Hey guys,
Happy Independence Day.
I was stunned to read the few truly hurtful comments offered in this thread. In the context of a knit community and the years of dedicated service rendered by Luke and the organization he built, these comments are a spectacular display of bad manners and inadequate upbringing.
Moreover, these particular comments parade a galactic ignorance of how the American business system actually works. Primer follows.
I like this deal for many reasons, at many different levels. The single most important reason is that
it moves economic power closer to the user … the guy in the tree.
The notion that this transaction represents a big fish swallowing a small fish to reduce competition and increase prices is nonsense. It could only be true if Sherrilltree and TreeStuff were the last two fish in the pond (think cable companies). But the arborist industry is highly fragmented. You have many, many choices: many retailers, many manufacturers many different technologies, and products from many different industries tangentially related.
Amid the cacophony of many competing voices, this business deal hands a major megaphone to the guy in the tree. When you click an order at SherrillTreeStuff.com , you will be voting about price, quality and innovation. In the brave new world that began last week, what supplier is going to be stupid enough NOT to hear you? Better pricing and more capital investment will follow to your new megaphone.
(By the way, SherrillTreeStuff.com, is a fantasy out of my head. It has absolutely nothing to do with the deal. I just like the sound of it and it encapsulates how I’m thinking about the new organization. And, I just like naming things. Note to self: check the domain registration anyway …)
Whether you are selling FedEx shipping labels or rope, you will need to compete more aggressively to stay relevant on SherrillTreeStuff. The user will win; but there will be losers too. In the aggregate, suppliers will need to make up those lost margin dollars. How will they do that? Partly with design innovation, partly with productivity and partly within the pricing lists offered to smaller volume retailers. This process will take years but many will need to re-think their business models and take a very hard look at how they make themselves valuable to their customers.
And, thank God, it will now be easier for suppliers to make serious capital spending ideas in support of this industry. This industry has been woefully undercapitalized for design and production methods, even when blessed by an unusual concentration of clever, creative minds that can see better ways to solve problems.
Let me illustrate the importance of capital investment directed specifically to arborists: the APTA and the Portawrap are clever, creative ideas that have changed the way work gets done. Bravo to those creative minds … Nick Bonner and Norm Hall. But look at the product … it could be hand made in any competent motorcycle shop. We pay for the low capital investment through recurring prices that are higher than they need to be.
In contrast, when Rock Exotica dumped big money into CNC machining, they transformed the rescue industry with the Omniblock.
And when DMM invested big in hot aluminum forging, the Hitchclimber and the Pinto changed dDRT climbing everywhere.
We need more capital investment pointed directly at the arborist industry, not hand-me-downs from other industries. David Driver, Sherrilltree and the Safebloc are a classic illustration … they made something for the arborist, not a just a hand-me-down from luxury yachting. That came from capital investment at Sherrilltree.
We need more work on aerial friction management; it's an important safety innovation. We need a mountain of work to bring out the full potential of SRT. And I, for one, would like tools that recognize that an arborist deals with impact loads. Excuse me, but I would like tools that still control the load even after something breaks … ! (Watch for my next video … you are in for a surprise.).
OK, I’ll climb off the soapbox but I stand by the prediction: ten years from now, you will see a more mature industry with better designs, safer tools and cheaper ways to get thing done. And SherrillTreeStuff is the path to that future. Could they screw it up? You can count on it. Nobody gets everything complete right on a complicated deal like this. They will screw some things up … but they’ll fix it. Eventually. Probably. I hope anyway.
I’d like to congratulate Trip, Luke and Nick on a job well done. Even when the business analysis is compelling, there is very heavy lifting to make the human equations work, the business plans to fit, the organization to harmonize and the money to happen right. It took skilled management practitioners on both sides of the table to do this. From the cheap seats, this could look easy. It’s never easy. Thank you, gentlemen. Some of us out here appreciate the work.
Tom Hoffmann
oldfart
https://www.youtube.com/user/tghoffmann
