Security Sales & Integration October 2022 - 59

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS
Big Idea by Ron Davis
The Acquisition
Conundrum
IDEA OF
THE MONTH
If you had one great idea
for the industry, what
would it be?
" Get involved in the
industry. "
- Shannon Woodman
▶ SHANNON WOODMAN is the president
and COO of Washington Alarm in the Seattle
area. And if you, dear reader, think my job as a
columnist for this magazine is easy, just try and
catch Shannon for a free moment when she's not
busy multitasking with her company. It seems
as though I've known Shannon for years, and
I probably have, but it wasn't until the last few
years where I got to see her in action, fi rst in her
role as president of Washington Alarm, and second,
as a leader in the state's association.
I've been to their corporate headquarters, a really
nice facility. More importantly, people there
seem to be happier than those I've seen in similar
jobs in other parts of the country. Maybe it's just
my imagination. Who knows? Maybe it's the air
in the Pacifi c Northwest. Or, maybe it has to do
with the style of management Shannon and her
team seem to have embraced. It's probably the latter.
Although the company was founded in 1943,
it's achieved much of its substantial growth in the
not-too-distant past. Today, it has 73 employees,
over $10 million in annual sales and by all estimates
a future that is really bright.
One-fi fth of its customers are residential.
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
Th ree-fourths are commercial, with a focus
primarily in fi re systems, panels, etc., as well
as video with analytics being introduced as you
are reading this. And it seems to be not just accepted
by customers but asked for by many of
them. Shannon believes it is the wave of the future.
Video analytics is something I would like
to come back to in the future, when I get to
understand it better and have the space to write
about it. Suffi ce to say, I think it's going to make
an impact on the industry.
When I asked Shannon about her " great " idea,
she hesitated and then responded, " Get involved
in the industry, " and then expanded on that
thought. Even though our industry has a plethora
of training programs, books, videotapes, etc., she
feels there is no substitute for being with people
and sharing ideas. She says this one idea has made
her much smarter in doing the things she's doing
and, frankly, I haven't been at an event in the
Pacifi c Northwest in the last 20 years that Shanrdavis@graybeardsrus.com
non
hasn't also been in attendance, most often as
a speaker, or a mentor. And while Washington
Alarm has done a few acquisitions, she is very
anxious to expand that part of her business and
grow the company through strategic acquisitions
and mergers.
She mentioned that it didn't seem as easy today
to have an aggressive acquisition program because
many of the larger companies have already been
bought, and many of the smaller companies are
just in the process of " getting ready to become
larger companies " in the not-too-distant future.
We have just gone through a steady and progressive
growth period in the industry and it is continuing
to be robust. If you take a look at some
of the top 100 companies, probably half of them
came into existence sometime in the past 25 years.
If you look at the largest company in the industry,
you will see a gigantic corporate entity leading
the fi eld. If you look at the smallest company, you
will see one doing less than a few million dollars
a year in business. Th at's a wide gap between the
smallest and the biggest, and if you look at any
listing of security companies that is measured by
size or sales, you will see there are not a lot of
options available to integrators or alarm companies
interested in in doing acquisitions. Th at's the
main reason the M&A business in this industry
is very active.
When I mentioned this to Shannon, she
agreed but felt there were still opportunities to
make smart acquisitions. I concur and it is being
done, almost daily. And while building a dynasty
may be important to the management team at
the company, it is not necessarily a driving force
for its president. In fact, when I asked Shannon
her goal for the company, she was quick to say
building and creating all the things necessary for a
positive culture. Not just the management of the
company, but also its employees and customers.
To me, that is the single most impressive thing
about what's going on at Washington Alarm.
What a great story this would be if we could
predict the future. We can guess, sometimes correctly,
what will be. Nobody knows for sure, but if
you spend a little time at Washington Alarm you
will get the sense that a culture and legacy is being
established now that will last for the long term.
With that in mind, recognize the gold in that idea.
Of course, it starts with networking, being involved,
joining groups and getting proactively engaged
in the plans for your company, right now.
OCTOBER 2022 Security Sales & Integration 59
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration October 2022

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