Finalist: John Cannon

Finalist: John Cannon

Founder and President of John Cannon Homes Inc.

Finding a niche is not just a matter of profitability, it's a matter of survival. If operated correctly there is more than enough business to allow both the likes of Wal-Mart and Saks Fifth Avenue. In the wide field of developers and home builders, John Cannon chose to focus on the higher level of customization; a central focus on lower quantity, higher quality. Of the three biggest local home builders, John Cannon's product is typically larger, more customized and as a result more expensive.

The past three golden years in the homebuyer/home builder market have been especially good to Cannon. The company has nearly doubled its size each of the past three years (averaging out to 79.5%) and has grown from about $21.9 million in revenue in 1999 to $132 million last year.

"The market as a whole has been really strong," Cannon says. "But it takes proper positioning within the market. A lot of guys are not well positioned for the future. People are already struggling to find buyers and places to build. You have to identify where you want to be in the market. We have been fortunate to be able to establish ourselves as a builder of choice. That just means that we have enough name recognition to get the chance to talk to potential customers, which is key."

To keep up with the constant battle for land, Cannon has formed relationships with several large residential developers, such as Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Ridgewood Building and Development and Hugh Culverhouse Jr. The company has acquired or put under contract about 2,000 acres in Sarasota County and, possibly even more importantly, started expanding outside of the Sarasota-Manatee market. In 2002, Cannon made his first step out of the two-county market - building in the 750-acre Mirabay development at Apollo Beach in Hillsborough County.

Today, the firm is building in Mirabay, the 165-home development Stonelake in eastern Hillsborough County and in scattered sites from North Tampa to Charlotte County.

"We are certainly looking at broader spheres of influence," Cannon says. "I really think things are much more competitive here than they are in Tampa, so we are applying what we learn here in other areas."

Late last year, the company started construction on a 50,000-square-foot corporate office in Lakewood Ranch, which will include a 3,200-square-foot design center.

In 1979, Cannon started in the home building business with a job at New York-based Ryan Homes. When the firm, which was building homes in the Midwest and New York markets, purchased Ruth Richmond Homes in Sarasota, Cannon moved down from Michigan. For several years, Cannon worked as site superintendent and later in sales, but in 1985, he left to work in home sales for Sundial, the development subsidiary of a bank. From 1987 to 1990, Cannon managed the sales department for another builder before jumping ship to strike out on his own.

Cannon officially started his new homebuilding company the day after his honeymoon ended. Conditions were not ideal in 1990; Sarasota like much of the country was in an economic recession.

Even worse, Cannon didn't have the funds to build a model home. Luckily, he was able to convince developer George Mercer to loan him a home lot and finance construction of his first home. Cannon collaborated with an interior decorator to furnish the house on consignment. Fortunately, the first home sold and everyone was paid.

Cannon was able to build two more homes that year, giving the company the capital and exposure to build more the next year. The home builder's sales went from 85 in 2002 to 101 in 2003 and to 128 in 2004. The company projects sales of 150 homes for 2005.

At the same time, the company has been on a hiring run, going from 47 in 2002 to about 83 today.

"I like to think we have done very well with employees," Cannon says. "If I find a good person we build the business around them. I would rather fit the people to the job ... because really good people can create their own profit centers. It's also important to create a sense of family."

Cannon says he is proud to have his children, Rachel, 12, and Jack, 10, visit he and his wife, Phillipa, in the office.

"We even discuss the bad things in front of them," Cannon says. "They understand the stresses of business ownership. I feel they are fairly mature for their age because of that exposure. We want them to understand the business."

Most of Cannon's homes sell for between $800,000 and $1 million; his most expensive home tops out at about $5 million. Cannon prefers to think of his homes as more Cadillac and less Rolls Royce.

Given the growth of the company, Cannon has to make a conscious effort not to micromanage. "After all I am used to be building the homes myself," he says. "It's like a quarterback being pushed back to player's coach, then to the sidelines and finally being kicked upstairs to the owner's box."

Almost constantly, Cannon and his team have worked to refine the process of building a home for each customer.

"Builders tend to get hung up on the product," Cannons says, "but we always need to remember that for our clients the home is just the end result. As an industry we kind of forgot they have to live through the process. So we are still working on things we can do - looking from the customer's perspective - to improve the process."

As with most of the Review's finalists, Cannon says vocation is also his avocation.

"My favorite part of this job is still meeting with customers," Cannon says. "I love hearing from customers what excites them about a home. I absolutely love it when sales people say the customers want to do the meet the builder to tweak the design."

COMPANY STATS

Employees: 2003: 52;

2004: 75; 2005: 83.

Revenue: 2002: $41 million; 2003: $75 million; 2004: $132 million.

Average annual growth: 79.5%