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HUNTER
My heart sankwhen I read the text. Yet I torture myself by rereading it over and over again. The words immortalized; I’m no longer putting up a facade. That was the purpose of my statement. Me trying to lower the facade we had erected. I wanted her to see me, to understand the possibilities of a new reality if we both let down our guards.
Then her final words, starting today I’m going after what I know I want. The implications are clear as the blue sky on this sunny day. It doesn’t include me.
I leap when my phone buzzes, and I shake my head. I’m like a puppy waiting outside the storefront leaping every time the door swings open. I expect a text from Catherine but it's from someone else. The one person I should be concentrating on.
Mr. Franklin.
Senior: Change of plans. Golf scuttled for tomorrow–unexpected conflict. Can chat today if that works for you.
I exhale, the disappointment of it not being Catherine fading quickly. Replaced with a determination that this is a sign from above. That I need to focus. It’s not ideal because more deals are cut on golf courses than by phone, but I must play the hand dealt to me.
Me: I’ll send you a Zoom link in five minutes.
Thankfully I’m already prepared. I can recite the presentation and talking points in my sleep at this point in time. I shoot him the Zoom link so that I can share my screen and walk him through key points and numbers but more importantly I will be able to see his face and his reaction. Zoom will make it more difficult to read his body language and I won’t have the advantage that a five-hour golf session would provide to chip away at any resistance, but my information is rock solid, and the case is clear.
All I have to do is run a comb through my hair, change shirts, and put on a jacket and tie. It’ll feel a lot better than the jumpsuit I took off a few hours ago.
I head to the bedroom to change and follow Catherine’s advice. I’m going after what I want.
* * *
Mr. Franklin is a sharp man.All the research and investigations I’ve done prior confirmed this but interacting with him over the last forty minutes have left me further impressed. Every item I’ve raised he’d had a counter ready to go. Back and forth the conversation flows easily. The occasional smile on his face telling me I’m scoring points and that he’s enjoying the engagement.
It’s been a few years, but he’s still adapting to retirement. The quiet, solitude, and relaxed pace the opposite of how he’d lived his life.
I continue, “And here on the chart you see that my valuation was decreased by another two-point five percent due to the state of your vendor relations.” I have four other detailed charts at the ready if challenged but doubt I will need it. “Some of your largest vendors no longer service the Legendary. Others are sending half orders or cheaper quality goods to minimize their risks. A new owner is going to have to establish larger lines of credits with each of them in order to get them back on board. Trust is the backbone of vendor relationships, and it will take a lot of work and capital to earn it back.”
He nods and doesn’t challenge. “I built up those relationships over thirty years.” He tsks and shakes his head. The wave of regret seeps across the screen. “Let’s talk bottom line Hunter. You’ve obviously done your homework and have pinpointed some critical pain points. They all point in the same direction.” His gaze softens as an admission I knew would be tough for him to say battles to cross his lips. “I screwed up leaving the business to my son. I’ll say it because you can’t. The numbers prove it.”
I don’t say a word, letting him sit with it for a moment.
He shakes his head again, his blue eyes which carried determination at the start of the conversation now radiating warmth. “I never thought this day would come. When you sent me your initial proposal and offer three months ago, I laughed at it.”
Not an unusual reaction for a family run business. Many owners never considering selling, that initial offer met with shock, surprise and sometimes anger.
“But you kept at it. Monthly updates with new offers. Each one revealing another tidbit of how much the Legendary is in trouble. I had heard whispers. Old customers telling me about poorly run events. I thought they were one-off events. A bad day in the hall. God knows I had my share of them. But then I made a visit last month and saw it up close.”
He goes silent. This tidbit filling in a puzzle piece for me. The timing coinciding with his response to me that he’d be open to selling. The note from him putting my plan into place. The undercover assignment leading up to this final negotiation.
“All I’ve heard from you today is bad news on top of bad news. We’re both businessmen. I know what you’re doing. You are looking to lower your offer. But before you make it, I want to hear what your plans are.” He challenges me and it's the one question I’ve prepared the most for. The million-dollar question Dad has drilled into us.
I flip the presentation from charts and numbers to a drawing. “The Legendary Hall isn’t a business investment for me Mr. Franklin. I respect what you’ve done all these years in this town. It's a place with history, with purpose, with meaning. It's where families come to share in the joy of their world. Birthday parties, Quinceaneras, graduation, award dinners, and weddings. Lots and lots of weddings.”
I zoom in on the beautifully crafted hand drawn dazzling piece of art that I had commissioned with an architect in Atlanta that has done many projects with our family. The carefully rendered drawing, not only showing a stunningly restored Legendary Hall, but life. Community, the real lifeblood of a small business. Multi-generational families, couples, kids running around, grandparents, groups of friends, all with one thing in common. Bright smiles on their faces, the picture of happiness that the Legendary provides. This is the reason Mr. Franklin started the Legendary so many years ago. It is what always drove him, not the dollars.
The close is the most important element of a sale. It has to come across as genuine, it has to come across with excitement and most of all it must be emotional. The Legendary has tremendous potential, I believe in it and I’m all in. It’s my first solo acquisition and the largest risk I’ve taken in my life.
“I want to restore the Legendary to the premier event space in Arizona. The first place on the lips of local residents when they think of having a good time. First class personalized service, an eclectic menu that can serve the little league champions at two o’clock and then champagne and the finest steaks to the Governor in the evening. I don’t need a new vision for the Legendary Mr. Franklin, all I need to do is have it live up to the vision you’ve already created,” I close and flatten my expression, suppressing the need to pump my fist.
Mr. Franklin’s eyes flutter, blinking back a tear. “I wish my son had half this passion,” he whispers a comment he knows he shouldn’t, and I act as if I didn’t hear it. “What’s your bottom number?” He shifts back into business mode. Both of us knowing I’ve just played my best card.
I flick the presentation to my money slide. “There you have it.” I let him digest the number on the screen for a second. It’s difficult to see someone, especially a stranger, put a valuation on your life’s work. I give him the time and space to process it.
“I like you Hunter,” he starts, catching me by surprise. An admission few businesspeople would make prior to the close of a deal.
“Sir?”
