How to Think Like an Opportunist
24 Construction Equipment Distribution www.cedmag.com November 2009 Strategy It's a miserable market, said Mark Burris, president of Rudd Equipment Co, based in Louisville, Ky. And no one will argue the point. Despite it, however, Rudd Equipment Co. and other dealers are expanding, taking advantage of market oppor-tunities. So what are they thinking? Construction Equipment Distribution recently interviewed Burris and other executives from Kiely Equipment (Long Branch, N.J.) and Road Machin-ery (Phoenix, Ariz. ) to find out. Their strategies and thinking are probably as diverse as the equipment they sell. Will it be growth through acquisition, expansion, or new prod-uct lines? How will you approach the challenges? Can you afford to weather the current economic storm? Learn from the experiences of three dealers who are growing and expanding in a down market. Pay attention and take notes, for they, or someone like them, may be coming to a market near you. Unconventional Kiely Equipment Stays with What They Know Small by AED standards, no one can dispute that Long Branch, N.J.-based Kiely Equipment is an up-and-comer, a niche player, and an incredible success. Revenue growth of 295 percent in 2008 placed them in cIn magazine's 5,000 for the second time in the past two years, as annual sales topped $5.6 million. At first glance, Kiely Equipment Co. appears to be hodgepodge of unrelated businesses: They rent traffic safety products; sell and service underground construction equipment through Astec Under-ground North Atlantic and are the North American distributor for How to Think Like an OPPORTUNIST Dealers show there's more than one way to grow in a down market. By joanne costIn Rudd Equipment was recently named the authorized distributor for Volvo earthmoving and road machinery products in Ohio.