Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/730410
Work with Kerr, Basinger and their Scoot- Tribe dealership began in May. Over the course of three months, they secured enough funding to operate for six months, attended headquarters training in Charleston and hosted Flagship Pow- ersports staff in Fayetteville twice. The dealership opened the week of July 25, and within two weeks ScootTribe had sold 15 scooters and serviced five. And that was despite the fact that pre-opening advertising was limited due to the urgency to open before University of Arkansas students began their fall move in. "Just the fact that these kids went from having nothing to now retailing our prod- uct and other products, that's a huge win," Haskell exclaimed. Jackrel added, "They're going to kill it. They only have one competitor there. They're going to do so well. After visiting that market, I now have faith that they're going to do twice as well as I origi- nally thought a month ago or two months ago." The goal, he said, is to have ScootTribe experience successes in Year 2 that may not have happened until Year 5 or 6 without the help of Flagship Powersports. From their viewpoint, Kerr and Basinger know they're already better pre- pared because of the Flag- ship program. Basinger said, "There is a zero percent chance we would have been opened before the start of school season [without the Flag- ship Powersports program]. If ScootTribe would have somehow gotten the doors open before school started, the processes and orga- nization would have been terrible, and Scoot- Tribe would have jumped on the train heading toward the 80 percent of businesses failing within 10 years." Kerr said, "I believe the program has saved us from making hundreds of mistakes, losing hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars while accelerating our business plan." They both said they'd recommend the pro- gram to other young entrepreneurs looking to enter the powersports arena. "The program has taught Collin and I how to think before we act. Because we are only 21, there have been many times that Collin and I have looked at each other and said, 'If we started ScootTribe without the assistance of the program, we would not exist.' I still believe that to this day," Kerr said. "The program has also taught us how to relate as business part- ners, as well as how to split responsibilities up amongst ourselves to ensure every day is an efficient step forward." FLAGSHIP POWERSPORTS' FUTURE With one dealership under their belt, the staff at Flagship Powersports is looking forward to launching their second. They've compiled a list of 15 locations where they'd like their next dealerships to open, with Boca Raton and Tallahassee, Florida, at No. 1 and 2. However, they're willing to look at other locations, if they're proposed. Fayetteville, for example, wasn't even in the top 10, but Kerr and Basinger offered market research that proved it was a great place to start. Jackrel plans to speak to business students at colleges within Flagship Powersports' top prospect cities in an effort to recruit young entre- preneurs into the pro- gram. The Flagship Powersports staff is looking for those who are motivated, hard working and willing to learn. "We're first pre- qualifying. We're not just letting everyone j o i n t h i s p r o g r a m because we have to k n o w t h a t t h i s i s going to be someone that, if they get the right coaching, and if they get the inven- t o r y , t h e y ' r e j u s t going to crush it," Jackrel said. "They have to be some- one that's relatively intelligent and will accept the coaching, but someone that wants to stick with us and do this for a good amount of time and really make some money and take care of the community and do the little things that the struggling dealers aren't doing." Haskell added, "I just want to find other interesting people. I would happily do it again with somebody of [Kerr's and Basinger's] level, if they had the same fire that those kids have. That's what we need. The industry needs young people, and we want those young people, too." Though the program has been designed to launch new dealerships, Flagship Powersports is also accepting applications from current deal- ers seeking more help. "There's a lot of companies out there that are failing that we would love to keep in the indus- try instead of see them go out of business in the first year or two," Jackrel said. The goal of Flagship Powersports is to open two to four dealerships per year. "We want to make sure that we are giving everyone the proper amount of time between myself, the coach and Jason to make sure that they're getting everything they need to succeed. We don't want to do this 50 percent; we want to do every dealership 100 percent." Jackrel said it would behoove interested parties to apply early, as eventually the revenue share will increase, and the best territories will soon be taken. While he and his team started Flagship Powersports for selfish reasons, as a way to improve its Bintelli dealer network, they've all fallen in love with the program over the past few months and would like to dedicate more time to it. Flagship projects it'll lose money in its first 12 months, with investments in travel and coaching time, but the team is proud of what it's developed. "We're in this for the long haul. We're in this to make them money for a long time and then eventually we profit from it," Jackrel said. He added, "This is what the industry needs, in our opinion. We're going to do the best we can, not only for us, but for everyone else because a lot of these dealers that are under the flagship program will eventually start selling UTVs and dirt bikes and ATVs. … ScootTribe, they're just rocking and roll- ing in Fayetteville. This is going to help out six to eight different distributors out there because we've now made a dealer that is a Level One dealer." PSB www.PowersportsBusiness.com MOTORCYCLE Powersports Business • October 3, 2016 • 73 FLAGSHIP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 70 As part of the Flagship Powersports program, ScootTribe owners Jonathan Kerr and Collin Basinger underwent headquarters training at Bintelli's facility in Charleston, South Carolina. Justin Jackrel, center, poses with Jonathan Kerr and Collin Basinger of Scoot Tribe.