Eric Wessinger successfully managed a family business transition at Richards Supply over the course of around 10 years. His journey with the company began as a summer job, involving various roles while growing up, before he pursued a different career path for about a decade. Returning to Richards Supply with a newfound perspective and experience, Eric now shoulders the responsibility of maintaining the family legacy and ensuring its success.
When Eric returned to Richards with the intention of leading it, there was obviously a bit of employee resistance to the idea of the owner’s son taking over. To address this, Eric adopted a humble and honest approach, working with existing employees to make sure that the company’s culture and processes remained. And with two high school-aged children, Eric is pretty open to the possibility of involving them in the third generation of the family business.
Contact Eric at https://www.richardssupply.com/
“It's not black and white; leadership is not ‘yes’ and ‘no’. It's not ‘on’ and ‘off’. Every person needs different things from you as a leader." - Eric Wessinger
This week on Priorities Lifestyle:
- The Challenges Of Transitioning Business Within The Family
- Navigating Employee Pushback During A Leadership Transition
- The Importance Of A Five-to-Ten Year Plan For Transition
- Why Outside Experience Was Crucial To A Successful Family Business Transition
- Training The Next Generation To Take Over
- Surviving As A Supply Company During COVID
Our Favorite Quotes:
- "It wasn't, ‘The owner’s son is coming in, and he's going to teach us all about how it works.’ This was, ‘Hey, the owner’s son is coming to join the company. We're all in this together. This is new for all of us. Let's learn this together.’" - Eric Wessinger
- “You know, it's two different things. You have ownership, that's one thing, and you have leadership, that's another. I think that we forget that a lot of the time, especially when we're doing transitions within generations. You can move those around and pull the levers differently.” - Rob Schulz
- "I know of family members that aren't involved in their family business and still want to be involved, still want to kind of have their say even though they have nothing to do with the business. I've been really blessed and lucky that I don't have that situation. I'm fully autonomous to run Richards the way I want, and my family allows me that freedom.” - Eric Wessinger
About Rob Schulz and P&L Priorities & Lifestyle Podcast
The P&L: Priorities & Lifestyle Podcast is a show for business owners. In each episode, host and financial planner Rob Schulz sits down with business owners and the professionals that serve them to talk about business building, life, money — and the all-important transition out of the business, which inevitably happens to everyone who has ever founded a company.
Email Rob at rob.schulz@schulzwealth.com with questions and comments, or to schedule a one-on-one conversation.
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*You’re listening to P&L: Priorities & Lifestyle with your host Rob Schulz. Rob is the Founder and President of Schulz Wealth. All opinions expressed by Rob and his guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Schulz Wealth. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for investment decisions. Please refer to our website for more information: schulzwealth.com
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