I was having a conversation with a close friend in the industry a while ago and he made a comment about how he couldn’t understand why any young person would want to take a job with an office technology dealership today. That caught me by surprise because he’s in the business and office technology dealers represent a major portion of his revenue. He feels strongly that the bigger dealers are going to keep getting bigger while the smaller ones are going to either get swallowed up or eventually fade away.
Some might say the recent acquisition of Infincom, a $10+ million dealership based in Tempe, AZ by Caltronics is an example of this trend. More of these acquisitions are bound to happen just as more manufacturers will continue to acquire dealerships. For many dealers it’s a great exit strategy or a strategy to keep the dealership going and growing, or an excellent strategy for manufacturers to lock in distribution.
However, I wonder how many dealers who sell their dealership will still have an interest in getting back into the business after their non-competes expire? As we all know after selling to IKON and Danka back in the day many dealers came back and started new dealerships and many of those are still thriving today. Today, I imagine that number, especially with the emergence of services like MPS and MNS may be smaller than ever particularly if we’re talking about dealers who were focused exclusively on hardware sales, but I could be wrong.
Is there a future for young people in the imaging technology and services industry? I certainly hope so. Those opportunities may not be with a traditional office technology dealership as more VARS expand and start carrying hardware like MFPs, but hopefully they’ll be there. Then again, I could be wrong. I hope not.
What’s new this week?
- More on Whether or Not MPS Has Become a Commodity
- 12 Questions with Gary Willert of LMI Solutions
- What’s Hot & What’s Not?
- Why Art Post Stinks as a Sales Rep
- February News Bytes
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