I worked for enterprise as a branch manager in two groups for a total of seven years. In that time,jaded as I was, I concentrated on learning as much as possible about that business while I was there. Without being sarcastic or swinging below the belt, I would like to bring into the open a few irrefutable enterprise financials and at the same time ask a few enterprise financial questions. I do not possibly see how a current employee could defend their position.
Several years ago,many of you may remenber at one of the many orlando meetings, that the Taylor family had a vision to double its overall fleet size in north america from the current fleet at the time of 500,000 cars. Consequently and shortly thereafter, management received a very brief email stating that enterprise, in order to muster the necessary capital to expand its fleet,issued junk bonds to prospective investors on a limited basis. Now,to those of you who may not be aware, I will explain the implications of this email. They issued junk bonds. A junk bond,by definition, is a non-rated bond with a higher than normal yield. Non-rated means that it is deemed a riskier investment. Put simply,Enterprise sought outside investors and paid them an attractive interest rate in order to get money to grow. We were never informed as to how much money,but you can only imagine what it would take to double a fleet.We were only informed that we"went public on a limited basis". One question:we were all trained from a revenue perspective that every possible expenditure is expressed on the spreadsheet,where was that gigantic loan? Will anyone ever actually know the actual financial position of enterprise?Most of the current middle and upper management will never get a straight answer about how much money the Taylor family borrowed and how they intended to repay without shortchanging its commissioned employees. When you are busy repaying a debt of this size,you drastically reduce your bottom line. Simple concept for all you spreadsheet gurus. The truth of the matter is you will get various answers in any given month. Weak flip,a rise in reserves,it's all there. My area manager at the time ,when I made a career change,was in the process of sending a string of emails to the group controller. He had determined that flip for the area had been misappropriated and he was due for previous revenue never credited on his area spreadsheet. He wasn't a perfect boss but he wasn't stupid either. Upon looking at the number,it made sense to both my fellow managers and me. Needless to say,he received no satisfaction. Basically, it just tarnished his promotability.
The result of all that enthusiasm in orlando in 2001 was this: enterprise grew steadily at 4% in the united states for the next two years consecutively. Doesn't quite sound like doubling in size. Who knows if that will pay such a heavy debt? I know none of us,whether customer,ex-employee,or current employee,will ever actually know where the majority of the profitability is going. Whether it is blamed on a weak used car market, refurbushments to the admin building,or other, rest assured that your commission check or lack there of,is just a keystroke away from your local group controller. You will never know. Paying commissioned employees is such an inexact science. Some errors are made intentionally and others not. I am certainly not smashing enterprise based on personal opinion. I am only referring to tangibles that I know what I read and saw. Enterprise very probably has a large debt on its books currently. It has to pay it somehow. Its growth was consistently moderate in the united states from 2001 to 2003. Plenty of profit for a wealthy family but a discouraging proposition for a new employee. I look forward to any cult response.