In this episode of Cars For A Living I (Rob) had a chance to interview Bobby Ore, the famed stunt driver and lead instructor at the Bobby Ore Motorsports stunt and tactical driving school. He and his wife Roslyn have successfully operated the business for several years, teaching classes from their California and Florida locations. During the interview Bobby shared the ins-and outs of operating a business with a (potentially) high liability cost, equipment cost, and the like.

For those that have ever dreamed of doing driving instruction professionally, or even owning and operating a school, this interview should prove to be quite valuable for you. Bobby was fairly candid in pointing out that while he’s the driving and instructing talent, it’s his wife that has turned their humble driving school into a successful business. Finding multiple income streams aside from stunt driving instructions has been one of their successful most tactics (such corporate events, law enforcement tactical training, etc.), and it’s a great testament to finding multiple ways to sell a similar product.

For those that would like to know a little more about what it’s actually like to attend stunt driving school as a student (and honestly, who wouldn’t) you can listen to Bobby’s full interview on our sister show, The MuscleCar Place Podcast (Episode #162).

Thanks, Bobby!

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Listener Mail

Ever since a very young age I have loved old Air Cooled VWs, specifically the simplicity (some say complexity) of the engines. I love building and modifying Air Cooled VW engines, from vintage 1950′s versions to crazy 200 hp Drag strip monsters.

I have established a bit of a “word of mouth” type of advertising, so I do have the odd call once in a while. I sometimes meet folks at the local car shows and things and have done a few build jobs for those contacts. I have also simply built engines and sold them on places like Craigslist online. I have, of course, positive encouragement from friends (some I have built engines for) and family, to do this a bit more “officially”.

I have no clue how to go about establishing a legitimate business. I get worried of course that such a specific product like an Air Cooled VW engine, no matter the displacement, is my “only product.” If I do have overhead of some sort will paying for that cancel out my revenue?

-Kris

Jon Leonard’s Dune Buggy Golf Cars!

In this episode of Cars For A Living we had a chance to interview Jon Leonard, owner of Dune Buggy Golf Carts. Jon is a contract aircraft engineer by trade, but owns and operates Dune Buggy Golf Carts as a side business! Since the “side business” aspect of Cars For A Living is a topic that comes up fairly often, we decided to jump on the opportunity to learn how Jon’s established himself.

As a little background, with their kids now grown and out of the house he and his wife travel and live in their motor home, moving to wherever the next aircraft engineering job takes him. As a result of their RV lifestyle, he and his wife decided that having a golf cart to ride around the RV park might be a nice idea. Jon, having loved Manx style Dune Buggies as a kid, decided to combine an interest and an opportunity and literally built his wife a dune buggy bodied golf cart (and yes, there’s more to the story there). Today he manufactures and sells the custom carts, running the entire operation from his RV.

During the show Jon discussed how he developed the original cart, how he’s now outsourced the creation of the custom dune buggy bodies, and how the carts are custom built for each customer order (which is also outsourced). We also delved into the costs associated with creating a custom product like this (Jon will be the first to admit that it’s a number he’s not overly clear on), and the interest thus far from the market place.

Interestingly enough, while taking this business to full-time status could be an option for Jon, today’s his intent is to continue to run the business on the side and learn what the market will bear for his products. He’s already started tooling up some more entry level options for customer that would allow them to bolt “dune buggy noses” onto their existing golf carts, instead of going for the full blown unit.

We’ll me sure to monitor Jon’s progress as his business develops! We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a few NASCAR drivers cruising the infield in a Dune Buggy Golf cars sometime soon, though!

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The Fastest News You Need to Know!

Beginning in this episode we’ve started including a new segment from out pal Mike Murray from Performance Business Magazine. You may recall that Mike was a guest back on Show #23, and once a month we’ll include a segment from Mike about the cool features coming up in the next issue.

In this clip Mike delved into one of our favorite upcoming racing series: Chump Car!

