Tire business owners need to make their businesses work for them, instead of the other way around. That was the message from business consultant and Modern Tire Dealer contributor Roger McManus during the TIA Management at 4 session titled “When Will You Be Finished?”
The session was part of the Tire Industry Association’s (TIA) Global Tire Expo (GTE) Powered by TIA Educational Sessions during the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, Nev.
"Too many business owners are caught up in running their operations to stop and think about their ultimate goal,” McManus explained. “Is owning the business a family asset – or a job?”
The session provided attendees with an insightful examination of the true purpose for owning a business - and where it might lead them. McManus said shop owners must refocus their attention on how to achieve what all true entrepreneurs want from their businesses: freedom.
To achieve personal freedom, shop owners must make their businesses as valuable as possible. In order to do that, they must circumvent barriers to value, including having an arrangement where employees need the owner, and the owner loves being needed. This situation may make the owner feel good, but the shop can’t run without him or her.
A shop that runs on its own is going to have more value. McManus outlined steps that can help make that happen: make a decision; clear the path; chart a course; pick your team; build your dashboard; and start disappearing.
“If a tire dealer wants to own an asset, which is much more valuable than a job, he needs to know what it’s going look like when it is complete – in other words, finished.”
