Q1. Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans:- Bimmers South has been in business for 19 years and is currently celebrating great success at our 2nd location. Started as an indoor BMW parts recycling center we quickly expanded to provide service and repair of BMW vehicles at our facility. The addition of or 2nd location allowed us to offer used vehicles for sale and expand our service to all makes and models. We have the south’s largest selection of used BMW parts.
Q2. What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans:– I wanted to create a great customer experience, and build relationships with our customers, which allows us to understand what is most important to each individual customer. Continuous improvement, communication, honesty, and respect are essential to accomplish this.
Q3. What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans:- Be a problem solver first. If you can provide a solution for a need, all of the other elements; finance, clients, branding, etc. become achievable possibilities. In order to be a problem solver you must understand the problem, therefore you must understand how to listen.
Q4. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans:- Recognizing Value, Communication, Overcoming Obstacles / Objections
Q5. How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans:- If I’m not at the office, I’m on call 24 hours a day.
Q6. To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans:- Building relationships with customers.
Q7. How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans:- Although we use various channels of marketing like Digital, Print and social media, the most important marketing we do for our company is building customer relationships to build our reputation and gain word-of-mouth promotion.
Q8. What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans:- Create a business plan, and don’t be afraid to review results and correct course.
Q9. Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans:- We now have a second location and I would like to continue to expand as our business grows.
Q10. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans:- Good employees are vital to our success. As a small business owner, you will quickly understand that while you may want to do it all, you cannot do it all! You need good quality, passionate employees at your side to make your business a success.
Q11. How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans:- It is important to continuously review data and make course corrections as necessary.
Q12. What motivates you?
Ans:- Seeing and hearing from our happy customers.
Q13. What are your ideals?
Ans:- Customer service… The customer is ALWAYS right!
Q14. How do you generate new ideas?
Ans:- Observing. Collecting Information. Brainstorming with others and other businesses.
Q15. How do you define success?
Ans:- Being able to enjoy life and love yourself and others.
Q16. How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans:- Great communication, professionalism, honesty and core values. Always remember the customer name and being personable with them.
Q17. What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans:- When someone in a small business has a great new idea… it gets implemented FAST…. In the sluggish corporate world, good ideas take a long time to implement, and sometimes by the time they are implemented they are no longer relevant. I love the fast pace, always changing environment of entrepreneurship!
Q18. What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans:- As an entrepreneur… the decisions you make and how hard you work give YOU results you can see, taste, feel and hear personally on a daily basis…. When you work for a corporation, you can work hard and make decisions, but the results are often diluted by the corporate environment.
Q19. In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans:- Exciting.