Mike Lessiter, a second-generation ag journalist, has been Editor/Publisher of Farm Equipment since 2004. He has covered business-to-business operations, manufacturing, and marketing topics since 1992 and has held various roles with the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Assn. and the Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers. Mike is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was named president of Lessiter Media in 2007.
“Our team is always looking to the future. We use our mistakes as an opportunity to learn and move on. In hindsight, however, there are two areas that we could’ve chosen to handle differently.
“As I look back at my most significant mistakes, I’d say that I’ve entered into sales agreements with companies that didn’t possess the capabilities financially or from a management standpoint to support our goal of being the ‘Clear First Choice.’
“If there’s one mistake those of us in the precision ag business make, it’s falling into the trap of thinking there’ll always be something new and better to sell tomorrow — the ‘next big thing.’
“Own everything you do or don’t do. Good or bad times don’t matter; every decision made, or not made, must be owned up to. It might be something incorrect that someone else in the dealership said to a customer, or as simple as not calling someone back. Either way, you must be willing to ‘own’ it — because your reputation is at stake.
“In 2001, we purchased 6 locations from 4 owner groups in Utah and Idaho over the course of 4 months (Mistake #1). To manage the new stores we hired people from outside the company (Mistake #2). Viewing travel as an expense, we limited the travel between the old stores and the new stores (Mistake #3).
“The fact that I’ve been in the same farm equipment dealership for 38 years may not equate to success as much as stamina. I’ve certainly had some measurable success over the years as well as some well-intended mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20, so looking back at the mistakes is easy.
“My biggest failure occurred in the lead-up to the used equipment market crash in November 2013. Our used inventory turns slowed going into the fall of 2012, which raised questions as we forecasted for 2013. Despite what the data showed, I dismissed it as a timing issue; not a big problem.
That was an email I received from Johnson Tractor’s Leo Johnson (see p. 30) as we were preparing for this SHOWCASE special report. Said another way (by 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer), “Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.”
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, Marc Johnson, principal with Pinion, provides 4 factors that will be important for dealers to watch in 2025 that will impact their business.
Built on 90 years of expertise, Yetter Farm Equipment leads the agriculture industry in designing effective and innovative equipment for residue management, seedbed preparation, precision fertilizer placement, harvest attachments, strip-tillage, and more.
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