This is part two of our discussion focused on What People Want from Their Leaders. In the last episode, What People Want From Their Leaders, we discussed four key ingredients for inspiring others: trust, flexibility, consistency, and patience. This episode immediately picks up in reinforcing how much people want to believe [...]
No one can predict the future, but as a business owner, you can manage uncertainties by strategically thinking through the possible, probable, and potential issues impacting your long-term goals. This is where succession planning comes in. A succession plan provides a roadmap outlining growth strategies, contingency plans, governance guidelines, leadership transitions, and strategic plans. [...]
Seasonality, inflation, politics, people, and technology are a few headwinds impacting fuel dealers, wholesalers, and service contractors in the energy space. We are often asked, "How can we create predictable revenues in an industry influenced by so many outside "threats?" In this episode, Doug Woosnam, a Consultant with Cetane Associates, [...]
How often have you seen ineffective leaders in senior-level positions? Likewise, how often have we seen a manager that demonstrates exemplary leadership skills? A question many of us probably don't ask ourselves enough is: what is the difference between management and leadership? Without careful consideration, many of us would probably question if there were [...]
Successfully integrating family into the business, whether as an employee, manager, or one-day successor, requires having a plan. Next-Gen business owners may need to invest their entire net-worth back into the business to compete with the larger consolidators. This means being less a caretaker of the business as generations past, [...]
Successfully integrating family into business leadership while balancing family dynamics is full of complexities. As Joe Chastang shares, many private and family business owners screw it up. Thanksgiving and Christmas come around every year, and the business provides for 100+ employees.Mis-matched expectations, communication differences, and management styles can create challenging moments [...]
Hope is at the center of many dealers' business strategies. Hope that if they sell the business, the sale will return the cash they need to retire and support their dream lifestyle. However, many dealers have to show up with checks to pay debt and find a job to help facilitate [...]
Operating a store is hard work, but it is rewarding. A common question we hear is what are the options to keep the dealership(s) as a family asset if no family is interested or capable of filling the shoes as Dealer/Operator. The good news is that the world is your [...]
The future is a mystery. Strategic planning may not fully prepare you for the curve balls of the future, but it can help us prepare to keep moving forward on the path to success. The best way to form a contingency plan is to have more than one solution to possible problems. “No plan [...]
Many business owners lean on the DIY approach to strategic planning, integrating family into the business, succession planning, and positioning their business for sale on the open market. Where entrepreneurs are sharp in many ways, without outside help, they often suffer from being able to see the trees from the [...]
