Launching a dealership with only $40K?! | Brandon Miller, Founder at Miller Auto
发布时间 2023-10-20 17:00:04 来源
摘要
This episode is brought to you by: Podium - The lead conversion platform for car dealerships. Get 10% of your plan by texting ...
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200 miles after we sold it, it started best firing and had the cool on conversion issues. So what do you do? I mean, a customer bought this vehicle 200 miles they put on it. I ordered a short block, we put a short block in it, and it will cost the customer. That's how you make a name for yourself. And our reputation is very important.
在我们卖出车后的200英里里程，它开始出现点火和冷却转换问题。那你会怎么处理呢？我的意思是，客户购买了这辆车并开了200英里。我订购了一个短块引擎，我们为其更换了短块引擎，最终成本由客户承担。这是你树立声誉的方式。而我们的声誉非常重要。
What's up everyone? This is Car D'Oeship Guy. You're listening to the Car D'Oeship Guy podcast, which is my effort to give you access to the most unbiased and transparent insights into the car market. Let's get into today's episode.
大家好！我是Car D'Oeship Guy。你正在收听的是Car D'Oeship Guy的播客节目，我希望通过这个节目，为你提供最客观透明的汽车市场见解。让我们进入今天的节目吧。
Brandon Miller is founder and dealer principal at Miller Auto. Him and his son are 50-50 partners in both first-generation use car dealers. In this conversation we discussed launching their first dealership with only $40,000, breaking down the use car business model, how much money they make in the business, selling Teslas in cold Wisconsin, today's challengers for small car dealers, acquiring inventory in an intensely competitive market, and much more. This was a unique episode. I felt like the CDG podcast had plenty of massive dealer groups on its guests, but we were really lacking some representation from the small guys. So I hope to start filling that gap with Brandon Miller being the first.
布兰登·米勒是米勒汽车的创始人和经销商总监。他和他的儿子是二手车经销商中第一代使用车辆的合作伙伴，持股比例为五五开。在这次对话中，我们讨论了他们如何仅凭4万美元启动第一家经销商，解析了二手车业务模式，他们在业务中赚了多少钱，以及在寒冷的威斯康星州销售特斯拉等问题。此外，我们还谈到了小型汽车经销商面临的现今挑战，以及如何在竞争激烈的市场中获得库存等等。这是一集独特的节目。我感到CDG播客的嘉宾中有很多大型经销商集团的代表，但我们确实缺少一些小公司的代表。因此，我希望通过布兰登·米勒作为第一位嘉宾来填补这个空白。
Before we get into the show, this episode is brought to you by Podium, the lead conversion platform for car dealerships. Podium helps you get found at the top of Google search and convert new leads faster with industry leading communication tools and AI. With Podium, you can finally take the guest work out of lead management, bring every lead into one unified inbox, respond automatically in two minutes or less, and even book appointments using AI. Get Podium and get ready to convert leads faster than ever and see why over a hundred thousand businesses like yours have given themselves an instant advantage with Podium. Get started today with 10% off your plan by texting car dealership guy to 833-441-1166. That's 833-441-1166. Text that number and mention this podcast to get 10% off your plan or visit the link in the show notes below.
在我们开始节目之前，本集由汽车经销商领先转化平台Podium赞助。Podium帮助您在谷歌搜索中获得排名靠前，并通过行业领先的沟通工具和人工智能快速转化新线索。有了Podium，您终于可以将线索管理中的猜测工作去掉，将每个线索都放入一个统一的收件箱中，以两分钟或更短的时间自动回复，甚至可以使用人工智能预约。选择Podium，准备以前所未有的速度转化线索，并体验为什么像您这样的成千上万家企业与Podium合作，立即获得了巨大的优势。今天就通过发送短信“汽车经销商人”到833-441-1166来开始使用Podium，并获得您的计划的10%折扣。这是833-441-1166。发送该号码并提及本播客即可获得计划的10%折扣，或访问下方节目说明中的链接。
This episode is also brought to you by CDK Global. CDK Global has been empowering nearly 15,000 dealers with the tools and technology they need to build deeper relationships with customers. Their team is keenly aware of the state of dealership technology and while many vendors promise seamless experiences between your CRM, DMS, digital retail and fixed ops, most of these bolt-on solutions tend to break workflows and cause more harm than good. That is why CDK has launched a new dealership experience platform. This new integrated software consists of everything you need to operate a dealership officially while delivering an unparalleled experience to your customers. Basically, everything working together, not separate, one system to run your dealership as opposed to 10. CDK developed it with an outside-in approach listening to dealers every step of the way. You can learn more about CDK's dealership experience platform by visiting CDKGlobal.com slash DXP or clicking the link in the show notes below.
这一集还由CDK全球赞助。CDK全球为近15,000个经销商提供了构建与客户更紧密关系所需的工具和技术。他们的团队非常了解经销商技术的现状，虽然很多供应商承诺CRM、DMS、数字零售和固定运营之间无缝衔接的体验，但大多数这些外挂解决方案往往会破坏工作流程，起到反效果。这就是为什么CDK推出了新的经销商体验平台。这个全新的集成软件包括了您在合法经营经销商所需的一切，同时为您的客户提供了无与伦比的体验。基本上，一切都协同运作，而不是分别运行，有一个系统来管理您的经销商，而不是十个。CDK采取了外部输入的方式，随时倾听经销商的意见。您可以通过访问CDKGlobal.com/ DXp或单击下方节目说明中的链接了解更多关于CDK经销商体验平台的信息。
How do you go from launching this business to vertically integrating your business, launching all these adjacent businesses and truly building something special in your state of Wisconsin? That's what we're going to dig into.
你是如何从启动这个业务，垂直整合业务，启动所有这些相关的业务，并真正在威斯康辛州建立一些特别的东西的呢？这就是我们要深入探讨的内容。
Before we dig into that, I do have one question for you. Is it true that you were the mayor of your town? You did some digging, yes. I was. What's the connection there? How do you mayor, dealer?
在我们深入探讨此事之前，我有一个问题要问你。你是不是真的曾经是你镇上的市长？你挖掘了一些信息，是的，我确实是。那之间有什么联系呢？如何从市长变成走私者呢？
Yeah. Yeah. At the time, I've been in the auto business since my early 20s. I wouldn't say about six years, eight years, that I wasn't involved in their auto business. I owned a website design company at computer store and got roped into being a partner of accounting business and tax practice. While I was doing those two businesses, I was asked to run for mayor of the city that the businesses were in.
是的，是的。那个时候，我从20多岁起就一直从事汽车行业。大约有六到八年的时间，我没有参与汽车业务。我拥有一家网站设计公司和一家计算机店，并被卷入成为会计业务和税务实践的合伙人。在经营这两个企业的同时，我被要求竞选所在城市的市长职位。
What city was that?
那是哪个城市？
The city of Gillet was got some small little, you know, 1300 people. Small little place that we've never heard of. Putting on the map.
吉莱特市是一个人口只有1300人的小小地方。这个我们之前从未听说过的小地方现在开始为自己赢得了一席之地。
Right. I was an outsider. I mean, small community is typically if you're a mayor, you've lived here in your whole line and so forth. I've lived there for about four years when I was four or five years when I was elected. The city had some accounting issues, infrastructure issues, stuff like that. We decided that we needed to make a change. We did. I did one turn. I wasn't going to run for a second term just for personal reasons. My father was getting sick. He was diagnosed with cancer. I just didn't want it anymore. The department had some so-for-talk me and run it because I didn't want me to go. I did run, but I didn't put my offer into it. I was relieved when I wasn't real like that.
对。我当时是一个外人。我的意思是，如果你是一名市长，通常意味着你在这里生活了整整一辈子或者更长时间。当我当选时，我在那里已经住了大约四年，当时我只有四到五岁。这个城市存在一些会计问题、基础设施问题等等。我们决定需要进行改变。我们也做到了。我完成了一个任期。由于个人原因，我并不打算连任。我父亲生病了，被诊断出了癌症。我只是不再想继续承担这个职位。部门中的一些人劝说我留下来管理，因为他们不希望我离开。我确实参选了，但并没有全力以赴。当我没有当选时，我感到如释重负。
Yeah, you didn't really want it. Wait, just explain to me. You were a dealer before this already?
是的，你并不真正想要它。等等，解释一下。在此之前你已经是一个贩子了吗？
No, at that point, I was primarily my automotive experience as management. When I was about 20, I had my first job as a mechanic at IOA, the truck stop, which is a world-old's-learned truck stop. I did that for a short amount of time and then I almost immediately went into management of auto repair shops and so forth. My management of Midas and Fort Wayne and Indiana for about a year and a half. I've always, shortly after entering the field, I've primarily been in management of some aspect of the automotive business.
