Running on Family and Values
When Heidi Wall watched her parents , Isaac and Sarah Wall , launch Red Barn Trailers in 2012 , she had no idea that just five years later she and her husband , John Heide , would take over the reins of the business .
While Heidi and John ( The Heides ) were running a successful computer business at that time ( and remain partners today ), neither had experience in the trailer industry .
“ Red Barn was my parents ’ retirement business ,” said Heidi , who explained that her parents had owned a general store and then switched to farming when she was growing up . “ I watched them in their sixties build something which was new to them . The whole trailer dealership , they started with one load , they were successful , and that gave me confidence to also step in when they asked us to run it .”
The Heides introduced changes to the dealership , bringing in higher-end accessories , becoming an authorized retailer for Shocker hitches , and setting up a selfservice parts display to increase in-store sales .
When the Heides took over Red Barn , Heidi found that the areas of the business in which her parents had processes in place made things easier . So , showing more systems and processes became important , especially when they began hiring more staff .
“ We documented all the processes . We wrote them up with screenshots and step-by-step instructions ,” noted Heidi . “ It makes it easier when hiring a new person or promoting someone to step into a role . They can always go back ( to our documented processes ). Even for me , if it ’ s something I do monthly or
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