John Dannemiller is the fourth generation in his family to operate the wholesale nuts and popcorn supplies business started in 1935 by his great-grandfather, Clarence J. Dannemiller. Located west of Akron in Norton, Ohio, the C.J. Dannemiller Co. manufactures nuts and popcorn and employs 28 people. The company operates primarily business-to-business, selling to customers around the country that use their products as an ingredient in candies, ice cream, dairy alternatives, granola, cereals and more. They also provide products to wholesale concession customers.
How did you get into the family business?
I grew up around the business. I worked part time during college and after getting my undergrad degree in Business, I started working for the company fulltime. My father retired about five years ago, and then I became president. The fifth generation is currently working for us, including two of our three kids. But I encourage them to get experience elsewhere before coming into the family business, to give them fresh perspective. My goal is to set them up for success and pass the business on to them.
What do you love about running a small business?
I love the challenges of trying to make it grow and evolve, like making shifts in our product line. We started out as a concession supplier to small stands and over time we added nuts. That has become our mainstay. I enjoy watching other entrepreneurs chase their dreams and see them successfully grow, being a small part of helping them launch and then being a reliable vendor getting them the products they need in quick order. That’s really important in the food business. We really put an emphasis on that.
How did Legacy Business Advisors help improve your business?
Mark has given us a much more accessible consultant for all our employees’ retirement planning. He sits down with our employees and helps them plan, whether they’re close to retirement or not, and listens to how aggressive or conservative they want to be. He and his team give good suggestions on how employees can set themselves up for success in the future. We had been using a larger advising company, but our employees had to go there for a meeting – and most of them didn’t go until close to retirement.
What difference has it made to have better retirement plans for employees?
We have very little turnover. We’re about one-third family members and two-thirds are non-family. As the leader of the company, I feel a responsibility to take care of these folks who have given their lives to us. One non-family employee has been here 40 years. They’ve worked hard for this business, and I feel a duty to set them up for successful retirement. Mark and Legacy Business Advisors has given me the tools to do that.
What have you learned from The Alternative Board (TAB) group for small business owners?
I joined the Western Reserve TAB group run by Mark based on a friend’s personal recommendation. The TAB group has helped our company develop a system to continually grow and improve. The monthly meetings with about seven to 12 other business owners can spark ideas that might be really impactful – about better ways to market, better ways to show appreciation to employees, or how to save money on overhead. We talk about our challenges and successes. TAB offers a broad perspective across business sectors – they’re not all in the food industry or manufacturing. Some are accountants, insurance agents, or manufacturers on non-food products.
How helpful has it been to gain a wider view from outside your business?
It’s very important if you want your company to grow. Prior to TAB, we had reached a plateau. After a lot of success over the years, we had become complacent. One of my goals was to grow the company and that was a struggle that took years to get the momentum back and figure out what buttons to push. TAB was instrumental.
As a small business owner – and this sounds cliché – you wear a lot of hats and put out a lot of fires. You can come in every day and fix problems and get lost in the day-to-day operations without looking out on the horizon to figure out where to grow. The monthly TAB meetings plus the individual coaching sessions with Chris Goebel are extremely helpful in working on the business, not just in the business.
Can you describe the value of personal business coaching in the TAB group?
TAB’s personal business coaching allows you to focus on whatever you want to. We developed an org chart, job descriptions, and went through a book called Traction which helped us propel forward by setting and meeting goals and having a systemized business plan. Now we are setting up financial metrics to meet goals and projections. Last year our sales were down due to COVID, but this year through August we grew 39% over 2020 and previously we grew 29% over 2019. We also hired three new employees this year. I love being able to impact our community and provide more jobs.
And as a client of Legacy Business Advisors, I appreciate their fresh perspective. So often when you’re in a family business for decades, you all see things through the same lens. Mark and his group often present a different and better way to do things and to face challenges.
What “lessons learned” or advice can you share with other small businesses?
Schedule time to work on your business – even if you start with just an hour once a month, just to think, or to meet with someone, or get into a group like TAB, or read a book on business growth or strategy or anything that might help your business grow.