不，那时候，我主要以我的汽车经验来担任管理职务。大约20岁时，我在IOA的卡车停车场找到了我的第一份机械师的工作，那是一个世界知名的卡车停车场。我在那里工作了一段时间，然后几乎立刻转入汽车修理店等方面的管理工作。我在印第安纳州的Midas和Fort Wayne担任了大约一年半的管理职务。我进入这个领域后很快就主要从事汽车业务的某个方面的管理工作。
I didn't really get into a car dealership until after I was there. Then I ended up, what was that transition like? Why become a dealer? Well, because I love cars. Cars are your car guy. I am a car guy. I absolutely am. From the time I was, I think I owned probably five or six cars before I had my driver's license. That doesn't always work out, by the way. A lot of times, the car passionate person does not do well in the car business. For obvious reasons, you get too emotionally attached to metal that needs to be sold for profit. I'm actually very good at separating that. That was one of the things I had to teach my son when we first started working together and so forth. He was starting to flip cars before we even started the business. He did exciting about a car. I really liked this. I'm like, you got to take that on your equation, bud. You're going to get attached to it. You're not really going to hold it. You're not going to want to sell it.
直到我去那里之后，我才真正进入汽车经销商行业。那时候我开始想办法转型，为什么要做经销商呢？因为我热爱汽车。汽车是热爱汽车的人的最爱。而我就是一个热爱汽车的人。我绝对是。我记得在我拿到驾照之前，我可能已经拥有了五六辆车。不过这并不总是成功的，因为许多时候，对汽车充满激情的人在汽车行业中表现不佳。原因很简单，你会对需要以利润出售的金属产生过于情感依恋。而我在这方面非常善于分离。这是我和儿子合作之初我必须教给他的事情之一。我们开展业务之前，他就开始翻车了。他对一辆车很着迷，我告诉他，你要把这种情感排除在其中，伙计。你会对它产生留恋，不愿意卖掉它。
That's great. Your son works with you. What do you guys, how do you guys split up the roles? My son has seen it 50% of the business. We're 50-50 partners. We started the business when he was 21, which is two years ago. He and Russell were as lucky as I did to get them off the ground.
太好了。你的儿子和你一起工作。你们分别担任什么角色呢？我的儿子参与了公司50%的业务。我们是50-50的合伙人。我们在他21岁的时候创办了这家公司，也就是两年前。他和Russell一样幸运，能够成功启动这个企业。
How much capital did you guys invest to start it? We invested $40,000, believe it or not. So we had $40,000 each or $20,000 each? $20,000 each. And then what did you do with that first $40,000? We identified, well, we weren't even really thinking. We had talked a little bit about starting a dealership or an auto business. I was working for a company that I was transporting vehicles. I was all over the state. I was on my way back from a delivery and saw the property that we have in Amaro. And the property we're in in Amaro has been a dealership since 1986. And it was right around COVID that they closed the doors. He retired, moved to Texas, and the property was available.
你们当初投资了多少资金来创业？我们投资了4万美元，不管你信不信。那是每人4万元还是每人2万元？每人2万元。那你们用那最初的4万元做了什么？我们发现，实际上当时并没有考虑得很多。我们只是稍微谈了一下要开一家经销店或汽车业务。我当时正在为一家运输车辆的公司工作，我到处跑州内。有一次我在送货途中看到了我们在阿马罗市的那块地。这块地从1986年起就一直是一家经销店，而且正值COVID疫情关门时，老板退休去了德克萨斯，这个地方就有了空缺。
So when I was in high school, I remember coming through this dealership, looking at cars all the time, just seeing what he had on his lot and so forth. So that's kind of ironic that we now own the property. And anyway, look at the funny other world works. But I was driving past, I saw it was for sale and I pulled in and I got Boston on the phone and I said, hey, this property is available. And I picked up the windows, kind of saw the whips and so forth. And thought this could be a possibility. And I took a picture of the real-year sign out front and made a phone call on my way back back to my house. And a month later, we were in the property.
当我还在高中的时候，我记得经常光顾这家汽车经销商，看看他们的车，了解一下他们的货物等等。所以现在我们拥有这个地产有点讽刺。不管怎样，看看这个有趣的世界是怎么运作的。但是有一天我经过时，看到它正在出售，于是我驶入并给波士顿打了电话，说：“嘿，这个房产可供购买。”我看了看窗户，还有其他一些东西，觉得这可能是个机会。然后我拍了一张门前的房产标志的照片，并在返回家的路上打了个电话。一个月后，我们入住了这个房产。
Oh, you used some of the cash, I guess, to buy the property. What do you do about inventory? Like, how do you actually get started? Yeah, so we leased the property to start. I actually set up, I set up a lease with an option to buy. So we have a price lock then and so forth. It was a two-year lease. We ended up buying at the end of the lease. I was trying to get ahead of the interest rates that I saw that we're going to start raising and so forth. But yeah, we acquired the property. We really had, I mean, other than hand tools and stuff like that, we didn't have anything as far as, you know, AC machines or we didn't have a wallet or we didn't have a torch. Oh, we didn't have anything really.
哦，我猜你用了一些现金买了这个房产。你对库存怎么处理呢？比如说，你是怎么开始实际做起来的呢？是的，所以我们开始租了这个房产。我实际上设立了一个租赁和购买选项。所以我们有一个价格锁定等等。租期为两年。最后我们决定购买。我试图在我看到利率开始上涨之前抢先一步。但是是的，我们买下了这个房产。实际上除了手工工具之类的，我们没有任何东西，比如空调机器或者我们没有钱包或者我们没有焊枪。噢，我们真的什么都没有。
You're speaking with respect to repairing or reconditioning cars? Yes. Yep, exactly. Right. So tell me more about that, right? Like, what did you do? What does day one look like? You just show up at the auction and like, you know, let's buy some cars. What was day one like for you? We started the business. Well, the first month was really, was really startup. So I was still working full time for my previous job when we acquired the property. I actually continued to work for him for about six days, months after opening the business.
你是在谈论修理或翻新汽车吗？是的。嗯，确实是。对，所以告诉我更多关于这个，对吗？像，你们做了什么？第一天是什么样子的？你只是到拍卖场，然后就开始买车，对吗？对你来说，第一天是什么样子的？我们开创了这个生意。好吧，第一个月真的，真的是初创阶段。所以当我们购买了这个财产时，我还在我的前一份工作全职工作。事实上，在开业后的六个月里，我仍然为他工作。
So while I was out working, working for the tow truck company? Well, yeah, what, so that company was more than just a tow truck company. They were on a repair. They had a transport company. Oh, so you were still working there full time while starting up the deal, shit? Yes. Yep. So were they cool with that? Or did they like to not know about it? Well, no, they were cool with it. Yeah, no. I sat down with the owner. I was the GM at the time. And I sat down with them and said, you know, this is something that I wanted to do. And that's, yeah, that's refreshing. Yeah. So and I was a pretty integral part of his business. You know, I did all the dispatching for the 30 trucks that he had on the road and so forth.
所以当我出去工作时，是在为拖车公司工作吗？是的，那家公司不仅仅是个拖车公司。他们还有一个修理部门和一个运输公司。哦，所以你在创办这个项目的同时还在那里全职工作，太厉害了吧？是的，没错。他们对此怎么看？他们知道这件事吗？嗯，并不介意。是的，不介意。当时我还是那家公司的总经理，我跟老板坐下来谈了谈，说我有这个想法。嗯，这真是令人耳目一新。是的。而且我在他的生意中是一个非常重要的部分。我负责调度他们路上的30辆卡车等等。
So while I was out, you know, working for him, Austin went around and he set up all of the, well, the being, I was in the process of refinancing my house with certain of those. So I couldn't use my credit for anything because of the refinance process. So Austin went out, he got all of the parts account set up. He got the bank account set up while I was still working using primarily his credit, believe it or not, at 21 years old. And so I continued to work for them for about six, eight months, while we were starting up the business. And I scaled back my, my work relationship with them, where I was working remotely, still doing dispatching and so forth while I was at our shop and rump.
在我不在的时候，你知道的，为了他工作，奥斯汀四处奔波，建立了所有事情，嗯，我正在进行重新融资我的房子的过程中，用了其中一些。因此，由于重新融资的过程，我无法使用我的信用进行任何事情。所以奥斯汀出去了，他设置了所有的零件账户。他在我还在为他们工作的同时，使用主要是他的信用，21岁时真是难以置信，开设了银行账户。因此，在我们创业的六到八个月内，我继续为他们工作。我减少了与他们的工作关系，我远程工作，仍然进行调度等工作，同时我也在我们的店里忙碌。
What that allowed us to do was not take a salary from the new business for about eight months. Everything reinvested. Yeah, everything reinvested. So what did you do with inventory? Did you like get a floor plan or, you know, in line of credit, how did you actually fund your inventory initially? And on an addition to that, like, how did you know what to buy is you don't have that, like, you know, just, you don't have that customer insight yet. You know, it's the cold start problem, right? So how did you know, just what to buy from the get go?
