Red Dot Distributors, Inc.
An Exit for Business Owners Who Care About Their Legacy
Most business owners face three choices at retirement: pass to family, sell to a competitor, or close the doors. Red Dot Distributors is a fourth option — one that protects your legacy, rewards your employees, and lets you retire with confidence.
Three choices most business owners have
After decades of building a business, most owners find themselves facing the same difficult set of options:
Pass it to family — but not every owner has a family member who is willing, ready, or able to take over.
Sell to a competitor or national chain — and watch your name come down, your team get restructured, and your identity disappear.
Close the doors — and walk away from everything you built, leaving your employees without jobs and your customers without a supplier.
If none of those options sit right with you, you are not alone.
You’re not alone, and the statistics show it:
61% of US family businesses have no formal succession plan (North America Family Business Report, 2023)
Only 30% of small businesses listed for sale ever find a buyer (Exit Planning Institute)
The Three Pillars
A different kind of exit.
Protect Your Legacy
Your business name, your storefront, and your team stay exactly as they are. We do not rebrand, restructure, or absorb your identity into a larger chain. Everything you built continues under your name.
Care for Your People
Every employee is enrolled in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan, giving them a real ownership stake in the company they helped build — and in every company across the RDD group. It is one of the most meaningful things a departing owner can do for the people who stood beside them.
A Confident Exit
Step away knowing your business is in the right hands. Every deal is structured to fit your specific situation — your timeline, your financial goals, your priorities. Our goal is a transition that works for you, your family, and your employees.
What is an ESOP?
Your employees become owners. It does not cost them a dime.
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is a qualified retirement trust that gives employees an ownership stake in the company they work for. ESOPs add to existing retirement programs like 401(k) or SEP IRA plans — they do not replace them.
When your business joins Red Dot Distributors, every employee is enrolled in the ESOP. They share in annual performance, attend ownership meetings, and receive distributions upon retirement. Long-term employees receive credit for their past years of service — no one starts from scratch.
Trust and Credibility
Built by people who understand family business.
Red Dot Distributors (RDD) was founded by Adrian Cummings and Jim Goodman in Grand Forks, North Dakota. RDD is rooted in the belief that family-owned businesses deserve better options when it is time for an owner to step away.
We are not a private equity firm. We are not looking to flip companies or strip them for parts. We are building a group of employee-owned distributors and manufacturers that are stronger together — where every business keeps its name, every employee gains an ownership stake, and every owner can retire knowing their legacy is protected.
Call to Action
Every business exit is personal.
There is no template, no pressure, and no obligation. If anything on this page resonates with you, we would welcome the opportunity to learn about your business and share how Red Dot Distributors might be the right fit.
Every conversation is completely confidential. We will never contact your employees, vendors, or customers without your permission.
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