July 5, 2017

Meet Chad Allison of Wild Bill’s RV & Outdoor Center in Southside

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Allison.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started working in our family business of repairing forklifts when I was 11 years old, finished college at 20, & worked full time until 39 when I sold the family business. Figured out I was a really lousy employee and left my position at my former company only to purchase another family business that was on the verge of retiring. I purchased Wheel Go Camping with the intentions of revitalizing the business with a few new lines of business and energizing the old. The first item on the agenda was changing the name, starting a website, & cleaning up the property. We filled (20) 20 yard dumpsters in two months! We had Wild Bill blowout sales for three months, we pounded social media relentlessly for months. Thankfully our customers both old and new came out and supported Wild Bill’s. We doubled the business in the 1st year, & tripled the business the second year. We are looking forward to the third year and we have plans for continued growth!

I learned a great deal about running a business from working with my parents. They have been critical to my success in the previous business as well as my current venture. They pounded in to me, “Know your customer” and it took me about 10 months to figure out who Wild Bill’s customer was. Wild Bill primarily serves a unique client: Male, age 28-58, owns a truck, has a dog, owns a gun, & rides a motorcycle. Google analytics and a tour of our store on any given day will back up that claim. Once we figured out that 92% of our customers fit that description we set out to find and serve him. We love everyone’s money, but you must “know your customer” as my parents said.

When we took over the store we were selling 60 trailers a year, we grew that to over 250 trailers last year, & this year we have sold over 300 trailers in the first 6 months. Wild Bill’s has a great family of employees that have helped us grow from the beginning and we look forward to adding to our staff so we can go on that much need vacation to Bora Bora soon!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was definitely not smooth. Selling trailers is challenging, margins are small and they have long lead times for manufacturing. RV sales and repair is difficult without the right facility and staff. Truck accessory sales is also low margin and labor intensive. Web and internet sales have shrank the margins significantly. We work hard to find the right mix of manufactures and products that our customers need and want.

The biggest challenge in our business is competing against 20-50 year established trailer sales companies and being competitive, but offering better service. This has ultimately been the secret to our success.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Wild Bill’s RV & Outdoor Center – what should we know?
We are nice and we are fast. In the world of buying cars or trailers everyone has lost an afternoon or worse yet a day purchasing a vehicle. My goal is to sell a trailer to a client and make sure his paperwork is done in less than 30 minutes.

We sell trailers, truck accessories, & golf carts.

We are known for selling just about anything from trailers, motorcycles, tractors, boats, cars, ATV’s, golf carts, or anything with a motor!

We take pride in surviving and growing in a very small margin business while offering a fun atmosphere to purchase your trailer, golf cart, or truck accessory!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
My mother has a high school diploma and my father has a GED, they ran a very successful business without much education, but they taught me how to hustle and work. Most people that are in my inner circle will tell you my lift goal is to make sure my name and tombstone will say nothing more than TENACIOUS. I am rarely the smartest person in a room, but I know no one can out work me. As I grow older I value free time and down time, but I have been successful because I will not give up.

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