Chapter 27

A few weeks later.

Waking up between to loving women is always a treat. Now that the baby was sleeping all night, and Sue's playground was in working order again, we were back to some wakeup playtime and teasing, along with some additional attention from Mercy. This morning was no exception, and it just about took everything I had, plus a little over a half-hour, before they let me out of bed.

Little Steve has a sixth sense, as he sleeps until Sue is out of the shower, before he begins letting the world know he wants to be changed and fed. Uncanny, but convenient, as some of our showers do get extended.

This morning I was on the patio by six fifteen having coffee with Glenda, Mercy, Ruth, and Tiny. I asked Tiny if he wanted to take a plane ride with me today, and if he did, we would be gone till evening. He said it sounded like a plan to him, so I called out to the Aero Park to have the 200 prepped.

Sue and Mercy knew of my plans, so they were not curious as to what I was doing. Tiny is really big but loves to crawl into the right seat up front in our junior rocket ship. As we were getting ourselves comfortable after doing the exterior pre-flight inspection, but before I began the cockpit checklist, Tiny said, "You know I've been paying you for the advertising on your plane. Both companies pay you now since you won't let the company pick up the cost of the plane. You know you should sell it to us so it doesn't come from your own pocket."

As I began doing the checklist I answered, "If I sold the plane I'd have to get permission to use it for personal business every time I wanted to go somewhere."

"You know you wouldn't have to do that, Steve, you would still be in charge of where and when the plane went anywhere. You have this thing in the air a lot lately, since you're renting it out. From the receipts and invoices we process for you, it hardly costs you anything to own. Your little plane is even making money as a student airplane. The only time it's idle is when it is due for maintenance. You should probably get a couple of more airplanes and start your own flight school."

"That's one business I don't want to be in, Tiny. I might get some planes to play with though. You do have an idea there. I could always lease some of the Aero Park's land and build my own hangar. That might be good to do."

Tiny finally settled in while I went through the engine start procedure. He asked, "Where are we going anyway? I didn't ask at breakfast as you seemed a little secretive."

"First stop, Atlanta. Put your headphones on while I open our flight plan and get permission to take off."

A couple of hours later, we were in a rental car in Atlanta driving into a big Southern distributorship for outdoor equipment. This was a location that even kept one of our big trucks on display. When we went inside, a gray-haired older gentleman greeted me warmly.

"Great that you could come up so soon, Steve. Let me give you a quick tour, then we'll have a talk." They had a huge repair and parts business for several lines of equipment. He had a pretty clean shop, but nowhere near ours. He did have a field service group with trucks that went to job sites for repair calls. His operation was a lot different from ours since he wasn't as diversified.

We went into his small conference room and were introduced to his attorney and his accounting firm's representative. When we were settled, he said, "I didn't think I would ever see this day, but since none of my kids want to continue the business, I want to sell to someone who will maintain the business and perhaps even make it grow. Steve, you're the only one that I know that has the capital and management manpower to make this happen. That's why you and I have made this deal. Tiny," he continued, "I know you've called me multiple times to talk about S&S buying us out, but it wasn't time yet. Now it is. These guys have all of the documents ready for us."

The accountant said to Tiny, "This is kind of convenient that the firm represents both companies. Here is last year's P&L and this year's year to date. I have all the numbers that you like to use for your organization."

Tiny was really surprised. He sorted through the papers, while the owner and I went to get some coffee and brought some back for the others. Fifteen minutes later Tiny said, "Your company is doing well. Steve, are we buying this company now?"

"Already bought it, Tiny, we're here for your inspection and for me to sign off. Money has already been set aside to do this deal," I said.

"You set aside far too much for this place, Steve. I didn't question that but we should..."

"Hold on, Tiny. Look at this; it's what we're paying for the company, a very fair price. Besides, all of the management is staying, and the person chosen to run the place has been with this company for over twelve years. All we have to do is to bring him to Tampa to show him what else he can do to make money. Once the employees find out what kind of benefits we have, I'm sure they will all stay."

"This is more like it. It's a good deal."

I signed the papers, and was introduced to the manager prospect. He told Tiny that he was excited to learn how we did things in Tampa and wanted to know when he could come. I told him to come at his leisure. If he would call us, we would arrange travel for him and his wife. If he had kids in school then he might want to wait for spring break. He said he wanted to come quickly, so he could comply with S&S methods, as we were known for our productivity. He could always plan something additional for his wife and kids.

An hour later we were lifting off, heading northwest. We landed at Chicago Executive airport. As soon as we parked at the private terminal, a limo came to the plane. An attendant took over the plane for servicing so we could get into the warm car. The driver had two parkas for us, one normal size for me, and one giant size for Tiny.

We drove to a group of buildings on the west side of Chicago. We were at the Midwest Onan distributorship. This had been a factory-owned store ten years before, but had been sold off as they didn't think it was productive. The new owner had made the place profitable and had expanded the operation.

We met the owner, Mark Lawton, and an attorney as soon as we entered. "Mr. Sharp, thank you for coming so fast, and thank you for accepting my offer. This is sudden, I know, but when your family is in need, you do whatever is necessary."

I introduced him to Tiny, and he handed Tiny a stack of papers. "My accounting firm is the same national firm yours is, so you should be able to trust the audit they finished last week at Steve's request. The company is making money, and I have plans for continued expansion using some of the same techniques that Steve uses. He has revolutionized how distributorships think."

The attorney pushed a pile of papers over to me to look at and sign. Tiny looked up at me and asked, "Two in one day?"

"This is kind of what I was alluding to, but I wanted to be sure before I let the cat out of the bag."

Tiny looked over the contracts and asked, "This says you have two more facilities in the Chicago area."

