At RSPA’s 2017 RetailNow, Jeff Riley, the former CEO of Dinerware POS, presented a session on how to value and sell your dealership. It was a thorough presentation, and thusly we will be borrowing some graphics from his slides (if you want his full presentation we suggest contacting RSPA directly).
We will be simplifying Jeff’s presentation since people in the industry have been asking for this content from our perspective. Jeff’s presentation does a great job getting into the nitty-gritty of the process of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) but this post will be focused on how to maximize your dealership now, with some concrete takeaways.
I hope every POS Dealer out there who reads this – whether you agree with it all or not – at least appreciates that Mr. Thaeler just provided them thousands of dollars of first-rate consulting services for free.
thanks Mr. Ellis!
Superb advice as always. When selling SaaS systems to merchants and selling against a buy-once software license, I emphasize risk and obsolescence, as well as maintenance costs. What looks cheaper long term has hidden costs, and more risk than is obvious up front.
This is spot on, the timing/age/lifecycle of the POS dealer is a simple but meaningful data point as you analyze the “why” behind the behavior patterns and failure to acclimate to the changing market conditions. Many dealers have made a career in this business and don’t have the energy left in the tank to reinvent — those that do or have already will be prime for the next generation of POS buyer. The market is still very strong, restaurant business is evolving and growing, and customers are getting more tech saavy — clearly at a faster pace than many VARs. Time to re-tool, find competitive products that serve customers in meaningful and sustainable ways, and use the local connections that have long made the VARs so competitive in the space to rocket to the next level.
Always love reading your content!