]]> http://www.carsforaliving.com/cars-for-a-living-podcast/c4al-28-how-to-invent-manufacture-and-sell-a-product-as-a-side-business-jon-leonards-dune-buggy-golf-carts/feed/ 0 0:00:01 How To Invent, Manufacture, and Sell a Product as a Side Business - Jon Leonard's Dune Buggy Golf Carts How To Invent, Manufacture, and Sell a Product as a Side Business - Jon Leonard's Dune Buggy Golf Carts Robert Kibbe no no http://www.carsforaliving.com/cars-for-a-living-podcast/c4al-27-listener-e-mails-undersandting-which-college-degree-you-should-get-review-of-a-dune-buggy-golf-cart-business-and-a-new-forum-for-engine-swap-fans/ http://www.carsforaliving.com/cars-for-a-living-podcast/c4al-27-listener-e-mails-undersandting-which-college-degree-you-should-get-review-of-a-dune-buggy-golf-cart-business-and-a-new-forum-for-engine-swap-fans/#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:06:40 +0000 Robert Kibbe http://www.carsforaliving.com/?p=6996

Your eyes are not deceiving you! That is a Manx style dune-buggy….golf cart!

In this episode of Cars For A Living Dan and I had a chance to catch up on a few listener e-mails.

Listener questions and e-mails are honestly one of our favorite things to do, because it’s primarily business development questions that we get – and building a business is just plain fun stuff. Plus, you never know what type of a question you’re going to get!

So, without further ado….

1) Matthew Ditch
I started college recently and just wanted to know if an engineering degree or a marketing degree would be the best way to get into the industry. I’d like to know which degree has more jobs normally available, and what the pay differences are. I also want a job that I enjoy going to everyday.

Thanks, Matt P.S. This show has really inspired me to do something with my life!

2) Edd Upp

With the encouragement of Cars for a living I set a goal to end my career after 53 years in the floor covering business and start a new business called Enviro-Blasting.

Enviro-Blasting is the latest technology to safely remove paint, corrosion, body filler, undercoating and rust safely without harming our environment. We use recycled glass that is ground to a specific grit, mixed at high pressure with water that leaves a finish ready for paint without warping of large areas (i.e. hoods, tops or trunk lids). That means no hours of vacuuming sand out of corners, no power washing with chemicals the film that soda blasting leaves, you start doing your part of the work not finishing theirs.

I feel the Lord is guiding this process. I would love to share more.

3) John McIntire

I’d like to start a new website and forum called HybridHotrods.com. It would be the go to place to find out about engine swaps of all types.

Want to put a modern hemi in your early Charger? Go to HybridHotrods.com. Want to put a new Coyote in your old Mustang? Go to HybridHotrods.com. Want to put an LS in ANYTHING??? Go to HybridHotrods.com. Want to add EFI to your ride? You get the idea.

I would love to make HybridHotrods the Pro-Touring.com of engine swaps!

4) Jon Leonard

I discovered your podcast and look forward to each new episode. Below is my real life “cars for a living” story in progress about my new business creating Dune Buggy golf cars!

My day job (contract engineer in aircraft design) takes me all over the country. With our kids grown and on their own, my wife now goes on the road. A few years ago we tried the RV lifestyle and love it. We see that many use golf carts to get around the campgrounds and RV parks and my wife thought it would be cool to have a golf cart to drive our granddaughter around the property.

When I was a kid and long before I could drive I read all the car magazines and always wanted a Manx style dune buggy. I would go through the JC Whitney catalog and Sears catalog and “build” car. Forty years later and I now can afford one, but I prefer cars with air conditioning and my wife wants a golf cart. I figure combining the two could satisfy what she wanted & my childhood memories of the Manx style buggy.

