Tilbury Enterprises

Phil and Jan Tilbury had been in business for over 30 years when I met them for the first time. The couple were running a very successful vertically integrated almond operation in the Central Valley of California. In addition to farming, hulling, shelling and processing, the Tilbury’s also had five (5) auto parts stores in a 25-mile radius.

What started out as one orchard when Phil was 20 years old led to thousands of acres, 100s of employees and an unbearable workload for them both. Phil and Jan had built a 9-figure business enterprise with grit, determination, and a strong work ethic. As the business grew, the work continued to fall on Phil and Jan. As is common with family businesses, the systems and processes did not mature as quickly as the business was growing.

At our first meeting, Jan said she needed relief from the day-to-day activities and Phil lamented that they had not been on a vacation longer than 5 days in decades.

It became apparent the Tilbury’s needed executive level support in the business. We assisted in hiring a Director of Human Resources and an Accounting Manager to relieve some of the administrative duties. Quality candidates are expensive, and these hires required compensation packages that were initially uncomfortable. The ROI on the investment proved to be strong as both added a level of skill and expertise previously unseen in the business.

It became clear that 80% of the stress within the enterprise was coming from the five (5) auto parts stores. Furthermore, the stores were generating less than 5% of the profits. Financially, the next move was evident. However, the stores had an emotional tie to Phil and there were over fifty families that were being supported by the stores. After several discussions, Phil and Jan made the decision to sell all five (5) stores to a buyer that promised to retain every employee. We were able to navigate the sale and manage the communication with the buyer while Jan and Phil dealt with their other entities.

Following the sale, Phil and Jan have both reported a significant decrease in stress and frustration. In addition, the couple have taken multiple long-term vacations and even recently purchased a vacation home in Cabo San Lucas!