By Jeff Mann Sell Your Ramp 0 Comments

Yard Ramp Exit Strategy

Going Full Circle

When It's Time to Sunset Your Ramp

In our corner of the universe, we've long said that the two best days of an owner’s life are the day they bought the business and the day they sold it.

That's commonly known as exit strategy.

True to form, many companies focus on helping you with exit strategy. That is: they're in business to help put you out of business.

One such company, NAVIX, tells us there are only four exit strategies:

  1. Pass to Family
  2. Sell to Outside Third Parties
  3. Sell to Inside Key Employees
  4. Planned Liquidation

Back to our corner of the universe. If you are wanting to sell not the business itself but an asset ⏤ hello, yard ramp ⏤ and you can sell it to your sister or nephew (Strategy #1) or your bookkeeper (Strategy #4), let's hope they have really big back yards.

Companies sell off their yard ramps for a number of reasons. Let's say they've repurposed their focus and no longer need an inclined plane to load and off-load inventory. Or They're relocating to a facility that doesn't require a yard ramp. Or a yard ramp already exists on site the new facility. Or they have a two-year lease on a new property.

Whatever the reason, we're here to help with that exit strategy.

From the very first contact, we're looking to help customers make the easiest decisions. (For example: Though we don't finance, if people can't or don't want to lay out the money for a purchase, we do direct them to finance companies.) When you're done, you have us to turn to in order to liquidate that purchase.

And right from the start, we let our prospects know about our buy-back program. That is, we walk you through the the cost of purchasing a ramp and the value by which you’ll mitigate that cost when The Yard Ramp Guy helps you convert that steel back into cash.

Already have a yard ramp? With our brokerage services:

  • We share with you the market value, based on our appraisal and the geographical location of your ramp.
  • We make a recommendation for what we believe the asking price should be for your ramp, and together we agree upon the asking price.
  • We’ll discuss and agree upon sales negotiating strategy. And we will split the final sale price – 70% for you, 30% for The Yard Ramp Guy. That is not a typo.

We post and market the ramp through our website listings, we handle the transaction, and we coordinate any turnkey services the new buyer might need.

It's much easier than you posting it on eBay or craigslist.

Or trying to convince your sister, nephew, or bookkeeper how great that ramp would look in their yard.

This week, our man McCoy Fields goes diving in the ocean...to go mountain climbing.

Click HERE to see how he does it without ever leaving his BarcaLounger.

By Jeff Mann Yard Ramp Industries 0 Comments

On Efficiency

The Bottom Line Stuff

Safety in Mind (and Body)

One of the comments we hear all-too often from our potential customers: “If we had a ramp for a month or more, it would make all the difference.”

In our business, as it is with the industries that buy and rent our yard ramps, it's almost always about efficiencies.

When you're offloading your product, whether it's palletized or not, a crew of 2-4 employees typically needs a couple of hours to take inventory off a truck, or pull it to the end of the truck for a forklift to drive it away.

That's just a lot of labor. And the truck driver has to sit there, waiting. Time is money.

On the other hand: with a ramp, it's one worker with a forklift, unloading in 20-25 minutes.

Fold the safety factor into that. If you have 2-4 employees using muscle to move hundreds upon hundreds of pound of inventory manually, you run a higher risk of injury, followed by workers' comp claims. According to Safopedia, the top three workplace injuries are:

  1. Slips, trips, and falls
  2. Injuries from lifting, pushing, pulling, or reaching
  3. Material handling and forklift accidents

These accidents translate into 15% of all accidental deaths, 25% of all injury claims, and 95 million lost work days every year

Again, Safopedia: “Fines from OSHA can be costly for businesses. Serious and other-than-serious infractions come in at $12,600, while willful or repeat violations will cost you $126,000.” The human safety issue informs the financial cost to your company.

Then there's the opportunity cost. What could your employees be doing with their time instead of loading and offloading trucks?

All of this reflects the 5 Ps: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

Or, as Jerry Smith said, “Don't learn safety by accident.”

This week, our man McCoy Fields takes on American history and gets it wrong, then gets it right.

Click HERE to read his fascinating and entertaining course correction.

By Jeff Mann Yard Ramp Industries 0 Comments

Manufacturing Outlook

What It Takes

Window (and Loading Bay) of Opportunity

In broad strokes, the manufacturing industry is informed by three connected activities:

First is the extraction of raw materials.

Second is the manufacturing process of these materials.

Third is the transport, distribution, and sale of materials.

All work in tandem to drive economies, get us to where we need to go, employ us, shelter us, put food on our table, and fill our spaces with essentials and luxuries.

The accounting firm Deloitte has produced a 2023 Manufacturing industry outlook that's filled with some keen insights on the state of the industry and five key trends to watch.

  1. Investing in advanced technologies to help mitigate risk.
  2. Implementing a broad range of talent management strategies to reduce voluntary exits.
  3. Relying on time-tested mitigation strategies with enhanced tactics to achieve supply assurance.
  4. Taking a holistic approach to smart factor initiatives to unlock new horizons.
  5. Focusing on corporate social responsibility.

Collectively, action on these five elements makes for a solid, strategic plan for growth. And it's a plan that both realizes and anticipates glitches. Deloitte's introduction makes that clear:

Accelerating growth amid anticipated challenges
"Despite supply headwinds, labor shortages, and an uncertain economic environment, the manufacturing industry continues to surpass the expectations of previous years. To maintain this growth, leaders should leverage digital technologies, adopt strategies for the future of work, and drive supply chain resiliency. Our 2023 outlook explores five manufacturing industry trends that can help organizations turn risks into advantages and capture growth."

