I built a dealership, sold it, and then watched — with a growing sense of dismay — as it began to unravel. Now I’m stepping back in, driven by the feeling that I owe it to the store, the people, and the community to try and save it. And this time, I’m doing it publicly, with everything I’ve learned — and everything I’ve got — on full display.

For the past eight years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as a trainer and consultant for Garage Composites. But long before that, I was living it—running departments, managing chaos, solving problems on the floor. These days, my work is about helping others do that better. But today, I want to pull back the curtain on how I actually create the frameworks and training materials I use.

My family and I founded and operated New Orleans’ BMW, Ducati, Triumph, and Vespa dealership for 17 years. Throughout that time, we grew up in it—both literally and figuratively. That dealership, which we called TTRNO, was part of the family; it effectively (or perhaps ineffectively) raised me. When the time came to sell it, and after the dust settled, there remained three significant things I think about daily. From these experiences that still keep me up at night, I hope you can learn and avoid the same pitfalls.

In San Jose, California, dealerships were hit hard last year. The regional market dropped 21% in major unit sales, and for many, that meant scrambling to stay afloat. But at Spirit Motorcycles, something different happened.

Despite experiencing a $1.8M revenue decline (15% YOY), the dealership increased its net profit by $20,000 (3% YOY). While others were watching margins shrink, Spirit was getting healthier, more efficient, and more profitable.

At the AIM Expo, I walked around talking to dealers, trying to understand what they believe is missing from the customer ownership experience and what can be done in dealerships to improve it. The most common response I heard was, "If my employees just did their job, everything would be easier."