这让我们可以在新业务中约有八个月不领取工资。所有的钱都被再投资了。是的，所有的钱都被再投资了。那么你们是怎么处理库存的呢？你们是通过采购计划或者信用额度来获得货物的吗？最初，你们是如何筹资购买库存的呢？另外，如果你们还没有顾客洞察力，你们又是如何知道要购买什么呢？你知道的，这是一个从零开始的问题，对吧？所以你们是如何知道要从一开始就购买什么的呢？
Yeah. We, we look for, we look for value. I mean, that really that's one of the most too is, so what do you mean by that? Well, what is value? What does value mean to you? Value to mean means a vehicle that we can sell at a reasonable price so that the customer is an upside down as soon as they buy it and a vehicle that we can buy at a good price and make a good profit on. Yeah. So so how do you how do you typically by the way, I'm asking somebody things like semi-rutorically for the audience. I have my own opinion as well, which I'm going to share in a second. But how do you how do you source those? Like, what do you look for in that purchase?
是的。我们寻找价值。我的意思是，这真的是最重要的之一。那么你指的是什么呢？那么，价值是什么？对你来说，价值意味着什么？对我来说，价值意味着我们可以以合理的价格销售的车辆，这样客户购买后就不会亏本，同时也是我们可以以好价钱购买并且能够获得良好利润的车辆。是的。所以，你通常是如何获取这些车辆的？你在购买时寻找什么？
To start with, I think it was probably more of the vehicles that needed repairs that we were able to do and get a recomposition and really add value to the car. Yeah. I mean, it's really simple is that I think thinking back to like getting started this business in the early days, you know, it's kind of, what do you think of the bigger, some of the bigger players? You know, I remember, I remember speaking with drive time people, carbon people, they look in car max people, they look very closely at what they call the kick ratio, which is pretty much cars that don't make it through the recom process gets sent back to auction. And then it typically triggers a kick, right? You typically send a car back to auction as a dealer when you're, you know, one of these massive corporations. And then again, I'm generalizing, but you typically do it when a car, you know, maybe needs too much reconditioning, right? Whatever that threshold is could be, you know, over X amount dollars or X amount of panels need to be prepared.
首先，我认为我们能够对需要维修的车辆进行修复，使其重新组装并真正增加了汽车的价值。是的。我的意思很简单，回想一下我们初创业务的那些日子，你认为那些更大的竞争对手怎么样呢？我记得曾与时速人员、碳人员以及凯马克斯人员交谈过，他们非常关注所谓的回收比率，也就是不能通过翻新流程的车辆会被送回拍卖会。通常情况下，这会触发一个「回收」，也就是经销商一般会将车辆送回拍卖场，而这通常发生在车辆需要过多翻新的情况下。不管是超过一定金额还是需要修复的车身面板达到一定数量，都可能超过了某个门槛。
But I think that's where the opportunity lies. And that's why I asked that because I wanted to see how you've done it because I've seen that opportunity as well. Like when someone asks me, Hey, what's the best way to start? You know, the reality is like you said, and its value, it's look for stuff that needs value add that the bigger guys maybe don't want to deal with. And that's stuff that's like, you know, just like structurally compromised or anything like that, by any means, nothing like that, but just stuff that maybe needs a little too much work that, you know, a bigger player just, you know, the time is going to take to put into it won't make sense. And so I mean, I totally resonate with that.
但我认为这正是机会所在。这也是为什么我问那个问题的原因，因为我想看看你是如何做到的，因为我也看到了那个机会。就像有人问我，嗨，怎么开始最好呢？你知道的，现实就像你说的那样，它的价值在于寻找那些需要增值的东西，可能大公司不愿意处理的东西。这些东西有点像，你知道的，就结构上有问题之类的，不是什么完全受损的东西，没有那种意思。只是可能需要太多工作的东西，你知道的，对于一个更大的玩家来说，投入的时间可能没有意义。所以我完全赞同这一点。
Yeah, our favorite thing is to buy the vehicles that somebody else can't figure out. You know, whether it's a little you get the projects. Yeah, yeah, whether it's electrical issue or, you know, a body control module or a PCM, those vehicles that people, you know, beat their head up against the wall and trying to figure them out. And we're very good at it. So we're looking, why are you good at it though? It's a you is a your technical expertise. Like what's the secret sauce for you? It's not just me because Austin is just as good at it as I am. Actually, I've never seen anybody pick up drivability diagnosis as well as he has. I mean, you know, he's been working in cars, you know, since there was an, you know, high school and so forth. But when we started this business, he was green. I mean, he knew how to change breaks and he knew how to do, you know, the nuts and bolts stuff. But, you know, he gets wiring diagrams. He can understand how something works and understanding how something works is how you diagnose it, you know, or how you diagnose it.
是的，我们最喜欢的事情就是购买那些别人无法解决的车辆。你知道的，不管是一点小问题还是电气故障，或者是车身控制模块或PCM，那些让人绞尽脑汁还是无法解决的车辆。而我们在这方面非常擅长。所以我们在寻找，你为什么擅长这个呢？这是你的技术专长吗？有什么秘诀吗？其实，不仅仅是我，因为奥斯汀和我一样擅长这个。实际上，我从来没有见过任何人像他一样能够熟练进行驾驶性能诊断。我的意思是，他从高中开始就一直在修车了。但是当我们开始这个生意的时候，他还是新手。他只知道如何更换刹车片和一些螺丝钉之类的东西。但是，他能看懂接线图，能理解某样东西的工作原理，而理解工作原理就是诊断的方法，你知道的，或者说是如何诊断。
So you're saying you're saying your son is a great mechanic, the great technician. And that that really gives you a huge advantage because it allows you to acquire cars that other dealers might not have that competency and therefore they can't acquire them because they can fix absolutely, absolutely. Very interesting.
所以你的意思是你的儿子是一位非常优秀的机械师，一个出色的技术专家。而这确实给了你很大的优势，因为这使你能够获取其他经销商可能没有的那些需要技术能力来维修的汽车，因此他们无法获得这些车辆，是这样吗？确实如此，非常有趣。
So we go back to my other question. I think we missed it is how do you split your duties at the dealership? Like I know you're 5050, but what do you do? What does he do? So we all we both do everything. I primarily do the bookwork, you know, the bookkeeping and keep everything current as far as that goes. But other than that, and he's got full access to it also. I mean, he looks at the numbers he knows where we're at day to day also throughout the whole business. We do it all. I mean, there isn't anything that we would expect an employee to do that we don't do. So, you know, if a car needs to be detailed and we're the one that's free, we're detailing, you know, if a car needs brake pads put on, we're going to put brakes on it, you know, how many employees do you have right now? We have seven right now. Seven? Yep. When we started, we had Austin, myself, and one of them were employed.
那么我们回到我之前的问题。我觉得我们忽略了一个问题，那就是你们在经销商是怎么分工的？我知道你们是平分50%，但是具体你们的工作分配是怎样的呢？他做什么？我俩都做所有的工作。主要来说，我负责书面工作，比如簿记和保持所有相关事项的最新状态。但除此之外，他也完全有权限查阅这些工作。他了解我们每天的情况和整个业务的发展情况。我们俩都做所有的工作。我们希望员工做的事情，我们自己也都会做。所以，你们现在有多少员工？我们目前有七个员工。七个？是的。起初，我们只有奥斯汀、我以及另外一个雇员。
So since the $40,000 you started the business with, have you put up any more money? No. Oh, so the business has been cashflow positive, profitable. Our first one, you know, I think we acquired the business beginning of July. Our first month was negative and we've never seen the negative month since. Incredible. And does that include any interest payments you're making? Yep. Yeah. That's great.
所以自从你用4万美元开始经营这个生意，你还投入了更多的资金吗？没有。哦，所以这个生意现在是盈利的、现金流为正。我们的第一个月是负数，但是自那之后我们就再也没有亏过钱了。太不可思议了。那这包括你所支付的任何利息吗？是的。太好了。
Now, how do you finance your inventory? We do have, we have two floor plans. I'm probably about a half a million line. Who are they with? Kinetic advantage and AFC. Got it. So you're financing your inventory through both of them. And then, like, walk me very briefly through that process as a just, you know, small young dealer upstart. You know, what was it like getting those four plans? Was it a pretty easy process for you? Again, if anyone's listening to this and wants to start a dealership or, you know, get into the business, like, what was that process like for you?
