Expanding the company
One of the biggest mistakes generational owners commit is trying to run the family business the same way their parents or grandparents did. Graeter and his cousins refused to fall into that trap.
"Our consultants were very adamant about that," Graeter says. "They said, ‘Look, you guys, if you are out there driving and loading trucks and making ice cream, you can’t possibly plan where you want the business to go five or 10 years down the road because you’re worried about the next five or 10 minutes.’ That’s the real critical difference between our fathers’ generation and ours."
Instead, they’ve set up a management structure that allows them to focus on their strengths. And, for the first time, they’ve hired nonfamily members to fill out the senior management team.
"In the past, you had employee members and you had Graeters, and that was that," Graeter says. "There was no in-between."
Graeter sought to fill that "in-between" with strong team members who could serve as a link between the family members and the company’s other employees.
"The most important thing was (to find) someone who was as dedicated to the quality of the product (as we were)," he says. "Someone who cared about it, who looked at that ice cream or candy or bakery item as it’s going out the door, knowing that they were wrapped up in it. Our name is on that, and we want the best to be out there carrying our names."
Graeter says he found two of those people already inside the company — one managing the bakery and another in ice cream operations.
Adding them to the team — and having them oversee those key aspects of the business — allowed Richard to focus on his role as company leader, managing the accounting, legal, finance and marketing functions of the business. Bob oversees all plant operations and Chip is the trio’s natural salesman, designing and managing the company’s retail sales.
The moves led Graeter to work on developing incentives beyond ownership for the new senior managers. "That’s another project we’re working on," he says. "Obviously, with a small corporation, there isn’t stock, so you look to use other ways to benefit them — salary and bonus. You’re basically trying to give them the incentive to stay for a long time. If they stay for 10 years and contribute to the company’s success, at the end of that time period, there’ll be a nice pool of wealth created for them."
But despite all the changes, all three Graeters are interested in one thing — ensuring the product’s quality.
"We could try to do 100 different things, extend our brand to different product areas," Graeter says. "But Graeter’s is ice cream. And when you get back to the product, it requires hard work and staying true to who you are."
HOW TO REACH: Graeter’s Inc., (513) 721-3323 or www.graeters.com
Amanda Wurzinger contributed to this article.
