Jim Speck let a coin flip decide his career in 1969, and that call put a mechanic with barely a high school diploma on the path to an 11-store dealer group doing about $300 million a year. He walks through how he turned down a $125,000 job in Arizona for $4,000 a month plus 8% of a profit that didn't exist yet, and argues that a young operator trying the same climb in a big metro market today would get squeezed out by the public companies.
Jim Speck is the President of Circle Auto Group in Southern California, where he built an 11-store group alongside his late partner Hank and still runs the business with Hank's trust today. He built his foundation on the fixed side of the business, mechanic to service advisor to service manager, then worked for Kaiser Jeep and Saab before buying his first store at 31. At 83, he speaks candidly about working with the factory, surviving the Southern California crash of the early 1990s, and why he thinks the little guy in big markets is history.
He explains:
◼ Why he let a coin flip decide whether to leave Kaiser Jeep, and how it shaped everything that came after
◼ How he pitched Long Beach on 50% of his sales tax growth for 10 years, a first-of-its-kind deal in California that saved his business
◼ Why he refused to cut pay or staff in 2020, guaranteed his commissioned staff 75% of last year's earnings, and then had the strongest four or five years of his career
◼ Why the factory is "not your partner, not your friend, but not your enemy either," and how leaning on service, parts, and used cars lets him outlast them
◼ How a car-stealing stunt at 14 came full circle the day he sold his Porsche Audi store
◼ Why he wants "the plaque from my banker, not you," and why he'd start over in a small town like Boise or Flagstaff
Topics:
00:00 Stole Cars As A 14-Year-Old.
02:45 Was A Mechanic At 19.
07:15 Coin Flip Decided His Career.
09:15 No Degree Capped Him At 28.
12:30 Aced The Test, Quit 13 Months Later.
14:00 First Store At 31 With 25% Equity.
19:50 Took $4K Salary Over $125K Offer.
23:30 Cut A Sales Tax Sharing Deal.
32:20 Guaranteed Pay During COVID, Won Big.
40:55 Carvana Is A Shell Game.
45:45 Factory Is Neither Friend Nor Enemy.
49:30 Small Towns Beat Big Metros.
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