Growth by acquisition or buying another business is a possible strategy for small businesses. In this case, Pure Stroke Golf, a formerly Florida-based maker of putting training aids, was purchased by C&C Machine, Inc., an Oklahoma-based machine shop.
Why C&C Machine Chose to Grow by Acquisition
Like many Oklahoma machine shops and fabricators, C&C Machine’s business has a great reliance on the energy sector. Also, this type of manufacturing has a great deal of competition, pricing pressures and sometimes lengthy payment terms. Therefore, we set out to find a company with niche products that offered diversity, brand recognition and fit their current manufacturing capabilities. Of course, the price needed to be right too.
Why They Purchased Pure Stroke Golf
After a lengthy search, we found Pure Stroke Golf. We looked at purchasing other companies; but did not purchase them for various reasons.
Pure Stroke Golf was appealing for many reasons. First, the owner of C&C Machine is an avid golfer. Pure Stroke Golf came with intellectual property in the form of a patent and registered trademark. A couple of product distributors were in place, but for the most part, branding and marketing were in their infancy stages. Finally, after negotiating, the price was right.
What Has Happened Since the Acquisition
As of this writing, it has been about five months since the purchase closed. We started with the transfer of inventory, equipment, drawings, trade secrets, domain registration, patent assignments and trademark assignments.
The product that came with the acquisition is the 100% Pure Stroke® Putting Training Aid. We modified the packaging on the aid. We have also developed and added the 100% Pure Stroke® Portable Practice Hole. We have more product ideas that may be developed and added in the future.
We had a new logo created and the website has had a total rebuild. The new website launched a couple of weeks ago. Our marketing efforts have just started.
Results Thus Far
Very promising! We have had sales to individuals. We have had sales to college golf teams. We have even had sales to the UK (United Kingdom). We have heard that the putting training aid is being used by professional golfers on tour in Europe and Asia. We have heard from customers telling us that Pure Stroke Golf products make great gifts for golfers.
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