InsulTec : A Small Business at a Crossroad / Joy Pahl, Benjamin Huegel, Jamie O'Brien.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pahl, Joy, author.

Contributor:

Huegel, Benjamin, contributor.

O'Brien, Jamie, contributor.

Series:

SAGE Business cases.

SAGE Business cases

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strategic planning--Case studies.

Strategic planning.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

London : Society for Case Research, 2025.

Summary:

In early January 2009, Ed Huegel, owner of InsulTec, a small foam insulation installation company in Alta Vista, Iowa, needed to make a decision. Ed had owned InsulTec for nine years. During that time, he had successfully grown the business and had implemented several innovations that enabled the business to generate healthy annual revenues (275,000), while maintaining acceptable profit margins due to the lean nature of the business. Ed had encountered and overcome challenges in the past, but the Great Recession was now at hand, and construction jobs were particularly hard to come by, as was financing. There was a bright spot, however, in agricultural buildings. Commodity prices were robust at this time, which meant farmers had money to spend upgrading their buildings. As Huegel approached his 60th birthday, he was reminded of just how challenging this business was. InsulTec required a substantial amount of physical labor, in addition to other duties related to sales calls, billing, and record keeping. An unexpected offer to purchase InsulTec motivated Ed to take a hard look at a few opportunities: (a) sell the business to one of his adult children, (b) grow InsulTec by diversifying and expanding his sales territory to eight states, or (c) sell InsulTec to an interested contractor. Owners of small businesses face many personal and professional decisions as they age and as industry and macroeconomic conditions change. Some business owners may dream about selling their business to an adult child. Others may have poured everything into the business, and now expect the business to be the primary source of wealth in their retirement years. Others would like to continue to work, but simply cannot continue to work in the same way(s) due to the physical or mental demands of the business. Some may even have the opportunity to diversify the business in ways that they had not anticipated, that may allow the business to grow in new and beneficial ways. The case is most appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship and general business.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781071979907

1071979906

OCLC:

1483992765