Q: To start with, can you tell me a bit about yourself? How old are you, what are your personal interests, etc?
A: I am Justin Newbold and I am 31 Years old. I live in Clearfield, Utah and I spend most of my spare time with my 3 kids Madison, Savannah and Ayden, and also my girlfriend, Aimee.
Q: Tell me about your company. What is it all about?
A: iRev Motors is a car dealership. We go to auctions and buy cars, and then we sell them to customers. If we cant sell them, we send them back to the auctions, usually at a loss.
Q: What made you decide to start this company to begin with?
A: I have always liked cars and always thought it would be fun to have a car dealership.
Q: Had you or have you ever considered being an entrepreneur in a different area other than what you’re doing now?
A: Yes. I have also wanted to get into building iOS apps for Apple products or developing devices that work with Apple products.
Q: Where did you work before what you’re doing now? How did working there lead up to what you are currently doing now?
A: I used to work for KFC. It helped me get the money to start up my business and it also helped push me to do this because the company changed their values and stopped caring about the people that were running there company for them.
Q: What have been your biggest struggles in being an entrepreneur?
A: My biggest struggles have been dealing with all the aspects of running a business that I have never dealt with before- mostly with taxes, payroll and accounting. Most companies have people that do all of this for them and they dont need to worry about it, so getting all this set up and staying on top of it has been a huge struggle.
Q: Are there any mistakes that you’ve made as an entrepreneur that you would advise future entrepreneurs to steer clear of?
A: I have made many mistakes, but I would say to make sure you know what you are doing and why you are doing it. I wanted to get into the car dealership because I liked cars. I didn't really think about how hard it was going to be to get it all started and how much work it was going to actually be.
Q: What are your major goals and plans for the future?
A: I want to get the car dealership running smoother so I don't always have to be there. My goal is to own businesses that I can run from anywhere that are low maintenance and high profit.
Q: What are the major challenges when it comes to communicating with the world to get the word out about your company?
A: It is very expensive and time consuming to advertise your business. Its also hard to know where the best places to advertise are. We have chosen the internet and Facebook as it is the cheapest place to advertise to reach more people.
Q: Do you ever have to deal with negative publicity? If so, how do you handle it?
A: Car dealers have one of the worst reputations around, so yes, we do get negative publicity. We deal with it by showing people we are not like other car dealers and we are not trying to screw people over just to make a buck. It's hard when you are trying to give a customer the best deal possible and they still wanna beat you up over the price of the car.
Q: How important is online networking and media to your company? How do you personally use it as a tool to promote your business?
A: I think it is crucial. Most of our leads come from online networking. We post our cars on our website, online classifieds and Facebook, it is the easiest, least expensive way to advertise what we are selling.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any thoughts, experiences or pointers you'd like to share with entrepreneurs?
A: First, I wouldn't recommend the car business to anyone. It is a brutal business. Most people think that we are stealing cars at auctions for prices that are half of what we sell them for and that is the furthest from the truth. Most of the cars at the auctions are cars that have problems so it's very hard to find good cars, and sometimes we get burned pretty bad. The ones that are good are not cheap and you get what ya pay for. I just think there are a lot better, more efficient ways to make money out there, and while I am glad I got the experience, if I had to do it over again I would've chosen something else.
You can learn more about iRev motors by visiting their website at http://www.irevmotors.com/about-us.
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