There can be a sense of pride knowing your family will continue your legacy. But you know too well many businesses cannot survive the transition of leadership from one generation to the next. Not all legacies land well. Therefore, “How do you pass on the baton to your children?” becomes an important question in the minds of many contractors.
In 1961, after years of working in concrete for others, Rommel Ryans branched off on his own as a concrete contractor. Based in Jonesborough Tennessee, Rommel ran his business until health complications in the 1990s prohibited him from carrying on. Rommel has since passed away.
I recently spoke with his youngest son, Charles Ryans, today’s sole proprietor of Ryans Concrete Services, to find out how their family business was handed down. As we talked about the difficulties of carrying on a family business, Charles said he wasn’t initially interested in taking the business over. Growing up, he had no aspirations of running the family business or of working in concrete, and his father didn’t force the idea of running their business on him either.
Instead, Charles attended East Tennessee State University, where he received a degree in marketing. “I learned how to organize and prepare, and in construction you can prepare and predict, but you also need to be prepared for your predictions about work and the weather.”
“After graduating from high school, I had no intention of doing concrete, no dreams of doing concrete or of running our business. I would help dad in the summer, you know, roll wheelbarrows or clean tools. I had never really done any finishing work,” Charles said. “I took over our family’s business in 1999, when it was clear my dad’s health wasn’t going to improve.” At this point, the big question became, “Why take over now?” He said, “I took over for dad because I didn’t want to see all that he had built go by the wayside.”
There was a brief period of time prior to Charles taking over when one of the other brothers, Ronnie, functioned as the owner. Ronnie stays involved with their work, but not in the business operations. Another older brother Jeff, a lawyer, still helps oversee some of their business matters as well. Their other brother, Eric is a chemical engineer, but he isn’t involved in the family business.
Charles felt like he had big shoes to fill when he took over the business. Rommel had 30 contractors he had built relationships with throughout the years whom he worked steadily for, besides the many homeowners who would request his services. “My dad had a lot of charisma, something I don’t have. I don’t feel I could ever live up to my dad’s example—he really set the bar high.”
Occasionally in his youth, Charles rode from job to job with his father. As he grew up, he would help him work through estimates, and of course Charles would get a small taste of hard work along the way. Charles notes his views on running a concrete business have changed over the years, too.
“Growing up, I didn’t realize everything our father had to deal with, all the responsibility and headaches. I saw, at times, he could have jobs lined up and then be shorthanded, or at other times work could be slower and he would end up having plenty of help. When we got started, we didn’t have a skid steer. I was ‘Bob’ and my brother Ronnie was ‘Cat.’ Dad would drop off a load of gravel and have [my brother and I] shovel it into wheelbarrows.” Of course, things are different now; the company now has two skid steers.
In 2001, Charles added decorative concrete to the services the company offers. This included a $3,000 investment in their first set of concrete stamps and a trip to Nashville, Tennessee for training. The investment has paid off, and they continue to do quite a bit of stamped and colored concrete, both for residential and commercial contractors.
When asked about whether he wishes he could get his dad’s advice these days, Charles said, “All the time. Especially when I first started. Dad started out in the days before cell phones or concrete pumps. He had a lot of wisdom. It takes me longer to identify an issue, though I have gotten better over the years.”
During the recession, they went from serving 30 general contractors down to 3 of them. Charles said, “There are always ups and downs. We had about 15 guys working for us before the recession, and in the middle of it we were down to about 5. We were lucky to get in 3 days of work a week.” Since the recent recession, work has picked back up for the company. Currently, they have several jobs going and many more lined up.
When asked what he enjoys about being a contractor, Charles said, “The freedom and flexibility and being outdoors a lot. I like being able to pick and choose what jobs we will do.” Ryans Concrete takes on both residential and commercial work, but Charles isn’t just referring to the types of projects. He said, “If a job is more than 2 hours away, I won’t take it. Also, Dad had a saying, ‘Slow pay, slow service.”
Charles has a simple response to what he sees as the greatest challenge to being a contractor. “Keep up your reputation. You can have a thousand jobs go well, and if one goes bad, everyone knows it. We haven’t had every job turn out perfect, we have had to take out concrete. Then again, I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Your dad poured our basement in 1969, and there’s still not a crack in it!’ I don’t know how he did it back then? But today, if you roll out an air compressor, people around town don’t know if you are jackhammering out your mistake or simply getting a job ready, but most people will assume you made a mistake,” he said.
Charles has one son. When asked whether his son would carry on the business, Charles said, “It’s his choice. As long as my son is successful in life, I’m fine with that. You have to have a passion for what you do in life. Money runs out eventually, you have to get more out of it than money to do it day in and day out. I get fulfilment out of satisfying contractors and customers, it thrills me to bring in a trained professional staff and to come in and do a professional job.”
In the end, it seems clear there are no guarantees that our children will take the same interest that we do in our life’s work. But key factors are not completely out of our control. Your character, passions and drive are perhaps the best ways you will inspire the next generation. Occasionally, you might be pleasantly surprised when a child returns to their legacy.
