#44 - Monday Minute | Could Your Dealership Survive 30 Days Without You?

Yeah.

And that's kind of what I'm talking about here.

We're talking about today is secession planning.

Most people would hear secession planning and immediately think about retirement or sell their business or turn it over to their kids.

But I think they have it wrong here.

Secession planning shouldn't start when you're ready to leave.

It should start years before that.

Yeah.

And I think what we need to ask ourselves is, are we building ourselves a business or are we just building ourselves a J-O-B, right? If you're the one person who has to approve every single deal or buy all the inventory or solve all the customer problems or make the personal decisions, you've got a problem.

And that problem isn't going to fix itself when you're ready to retire.

Yeah, you know, Jeff, I think a lot of us independent dealers actually create the problems ourselves.

We're entrepreneurs.

We are problem solvers.

And we built these businesses by making all the decisions and getting things done.

You know, but somewhere along the way, we've got to recognize that those same skills that helped us build this dealership probably are hurting us or not letting us get to that next level.

Yeah, it's true.

And you've got to you can't expect someone to take over your business if you've never allowed them to take ownership of the business or in the business and while you're still there to kind of guide and mentor them.

So you've got to give people responsibilities.

You've got to let them make decisions.

And sometimes you've got to let them make mistakes.

Yeah, and that's the hard part.

That does happen.

Because we both know it's a lot harder to sometimes just make the decision, right? Sometimes that's the hard part of letting somebody else make that decision.

But every time we make the decision, we're missing an opportunity to help somebody learn.

And when we think about succession planning, it really comes down to three things.

Yeah.

And that's kind of what I'm talking about here.

We're talking about today is secession planning.

Most people would hear secession planning and immediately think about retirement or sell their business or turn it over to their kids.

But I think they have it wrong here.

Secession planning shouldn't start when you're ready to leave.

It should start years before that.

Yeah.

And I think what we need to ask ourselves is, are we building ourselves a business or are we just building ourselves a J-O-B, right? If you're the one person who has to approve every single deal or buy all the inventory or solve all the customer problems or make the personal decisions, you've got a problem.

And that problem isn't going to fix itself when you're ready to retire.

Yeah, you know, Jeff, I think a lot of us independent dealers actually create the problems ourselves.

We're entrepreneurs.

We are problem solvers.

And we built these businesses by making all the decisions and getting things done.

You know, but somewhere along the way, we've got to recognize that those same skills that helped us build this dealership probably are hurting us or not letting us get to that next level.

Yeah, it's true.

And you've got to you can't expect someone to take over your business if you've never allowed them to take ownership of the business or in the business and while you're still there to kind of guide and mentor them.

So you've got to give people responsibilities.

You've got to let them make decisions.

And sometimes you've got to let them make mistakes.

Yeah, and that's the hard part.

That does happen.

Because we both know it's a lot harder to sometimes just make the decision, right? Sometimes that's the hard part of letting somebody else make that decision.

But every time we make the decision, we're missing an opportunity to help somebody learn.

And when we think about succession planning, it really comes down to three things.