现在，你是如何为你的存货融资的？我们有两个库存融资计划。我大约有五十万美元的额度。他们分别是什么？分别是Kinetic advantage和AFC。知道了。所以你是通过这两个机构来为你的存货融资的。那么，对于一个刚刚起步的小型年轻经销商来说，你可以简要地向我介绍一下这个过程吗？对你来说，获得这些融资计划是一个相对容易的过程吗？如果有人正在聆听并希望开办一个经销商或者进入这个行业，你能向他们介绍一下这个过程吗？
Yeah. So the, we started with Kinetic. And I think they're based on Indian apples for Indiana, maybe Carma, Lindiana. And when we had a contact at one of the auctions that was very familiar with the rep here, it was actually very easy. We were probably about six months to a year end before we got our first floor plan. Otherwise, we were just financing, you know, just rolling the sales back into the inventory. To make you $1.02, going to buy some inventory. Yep, absolutely. So when we got the floor plans, we really didn't use it. I mean, we did use it, but we didn't use it. We didn't go crazy, you know, and fill the floor planning. You know, I think they gave us a hundred thousand dollar line to start with. And, you know, where you went from heaven, you know, they enter 10 cars on the lot, 15, you know, but during that time, that was very cold, but also, and it was very hard to source vehicles. Everything was overpriced.
是的。那么，我们开始使用Kinetic。我想他们是基于印度苹果品种种植的，可能是Carma、Lindiana。当我们在拍卖会上与一位非常熟悉这里代表的联系人有了接触后，事情变得非常容易。在我们得到第一个库存计划之前，可能已经过去了六个月到一年的时间。否则，我们只是进行融资，将销售额再投入库存中。为了挣一点钱，购买一些库存。没错，绝对是这样。所以当我们得到库存计划时，我们实际上并没有完全使用它。我是说，我们确实使用了它，但我们没有过度使用。他们给了我们一百万美元的信用额度作为起始。你知道，从天堂进入地狱，他们在车场上有10辆车，15辆车，但在那段时间里，市场非常冷淡，也很难采购到车辆。一切都被抬高了价格。
So how are you sourcing right now? How are you sourcing right now? Options primarily, you know, sub-tradems, but primarily auctions. Yeah, and what auctions are you using primarily? So we use mostly local ones. There's an Americans auto auction in Pondelac. We're going to Greater Milwaukee Auto auction, Jefferson. I mean, as an, as an, you know, upstart dealer, is there any specific auction that you think is like the most favorable, the most helpful to, you know, young dealers starting the business, or would you say, you know, pretty equal across the board? I would say it's pretty equal across the board. You know, definitely some auctions are better than others. We have one auction that we have tried going to multiple times and their prices are high. So if we're ever getting semi-vehicle, who's that? What was that? The fear auto auction. I said it was like a look. Yeah, a boxbox. Yeah, a boxbox, a lot of auction. Yeah. So you send all your, yeah, you get the arbitrage. Now we don't send a lot of that many vehicles through the auction. Of course not. You got to retail that. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. If we can retail, I mean, usually it's trade-ins, you know, that were, we're not comfortable selling, you know, we kind of have a saying that if I wouldn't sell it to my daughter, I'm not going to sell it on the one. Yeah, I hear you.
你现在的采购情况怎么样？你现在是如何进行采购的？主要是通过次级贸易和拍卖。是的，你主要使用哪些拍卖呢？我们主要使用本地的拍卖。在庞代拉克有一个美国汽车拍卖行。我们还去过大密尔沃基汽车拍卖行，杰斐逊的。作为一个初创经销商，你认为是否有特定的拍卖行对年轻经销商的业务开展最有利，最有帮助，还是说对所有拍卖行来说差别不大？我认为对各个拍卖行来说差别不大。当然，有些拍卖行比其他拍卖行好。我们曾多次试图去一家拍卖行，但他们的价格很高。所以如果我们要购买半新车，那会是谁呢？是谁呢？那就是费尔汽车拍卖行。我记得他们的报价很高。是的，是一家非常出色的拍卖行。是的。所以你把所有的车都送去那里吗？不，我们并没有通过拍卖行售卖很多车辆。当然不会。你必须在零售环节卖掉它们。是的，绝对的。如果我们可以零售，一般都是通过交易来的。如果我们不愿意向我女儿出售一辆车，我们就不会在网上销售。是的，我明白你的意思。
So tell me a little bit about, I want to dig in more into your business model. So how long have you been in business? Two years. Just over two years. Okay. Just over two years. And when did you, like, walk me through how you launched all these adjacent kind of parts to your business? When did you launch the tow truck business? Again, that takes money. Right. So like, what did that happen? Then you launched like a Tesla modification business, which is like, I think it's awesome. Like you're being super creative. I really like that. So just walk me through like the sequencing here. When did all these different businesses launch and why? Why did they launch each one? Sure. We, what the exception of the Tesla modification does is everything started at the same time. We've, I made a business plan. I'm, I was very versed in towing. I was, you know, versed in auto sales, and auto repair. And those were the three aspects of our business. I made a little bit of a mistake. I think when, when I, when we started the business, because we, we named our business, our legal name is Miller Auto towing and Recovery LLC. If you look at our logo Miller Auto was prominent because our prominent business was always designed to be car sales. But with the towing and recovery, so we don't do any repoing recovery. And, and my mind when I created the name was, you know, getting the vehicles out of the Wisconsin witches in the winter and, you know, yeah, and recovery is very much an industry term for like repos. Yeah. Yep. So, so it was a little bit of a mistake. I've, I've since rebranded a little bit and we're just known as Miller Auto. No, no, um, or, or I'm, I just began doing that about a month ago because what I found was, you know, you get your leads or phone calls on cars or what have you because we're towing and recovery or vice- over-comable. But it gave a little bit of a, a negative thing to our inventory. So we started focusing more on just Miller Auto versus Miller Auto towing and recovery. Yeah.
告诉我一点关于你的业务模式的事情，我想更深入了解一下。你的业务已经运营多长时间了？两年。刚刚超过两年。好的。刚刚超过两年。那么告诉我一下，你是什么时候推出这些与你的业务相关的附加部分的？你是什么时候开始拖车业务的？毕竟那需要资金。对。那是在什么时候发生的呢？然后你又开始了特斯拉改装业务，这个我觉得非常棒。你的创造力非常出色，我真的很喜欢。所以请给我一个按顺序来解释一下。这些不同的业务是什么时候推出的，为什么要推出每一个业务？当然。除了特斯拉改装之外，其他事情都是同时开始的。我们制定了一个商业计划。我对拖车、汽车销售和汽车维修非常熟悉。这三个方面构成了我们的业务。我在开始业务时犯了一个小错误。我们的法定名称是米勒汽车拖车与救援有限责任公司，如果你看看我们的标志，米勒汽车是突出的，因为我们主要的业务一直都是汽车销售。但是在拖车和救援方面，我们并不做收回拖车业务。当我起名字的时候，我心里想的是，你知道，搞定威斯康星州冬天的汽车拖出来，然后"救援"这个词在行业中很常用，意思是回收拖车。是的。是的。所以这是一个小小的失误。后来我对公司进行了重新品牌定位，现在我们只被称为米勒汽车。没有"拖车与救援"。是的。
What's it like selling or I guess different, like why, why launch a Tesla business in Wisconsin and like, what I mean, a Tesla business, like you have a specific part on your website dedicated to selling used Teslas. Like, I feel like, I feel like Teslas wouldn't sell too well in Wisconsin. And I'm just, I don't know why I feel that way, but I just feel that way. Am I right? Am I wrong? Like walk me through that.
在威斯康星州经营特斯拉生意是什么感觉？或者说和其他地方有什么不同？为什么要在威斯康星州开设一个特斯拉商务呢？我的意思是，一个特斯拉商务，你的网站上有一个专门出售二手特斯拉的部分。我感觉在威斯康星州，特斯拉的销量可能不太好。虽然不知道为什么有这种感觉，但就是有这种感觉。我对吗？我错了吗？请具体解释一下。
That's why we did it because Teslas and EVs are very under adopted in Wisconsin versus the rest of the country. And you just jumped on that opportunity. There's nobody else playing in the space. You know, so I mean, the birds from you slick leather effort. You know, the birds drums and, you know, the big retails. You are, you're so scrappy. Like, I love it. You're killing right out. You're just like, you're like, all the nooks and crannies. You're not missing. You're not missing a beat. Yeah.
这就是为什么我们这么做的原因，因为在威斯康星州，特斯拉和电动汽车的普及率较低，与全国其他地区相比。而你正好抓住了这个机会。其他人都没有涉足这个领域。你知道，你的努力确实很有成效。你正在做一些了不起的事情。你是那种精明的商人，我喜欢。你正在把握好每个机会。没错。
So I, I, my wife and I took our very first vacation in February after opening the business for a week. We went to Arizona prior to going, you know, so I've been a very, very small. I mean, almost not even worth mentioning Tesla and Buster for a while. You know, I have some shares, nothing significant, but I've always been intrigued by him. So I love technology and I love cars. That's a Tesla and a nutshell, technology and cars. I mean, so before going on vacation, I put a bid on the TV on the Tesla. I wanted 20 Model 3, have full self driving, you know, so forth. My bed was rejected. So we ended up going on vacation. I'd never even driven the Tesla before. I just thought they were cool. When on vacation, our last day of the vacation, we went to Tesla and Phoenix, Arizona and a test. I got on the plane. I raised my bed. We took off when I landed. I won the Tesla. So they were shipped to me. And it all went from there. You know, the, again, I'm a car guy. I love internal combustion engines. I like big blocks. I mean, I, I like performance. There's just something about a Tesla with instant port, the, you know, lack of maintenance. Just I think that they're going to be superior.
