Security Sales & Integration May 2023 - 51

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS
Big Idea by Ron Davis
rdavis@graybeardsrus.com
Small Dealers Can Benefi t
From Industry Roll-ups Boom
IDEA OF
THE MONTH
If you had one great idea
for the industry, what
would it be?
▶ IF I HAD ONE PERSON who I could just
sit around with and brainstorm ideas, particularly
about the security industry, it would have to
be Stanley Oppenheim. He's the owner of DGA
Security in New York City, and he and his son
own Affi liated Monitoring, also in New York.
I've only known Oppenheim for 50 years; there
are a few people still around who have known
him longer.
An SSI Industry Hall of Famer, Oppenheim
" Big roll-ups
become impersonal
... Employees aren't
happy with roll-up
companies. If small
companies provide
dedicated service,
they will do well
staying in business.
You should reassure
smaller dealers
that acquisitions
actually help. "
- Stanley Oppenheim
Ron Davis is an SSI
Industry Hall of Fame
inductee and President of
Davis Mergers and
Acquisitions Group Inc.
Also known as The Graybeards,
the company is
active in acquisitions and
mergers exclusively in the
alarm business.
securitysales.com
achieved legendary status as an entrepreneur, a
builder of security businesses, and a brilliant
thinker. Even though he is admired by security
dealers worldwide, he is down to earth and
will always take the time to answer a question
about our industry. I interviewed him eight
years ago for this column, and he still remembered
the topic (learning how to just say " no, "
sometimes).
Th is time I did not have a script or a list of
questions or anything else that would give me a
head start in the conversation we were about to
have. I called him at an appointed time in April
and we chatted about a few things that friends
will talk about, before I asked him my fi rst question:
" Stanley, if you were a relatively new dealer
just getting started in the industry, would you
feel confi dent about your future? "
Now, mind you, he answered my question almost
immediately. No preparation. No advanced
thinking. " We are in a roll-up in our industry,
never before seen, now. Big roll-ups become
impersonal. Well-run companies that remain in
business are better off than to be acquired. Employees
aren't happy with roll-up companies, "
Oppenheim told me. " If small companies provide
dedicated service, they will do well staying
in business. You should reassure smaller dealers
that acquisitions actually help. "
Th e adage about the rising tide being helpful
to all ships ... it's true. And by the way, I'm not
an idle bystander to the industry; Davis Mergers
& Acquisitions Group has been a leading
industry broker house for a quarter-century
and we've done more than 400 acquisitions for
companies of all sizes.
After pondering Oppenheim's answer, I realized
that not only did I agree, but I have said
the same thing many times in the past. I like to
think about the industry's perseverance akin to
America's almost - we've gone through several
wars and internal strife, overcoming many obstacles
to get where we are today but with some
areas still to improve.
Every day at my company, we get calls for security
providers that are willing to sell. However,
we've had just as many calls, maybe more, from
alarm companies that were looking to buy or acquire
something that has real material value. In
25 years of doing what we are doing now, I have
never seen a slowdown, meltdown or letdown in
the activities of the industry.
At the time of this writing, the industry just
held one of the biggest ISC West shows in Las
Vegas (see Pulse In Depth, page 8). It is particularly
true for our company, seemingly just as many
buyers, and of equal importance, just as many
sellers are in the mix. In other words, everything
was kind of back to routine like prepandemic
times, and whatever blips have occurred in the
growth of the industry have long since passed.
Every person who has a managerial responsibility
has wondered about things that are changing
the industry. Th ey are. But not necessarily
for the bad, many are for the good, and even
some of the bad shifts have good overtones built
into them.
Here's a little test that will help you determine
what the outlook is for the industry. Call
or write to each of your top fi ve manufacturers
or suppliers and then ask the CEO this: What
is your prognosis for the short term (one year
or less), midterm (open) and long term (the
future). And if you happen to fi nd yourself at
industry events where Stanley Oppenheim is in
attendance, give him a shout out, let him know
that you read his advice and that you're still here,
and still happy.
MAY 2023 Security Sales & Integration
51
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration May 2023

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