I searched high & low for someone selling a dune buggy golf cart kit. Surely someone had already come up with this idea. Well, I never found one, so I decided to build one. Some people on the forums encouraged me to make a mold and sell bodies. I made a mold (by the way, I sub out EVERYTHING) and made my wife’s cart and was set to take it to the big dune buggy kit car show at Carlisle. When making my reservations, a Carlisle event manager mentioned “ya know, Bruce Meyers is coming this year, he brings in a lot of dune buggy guys”. I offered the use of our cart to move Bruce around the show grounds. We decided to build & bring a 2nd cart to the show. Bruce came over to our booth and took pictures of our carts and even signed the dashboard of my wife’s cart.

In less than a year I went from fond childhood memories of dune buggies to being in the inner circle of dune buggy pioneers. It was passion and not profit that got me there.

I’m not to a point where I could quit my day job, and I probably won’t get there. But I am having a ball with my car-guy hobby, and my wife and daughter help out and want to grow it from a crazy hobby to a real business.

Thanks again for your show. I learn something from every show.

www.dunebuggygolfcarts.com

Just like Doc Brown, your Intellectual Property really could be worth something some day. We recommend against inventing something that scans your brain, though. Image: Universal Pictures

In this episode of the show Dan and I tacked the ever difficult topic of IP (Intellectual Property) by discussing patents, copyrights, trademarks, and the like. Since we’ve all had an “A-HA!” moment for a new product idea at some point in our lives, this seemed like a topic worth digging in to in depth.

We’ve all met or heard of someone in our lives that came up with something simple (like Post-It notes), patented it, then sold the idea for billions….and while we hope that does happen for you, the advice given in this show was mostly just to help you understand what you’re up against.

Since my role in engineering business development has covered the area of IP protection quite a bit lately, Dan decided to interview me on several topics that we thought any new business owner or product developer might need to consider. Neither Dan or I are legal professionals in any way, shape, or form (though Dan does have a cool lawyer-looking suit), so take all of this information as non-binding legal advice.

Here are the broad topis that we covered in this show. If you’d like to dig into these further, please contact us directly with your specific questions and we’ll bring a REAL attorney on to answer them!

1. Understanding what is and isn’t patentable
2. Understanding what public disclosure means
3. Understanding the new “first to file” law changes
4. Understanding what a Provisional Patent is
5. Understanding what a Final Patent is
6. Understanding what a Patent Search is
7. Understanding the difference between a utility patent and a design patent
8. Understanding whether international protection is needed (and where)
9. Understanding whether trying to protect your IP is more important than taking action and getting a product out!

Resources mentioned in this show:

-LegalZoom.com (do it yourself patent filing)

-USPTO.gov

-Google Patent Search

To your success!

-Rob & Dan

Kevin Bryde Component Fabricator for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing.

In this episode of Cars For A Living we had the chance to do a complete “under-the-hood” interview with Kevin Bryde, a component fabricator for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Kevin shared his story of starting out in Michigan as an industrial lighting salesman, then joining a local ARCA team, making the move to the South, and then finally landing at one of the biggest NASCAR teams and racing organizations out there with Earnhardt Ganassi.

It pays to know people! Ganassi Indy drivers Dario Franchitti (left) and Scott Dixon (right) with Kevin.

Since the dream to make a living in racing is one that we know is popular in our audience (and us as well, if we’re honest about it) we thought it would be great to ask Kevin the ins-and-outs of how one gets into racing in the first place, whether they should make the leap and move to Charlotte or Indianapolis before a job offer comes, and if the cut-throat world of professional racing (which is dominated by sponsorship support) is really worth it all in the end.

We think you’ll find Kevin’s answers insightful, inspiring, and just plain awesome. You may also be surprised to hear his answer to our question of “what would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?” Here’s a hint: it’s building hot rods and muscle cars!

If you’ve ever dreamt about using your skills in the world of professional racing be sure to take notes. Lots of them. You can contact Kevin personally via e-mail at kbryde@ganassi.com.

Thanks for the interview, Kevin!