所以，我和我妻子在开业一周后在二月份度过了我们的第一个假期。我们在去之前去了一趟亚利桑那州，所以我对特斯拉和巴斯特了解非常少。你知道的，我拥有一些股份，虽然不值得一提，但一直对它们心生好奇。我喜欢技术，也喜欢汽车。这就是特斯拉，技术和汽车。所以在度假前，我对特斯拉的电视投了一个出价，希望购买一辆配备完全自动驾驶等功能的Model 3等等。可惜我的出价被拒绝了。于是我们出发去度假。我之前甚至连开过特斯拉汽车都没有，我只是觉得它们很酷。在度假的最后一天，我们去了亚利桑那州凤凰城的特斯拉门店试车。我上了飞机，又改了我的出价。起飞后，我降落时得知我中标了特斯拉。然后它们就被运到了我这里，接下来一切都发展顺利。你知道的，我是个爱车的人。我喜欢内燃机，喜欢大排量。我喜欢性能。特斯拉的瞬间爆发力、不用太多维修保养的特质，让我觉得它们将会出类拔萃。
What do you say, lack of maintenance? How does that impact your business? Because I noticed also that on your service page, like you don't list oil changes. Yeah. Is that because of the Tesla factor? No. On a repair. On a repair is a, it's profitable. But for as then as we run as far as manpower and so forth, that's a pine grain. So we do good work. Anybody that does. It's a what? I'm sorry. I missed that. It's a what? It's a time. It's a time. A lot of time. Time dream. Yeah, of course. So we do good work when it comes to auto repair and so forth. And anybody that does good work will have work for days. I mean, it's hard to find a trustworthy mechanic and somebody that's going to throw parts at vehicles and, you know, so forth. So going in, I realized that if we were going to be on a repair, then we're going to be on a repair because we're going to have customers waiting on the cars, so on and so forth. And we just decided that car sales was going to be our primary focus and we were going to pick and choose what services we wanted to offer in the general hub. And that's where the brakes and sticker suspension, you know, you're you're you're. Oh, I get it. Believe me. You're you're. I was, you know, yeah, we never we never went like all into service. We had a service center and then we know we upgraded to a reconditioning center that was offsite. You know, like not really open as a retail and stuff like that. But I totally get it.
你说什么，维护不足？这对你的业务有什么影响？因为我还注意到，在你们的服务页面上，比如你们不列出换油。是因为特斯拉的因素吗？不是的，维修是有利可图的。但就人力和其他方面而言，那是一项艰巨任务。所以我们做的工作很好。任何做好工作的人都会有工作可做。什么？对不起，我没听清楚。是什么？时间，就是时间。要花很多时间。是的，当涉及到汽车维修等方面时，我们做得很好。任何做得好的人都会有工作可做。我是说，很难找到一个值得信任的机修工，一个会为车辆更换零件之类的人，你懂的。所以在开始时，我意识到，如果我们要做维修，那就要有顾客等候车辆，等等。我们决定汽车销售将是我们的主要重点，我们要挑选我们想提供的服务。刹车、悬挂等都在一般维修范围之内。你明白了。相信我，你明白了。我们从来没有完全投入到服务上。我们有一个服务中心，然后我们升级到了一个位于外地的整修中心。你知道的，不完全是零售性质之类的。我完全明白。
So, but with you buying value and cars like the value add. How, how are you seeing. So how are you dealing with customer issues, like later, like, among two three months down the line. Like, is that manageable? Do you have a lot of stuff coming back? Like, how are you dealing with that?
那么，但是对于你购买的价值和汽车，就像是添加价值一样。你是如何看待这个问题的呢？那么你是如何处理客户问题的呢，比如稍后，比如在两三个月之后。这样的情况可控吗？你们返还的东西很多吗？你们是如何处理这种情况的呢？
No, we do. We absolutely try and do our best not to have anything come back. So, and we do help come back, but we stay as every dealer. Yeah, we stand behind the vehicles that we sell. So, I mean, I've went as far as we sold. We sold the 2018 Ford Escape. I'm like, I'm in 40,000 miles on it to later. I drove, I personally drove a car 800 miles before we sold it. I took it up in the solar pickup, one of our records and brought it back. Not. 200 miles after we sold it, it started best firing and had the cool and encouraging issues. So, what do you do? I mean, a customer bought this vehicle 200 miles, they put on it. I ordered a short block, we put a short block in it, and it will cost the customer. So, you know, I mean, that's, that's how you make a name for yourself. And our reputation is very important.
不，我们会尽力做到这一点。我们绝对会尽全力避免任何问题的出现。所以，我们会提供帮助处理出现的问题，但我们依然作为一家经销商存在。是的，我们会为我们销售的车辆负责。所以，我说过我们售出了一辆2018年的福特逃逸车。在销售之前，我亲自驾驶了800英里。我把它带到阳光晒台上，取了其中一辆车，并将其开回来。但在我们销售该车之后的200英里后，它开始出现点火和冷却问题。那么，我们该怎么办呢？我是说，顾客只开了200英里就出现问题了。我订购了一个简装发动机替代件，我们为顾客进行了更换而没有额外收费。所以，你知道的，这就是你树立自己名声的方式。我们的声誉非常重要。
Yeah, I mean, no, look, I think you're, you're focusing on every single car. And I think the only downside I would say to that is like, how scalable is that? Right? Like at some point, you know, you can drive every car for, you know, a week, two, three weeks a month, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And it's very hard now that I have a Tesla. I don't want to grab anything else. You don't want to drive the rest of the car. But no, we do. We do a very good job of re-conditioning them. We, we at least typically probably put 100 plus miles on them. Our sales manager and Nina Smart, he lives, you know, probably about a 40 minute commute. Austin and I both live around a 40 minute commute away from the shop. So we all drive the vehicles, you know, and we're, you know, and we listen to our customers when they're frustrating. If they come back and they say, hey, you know, something feels, you know, goofy with this or whatever, which doesn't have them very often. But if we do have one of those complaints, it's not like, oh, yeah, you know, what you're talking about. See a later, we'll take a ride with them, see what they're experiencing and non corrective.
是的，我的意思是，不，你看，我觉得你在专注于每辆车上。我唯一会说到不足的是可扩展性有多高呢？对吧，比如说，在某个时间点，你知道，你可以开每辆车一个星期、两个星期、三个星期、一个月。是的，是的。现在我有了一辆特斯拉，很难再开别的车了。你不想开其他车了。但是不，我们做得很好，重整方面我们做得很好。我们至少会在车上开上100多英里。我们的销售经理Nina Smart，他住在离这家店大约40分钟车程的地方。奥斯汀和我都住在离店里40分钟车程的地方。所以我们都会开这些车，你知道，我们会倾听我们的客户的。如果他们回来说，嘿，你知道，这辆车感觉怪怪的，或者有什么问题，虽然这种情况非常少，但是如果我们接到这种抱怨，我们不会说，哦，你在说什么东西。再见。我们会和他们一起试车，看看他们经历了什么，然后解决问题。
How many cars are you selling right now per week? per week, we're probably. For per month. Probably around one eight per month. Honestly, we were running 10, probably 10 to 12 a month. And we've almost doubled that after we started advertising on car stuff. Really? Yeah. So cars.com has been very, very good for us. We started with one of our locations with our Nina location because it's a lot of higher population and so forth. And it wasn't, you know, probably three weeks after that that we added the second location to it. Wow.
你们每周现在能卖出多少辆车？每周大概能卖出一辆。每月大概是八辆左右。老实说，以前我们每月能卖出10辆，可能是10到12辆。在我们开始在汽车网站上做广告之后，这个数字几乎翻了一番。真的吗？是的。所以汽车网站对我们来说非常非常好。我们开始时在尼娜（Nina）的位置，因为那里人口比较多。大概三个星期之后，我们又在第二个位置开了一家分店。哇。
So yeah, I was going to ask you, like, how do you advertise? Is it like only cars that come? Do you do anything else? Yeah. So when we started, we weren't really doing anything other than our website and marketplace, you know, Facebook, or marketplace. We had we had cars for sale.com that we tried a little bit, but, you know, I think that's creative. If you're a dealer that doesn't have the means to build a website. I mean, we're getting daily leads from cars.com. You know, and I think higher quality leads than the marketplace. It's been very good for us to. Yeah.
