Editorial: Changing focus
Adversity can create the need for change.
by Clair Urbain, Editor/Publisher
It’s a foible of human nature. We get comfortable in our ways. We continue to do what we’ve always done and we get pretty much get what we’ve always gotten.
Then something out of our control happens. For the Krueger family, who is the subject of our cover story, Iron is in their blood, that’s precisely what they’ve been through.
When the automotive industry dried up in Michigan, so did their equipment branches and businesses. They moved to Florida, settled in the Tampa area and made a good living renting larger equipment to developers...until the Great Recession knocked the go-go developments in the area on their backsides.
Once again, they looked within and refocused their business efforts. Gone were the large excavators and wheel loaders in their rental fleet, replaced by smaller and more diverse equipment with much higher utilization.
It’s discovered some helpful equipment niches, such as compact aerial lifts, that meet the needs of pros who must work in smaller, older back yards of the greater Tampa area. Further, it’s found that refurbished equipment, whether purchased or refurbished in their shop, has a very positive effect on the bottom line.
As a journalist, I’ve suffered with and reported on farmers going through the devastating '80s. I had to remake my career, which took me into the world of construction, where I’ve ridden the waves and fell in the troughs through the '90s. Once again, the Great Recession hit and I was presented with yet another opportunity to remake myself. I can relate with the Kruegers their desire to make the changes to get back on track.
It’s not likely to be the last time in my career – or for any of our readers – to go through a “focus change.” In many ways, changing focus sharpens one’s mind, pulls us out of our comfort zone and helps us learn new skills. While it can be a painful process, invariably, we come out better persons because of it.
Has your rental center gone through a focus change? We’d love to hear about it and possibly even share it with our readers. Simply drop me an email at curbain@urbaincomm.com or give me a call at 920.723.3476.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Copyright 2019 Urbain Communications, LLC. All rights reserved. Contact curbain@urbaincomm.com for permission to reprint or rebroadcast all or part of this article.
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