In this episode of the Cars For A Living podcast we brought Jeff Lee of Hammerhead Housings onto the show to do another of our “Under the Hood” series of interviews. Hammerhead is a very new company that produces bolt-in GM 12-bolt style rear end center sections for the 5th Gen Camaro, and has plans to expand into other IRS vehicle applications in the near future.

Jeff Lee, Hammerhead Housings

What might be even cooler than their product is that Jeff and his father created Hammerhead using a lot of sweat equity and determination, and endured the numerous amount of times it looked like their business dreams would be crushed due to lack of money, time, and resources (especially when it looked like potential partners were more interested in taking their idea than helping them make it come to fruition).

They funded a lot of their upstart costs by selling off a few cars that meant a lot to them, knowing that the dream of Hammerhead would bring them more….as long as it were successful. In addition to that, Jeff has managed the entire endeavor while working his “real” job, which allowed him to continue to provide for his family and avoid draining precious cashflow from the business.

During the interview Jeff shared the process of protecting their intellectual property, finding manufacturing partners, marketing their product overall, and also how they moved over to the 5th Gen Camaro from their original application – classic Corvette’s!

Thanks for the interview, Jeff. We look forward to your future success!

Any business is a bit of a leap of faith, but if you can arm yourself with information and inside resources the landing will be a whole lot smoother! Image: Hot Wheels

In this episode of Cars For A Living we had the chance to do a full interview with Mike Murray, Associate Publisher for Performance Business magazine. Performance Business is a monthly magazine written to serve the racing and street performance markets, specifically to help performance retailers, tuners and engine builders get the information they need to stay ahead of their competition.

Mike Murray, Performance Business

Long story short, the purpose of it is to give shop owners and retailers an inside scoop on how to better sell products they already have in inventory, deal with distributors, and just do business better.

In short, if you’re listening to this show, it’s a business magazine you actually need to take – and if you’re a shop you can sign up to get it for FREE. Even better is the fact that it’s intended for ALL types of shops and stores (think trucks, imports, etc.), not just the standard American muscle cars that Dan Kahn and I are into.

Performance Business also recently acquired the annual Hot Rod & Restoration Trade Show with plans to turn that into the annual business event for your product and business aspirations. This year’s show is scheduled for March 14-16, 2013 and will be held in the Indiana Convention Center. There will be plenty of educational seminars and chances to speak with manufacturers and vendors DIRECTLY, and is a much more intimate format than something like a SEMA show.

Big News!

We also announced a special arrangement during this show that we’ve put together with Performance Business, Mike specifically. Once a month Mike is going to do a 3-minute news segment for the Cars For A Living podcast, announcing the best and most important industry news that he thinks will be valuable to you! He well understands that listeners of this show are (for the most part) people that would like to make their way in to the industry – so he’ll be tailoring his segments around that specifically.

In addition to that, Dan and I announced that beginning next month we’ll start our webinar series, and the first one will cover new media marketing tactics to help YOU learn how to use things like Google Plus and Pinterest to your favor. Stay tuned for more details!

Thanks for the interview Mike – and we look forward to the partnership!

Nate Shelton: Aftermarket Legend!

In this episode of Cars For A Living we had the chance to do another “Under the Hood” style interview with our featured guest, Nate Shelton.

Nate is the incoming chair of SEMA (for the second time, no less), the Chief Marketing Officer of B&M/Flowmaster, and is a 30+ year veteran of our industry. He made his first industry contact from a jail cell (really), started out in the early 1970′s with Hooker Header after completing his military service, helped build K&N into a powerhouse, retired once, and is now at it again….mainly because he’s having far too much fun to quit. He’s also been inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame – already!

Since a guy with that cache, passion, and experience is just who we’d like to speak with we asked if he’d be open to speaking with us during the recent SEMA MPMC event in Orange County. We did his interview direct from his hotel room and we’ve left it as is: uncut, and unfiltered. We think you’ll really enjoy learning about his industry start, and also how the aftermarket has evolved from small-time hot rod shop parts to the industry giant that it is today.

