This piece originally appeared in the May edition of Powersports Business magazine. After 17 years of family ownership of New Orleans’ BMW, Ducati, Triumph, and Vespa dealership (TTRNO), I sold the store in 2019. Looking back, there are three things I wish I’d done differently.
Regret #1: Letting cancer ruin our culture
For years, I tolerated a high-performing but toxic technician, prioritizing his billing output over team morale. “You’ll never keep good techs if he stays,” warned one employee. Yet I justified keeping him due to financial concerns.
After selling the dealership, the new owners immediately terminated this person. The remaining service team immediately flourished, collaborating openly instead of hoarding knowledge.
My biggest regret was letting my team down by recognizing this issue and failing to act. If you have a toxic element in your store, no matter how productive they are, remove it. The team you keep will more than make up the difference.
Regret #2: Not getting an appraisal sooner
We sold the dealership without a formal exit strategy or valuation plan. I wish I’d obtained an appraisal five years earlier to guide improvements and maximize sale value.
As Benjamin Franklin said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
If you think you might sell in the next five to ten years, start now. Consult financial advisers and brokers. Understand your dealership valuation metrics like Enthusiast Lifecycle Value (ELV). The decisions you make today directly impact the number you’ll see on closing day.
Regret #3: Timing
Selling in October 2019 — before the COVID-era surge — proved to be bittersweet. The months that followed brought an unprecedented boom that would have significantly increased the store’s value.
But there were silver linings. The sale to a fellow 20 Club member allowed me to observe the business flourish under new ownership. And leaving dealership operations enabled me to co-found Garage Composites and later Ownex.io, allowing me to shape the future of dealership success from a different angle.
You can’t time the market perfectly. But you can prepare for the exit long before you’re ready to walk away.
