Heroes in Business - Scott Williams, CEO Batteries Plus $652 Million revenue, Fmr President Cabela’s, Board Member Duluth Trading Company & Bob’s Discount Furniture

Episode Date: November 4, 2021

Power it Light it Fix it. Scott Williams, CEO Batteries Plus $652Million revenue, Fmr President Cabelas, Board Member Duluth Trading Company, and Bob’s Discount Furniture is interviewed by David Cogan founder of Eliances and famous celebrity host of the Eliances Heroes Show broadcast on am and fm network channels, online syndication and on over 100 TV channels.   Chat Directly., Hire Quickly., Hirect is the first chat-based hiring Chat and interview candidates anytime, anywhere. Download the

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in,id cogan founder of alliances that's right let's hope it's a smooth landing as i'm flying in here and again just so many things going on and i really appreciate it thank you to all the viewers and listeners out there as you know we're on over 50 outlets now and we just signed a contract we're on over 100 online streaming outlets so it doesn't matter where you're at if you're on roku even uh apple tv i mean we are now all over the place it's

truly amazing and again and i really thank you for the feedback that we continue to get the emails and the likes and everything from when i recently interviewed the president of Alibaba. So make sure that you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com because, as you know, it is the only place where entrepreneurs align. And before we get started with our next hero, also I need to do a shout out to our sponsor, ChatDirectly and HireQuickly using the first chat-based hiring app for startups. You can go to HireDirect. I'm going to give you that again here so you've got it. In fact, we'll have the link below so you can go there.

But it's HireECT. We'll have the direct link for you to go there. It's incredible. It allows you to interview candidates anywhere, anytime. Great for startups. So, oh my, you know what? It's amazing what's going on with our next hero. And I'm just so excited because I'm a big fan of his services.

I use it all the time. And it has to do with batteries. We have with us Scott Williams, the CEO of Batteries Plus, over $600 million in revenue. Scott, that's a ton of batteries. Now, I know you do more than that, but that's a lot of business that you're doing. Yeah, it's amazing. We're over $600 million in sales across 700 stores and in 48 states. So it's really a fun business to be in i mean talk about

i mean you got so much going on in in with your business and stuff but you know when people think of batteries they just think of batteries batteries plus of batteries but you guys do so much more in fact talk to us about the other things you're doing because i don't think people realize and i'm aware of it but i don't think people realize, and I'm aware of it, but I don't think people realize it. Well, it's really important. We're actually kind of rebranding ourselves back to Batteries Plus, away from Batteries Plus Bulbs, and it's because of the breadth of our service. So we do auto, golf, marine batteries, ATV, RV batteries, but we also do bulbs. We do device repair services.

So we fix phones. We're a national partner for Samsung and we program key fobs, just to name a few. So it's a very solution oriented and we take care of needs based things that have happened in people's lives and they need someone there to fix them quickly. Now, prior to you being the role of the CEO of Batteries Plus doing, you know, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in business and stuff, you also had a very successful career prior to that, right? I mean, you were with what Cabela's as the former president? Yeah, so I led Cabela's. I was there from 2011 to 2017. And we had a nice period of growth,

not only in sales and profitability, but opening up new stores. Fun industry to be in, hunting and fishing and camping. So then what led and why did you then decide to come on board with Batteries Plus? Well, as I looked at it and the opportunity to be CEO here, the biggest thing that jumped out at me was a lot of people are looking at retail and making sure what's the future of retail? Is it under pressure? But with Batteries Plus, we're uniquely positioned because we not just sell products, it's product with a service. So we'll open up your watch and put the battery in, help you with a hearing aid battery, drop a battery into your car right out front. And it's a needs-based

business too, right? So if somebody has a phone that has a cracked screen, especially Gen X, Gen Y, can't live without that phone for more than about an hour. And so we look at it is that a lot of our product requires service. It's non-shippable. So it has this mode against pure players like Amazon and we're 30% commercial.

So really unique niche within retail. Huge. And again, like you said, and it's something too, cause I mean, I brought in things that are like a garage door and I'm like, I don't know what battery this is. They say, don't worry about it. You find the battery and they install it. I don't have to do a thing.

