The Ontario Broker - April 2019 - 39

Since then, McDougall has grown
from four employees to 385 across 33
locations in Eastern Ontario, the Ottawa
Valley and Central Ontario. "Over the
years we've purchased 25 brokerages of
all sizes. From as few as three employees
to as many as 42," says Ross. "In the past
we've reached out to brokers to suggest
a purchase or merger. As we've grown,
brokers learn about us and our culture,
and approach us."
The brokerage tends to focus on rural
parts of the province for potential
locations. "We're expanding our
geographical horizons though. We're
looking at Central Ontario and some of
Western Ontario. We've also considered
Northern Ontario."
As you'd imagine, coordinating and
managing 33 locations might be a
challenge. "Having numerous branches
makes it difficult to get everyone doing
the same thing. We have a team devoted
to training and auditing who spend a lot
of time working within branch offices.
We have a very active social committee
that works hard to get all branches
involved. Management roles have
evolved over time- we currently operate
within a hub system with one Manager
responsible for six to seven branches. We
have five Regional Managers with quite a
bit of authority to run their own region."
A principle McDougall looks for when
considering a merger is aligning on
culture, first and foremost. "When
it comes to mergers, one of the most
important things is to ensure a cultural
fit between the two organizations. Values
need to match. The other key is to be

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patient, and not try to make too many
changes too quickly. It can be easier on
newly acquired staff when things remain
relatively the same until they grow
accustomed to the new people they work
with."
The size of the brokerage isn't always
a determining factor when expanding.
"We continue to acquire brokerages of all
sizes-we'd acquire a brokerage as small
as three to five people, or one with 75.
It's more important that the brokerage
shares our values and customs." What is
McDougall's culture? "We've struggled
to truly identify it, but the one thing
our staff has in common is they put the
customer first, always."
What are valuation trends looking
like and what's next for McDougall?
"Valuation has reached a plateau. I think
there's a stronger chance of valuations
going down over the next five years than
going up. But our plan is to keep growing
and make sure we're supporting that
growth with a strong management team.
"I'm extremely proud of our team.
We have incredible bench strength
and commitment from shareholders
and management. But simply buying
brokerages isn't a strategy unless you can
grow them. We're proud of the fact we've
built a sales culture to serve our clients,
and that it's resulted in average organic
growth of 7-10% per year.
"The key to growth is to truly align
mergers and acquisitions on core
values and in every situation, to put the
customer first."

39

OPENED IN

1946
CURRENTLY

33

OFFICES
&

385

EMPLOYEES

FOUNDED IN

belleville
EXPANDED
ACROSS THE
OTTAWA VALLEY
AND EASTERN &
CENTRAL ONTARIO

APRIL 2019
http://WWW.IBAO.ORG
The Ontario Broker - April 2019

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