Why put an accounting firm's economic outlook in a space focused on industrial yard ramps?

The Yard Ramp Guy continues to sell and rent our inventory to every sector described, including extraction (including agribusiness), manufacturing, and distribution, with our ramps placed across the gamut of U.S. industries.

We're proud that our mobile yard ramps and stationary loading dock ramps serve quietly ⏤ without fuss and with minimal maintenance requirements.

This week, our man McCoy Fields gives us a concrete example of...well, concrete.

Click HERE to read about Roman ingenuity.

By Jeff Mann Customer Service 0 Comments

Our 2023 Roundup

Yule Be Singing This

To Your Health, from The Yard Ramp Guy Team

Our year-end roundup, in verse...

Oh, the opportunity is rightful
With the economy delightful
And since you've made your biz a champ
Buy a ramp! Rent a ramp! Buy a ramp!

Man it doesn't show signs of stopping
This inclined plane is hopping
All our stuff from high to low
Business grow! Business grow! Business grow!

When we finally close the deal
How I'll hate arranging delivery
But you'll turnkey my ramp for real?
All set up, and for a low fee!

And the year is now down-winding
And my taxman is still replying:
"Take the Section 179 Deduction
Tax Reduction! Tax Reduction! Tax Reduction!"

When we finally close the '22 books
How I'll love having streamlined the place
And if you want to know how it looks
I gotta say that yard ramp adds grace.

Oh, I know it's three-tons of steel
With some wheels and chains and a clamp
But if you want to know how I feel
Love the ramp! Love the ramp! Love the ramp!

This week, our man McCoy Fields makes sense of cardboard cuts and standardized pallets...and it all makes perfect sense.

Click HERE to be dazzled.

By Jeff Mann Customer Service 0 Comments

Enhancing Our Service

Quality. Opportunity.

We're both humbled and thrilled to announce three additions to The Yard Ramp Guy team. Humbled because our year-over-year growth has put us in the position to hire three people simultaneously. Thrilled because these are three high-caliber people who bring distinct talents to our operations:

Heather LaFreniere

Heather LaFreniere

Heather hails from Yuma, Arizona and now lives with her blended family of five children in Texas. She transitioned from managing the office for lawn care and landscaping companies to managing a shipping solutions center, where they shipped "anything from an envelope to a piano."

All along the way, Heather has learned the value and importance of human contact in business. "That human connection makes a huge difference," she says. We know that perspective will be central to Heather's role as our new Business Development Specialist.

Her impressions of The Yard Ramp Guy so far?

"Jeff Mann's business ethic is wonderful," says Heather. "Hearing him with the customers, it's so obvious that he's not just trying to sell a yard ramp. He really cares about helping them, whether it's selling a ramp we have, having one custom-built, or referring them to another company."

"I like not working with a huge corporation. At The Yard Ramp Guy, one: there's room to grow. And two: you're not just a number."

[Editor's note: "And two: you're not just a number" is just about the funniest thing we've ever heard.]

Michael Herdegen

Michael Herdegen

Born in Orlando, where his front yard was the beach, Michael studied political science in college. His first job was a virtual pharmaceutical rep, and he spent eight years as a sales rep and sales manager of medical equipment ⏤ scooter, wheelchairs, hospital beds, etc. ⏤ designed to help people stay at home longer.

The Yard Ramp Guy's description for a new Sales & Rental Consultant appealed to Michael for a couple of central reasons. "I wanted to get my feet wet in a new industry," he says,  "and material handling seems like a reliable, stable industry.

"You always have to be that product expert. Usually it’s the first time that people are buying these products. Making sure everything’s copacetic on both ends is essential."

Michael's first impressions? "I love and am inspired by Jeff’s total detail approach, making sure that his customer’s going to be satisfied with the best possible yard ramp at the best possible price."

 

Jessica Montgomery

Jessica Montgomery

Jessica studied business and culinary arts. Her work continues to be informed by those two disciplines: applying effective strategies, applying the best presentation, adjusting to customer needs.

Jessica's work has taken her to Okinawa, Japan and Hanover, Pennsylvania, and now South Carolina, where she was born and raised.

She's managed the office for a car repair shop, worked for a catering company, and became the go-to person at a large German-based hand tool company.

Of her Sales & Rental Consultant position with us, Jessica says, "My goal is to provide superior customer service. I want to walk customers through the process to make it as easy as possible, provide the right information, and ask the right questions."

"I'm so impressed with how top-notch Jeff keeps the business," she says. "He has a fantastic processes. He’s patient, very warm, and welcoming. Jeff makes you feel like there are no stupid questions. He keeps everything very honest and straightforward."

Three new and very talented people on The Yard Ramp Guy team.

Says Jeff: "I'm thrilled that we're in the position to bring Heather, Mike, and Jessica into the mix at the same time. And I'm very impressed with how conscientious they are. They've absorbed a tremendous amount of information in a short period of time. I'm so pleased with their individual strengths and with their collective contributions to how this business is growing."

This week, our man McCoy Fields shares fascinating insight on how our brains can be selective.

Click HERE to select McCoy's insight.