30 Years and Counting

30 Years and Counting

This coming Saturday November 28th I celebrate the 30th anniversary of starting DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Who would have thought this would last 30 years? I certainly didn’t. It is also my daughter’s 31st birthday. On that day 30 years ago I went to lunch with a friend of mine in the industry and a friend of his wanted to know if I could connect him with a consultant to do some supplier development work since I was working at the Automotive Parts Manufacturing Association. I brashly suggested he hire me. He was floored but told me he didn’t want an employee he wanted a consultant. So on the way back to my office I stopped at a lawyer friends office and he incorporated DesRosiers Automotive Research Inc …. since changed to Consultants. I came home to my daughter’s first birthday party and told my friends and family at which point every one of them was convinced I was certifiable … they always thought I was a bit nuts, now they knew it for sure.

And that same week I had a young student from the U of Toronto in my office working on a term paper related to the automotive sector and since I instantly needed an employee I offered him a job and he accepted. That was Andrew King who is my equal partner to this day and most importantly is as important to us being successful over that last 30 years as myself. Indeed, Andrew now runs the Company as I stepped back from day to day management quite some time ago and only work on special projects. I obviously am also the face of the company to this day. I tease people by telling them that I now only work half time …. Which in the automotive world means that I now only work 12 hours a day and there is a LOT of truth to that …  Actually I try to take 4 months off ( with reasonable success ) although I still work the remaining 12 months. ( there are 16 months in a typical automotive executive’s year you know ).

Some of the proudest achievements include being a ‘thought’ leader in the industry. To this day I am obsessed with figuring out elements of this industry that no one has touched on before. My monthly “Observations” series started over 20 years ago and has been the outlet for a lot of my thinking. Not every article but at least half of them each year dives into areas of this sector seldom and usually never explored before. I’m not always correct but I do try to get people thinking and in some cases there has been wide acceptance of my ‘different’ way of looking at this industry. For instance, I ( in many cases it should be ‘we’ ) developed the fundamental theory as to how the parts and service side of this sector functions and this thinking now is the accepted theory in the US aftermarket as well. Who would have thought that a Canadian could out-think the Americans on any aspect of this sector.

Perhaps Andrew and mine’s proudest achievement has been the number of young minds that catapulted into the sector having there start at DAC Inc. Most of them hugely successful.   A rough count would put it above 20 souls. I have been told by many an executive that having my company name on your resume is an automatic interview … you may not get the job but you will get in the door. That my friends is a huge honour since young minds represent the future of our sector and I’m proud to have shaped some of them. Add in the many scholarships granted from my Endowments at Georgian College and the University of Windsor, my many lectures to students and never ending willingness to mentor students and I think that together with Andrew we’ve done our fair share of helping this sector find the managers of the future.

There are more than two dozen other examples of notable achievements but I’ll not bore you.

I do have a character flaw for being in the Automotive sector. When I was a wee lad my mother told me to “ always tell the truth”. In the automotive sector many believe that is a character flaw and believe me it has gotten me into a lot of trouble over the years. I’m NOT the Donald Trump or the Don Cherry of the automotive sector since I don’t insult individuals or groups and I’m not bombastic but I am willing to say things that others only think about. This gets back to the ‘thought’ leadership issue in that most of the time I say things from this perspective. This creates a lot of controversy and a lot of industry executives get upset with me but by taking the “intelligent” approach I’ve been able to smooth waters over the years. In some cases I’ve been proven to be correct and when I’m wrong I admit my mistake and adapt my point of view.

I have many to thank … my partner, Andrew King of course, my many past and current employees and my clients and of course a loving family who has put up with me more than anyone could imagine. Don’t be offended but my father ran his own business and when I first asked him for advice the told me that although ‘the customer is always right’ a good employee is much harder to replace than a good customer. I value both but my employees always come first.  I try to keep both.

As you may recall I turned 65 on September 12th so I’m getting up in years. I am working less but I don’t have any immediate plans to retire although increasingly there are days I wonder and wish I was fully retired. I have a few more years left in me .. how many I’m not sure … I’m thinking 2018 but it wouldn’t surprise me if I wrote a “40 years and counting’” missive a decade from now.  I definitely will NOT be working a day past my 85th birthday.

I mention my 65th birthday … for this event my partner launched a campaign to raise $65K for my 65 years and all this money was donated to my favourite charity near my country home that helps youth gain a footing in society. Dozens of family, friends,  industry executives and companies donated and the response literally brought me to tears each morning for about two weeks straight. I can’t thank everyone who donated enough ..this was so so meaningful to me. The campaign is still going on … check it out at https://spccf.myetap.org/fundraiser/DesRosiers65th/ it is never too late to help me out on this.

Till the next ten year missive is written, hopefully a perspective of this industry from having retired …

Life is good.

Dennis