所以，我打算问你，你是如何做广告的？是只有汽车才会出现吗？你还做其他的吗？当我们开始的时候，除了我们的网站和市场，就没有其他什么了，你懂的，Facebook，或者市场。我们还试过carsforsale.com，但是，我认为那个方法挺创新的，如果你是一个没有能力建立网站的经销商。我意思是，我们每天都从cars.com上得到潜在客户信息。而且我认为这些潜在客户质量比在市场上得到的高。对我们来说，这个方法非常好。
I mean, what about like Facebook, just Facebook ads, Instagram, do you do any of that stuff? We don't do any Facebook. Not for our vehicles anyway. I've done a little bit. I played a little bit with, you know, the Tesla's and with towing. We do run Google ads for the towing business here and there. We don't always run ads, but so walk me through for a second. If we take a bird's eye view of your business and your, what do you write out profiting on a monthly basis? That profit were probably 30 grand. And that's 30 grand on or like, you know, 1% percentage margin that is.
我的意思是，比如Facebook, 只是Facebook广告，Instagram，你有做过这些吗？至于Facebook，我们对于车辆并没有在做。我有做过一点点。我曾经稍微涉足过，你知道，对于特斯拉和拖车方面。我们偶尔会在拖车业务上投放Google广告。我们并不总是在做广告，但是让我来了解一下你的业务，从鸟瞰的角度来看，你每个月盈利多少？那个利润可能是3万美元。而且这是在1%的利润率上。
Yeah. So the first before we open the second location, we're running about a 20% margin. Yeah. Right now we're with a new location. You know, we're six, eight months into the new location. We're running about 16%. So it dropped a little bit. I mean, it's still great. You know, you're still outperforming industry. Yeah, we're doing. I'm pretty happy with where we're at. I mean, I'm a numbers guy. So I mean, you can walk into my dealership any day and I can tell you what one or bottom line is.
是的。所以在我们开设第二个位置之前，我们的利润率约为20%。是的。现在我们有了一个新的位置。你知道，我们在新位置已经经营了6到8个月。我们的利润率约为16%。所以有一点下降。但这仍然很好。你知道，我们的业绩仍然超越行业水平。是的，我们做得很好。我对我们目前的状况感到非常满意。我是一个注重数据的人。所以，你随时可以走进我的经销商店，我可以告诉你我们的一切盈利或亏损情况。
Oh, yeah, I love that. Yeah, you're on top of your numbers. Yeah, it's. Well, that's important. You know, I've worked for a lot of places that operated based on one or checkbook balance. And it's like, I don't know how you do it.
哦，是的，我喜欢那个。是的，你对数字了如指掌。是的，没错。嗯，那很重要。你知道的，我曾经为很多只根据一张支票簿余额运转的地方工作过。就像是，我真不知道你是怎么做到的。
So, so basically, you know, you've just reinvested that. Like that's how you purchase your tow trucks. That's how you, you know, expanded the business. We bought two trucks, tow trucks right now. So we had, we had two rollbacks when we started. I bought those from the company that I left when I started the business. Yeah, and a couple extra trucks and made us a good deal. And since I think we have, yeah, we have six for rollbacks. Five bands, if you will. And two and two records. So we have six trucks.
所以，基本上就是，你知道，你只是重新投资了那笔钱。就是这样你购买了拖车。就是这样你扩展了业务。我们现在买了两辆拖车。当我们刚开始时，我们有两辆后退车。我是从我创业时离开的公司那里购买的。是的，还有几辆额外的卡车，给我们带来了不错的交易。我想我们现在有6辆后退车。如果你愿意，还有5辆货车。还有两辆拖车。所以我们总共有6辆卡车。
And in terms of, in terms of your monthly, like your average monthly profit, what percentage of that or what portion of that is from car sales and what's from like, you know, tow truck business and everything else.
就你的月度销售利润而言，从汽车销售中占多少比例，又有多少来自拖车业务或其他业务呢？请详细说明。
Yeah. So our chain from the green says that 75% of our revenue that 74% of our revenue is from car sales than the gross perspective. Toing in transports about 20% 21% and all repairs about by percent. I'd imagine, I'd imagine that the car sales is the lower margin stuff.
是的。所以我们的报表显示，我们收入的75%来自汽车销售，相比总体来说是收入的74%。运输方面约占20%至21%，而所有维修占比约为不到1%。我想，汽车销售可能是利润较低的部分。
Yeah. So we'll are, if you look at gross profit numbers towing in transport, gross profit is about the same as car six. Interesting. Yet it's only 20% of your business.
是的，如果你看一下运输拖车的总利润数字，总利润大致和汽车车队是一样的。有趣的是，然而它只占你业务的20%。
Yeah. So, so the margin, gross margin on car sales is right around probably 25, 30% and we're about 80% gross margin. You know, not including payroll, obviously. Right. Yeah. So tell me, and then in terms of just like nominal figures, like how much are you actually making on a car, you sell a car for 10 grand. How much money you're making.
是的。所以，汽车销售的毛利率大约在25%到30%，而我们的毛利率约为80%，不包括工资支付在内。对的。是的。告诉我，以名义数字来说，如果你卖一辆价值1万美元的汽车，你能挣多少钱呢？
Our goal is the big two to three green in the car. Got it. And is that after paying commissions and advertising all that or.
我们的目标是在汽车销售中获得两到三亿的利润。明白了。这是在支付佣金和广告费用之后吗？
Precommission after advertising and so forth. Precommission after I got it. Yeah. We don't, we don't. So we have one sales manager besides Austin and I, you know, that sell cars. So three licensed sales for people. We don't pressure selling any cars. The cars sell themselves. So we do the deals, the deals sell themselves when you're selling deep value at people come from anywhere in the country, I'm going to guess. So, so the commissions, commissions on our dealership probably aren't as as much of an expensive would be for a larger, you know, frame trends, doing something like that.
广告之后再进行委托前确认。我弄明白后再委托前确认。是的，我们没有，我们没有这样做。所以除了Austin和我之外，我们还有一个销售经理卖车。所以有三个有执照的销售人员。我们不施加任何压力来销售车辆。车辆本身就能卖出去。所以当你以相对较低的价格销售汽车时，交易本身就能促成，人们可以从全国各地而来。所以我们经销商的佣金可能不会像大型公司那样昂贵。
Yeah, I think, look, you've, you've built a business that is reliant upon yourself. But you, you know, there's the way I see scaling is like, you know, I always, you know, dealers used to just have conversations stuff. Hey, should I open up another store this and I like, I believe it's you, you either, you know, open up like three to five stores or you keep one store, like that theater tottering. And I know you're too stores by the way. So we'll get to that. But what I'm trying to say is like, there's a, there's a point, right? There's a point at scale where you're adding costs faster than you're adding margin and you're not getting the full effect of that operating and so, you know what I mean. And so I'm curious on your end, like you have two stores, right? How are you managing that? You can't be both in both places at once. How are you doing that?
是的，我觉得，你看，你已经建立了一个依赖于你自己的业务。但是你知道，我认为扩张的方式是，你知道，以前经销商只是谈论一些事情。嘿，我应该再开一家店吗？我相信你要么开设三到五家店铺，要么保持一家店铺，像戏院那样。顺便说一下，我知道你有两家店铺。所以我们之后再谈。但我想说的是，有一个点，对吧？在扩大规模时，你增加的成本比你增加的利润更快，你无法得到完整的运营效果，所以你知道我是什么意思。所以我很好奇，你有两家店铺，对吧？你是如何管理的？你不能同时在两个地方。你是如何做到的？
Manpower. I mean, our sales manager, Brian is an, you know, oh, got it. So you have that sales manager over there and you're, you're kind of holding the floor down the other store. Yeah. And well, between Austin and I, yeah. So, but Brian is primarily, I'll go days without going to the Nina location. But he's got a cover. He's doing deals. He's working with, you know, dealer center to get, you know, stuff set up for, you know, he's finding indirect financing. He is, we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it through locations without him as effectively as we are. Of course.
劳动力。我的意思是，我们的销售经理布赖恩是一位...哦，明白了。所以你们那边有一位销售经理，你们在其他店铺中牢牢地控制着地面。是的。而在奥斯汀和我之间，是的。但布赖恩主要...我会连续几天都不去尼纳的店铺。但他得负责。他正在做交易。他正在与经销中心合作，为间接融资设立东西。我们没有他的话，我们无法像现在这样有效地在两个地点运作。当然没错。
Yeah. What about like warranties or, you know, vehicle service contracts that you're offering? All that to your customers?
是的，你们提供什么样的保修或汽车服务合同给顾客呢？
Yeah. So we, we do have a couple different warranty companies. So, you know, we just signed up with another one. I'm not sure off the top of the top. I had most of the end of it is we're financing that. So, but we didn't for, you know, I think I've only, we've only been with you all for the last three months, something like that. Very difficult and probably one of the toughest things about this wall startup dealership was getting people to return your calls. You know, that's probably been the most frustrating.
