John Groll: Groll Ornamental Iron Works

In 1932, John Groll's grandfather opened the doors to Groll Ornamental Ironworks. Eventually, John's father took over the business and John began working in the business at the ripe old age of 10. However, he had no desire to take over the family business.

"I went to Penn State Business School for Transportation," said John Groll. "Upon graduating I worked eight years in the trucking industry as dispatcher, office manager and supervisor. Then, in 1980, the trucking industry was deregulated ... and to be honest, it just wasn't much fun anymore. I left the trucking business in 1982."

Groll found himself right back where he started at Groll Ornamental. He took the jobs of salesman and installer. "Our main business is to fabricate railings," explains Groll. "We concentrate mostly on residential railings for new homes."

Groll says he is best at sales and design. When he was working under his father, he spent all his time selling and designing. Eventually, his father was ready to retire and John became the third generation owner of the family business.

"There's not much fun in owning the business," says Groll. "It was a lot more fun when I worked for my dad. When he left, I suddenly had to worry about all of the financial aspects, paperwork, insurance and so on. That part of my job isn't as much fun for me."

"I have four employees," says Groll. "I do the selling and measuring, then I give the specifications to the guys in the shop. When the job is done, I do the installing. I spend about 50 hours a week at work, and then I spend another couple of hours a night going over the books. On average, I work about 60 hours a week."

In working hard to improve the business, Groll says the smartest thing he has done is purchase equipment that is adaptable to their specialty of custom work. In addition, he feels optimistic about the future of the business.

"As long as the interest rates stay low," says Groll. "And as long as they keep on building houses, we will continue making railings for them."

Unfortunately, even though the business is strong, the fourth generation of the family does not seem inclined to want to take over the family business, so, looking ahead several years, Groll is not sure what to do with the family owned business.

"The Business Owner has helped me figure out some financial things," says Groll. "I've learned about taxes, retirement, transferring the business to another or selling it outright. I never really thought about selling the business when I retire, at least not until I read some articles about that."

But possibly the hardest thing John Groll has learned since taking over the family business is the fact that although he is technically the boss, he has many bosses.

"The employees want to be the boss," he laughs. "The customers want to be the boss. Everybody wants to tell me how to do it because they all think their way is the best."