December 18, 2020 I Pandemic Stories
Springfield Music Owner Donovan Bankhead Optimistic for New Year
Lee Coats and Donovan Bankhead on the day the sale was finalized.
Donovan Bankhead has held many positions in his 18 years at Springfield, Missouri-based Springfield Music — road rep, general manager, vice president and president — and recently added another designation to all that. Owner.
“This had been the plan when I came here,” Bankhead said. “So it just took longer than we thought. When I first started those 18 years ago, we had a single location and then over time we grew to five locations. And so with the growth came delays in purchasing. But we settled that down over the last few years so that we could get back on track with this transition of ownership plan.”
By “we,” Bankhead means himself and former owner Lee Coats, who, according to Bankhead, retired 10 to 15 years ago. “He wasn’t as active in the day-to-day, but was still financially involved,” Bankhead said. “Myself and my team have been running the business for well over a decade.”
The transfer of ownership was made official on September 22. “He was of an age where he was ready to not have to be encumbered with it or concerned with it anymore,” Bankhead said. “And I’m in my mid-40s, so I was reaching that age where you either want to do this soon or don’t want to do it at all.”
Bankhead became president of Springfield Music in 2016, and had been running the business so long he didn’t think he’d feel much different about it when he assumed ownership. “But there’s a subtle but significant mental shift that happens when you truly own the business,” he said. “I feel a lot of responsibility, obviously, to the bank. I also feel a lot of responsibility to my people, to make sure that this is a company that they want to put their best efforts towards.”
No matter how long it was planned, buying a business during a pandemic is a remarkable step to take. But, according to Bankhead, the coronavirus actually helped here. “Because of all the COVID stuff, some of the legislation that was passed provided some benefits to the SBA that helped make this transition happen as well. They were making our first six payments of this loan and that helped to grease the wheels.”
Bankhead is confident in himself, his business and his team going into 2021, in part because they faired the coronavirus quarantine so well. “The fact that we were able to not only survive that, but basically come through this whole process intact and in good financial standing made me feel very confident that with this team that we could likely deal with whatever situation may occur,” he said. “I’m optimistic that now this could be behind us sooner rather than later. Certainly with the vaccines being administered and sent out there, that’s definitely a welcome relief.”
