Most of us do not really want to retire. But if we keep on doing what we already know how to do, we inevitably become less and less interested, excited, and/or effective at it.
The story you are about to read describes how one man, Ben Burkholder, dealt with the dilemma. He chose to do something else - in order to keep alive the excitement that comes with working and succeeding.
Ben came to our attention in a rather unusual way: his toffee company was featured in a special on cable TVīs Food Network focused on the unique tastes of Texas. The show described how he makes his unique product AND how this was far from his first business venture. Just about as far as anyone could imagine.
Prior to his career as a toffee mogul, Ben was an international agricultural consultant who traveled the world to work on a variety of large-scale agricultural projects.
Ben began with Diamond A Cattle Company in 1970, where he stayed until 1982. In 1975, while still working for Diamond A, he joined AG International of Houston as a vice president.
He continued serving on the board of Diamond A and on the boards of projects to build a 37,000 acre irrigated farm in Iran and a million-acre ranch in Brazil. He frequently visited these countries and monitored their progress. With AG international, he was responsible for an Egyptian citrus growth project and landscaping projects throughout the Middle East.
In 1980, he joined Hawaiian Agronomics as Vice Chairman. They were also active in the Middle East, particularly in landscaping and wheat farming in Saudi Arabia. He retired in 1986 but continued to consult, and in 1990, he worked on a Pima Cotton project in Northwest Australia, as well as a cattle ranching project with Diamond. Neither project materialized, and by 1992, he decided his consulting days were over.
Ben began making his toffee over 30 years ago, but only as a treat for himself, his family, and his friends. At the time, he was living in Roswell, NM, and working for the Diamond A Cattle Company.
At Christmas, his wife asked him to whip up a few batches to sell at a church charity bazaar and it was a roaring success.
After they moved to Houston, she asked him to make a few batches for charity bazaar to raise funds for the Blue Bird Clinic (http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/neurol/struct/blueb/blueb1.html), a pediatric neurology clinic in Houston. The entire supply sold within 15 minutes and people were clamoring for more.
Ben runs his confections operation out of his house in Houston. He chose to make toffee, he says, simply because it was hard for the ladies (at churches were he showed his wares) to make it themselves.
"The way we make it, itīs spread out on boards, then the boards are pressed together and flipped so both sides can be coated with chocolate and pecans, and because of the size, it was hard for the ladies to pick it up and flip it."
Once word spread that Ben was responsible for the candy, requests began to pour in, and he decided to begin selling it. And the popularity of his candy has resulted in increased sales and production beyond his wildest dreams. Ben has been growing his business slowly and steadily, but some excellent and unexpected promotional opportunities, such as the Food Network profile, have driven many new sales.
Although agribusiness consulting is a far cry from the cottage industry of toffee, Ben has found it easy to translate his management experience from the ranch to the kitchen
"Before the TV program, I had 1100 clients in my database, 900 of which had ordered in 2001. They ordered an average of 11 pounds. As a result of the TV program, I now have 2000 clients in my database, and 110085%-- have ordered. In 1989, I made 200 pounds of toffee. This year, Iīll make 20,000 pounds."
Benīs is purely a mail order business, except for over the counter sales at church, charity and Junior League bazaars, arts and crafts shows, and the Houston Rodeo. Most of his annual sales stem from customers he meets at these shows, which run for about 6 weeks in the fall. Theyīre a good opportunity to win new customersthe combination of a free sample and a brochure are he needs to convince new faces to become dedicated customers.
"We donīt take any orders at the shows. Itīs a curious thing, but we donīt. We give `em a taste and let them have a brochure, and then weīll hear from them at Christmas time. And usually, they donīt buy it for themselves; they buy it as a gift. Itīs rare that they order for their own consumption."
While technology has helped Ben automate the business side of the company, through computerized bookkeeping and online ordering, the production side remains a thoroughly hands-on operation. He keeps both a corporate database and a general database. Brochures are sent to the corporate clients in September, and to the general customer base in mid-November refreshing their memories just in time for the holiday season.
"When I drop them in the mail in November, three days later, the phone will start to ring and the orders will start to come in. I have to have two people here answering the phone day and night. I donīt do many orders before that time. It just booms during the holidays."
"The unnerving thing is, that with the new popularity of the company, I have to run two shifts, I have to do some extraordinary things to accomplish a task I wasnīt really quite prepared for. But Iīm getting prepared for it!"
Ben feels that his background in consulting will serve him well when it comes to putting the business in high gear to meet the projected increase in this yearīs holiday sales.
"My work in consulting has definitely helped prepare me in that respect."
Ben has (quite by accident) isolated the ingredients to real retirement and implemented them. The need for security often keeps us in the driverīs seat way longer than is helpful for our business, our family, and us. We are afraid to let go because, what if they screw it up what will we have left? Ben now pours his energy into something different something that calls upon what he already knows and is teaching new stuff every day.
In a family business, there are a couple more keys to successful retirement. The plan must allow the successors a chance to learn, grow, and ultimately take charge. And it must fit into Momīs needs and desires.
These last two are often the most difficult. If you have a story of how you or someone you know is dealing with them (or the first two) please contact us. We would love to tell your story too.
Ben Burkholder can be reached at http://www.toffeeco.com.
Profiles of business owners respected in their industry appear in our newsletter and are available on our web site. We encourage association executives to tell us about their members who are leveraging their inherent advantages (trusted brand, excellent service, etc.) by embracing a "doing it right" attitude into their strategy for growth.
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