是的，我们确实有几家不同的保修公司。所以，你知道的，我们刚刚和另一家签约。我不确定具体是哪一家。大部分的尾巴我记得是我们正在进行融资。但是，三个月前我们才加入你们，所以并没有这个。在这家新创的汽车经销店中，最困难且最让人烦恼的事情之一就是让人们回复你的来电。你知道的，那可能是最令人沮丧的事情。
Wait, so when you say, when you say it's tough to get people to call you back, are you referring to like vendors?
等一下，你的意思是说，当你说很难让人回电话，你是指供应商之类的吗？
Yeah, or you're referring to like industry vendors, vendors, three vendors.
是的，或者你是指像行业供应商、供应商，三个供应商这样的名称。
Yeah. So I want to dive a little bit deeper into the Tesla stuff you got going on. In terms of like the trick my Tesla, one of the pages on your website, you do like these Tesla modifications. How like you do a lot of these kind of a niche product or like what do you see there?
是的。所以我想进一步了解一下你在特斯拉方面的一些事情。比如你的网站上的“自家改装特斯拉”页面，你做了很多这样的改装。你觉得这些改装是属于一个特定市场还是什么情况？
Yeah, it's, we, we do a fair amount of them. It's slowed down a little bit, but a lot of it depends on how active we are on social media also. So that that's where most of that stuff comes from. So we sponsor the Tesla Club of Wisconsin. And we're involved in their community. Go to some other events and so forth. And, you know, the power of Frank and the yolks are probably the main thing that we that we installed.
是的，我们做了相当多这样的事情。不过现在稍微放慢了，但很大程度上取决于我们在社交媒体上的活动程度。大部分的合作都来自于那里。我们赞助了威斯康星州特斯拉俱乐部，并积极参与他们的社区活动，去参加一些其他的活动等等。而弗兰克和yolks的电力是我们安装的主要要素。
And all it takes is doing one install and having somebody post a video of the new power. Oh, yeah, I got from Miller on. Oh, and I got three or four more. You know, but are you, are you getting customers from Wisconsin specifically or from all over the country?
只需要一个安装和有人在视频中展示新能力。噢，是的，我从米勒那里获得了。噢，还有三四个。你知道吗，你是从威斯康星州特别是还是从全国各地获得客户呢？
Wisconsin specifically. Yeah. Well, some, some Illinois. And it's zoomy out back on the Tesla on the Tesla conversation. When Elon had like, you know, why would the price cuts? Like, did that hurt? Like, what did that feel like for you? And, you know, having your vehicle's job and value. Like, talk to me about that.
威斯康星州特别注意。是的。嗯，一些伊利诺伊州。回到特斯拉的特斯拉对话。当埃隆像你一样问为什么要削减价格时，这给你带来了什么感受？你的车辆的工作和价值是否受到了影响？请和我谈谈这个。
Yeah. You mentioned, you mentioned only one losing month, which is the first one. Right. So, right. But I'm still curious to hear how that felt.
是的。你提到了，你只提到了一个亏损的月份，那是第一个月。对的。所以，对的。但我还是很好奇想听听那是什么感觉。
Yeah. So, um, that was the closest month that we had to losing again. But, you know, often my enter into every new venture with the backup. So, so what's the backup line here? So, or what was it?
是的。嗯，那是我们最接近再次失败的一月。但是，你知道，我经常在每个新的尝试中都有备用计划。那么，备用计划是什么？或者说，它是什么？
Yeah. So we, we had three or four Teslas on one the lot when we saw the pricing start going down. We got lucky. We got rid of one of them. Actually, we sold, we sold two of them. But our backup plan was always that if we couldn't sell a Tesla, we're going to buy a person. So, I now have a 2021 model Y and awesome has in 2017 Tesla Model S, which from the time, the very first time that we had a Tesla in inventory. I knew that the next vehicle that was ready shirt. My name was going to be a Tesla. So I'm good with it.
是的。所以我们在见到特斯拉的定价开始下降时，我们车库里就有三到四辆特斯拉。我们很幸运，卖掉了其中一辆。实际上，我们卖掉了两辆。但我们备用计划一直是，如果我们卖不出特斯拉，我们就会自己购买。所以，我现在有一辆2021年的Model Y，还有一辆2017年的特斯拉Model S，从我们有第一辆特斯拉存货的时候起，我就知道下一辆准备好的车会是特斯拉。所以我对此很满意。
So right now we have one Tesla available for sale. It's a consign vehicle. You're kind of just taking a pause on the Tesla news sales at this point. I think that's going to be very good in the future. But while the, you know, EV tax credit is going on and the lines, you know, lowering the prices and so forth. Again, we like to do things that make sense for the customers. And if if a customer can get that $7,500 tax credit, that makes sense.
现在我们有一辆特斯拉可供出售。这是一辆寄售车辆。就特斯拉的新销售而言，我们现在只是暂停了一下。我认为这将来会非常有益。但在电动汽车税收抵免和定价下调的情况下，我们喜欢为顾客做有意义的事情。如果顾客能够获得7500美元的税收抵免，那就是有意义的。
And what's the feedback you're seeing though from customers? Like when they're coming for an EV for Tesla, are they surprised you're carrying these in Wisconsin? Or is there like, wow, I can actually buy this here if I want to? Like, well, what does that reaction like from the customer?
顾客们对此有什么反馈呢？比如，当他们来买特斯拉的电动车时，他们会对威斯康辛州能购买到这些车感到惊讶吗？或者他们会惊叹，我居然能在这里买到这款车？他们的反应是怎样的呢？
Yeah. So that was another reason why we wanted to carry the Tesla inventory because go and take a Tesla for a Tesla. I mean, it's not easy. You can go to Tesla. You can schedule an appointment. You can take a Tesla drive and so forth. But, you know, there is no impulse available with Tesla. You know, you can drive past and say, holy crap, there's a Tesla on the level. Yeah. But you are that impulse. You are that on demand. And that's right. Come to Miller Auto.
是的，这也是我们想要提供特斯拉库存的另一个原因，因为去试驾特斯拉不容易。我是说，你可以去特斯拉约个时间试驾，然后等等。但是你知道，没有特斯拉可以随时冲动购买。你可以开过去，喊一声“天哪，这辆特斯拉停在那儿！”是的，但你就是那个冲动的原因。你是那个需求上的。没错，来米勒汽车吧。
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, for our 9 EV buying customers, it's a great talking point. I mean, they all, I shouldn't say they all. They've a lot of them ask about and a lot of them come in, you know, with negative opinions about Tesla. So we'll talk to them. We'll take them for a drive, whether they're, you know, a buyer or not. And once they do, it's like, holy cow, these things are cool. Wow. Yeah. Did you're you're evangelizing it? Good for you. Very, very cool.
是的，当然。你知道的，对于我们的九个电动汽车购买顾客来说，这是一个很好的话题。我的意思是，他们，我不应该说他们都是这样。他们中的很多人都会问到并且很多人对特斯拉持有负面意见。所以我们会和他们交谈。无论他们是否是买家，我们都会带他们去试驾，一旦他们试了，就像是，哇，这些东西太酷了。是啊，你们是在推广它吗？干得好，非常非常酷。
And when it comes to like charging and all that, are people concerned about that one? They buy from you, especially in Wisconsin, which I'd have to imagine the charging infrastructure is like not that fans just my guess because it's not a coastal city. So is that true?
当涉及到充电等问题时，人们是否关注这个呢？他们购买您的产品，特别是在威斯康星州，我想充电设施可能不像沿海城市那样发达，这只是我的猜测。所以这是真的吗？
Yeah, actually, no, you can drive pretty much anywhere in Wisconsin. They're super chargers everywhere. Oh, really? Yeah. I mean, there's one eight miles away from our store. There's I wouldn't have guessed that. Yeah, I think they've they've opened foreign Wisconsin just this year alone. So, and that's one of the reasons why we're focused on. We have focused on Tesla's more than any other. Evie is because the charging infrastructure is there. The charging infrastructure isn't there for, you know, the Ford's the lightings, you know, Mikey's and so forth. So I'd like to get into those. But until until they start coming out, you know, using Tesla Supercharger or more infrastructure comes out. That's a hard sell, you know, for the customer that wants to, you know, do anything more than commute.
是的，实际上，你可以在威斯康星州几乎任何地方开车。到处都有超级充电桩。噢，真的吗？是的。我的意思是，离我们店只有8英里就有一个。我想你可能猜不到这点。是的，我认为仅仅今年他们就在威斯康星州新开了好几个。所以，这也是为什么我们更加注重特斯拉而不是其他电动车的原因之一，因为充电基础设施已经建立起来了。充电基础设施对于福特、闪电、玛奇等品牌来说还不具备，所以我想去了解一下这些车型。但在这些新车型面市之前，只靠特斯拉的超级充电桩或更多的基础设施要说服那些想要进行超出通勤的活动的消费者是很困难的。
So, so before we wrap up, I want to just go like more macro. You know, interest rates, I've had so many discussions with dealers about interest rates and how it's been impacting their floor plans and just overall business. How's it impacted you? Would you say, right? From the lending perspective. Actually, we need to talk about consumer lending. I want to touch on that. But unlike, you know, when it comes to your line of credits and stuff like that, are you feeling the impact of interest rates on a micro level?