Mark said, "We couldn't service the entire Chicago market from this one location, so we bought existing buildings in far south Chicago and east Chicago, which is actually in Indiana. They were both good moves and we now are probably getting near fifty percent of the market up here."

Tiny remarked to me, "You might want to review some of the benefit packages as these people are all union. Their pay structures are different than ours."

"We'll work on all of that, Tiny, but first I want to hire Mark as our consultant and management trainer for this market. Call Ruth and tell her to open the big envelope I gave her last week. It has Mark's employment application and his insurance application."

"Thank you, Steve, your help right now means more to me than you will ever know. I promise to help you build these businesses up to out-produce even your Tampa operation."

Tiny almost began laughing, but a look from me kept him quiet. I signed the papers while Tiny called Ruth. Once we were done, I was introduced to four men. Three were the individual plant managers, and one was the newly appointed manager of operations. I had the same discussion with all four, explaining that I wanted them to visit with us for a month to learn how we did things, and for them to operate the same up here. Tiny said he would take care of getting them to Tampa one at a time so their operations would not falter during their absences.

We took a quick tour through the buildings, noting that a major cleaning and painting job would be necessary to duplicate our bright shops. It was too cold to wander around much, so Tiny and I headed back to the airport.

Once in the air on the way home, Tiny said, "You know you're going to give Phil an attack. Those two markets have been tough to penetrate for him and now he has Carte Blanche to market at will. Poor Ryan is going to be so busy that he will need wings to get around."

"My thought exactly, Tiny. He has been taking flying lessons, but I think I will get some kind of plane and a pilot that he can fly around with. When he gets his instrument rating and lots of experience flying, perhaps then he can fly on his own. He needs to have some time while he's in the air to do work and to relax. I think he needs a pilot. I want to hire his wife as his executive assistant, so they can always travel together, as he will be busy."

As we were flying, I gave Tiny the last of what I had been thinking. "I'm transferring fifteen percent of the company to you, Phil, and Abe. I want you three to know how much you have meant to making the company work. Now if I should ever get a wild hair and decide to go public, you three will be taken care of, hopefully for life. You still have your fat 401K's right now, so with the additional five percent of the company, you three will feel more in control of your future."

"My God, Steve, you're making us millionaires." Tiny gasped.

"I have no idea how much it's worth, I just needed you three to be partners so you don't mind controlling and managing the place while I'm off doing things."

"Keep doing them, Steve, the addition of those two dealerships is one of the biggest wins our company will ever have. It sure is convenient they both use the same accounting firm. How did you arrange that?"

"I asked both if they could hire the same firm so we could be assured of the same accounting practices and have audits to justify the price."

"You paid a very fair price for Atlanta, but you stole Chicago, Steve. You paid about seventy-five percent of market value."

"We got the deal because Mark needed to sell so he could pay for his wife's medical care, and it will cover some of my apprehension of dealing with the unions. We will have some work to do with them."

"When are you going to tell Phil and Abe about their five percent?"

"Tonight after I announce the purchase of the two distributorships, Ruth is trying to get all of the S&S people out to the house tonight for the announcement. No effort is being made to get Sue's people to the house."

When Tiny and I arrived home, the place was bustling with preparation of a Friday night party. The big tent was up and the caterer was busily putting food out.

Shawna was home early, and the four mothers and Mercy had the little ones on the floor in the living room, watching them as they were trying to hold themselves up, and in Stevie's case roll himself over onto his back, then wiggle back to his belly. CJ (Charlie Junior) was going to be huge like his dad, but he was going to have Shawna's red hair and fair complexion. Debbie's baby had red hair but Hanna's did not. We guessed that her next one probably would. Steve was going to have his mom's rich auburn curly locks.

Tiny and I had a beer as Phil and Abe pulled up together. How convenient that they both took off a little early. When they were on the patio with a drink in hand I told them of buying the two distributorships that day.

They both looked at me, unbelieving, until Tiny said, "I was there, I saw it with my own eyes."

They both sat back in their chairs contemplating what this might mean.

"Now the good news," I said, as I opened up a file folder I had with me. "I need some partners in the business, so I've elected you three. If you will look at these papers you will each see you are now five percent owners of the company. This is in addition to your joint ownership within the 401K plan. You each now share in every dollar that goes in and out of the company, including the two new places."

Abe sat there smiling, very happy, very satisfied. "Thanks, Steve. Alice and I are already set for life. This is just that much more. It means I am a real part of the company. Thank you."

Phil was still staring at the document that transferred five percent of the company to him. He finally looked up and said, "Christ, Steve, how much do you want to give me? You've already made me a millionaire, now I'm more of one. You brought me on board when I was just about ready to begin selling yellow page ads. Now look at Judy and me, we are awash in money. The best part is that we are kept so busy that it's fun to go to work every day to see what new way we can make a deal or help a customer. Jeez, Steve, thank you. Judy is going to have a fit."

"This is not necessarily something that we should broadcast around. You three are already the management staff. Keep it going and thank you for making the company what it is today."

The party was fun. The announcements were applauded loud and long as the two new dealerships would virtually give us the entire eastern United States as our playground. Phil would now be the most powerful sales manager or vice president of sales in all of Onan. His total sales responsibility could make or break the company. It was a good thing he was training multiple area managers, he would need even more now.

Ryan and his wife, Michelle, wanted to talk to Tiny, Phil, and me. Ryan asked if they could live here in Tampa with us, to buy and live in the park with all of us. They wanted to live with friends, not in some far off place where they would not have as many close friends. He proposed that he could use commercial flights for one location a week, or more if necessary, but be home on weekends. He said he was traveling better than fifty percent of his time now.