More specifically though, what we really hope you’ll walk away from is the appreciation of a fabulous career, and the inspiration it gives YOU to go pursue your hopes and dreams as well! We’d love to get your feedback on this show, so please drop us a line through Facebook or e-mail. Our contact information is down below.

Thanks for the interview, Nate!

Business and drifting Vaughn Gittin Jr’s Mustang are a lot alike. They’re both a handful, are terrifying and fun at the same time, and only work with the throttle to the floor. Image: Autoguide

In this episode of Cars For a Living Dan and I decided to tackle our plans for 2013. Long story short, 2012 showed us that there is a big audience out there of people that have an automotive business or career that they’d like to take to the next level, and between the two of us we want to find a way to help that audience go for the gold as soon as possible.

With that being said, the biggest request we receive from people is generally in the form of personal and specific questions, and it’s hard to address those items unless you take the time to work with people doing one-on-one consulting….and in our case, since we both have “day jobs,” that can be tough to do.

We really only have the bandwidth to work with 3-4 clients in depth during the year (which we’ve already begun doing), but we could definitely take a lot of 1-on-1 questions in something like a phone call that a lot of people might have that wouldn’t require all of the time and expense of personal consulting. So, with that being said, we’re going to try something new to see if we can’t come up with a good middle ground.

Beginning this spring we’re going to launch a series of online webinars that will allow people to come in to some presentations we’re putting together that we think can be helpful. We’ll do one webinar/month that’s free, and a smaller paid monthly webinar with just a handful of people where we can take one-on-one questions. You’ll hear more about this over the course of February, but look for this to start in March of 2013.

Also (and this likely won’t be a huge shock to you), Dan and I are pretty flexible people, so if we find that we need to change (or even cancel) our webinar model after a while, we will, but the podcast will continue as always. Our bottom line is to find a way to help you achieve your goals, and we’re willing to try as many things as necessary on our end to find a way to help you reach them. As Mr. Spock once said, “There are always possibilities.”

We have huge plans for the podcast this year as well, with plenty of “under the hood” interviews with leaders from industry that have made it – and that will share their successes (and failures) along the way.

During the show we also discussed a few plans we have for the 2013 SEMA Show (and how YOU can participate with your business idea)….but we’ll let you take a listen for the full details.

Here’s to a great 2013!

Wrapping Up

Hopefully you’ll find this information helpful, and if you have questions for us just send us an e-mail, or hit is up on our Facebook page (our contact information is below).

Thanks!

-Rob & Dan

In this episode of Cars For A Living our featured guest is my good friend Danny Giustino, the owner of Muscle Express, a restoration and parts shop in Jupiter, FL. Danny has been restoring cars, selling cars, and selling parts successfully for over 20 years now, and he started his business with nothing more than the desire to enjoy his hobby and a TON of knowledge about GM muscle cars. He and his shop have a well earned reputation of performing original nut-and-bolt restorations as well as the ability to source and find original hard-to-find parts. They now do custom muscle car builds as well.

During our interview Danny discussed how he got his shop up and running originally, how he gets new business in the door, how he advertises (and what scares him about it), and how he manages employees. We also touched on the things that he wished he could have done differently, and combined all together I think it made a fantastic interview. For those of you looking to follow a similar path this discussion should be very helpful.

As a side note I originally had Danny on our sister show in Episode 145 of The MuscleCar Place. It was one of our most popular episodes, mainly due to Danny’s charisma and fun nature…..and his New York accent doesn’t hurt either!

Thanks for the interview, Danny!

Wrapping Up

Hopefully you’ll find this information helpful, and if you have questions for us just send us an e-mail, or hit is up on our Facebook page (our contact information is below).

Thanks!

-Rob & Dan