company because it had proven longevity, strong margins, a stable long-tenured crew, a motivated seller who believed in them, and zero marketing spend — meaning obvious upside. The project-based commercial nature (tenant improvements for offices, medical, retail) and the cyclical resilience of 30 years of history gave them confidence.

What's working

Revenue growth: on pace to reach ~$3m in first year, up from $2.1m at acquisition — roughly 50% volume increase in the first six months
Long-tenured skilled crew (three employees with 20-30 years tenure) stayed on and actively teach Julie the business
Seller relationship: owner continues to meet Julie for breakfast every few weeks and invested heavily in training her and winning over the crew
Operational improvements: digitizing processes (time clock, direct deposit, online bill pay), shop cleanup, and project management efficiencies are enabling higher throughput without proportional headcount growth
Post-COVID office churn (companies condensing and renovating spaces) is generating abundant tenant improvement work — a tailwind they did not fully anticipate
Bank relationship: lender increased their line of credit three months in when they saw the sales pipeline, helping manage cash flow
Culture: Julie's transparent, collaborative approach — telling the crew she knows nothing and wants their feedback — has converted skeptical long-term employees into advocates

What's hard

Cash flow is the single biggest operational challenge: the subcontractor model means they wait 4-6 months to get paid after completing work and paying for materials upfront
Customer (contractor) concentration: approximately 50-60% of jobs come from just two contractors — a significant risk they are actively working to diversify
Hiring is the primary growth bottleneck: they need more cabinet makers and skilled tradespeople but the labor market is extremely tight
Employee health emergencies on a small team: their laminator was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome, removing a critical role from a 7-person shop
Wages were frozen since before COVID — they had to immediately address compensation to retain the crew, an expense not fully modeled in advance
As women buyers with no direct business or industry experience, they faced repeated friction during the search — one asphalt seller called the night before closing to back out, citing doubts about their ability to run the business
Janna is still in her full-time job and won't join full-time for 3-5 years, meaning the full partner dynamic is deferred

Notable quotes

I had always thought that you had to like come up with an idea or something... I wish I would have known this sooner because I mean I'm loving what I'm doing right now.

He called me at about 8 o'clock at night and he was like I can't do this I can't sell this to you... he was just like complete 180 because he had been really supportive at first.

We can't explain to you cash flow because it is so dependent on when the they don't pay you until the entire job is done and then the contractor gets paid so we have jobs that we haven't yet been paid for and they've been done and we've paid for all the materials for like four to six months.

No offense this job is too big for you sorry but oh but yes I will bid it and we can go over it on Monday and I can show you.