Exactly. Now, are they all franchise locations? Yeah, good question. A hundred of our 700 are corporate stores and 600 are franchised. So we're primarily a franchisor and we exist to do great service for our franchise owners, which includes warehousing and inventory, getting in front of supply chain challenges, doing the marketing, rolling out new products and services. And so that's really how we live. And we coined a term during the

pandemic called S-A-L-E. S for small, A for assorted, local for our franchise owners or local business leaders, and E for essential. And we think that's been really important as a great place for franchise owners to fulfill the American dream. I mean, so what's the future? Okay, so you've got batteries that you're doing, cell phone stuff that you're doing, light bulbs that you're doing. I mean, all the different types of batteries. What's left? Well, the great thing about it

is a couple of those offerings have just been in the last five to seven years. So, you know, our partnership with Samsung and being able to provide that, that's just in the last year. We've got some great partnerships, supply and universities, and we're leaning into new technologies like lithium and renewables and solar and a variety of places like that that continue to be more and more important discussions within this country. So we feel like our model, with it being a service model, we can expand to

a lot of places going forward, yet we have plenty to do today. Excellent. And again, we've got Scott Williams with us, CEO of Batteries Plus, over $600 million in revenue, former president of Cabela's. In fact, you've been board member of Duluth Trading Company, Bob's Discount Furniture. I mean, what a successful career. And I wonder, we're going to learn more about that too. And again, you could reach him by going to BatteriesPlus.com. And again, you could reach them by going to batteriesplus.com. And again, batteriesplus.com. Otherwise we'll have the link below and don't forget to visit our sponsor, Hire ECT. You can go to the app below, click on the link where you can, great for startups. It allows you to download, chat and interview candidates anytime, anywhere. Make sure you

download the app too, because you're listening and watching me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. Make sure you go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. So Scott, how did you get so successful at what you're doing? I mean, you're running a huge company now, but you've had a phenomenal background in business. Well, one of the things I think ends up happening is some of the principles across business are the same no matter where you go. So even though it's a different industry, really it has to do with assembling a great management team, having great marketing plans, embracing e-commerce and an omni-channel model, and being able to bring that to different areas of retail. And so as we go forward, I think it really makes sense to look at the customer

journey through the customer's eyes. And that's what we've tried to do here. With, you know, part of the thing is, I mean, again, you guys are working closely with the public and people too, when things go awry, something doesn't work. I mean, you know, you've got frustrated clients in there, like you said, with their cell phone, it's the lifeblood, right? Trying to get in using your garage, car battery. I mean, you do so many things. How do you implement training those so that it's the same across all of your locations? Because I've been to a number of them. And, you know, they're all friendly. They're all greedy as soon as you come in. And they're all knowledgeable. Well, it's really fascinating for us.

You know, for our e-commerce business, 97% of the items on the website are pickup in store, and two-thirds of those are picked up within five hours. So a lot of times people think about the speed of e-commerce. Well, we're really living it every day because of that need and to be able to fix solutions for our customers. We look at best-in-class training programs, and we try to get best-in-class technology to support it. In the example of the Samsung devices, we have automatic opening devices that will open that phone without breaking it and secure the privacy of the customer data and be able to do it in about 30 minutes. That's an investment we put in our stores along with the training that goes with it.

Additionally, the customers have different expectation these days, right? So through the pandemic, they've expected curbside delivery. They've expected appointment settings and reminders. So we've taken that technology and applied it to our auto battery business. So it's a combination of training your employees and giving best-in-class technology to applied it to our auto battery business so it's a combination of training your employees and giving best-in-class technology to enable it are there even any more openings for franchise franchisees I mean or is the whole market locked locked up well you know it's been a fascinating ride for us

in the last 15 months we have signed over a hundred new stores so if you think about that on a base of 700, that's like a 15% growth. And people are coming in for two and three and four and eight stores. And they're doing it because they're seeing the success of what's happened. So our growth this year is up over 5%. And what we're able to do across many categories being essential, they're looking to move away from other categories that have been more pressured. Maybe it's food or fitness and to diversify their portfolio. And as they come forward, they're starting to see that they can come into our franchise family and do multi-unit.

