The dealer network and consumers are the ones who need to take responsibility.
Consumers are constantly demanding cheaper and more affordable products. As a result, the dealer network has had to adapt and start offering lower-quality items just to stay in the game.
Now, we find ourselves complaining that the major brands are going under, and we're quick to point fingers at the accountants.
Believe me, if you had a product sitting on your dealership floor that just wouldn't sell and you had to practically give it away to move it, you'd drop it without hesitation.
Business decisions, no matter where they're made, always come with consequences.
Unfortunately, what happened to Briggs & Stratton can be traced back to Todd Teske. He systematically dismantled BASCO, and then COVID-19 hit. If it weren't for Teske's actions, the Briggs Corporation, as it existed before him, might have weathered the pandemic just fine.
Same old story
It is called asset stripping
Two ways to get a bigger dividend
Increase profits
Sell assets
The easy way to do it is to sell off assets and this is what the "super CEO's" do .
Then just before there is nothing left to sell off they resign, usually taking the last of the cash with them as a "performance bonus"
Then the incoming CEO has a mess because they need a massive capital raising to repair the damage done by the previous management
So they get tossed out & replaced with some one who does a cut & run, sacking the workforce and retreating to the most profitable line items
By the time they have finished there is nothing left & the business folds or gets bought for the brand name as in MTD .
While it is not the consumer who is directly to blame they do carry a large amount of the load because they are the ones who believe that they can have it all with money to spare because the USA or Aust or UK are "wealthy countries " .
I find it almost unbelievable just how many people I deal with and come on here who are living so far beyond their means it is astounding .
If you have 20 acres & can't afford a deceint mower to cut the grass then sell the property & get something that is within your means .
After all you can not take those 20 acres with you when you die and giving your children a rich life and proper education is a lot more important than leaving them with a big inheritance that they will blow through before you are cold in the ground .
