I have a two person shop, myself and one employee. I started cutting mats professionally over forty years ago, using nothing but a straight edge, sharpening stone, and a utility knife.
Getting large orders out meant working long hours into the night in those days. We used to daydream about a machine that could cut the mats automatically, this was long before PCs or Star trek. I never thought I would live to actually see it become a reality.
There was no way I could justify on paper the cost of a CMC, we just plain did not have the volume. It did not matter, I had to have one of those things before I died or retired, so I leased a Wizard.
I had that machine for about four or five years, then I purchased a Fletcher 6100, got tired of making payments and never owning anything.
I can not even fathom the idea of running a frame shop without a CMC, no matter what the volume. These things pay for themselves right off the bat, they do it better, faster, cleaner, less waste, and will cut just about any mat your customers will want. The heck of it is, a CMC will actually help you to increase your volume, you'll find that out after you have one.
Running a shop without a CMC is just plain foolish, it's like using candles instead of electric lights to illuminate your design table.
John