Dealer-20 Groups: A Long Heritage, a Tremendous Value
By John Ace Underwood
Dealer-20 Groups, also known as Business Development Groups (BDM), have been around for many years and interest by retailers and community owners in such groups is on a steady and sharp rise. So, what are these groups and why are they of such great benefit to independent retailers and community owners alike?
Let’s start out with WHAT they are. Business Development Groups are groups of 8-14 business owners, operating “like” businesses in non-competing markets across the US, meeting 2-3 times per year to discuss and evaluate best practices in virtually all aspects of their business. To protect content and information, all members are typically under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
The majority of these groups are facilitated by one or two individuals with a significant business and industry background and proven business acumen who set the agenda, arrange meetings and coordinate the groups. Topics of discussion include, but are not limited to, administration, sales, finance, management and operations. Subject Matter Experts (SME) are sometimes brought in to speak to groups, if and when appropriate, on a variety of issues such as hiring, new innovations in technology, state and federal regulations and such.
Now let’s take a look at WHY these groups have always been popular and seen as a great value. Many of you are aware of a small business consultant, writer, speaker, etc., by the name of Michael Gerber. In his best seller book, entitled The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What To Do About It, Gerber suggests that even more important than working IN your business, is working ON your business.
All of us are busy. Sales are up, retailers are seeing product moving out, community operators are seeing people moving in and all is well. The problem is, as you spend all of your time working in your business, you’re not working on your business, meaning you’re not assessing the business from a higher elevation perspective, determining where you are in contrast to where you want to go. You’re not taking time for planning, assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of your organization and determining if all of the money that should be going to the bottom line is going to the bottom line.
When do you take the time to discuss if other non-competing business operators in your industry have developed a better approach for overcoming the challenges you face on a daily basis? When do you take the time to see if there are opportunities for improving your financials without having to sell more homes or lease more spaces? How much time do you actually get to think about the direction in which your organization could and, therefore, should move? The reality is if you’re too busy working in your business, then the time you spend on the aforementioned is very little, if any, and therein lies the problem.
The solution to that problem is actually the point of joining a Business Development Group. Being such literally forces you to take the time, 2-3 times per year, to discuss the challenges you face in running your organization with people who have both the expertise and the experience in running a business such as yours and can therefore relate to what you do and how your currently doing it. The objective is, moving forward, to implement best practices that have been proven to work time and time again. Each process implementation should have a direct, positive impact on your bottom line.
What is also worthy of mentioning from my personal experience, while the facilitators are typically highly qualified to lead such a group, what you learn doesn’t only come from the front of the room. It comes from the discussions with other members sitting beside you and the discussions that take place throughout the conference. It comes from the discussions during the breaks, over a cocktail or over dinner and the brain-trust you develop and the personal/professional friendships you build.
How do we know these groups are beneficial? I have personally been involved in facilitating a many such groups in the factory-built housing industry, and my partner, Don O’Day has facilitated over a thousand sessions. What is noteworthy is that membership in these groups, if well run, typically continue for years. We have had members for 6-8 years on a regular basis. Today’s group members are in many cases the 2nd and 3rd generation business operators, and I think it’s fair to say that if there wasn’t a tremendous value, this would not be the case.
If you would like to learn more about such business development groups and may be prepared to set aside a little time every year to get away from your business to work on your business, reach out to me and I will send you any information you need.
We are adding groups for single lot operators, multi-lot operators as well as single community owners and multi-community operators. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.
John Ace Underwood – Recognized as one of the foremost sales, sales management and sales leadership development consultants in the factory-built housing industry, having spent the past 31 years working with retailers, manufacturers and communities in the US, Canada and more recently, in the UK. For further information on Business Development Groups for both retailers, community operators or any other services he provides, please contact him at: johnaceunderwood@gmail.com or (520) 241-9907