So they could do for the same price of getting into others. They could do like three units and be able to have several million dollars of sales with high profitability. And what about overseas? Have you opened up overseas yet? You know, today we're all domestic. So the 700 there, we've got over 100 signed going to 800. We are in Puerto Rico and we do have some future designs to go outside the U.S., but right now we've got a lot to do right here. What was part of your success to get to where you're at now? Again, you're leading a large company, you're growing it, you have had a very successful history. Well, one of the things that's funny when you think about leadership in retail and you lay it out in sort of a description of what it takes to be successful,

it sounds a little bit like mom and apple pie, right? Assemble a great leadership team, a little bit like mom and apple pie right assemble a great leadership team put the best people in place and let them do their their work train good employees reward them and have a little fun along the way and so as people come into our franchise they sometimes say give us the formula for success you're running a hundred of these 700 and they're in double digit profitability with high growth and we go through with them saying we're open full hours. We have great inventory. We take care of customers. We consistently let them know all the breadth of services because we have some of our customers that don't realize what all we do. And that's a great opportunity for repeat business.

Yeah, they have no idea. That's why you ended up doing the branding, right? Wasn't it first just batteries and then the battery? Yeah. And so now, yeah, on the front, it have no idea. That's why you ended up doing the branding, right? Wasn't it first just batteries and then the batteries? Yeah, and so now, yeah, on the front it says batteries plus. And our new tagline I love called power it, light it, fix it. So it really indicates kind of a breadth of what we do. But we'll still have people come in and say, you could do a key fob for, you know, 100 bucks less than my car dealer. I'm missing a key fob., you know, a hundred bucks less than my car dealer. I'm missing a key fob. I need a second key. And if I'd just known I would come here and that's a big growing part of our business

and an underserved need in the market. Yeah. I was really surprised. I took my car there. They put in a new battery. I mean, it was just like, and they made it so easy because it's such a stressful thing when anything goes out and you don't know how to fix it yourself. Yeah, and I think ours are about 2,000 square feet, and oftentimes we have nose-in parking. So you think of other opportunities to get your auto battery, you have to go into a bay, you're usually waiting a long period of time. We'll come right out front, we have free battery testing, and we'll drop it in for you for no charge. That's amazing and just great. And again, we're talking with Scott Williams, CEO of Batteries Plus. Make sure you go to batteriesplus.com, batteriesplus.com.

What advice, Scott, do you have, though, for future leaders that are out there, ones right now that are, you know, with everything going on in the world, they're looking to make their mark in the world like you have and trying to navigate this whole thing called business, economy, and success. Well, first of all, I think as people look at their career path, I think we have a different lens on it today than we would have had before. So you're really asking questions like, are you essential? How'd you do during the pandemic?

Do you have a competitive moat away from the growth in e-commerce? And taking a look at who you work with, what is the industry opportunity, et cetera, to really map out that career. And the other thing is, I think we have an opportunity now for folks to take appropriate chances. so a lot of times you're testing the water and you're looking at dipping your toe in the water. Sometimes you need to jump in and test yourself and look at what are the opportunities. And as you go forward with the right principles

and with the right work ethic, I think it really pays off. And there's been a lot of businesses that have been thriving in the last year, but it's really a tale of two cities. Some are thriving, some are really struggling. And the differences has thriving in the last year, but it's really a tale of two cities. Some are thriving, some are really struggling, and the differences has been in the execution and how they've been positioned in their industry. Scott, you mentioned too, you've got 100 stores that are company-owned in that. What was and how did that come to be as far as the decision of what to make as a company-owned versus selling those off to potential franchisees and or opening up additional company stores?

Well, one of the things that's beautiful about being a fran... And we're a franchisor first, that's why we're 85% franchise. But we used a term, eat what you cook. And that term means that when you roll out a new program, say it's a new device repair with Samsung, say it's programming key fob,

say it's even our device repair with Samsung, say it's programming key fob, say it's even our commercial selling to universities. We try it out in our corporate stores first. We work through the bugs, we work through the training, we work through the profitability, and then we can ensure a seamless rollout to our franchise owners. Oh, amazing. Scott, I got to tell you what you're doing, giving opportunities to store operators, consumers to connect and build trust and most of all fix their devices you know what that's a hero scott williams ceo of batteries

plus also make sure you go to batteriesplus.com this has been david cogan with the alliance's hero show make sure you can continue to stay tuned because we have heard from the founder of MindFake.ai. Creating your digital twin hotline. You'll be blown away. Stay tuned.