所以，在我们结束之前，我想说一些宏观的事情。你知道的，利率问题，我已经和很多经销商讨论过利率问题，以及它是如何影响他们的库存计划和整体业务的。那么对于贷款方面的影响呢？你会说它对你产生了什么影响呢？实际上，我们需要讨论一下消费者贷款。我想简要谈一下这个问题。但是，就你的信用额度等方面而言，你是否感受到利率在微观层面上的影响呢？
Yeah, I mean, to a certain degree anyway, most of our inventory were able to move, you know, in a pretty decent timeline. If we don't move it again with the reinvesting into their business. If it's a vehicle that hasn't sold that come and do for a curtailment or, you know, is nearing the end of the floor plan term. And it's a good value of car and, you know, there's no reason to auction off. We just pay it off and then take it off to floor plan, you know, it'll sell.
是的，我的意思是，在某种程度上，我们的大部分库存都能够及时出售，你知道，时间安排得相当不错。如果我们再次将这些资金投入到他们的业务中，我们就能够出售掉这些尚未销售的车辆，或者达到了库存计划的期限。如果这是一辆价值不错的车辆，并且没有理由拍卖出去，我们只需支付清欠款项，然后从库存计划中移出，你知道，它就能够出售出去。
So you're saying you just you just funded with your cash, if it gets to that point. And, yeah, so, yeah, we've that car use car sales. It's interesting because I watched the market. I listened and listened to your podcast. I, I followed Twitter. See what's going on. And I'm more conservative than Austin is, and he's probably been right more than I can have because we get our lot full of inventory. And I'm like, we need to slow down, you know, we got to move some cars before we start buying more cars. And he's like, but dad, he says, they're going to sell. And when we can buy them, it's interesting because it'll sales will slow down. We're able to buy them stock up or what. And then we'll all sell everything and we don't have any cars left. And so he keeps me on that even feel where we work this house. The nature of the beast, the nature of the beast, you know, it oscillates. It goes up and it goes down. But yeah, you got to stay steady and consistent. That's what I've learned in this business. You know what I mean? You can't react emotionally because you just missed the boat, you know, so staying steady, consistent.
所以你的意思是说，如果情况到了那个地步，你只是用你的现金资助，对吗？嗯，对的，我们有那辆二手车销售。有趣的是，我关注市场，听你的播客，还看了Twitter上的动态。我比奥斯汀更保守，他可能比我更正确，因为我们的库存已经满了。我就觉得我们需要放慢一下速度，你知道的，在我们开始购买更多车辆之前，我们得卖掉一些车。但是他说，爸爸，他说，它们会卖掉的。在我们可以购买它们的时候，这很有趣，因为销售会放缓。我们能够购买它们囤积起来，然后我们就可以把一切都卖掉，我们就没有剩下的车了。所以他在这方面一直给我压力，我们在这个行业工作时就是这种感觉。兽性，就是这种兽性，你知道的，它起伏不定。但是，是的，你必须保持稳定和一贯性。这是我在这个行业中学到的。你知道吗？你不能情绪化反应，因为你会错过机会，你知道的，所以要保持稳定和一贯。
And then when it comes to consumer lending, what I mean, one of the biggest pain points for dealers, independent dealers, you know, just lending financing for customer customers. How did you do that? Yeah. Do you offer lending? Yeah. We're just now finally getting some up with indirect lending. You're just starting now. Yes. So we have, we have two lenders set up as indirect lenders. And who are they? We have a local credit union that services Wisconsin and we're hopefully just finalizing Wesley financial, which I've not worked with. And if any lenders, because there are, there are a good and healthy amount of lenders that listen to this podcast, they should reach out to you. Yeah. And get you, and get you set up on their platform. Yeah. Because there's, there's some good lenders that follow the podcast. So, yeah, for sure. You know, we, we've, we've done a lot of deals with local credit unions and so forth, but it's, that's always been, you know, directed consumer. You know, which has, has never felt so, so what did you do before getting in the right, and also for anyone in the audience that doesn't know what indirect lending means. It just means that the dealer is set up with lenders through a portal. And when you come to the dealership, they get you financing through a third party lender, right? So they're not financing it themselves. Rather, they get hooked up with, you know, just giving hypothetical examples. A Wells Fargo, a capital law, a Westlake, you know, a credit acceptance. And that's, who actually finances your deal, or, you know, it's facilitated that way.
然后说到消费者贷款时，我的意思是，对于经销商来说，这是其中一个最大的痛点，包括独立经销商，他们只是为顾客提供贷款融资。你是怎么做到的呢？是的，我们最近才开始与间接贷款合作。你刚刚开始吗？是的。所以我们已经与两家间接贷款机构建立了合作关系。他们是谁？我们有一家本地信用社为威斯康星州提供服务，我们还在最后敲定与Wesley金融合作，这是我之前没有合作过的机构。如果有任何贷款机构在听这个播客，他们应该与你取得联系，让你接入他们的平台。是的，因为有一些很好的贷款机构在关注这个播客。所以肯定可以。你知道我们之前一直与本地信用社等机构合作进行了许多交易，但那始终是面向客户的。你之前从事什么工作？还有，如果听众中有人不知道间接贷款是什么意思。它只是意味着经销商通过一个平台与贷款机构建立了合作关系。当你来到经销商时，他们会通过第三方贷款机构为你提供融资，而不是自己提供。举个例子，经销商可能与威尔斯·法戈、Capital Law、Westlake或信用接受等机构合作，他们实际上为你的交易提供融资，或者说通过这种方式进行了融资。
So going back to that question, how did you initially do, how did you initially do your lending? Did you say? So we would work with, you know, loan officers and so forth, send purchase, con and cracks and so forth. But it was ultimately the customer's responsibility to reach out to their financial institution, which we didn't have much problems getting consumers to get into. Getting consumers to follow through with it, especially if, you know, it was a vehicle that they wanted and had the means. You know, we've never really gotten to subprime or don't really plan to get in the subprime. We do do a some by here pay your stuff, but on a very case by case, you know, that just depending.
回到之前的问题，你最初是怎么做放贷的呢？你是怎么开始的？你是这样说的吗？所以我们会与贷款官员等合作，发送购买合同和相关文件等。但最终还是客户有责任与他们的金融机构联系，我们在让消费者进入这个过程上并没有遇到太多问题。让消费者坚持下去，特别是当他们想要并且有能力购买这辆车时。我们从未真正涉足次贷方面，也不打算涉足次贷方面。我们的确有一些分期付款的安排，但是只是根据具体情况来定，这取决于具体情况。
How man, you're, you're bringing me back to the roots. This is so awesome. I love what you're doing. Seriously, keep it up. Thanks for being a follower and just, you know, support our CDG for in for the audience for any potential business partners for anyone that wants to reach out to you. What's the best way to get in contact with you to learn more about Miller Auto's. Sure. Miller at our comments, our website, our emails on there. I'm actively stalking Twitter. I don't post a whole lot, but miller at your at miller at your is our Twitter handle. Facebook Miller at your all see. Yeah, so I'll do much on LinkedIn either. Miller at our I love it.
兄弟，你把我带回了起点。太棒了，我喜欢你正在做的事情。说真的，继续努力。感谢你作为一个追随者，为观众及任何潜在的商业合作伙伴提供支持，如果有人想联系你了解更多关于米勒汽车的信息，最好的联系方式是什么？当然。米勒在我们的评论区、网站和电子邮件上都可以联系到。我经常在追踪Twitter。虽然我不经常发帖，但是我们的Twitter账号是milleratyour。Facebook: Miller at your，也是可以找到我们的。是的，我在LinkedIn上也不活跃。加上米勒的头像，我很喜欢。
All right, Brandon. Thanks so much for coming on any any last words anything else you want to say before we help off. No, I keep doing what you're doing. I think I like to do a great job at what you're doing. I'll be watching. Thank you so much. All right.
好的，布兰登。非常感谢你能来，有什么最后的话或者其他想要说的吗？不，继续做你正在做的事情。我认为你会做得很出色。我会一直关注的。非常感谢你。好的。
Hope you enjoyed that episode. Please give the podcast a rating. Consider subscribing to the show and check the show notes for links to what we talked about. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you guys next time.
希望你喜欢那集节目。请给这个播客打个评分。考虑订阅节目，并查看节目注释中提供的相关链接。感谢你的收听。下次再见，大家。