work and retire road signs
February 7, 2020 pathwd 0 Comments

It’s no secret owners of W&D Dealerships are predominantly folks closer to retirement than starting careers.  It is also no secret these owners know a lot about the business, and they continue to be hard-charging salespeople and managers.

But there is also a secret, a dirty little secret, nobody wants to talk about.

Most W&D Dealerships are not operating in a way that will allow the sale of that dealership to truly benefit the current owners.

In fact, in many cases finding a buyer for a dealership is going to be like golfing during a lightning storm—rare, and potentially dangerous.

What Makes A Window & Door Dealership Attractive to Buyers?

There are two issues not being addressed by many of today’s W&D Dealership Owners.  First, if your Dealership runs because you are working in the business 50-70 hours a week and holding it all together, you have a practice and not a business attractive to a large number of buyers.  That means lower value, a longer sell period, more at risk, and likely more time negotiated for your involvement during transition.

How To Train Your Window & Door People For New Ownership

Second, if your people don’t have a system that creates repeatable and profitable success, then your company is missing a key characteristic that most buyers are looking for.  Nobody will invest in an asset that requires excessive management oversite due to chaotic systems—it just isn’t a good investment due to the risk.  Lose a key manager, and you could lose the business.  However, with a comprehensive and cohesive system running the company and supporting the employees, the need for chaos management goes away, and normal leadership—the kind an investor can find and hire should new management be needed—is reasonable and not a threat to the company’s existence.

So, unless you are going to live forever, you should immediately prioritize  getting a comprehensive system in place, get your people repeating success behaviors, and start lowering your involvement over the next few years.  You will thank yourself for your excellent planning when the time comes to sell your Dealership!

PATH|ERP.  Software for W&D People by W&D People.