I’ve been in my industry for about 25 years. I’ve seen a lot of business owners, business buyers, wannabes, employees; meaning people of all types. I’ve concluded there are five types, whether they’re business buyers, owners/sellers, or employees. When it comes to buyers this analysis is after I determine if the person is an offensive or defensive buyer. Defensive buyers rarely do a deal. They’re too worried about any and everything including the economy, the industry, the debt, the weather, and especially (although they won’t admit it) their own abilities.
All of these types have beneficial traits, and some have more detriments than the others. It depends on the person and their objective. And, it depends on the life phase the person is in at the time.
Driven by money– everybody is driven, to some extent, by money. Even the homeless, which is why there’s so much crime near homeless encampments.
The business buyer in this category probably has significant assets but wants more. He’s worried he won’t have enough in 20, 30,40 years. He wonders if the company he buys can scale from $1 million in earnings to $5 million and how fast it can be done.
When this is a business owner/seller, employees and buyers need to be careful. This is the person who tilts the pension plan to 90% to owner and 10% to the few dozen employees. She pays as low a wage as possible, provides skimpy or no benefits, and is extremely aggressive as she blends her personal and business checkbooks (deducts personal expenses on the business’ tax return thus cheating the IRS).
Employees in this category are often in sales. Sell more, make more. Others climb the corporate ladder just for the pay. Seventy-hour weeks, no problem because they’re making more than their friends.
Driven by accomplishment– Offering a broad-based opinion, these people make great buyers, sellers and employees. They want a great income but it’s not the top (or only) motivating thing.
The success driven buyer wants to grow and expand, create jobs, innovate, and feel good about what they’re doing. They’re the owners (I know many like this) who will say something like, “Our earnings are $2 million a year but I still take only $20,000 a month in salary and reinvest the rest in the business.” He’s focused on the end game.
Owners like this are often most concerned with legacy. When selling, it’s take care of my employees, do good by my customers, etc. because I want to take my grandkids here in 10 years and see how well you’re doing.
Success driven employees are what you want. While looking for career growth, they want to be part of a successful team and see the results of their work. Many become owners later in life.
Life Balance– here we can lump all three categories together. They want to work a normal work week, be productive, earn a good living and still have time for family, hobbies, non-profit work, etc. These people don’t accumulate vacations because they want to work more. Owners in this phase are often “coasting,” working hard enough to make their great living but not wanting to grow too much.
Lifestyle– This is where it gets interesting because what on the surface seems like a great thing, it’s something that drives buyers nuts.
The buyers not driven nuts by this are ones often featured in articles about franchises, main street (mom & pop) stores, etc. They want something they’re passionate about, with reasonable income. But most buyers are in the above three categories not this one.
Here’s what I mean, via the combination of a few real-life examples. The owner said they work from 8-4, make enough money to get by, get done what they get done, and there’s always tomorrow. No urgency, no emphasis on the customer, and surely no career path for the employees. And, not much value to a buyer who will figure they’ll lose the employees when they come in and want to grow the business.
Employees in companies like this tend to be ones with bumper stickers like, “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.” It’s a means to an end to them. In a book I’m reading, “Invisible Influence” by Jonah Berger, he says it’s tough for those who want to be successful to relate to these people as there’s not much commonality.
Hate the boss– some people just hate authority, no matter who it is. My thoughts are when these people get so sick of working for someone else, they buy or start something that’s a job and nothing more. Route sales fall into this category as does anything else where the job is task driven and there are no employees, because they probably (would) hate employees as much as they hate a boss.
Employees like this can’t wait to leave (every day, especially Friday, and eventually for good). They’re the bad apples that make the culture rotten and if they ever inherit some money they’re probably gone, into some business described in the preceding paragraph.
Conclusion
In my day-to-day goings on I see, and want to see, mostly success driven and life balance people. I see quite a few money driven folks, nothing wrong with them especially if they also take care of their team, and if I was in the private equity world I’d see a lot more of them. The lifestyle owners and buyers don’t cross my radar and I stay away from the last type.
Think of your clients, your employees, your customers, and others. I’ll bet you’ll find you have a lot of them with the same traits you have.
