01-23-2018, 10:36 PM
Well...to give a very real world perspective on the whole apple/tree thing, the previous owner of the company i work for was, in a lot of ways, like MB. Was and is a super nice, caring guy (though a bit rough around the edges and hard for some to deal with), but his business practices where straight out of the '70s when it came to spending, marketing, etc etc. He just wouldn't pull the trigger on technology or the idea that hiring more people would result in more revenue, since we are in a service business.
He retired at the end of December '16. His nephew, who has worked for the company for over 30 years--directly under him and his guidance--bought the company and took over control Jan 1, 2017. A previous long-term employee who left to work for a competitor always said that the "new" boss would be exactly the same as the old boss because he had been employed and directed for so many years.
Fast forward to today; the new boss is as different as the old boss as you could possibly imagine. Not only in philosophy but in practicality. From day one he dove right into the deep end when it comes to marketing and expansion. We had hired 1 new guy about 6 months before the previous owner retired (had to be talked into it by both of us). Since Jan 1 of '17 we have added 2 more service guys on the road and 1 more to the "front office". He has spent money like it needs to be spent to run a successful business without just throwing it out there and hoping something sticks. I created a spreadsheet of gross income for 2016 (both weekly and monthly for road and shop income) and compared it to 2017 as we went along the year. When you consider the experience lost (due to me becoming the service manager and working in-shop 100% of the time) vs total number of techs on the road, there wasn't a very big addition there that would skewer the numbers very much. By the end of the year we had an almost $100,000 increase from the previous year. Proving that simply adapting to the current trends was the more profitable way to go.
Unfortunately, this doesn't mean jack squat when it comes to the Bengals, but it does show that the apple/tree scenario isn't set in stone if you're dealing with someone who is familiar with trends and is able and willing to keep up with them.
He retired at the end of December '16. His nephew, who has worked for the company for over 30 years--directly under him and his guidance--bought the company and took over control Jan 1, 2017. A previous long-term employee who left to work for a competitor always said that the "new" boss would be exactly the same as the old boss because he had been employed and directed for so many years.
Fast forward to today; the new boss is as different as the old boss as you could possibly imagine. Not only in philosophy but in practicality. From day one he dove right into the deep end when it comes to marketing and expansion. We had hired 1 new guy about 6 months before the previous owner retired (had to be talked into it by both of us). Since Jan 1 of '17 we have added 2 more service guys on the road and 1 more to the "front office". He has spent money like it needs to be spent to run a successful business without just throwing it out there and hoping something sticks. I created a spreadsheet of gross income for 2016 (both weekly and monthly for road and shop income) and compared it to 2017 as we went along the year. When you consider the experience lost (due to me becoming the service manager and working in-shop 100% of the time) vs total number of techs on the road, there wasn't a very big addition there that would skewer the numbers very much. By the end of the year we had an almost $100,000 increase from the previous year. Proving that simply adapting to the current trends was the more profitable way to go.
Unfortunately, this doesn't mean jack squat when it comes to the Bengals, but it does show that the apple/tree scenario isn't set in stone if you're dealing with someone who is familiar with trends and is able and willing to keep up with them.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
"The measure of a man's intelligence can be seen in the length of his argument."
