Ace Christenson, with his wife, Salina Christenson, sold seven of his Washington shops to five employees.
Editor’s note: This is a new series to celebrate floral professionals’ ‘wins’ and inspire others with stories of innovations, problems solved, successful sales strategies and more. Have a win to share? Email SAF NOW’s managing editor, Amanda Jedlinsky.
For any business owner, succession planning has to be top of mind: Who will take over the business, and how can you ensure a smooth transition? Ace Christenson, who owned seven Buds & Blooms shops around Seattle and Tacoma, Washington until he recently sold them to employees, shares how he successfully planned and implemented the sales of his businesses.
The Win
Rather than closing the business or selling to an unfamiliar buyer, Christenson decided to sell his stores to capable and interested staff, which has proven to be a successful move for himself and the buyers. For Christenson, the win has been two-fold — he can see his employees-turned-owners flourish in their new roles, and he benefits from the sale.
“One of the coolest things is watching new owner-operators run their own business, deal with their own customers, and hopefully continue to grow,” he says, adding that sales have grown since the new owners have taken over.
Christenson opted for installment payments, which extends the length of the loan. “Being the note holder for the loan of the sale of the business gives you long-term financial stability as opposed to trying to get a little bit all at once,” he says. “My terms are set in stone for a 10- to 15-year note at a very low interest rate so they can be successful.” Christenson believes this model enables everybody to win.
The Gameplan
The process to sell his seven shops has been slow and deliberate by design. “It’s not easy to have seven flower shops and have them all be successful,” Christenson said. “It took me 20 years to build that, but I realized it’s time for me to move on with life.”
When considering who might be a potential buyer among his staff, he thought about work ethic, reliability, financial responsibility, and relationships with other staff members and customers. Once Christenson had a sense of which staff members might be up to the challenge of becoming an owner (most of them were managers at the time), he approached them to gauge interest. In a couple of instances, employees came to him.
When Christenson and each staff member reached an agreement on the terms of the sale, it generally took a few months before the deal was complete. There were five individual sales (a couple of employees purchased two shops) that took place over several years.
The nature of the sales has allowed Christenson to be involved to ensure a smooth transition for everyone. He remains available to the new owners for consulting. “With the sale of the business and the way that it’s financed, it’s not theirs until it’s paid off,” Christenson said.
The Takeaway
Christenson has no regrets about the sale of his businesses to employees, and it’s an approach he would recommend to other florists looking to retire. He believes some of the success is because he chose successors carefully.
He also emphasized the importance of working with the buyer to ensure a smooth transition, particularly when it comes to notifying other employees of the change. “You’ve got to show appreciation to your employees for everything they did for you,” Christenson says. That’s been key for me, and I try to explain that to the people who are buying the business.”
For more on succession planning, register for SAF Phoenix 2023, the Society of American Florists’ 138th annual convention Sept. 6-9, where two session will focus on owner exit strategies.
Laura Drummond is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
