Todd Johnson of Strategic Business Associates
Todd S. Johnson left the U.S. Marine Corps in 1993 to join his father, Tom Johnson, in his consulting business. He recalls that it was his father who convinced him to make that change and it was the best advice he ever received.
“I was reluctant to make that decision at the time, but thank God I did,” he says. “I think my initial response was, ‘What do you do again? Copiers or something?’ It was there where I learned about the benchmark model, and best practices for the industry. Together, we doubled his business in eight months, which quickly turned into Global Imaging Systems. The experience and rewards have exceeded anything I could have dreamed up back then.”
Today Johnson works mostly from home for his company, Strategic Business Associates, which works with leading entrepreneurs in the U.S. office imaging industry and offers unique expertise that blends leadership and management skills, business analysis, growth strategies, and profitability improvement. Along with partner John Hey, he still visits clients and attends several peer group meetings and events during the year.
“John and I also teach the BTA ProFinance 2.0 seminar a few times a year,” he adds. “Fortunately, much can be accomplished via email, phone, and webinars, enabling me to get more family time. So my days vary quite a bit, which I like.”
Johnson says that he’s honored to be recognized as an ENX Difference Maker, especially considering that is exactly what they strive to do with their clients. “The majority of my time in this industry has been spent working directly with independent dealers, where making a significant impact is very rewarding,” he says. “The people in this industry are great to spend time with too.”
We have all had colleagues and mentors who helped shape our personal and professional lives. For Johnson, the primary figure, understandably, was his father. “I’ll never make as big of an impact as he did on this business, but have striven to carry on his legacy,” he says. “It’s been a great pleasure to learn from him in business, in addition to growing up. It’s something my brothers missed out on.”
Adds Johnson, “I also have to recognize Ray Schilling, Global’s CFO and co-founder, for being an amazing mentor. Ray saw potential in me that I wouldn’t have guessed, pushed me to excel, and allowed me to fail-forward. There were many people I learned from, but those stand out.”
Strategic Business Associates has hit most of the goals Johnson set out for this year. He says they are currently working on the strategic sale of several dealers, and he hopes to complete those by year end in order to meet the needs of the owners. “Our mission, informally, is to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams,” he adds.
Although there are many opinions on the state of the office technology industry, Johnson thinks it is as good of a time to be an independent dealer of office technology as there ever has. He says they are blessed with a recession-resistant model, recurring revenues, and a local-relationship driven services business. “It makes us sticky with customers, with predictable income streams, and with the right management and culture, highly profitable,” he explains. “We conduct a financial and operational survey for 130 to 150 of the top dealers in the nation every year. They represent $2.4 billion in aggregate annual sales. Year after year we continue to see dealer revenue growth, both internal and via acquisition, as well as productivity and profitability improvements. Dealers with the right environment are achieving 20 percent plus operating income. Twenty-five percent of dealers overachieve our benchmark income target of 14 percent. Are there changes ahead of us? Yes, but there have always been changes, so we improvise, adapt, and overcome.”
Asked about the best part of his job, Johnson replies it’s the people. “There are more good quality people in this industry than you can possibly know,” he says.
