Driverz, Inc is under new ownership. Details inside:
Driverz, Inc is under new ownership!
I’m sure the title of this post alone may draw some serious attention. It is true, as of today, the sale of my company, Driverz, Inc. has been finalized. We’ve been working on the details since November, so I’m sure that will explain to many of you my lack of personal attention to the forums and emails and PM’s the past 60 days, and while I apologize for any lack of communication, I hope you all now understand at least why.
I know the first question many of you have will be to whom? The new owner is actually a member here, and is someone who has been working in the automotive industry, and has experience in not only custom wheels, but suspension, brakes, and custom car building as well. We worked together on many a project, and he has a great amount of experience in not only the sale of, but in the manufacturing of custom wheels. Long story short, he gets it. He understands and is educated in wheel fitment, and how brakes, suspension, and chassis modification affects it. He’ll be posting here very soon to introduce himself, and I ask to please welcome him warmly.
The new owner will begin working here full time very soon, and I will be spending the next 6 months still working here alongside him to catch him up to speed with current orders, and help him get familiar with our customers. (Although I hardly doubt he’ll need that much time.) I’ll also remain available to him should he need assistance with anything after, but he will be the main sales contact after such time has passed. We will also be working various events together as a co-op between Driverz, Inc and my new full time gig, NewGen Wheels.
As many of you know, I’ve been developing my own wheel line, NewGen Wheels over the past year and believe it’s now time to narrow the focus and work even more diligently on continuing to develop the line, target new and exciting markets, and streamline a dealer program for NewGen Wheels. I could not do this without sacrificing customer service on the Driverz Inc side, and as many of you have seen here over the past 6 months, I could not provide the level of customer service to each and every one of you while managing both. It’s something that has bothered me deeply over the last year, and I believe this will be best for everyone involved, especially you, the customer. Countless nights I go home feeling I didn’t do enough today or didn’t get back to that customer with an email, or, or, or, the list goes on. The new owner has ideas on how to better service DriverzInc customers, and has a business model in mind that will help Driverz to grow to be an even better company, and I’m happy to see the “baby” I’ve poured my heart and soul into the past 6 years not only be run by a friend of mine, but continue to grow under his direction.
Before I continue, I want to first thank each and every person who regardless if you were a customer, supplier, or just a supporter, for your encouragement over the past 6 years while I wore the jon@driverzinc hat. It’s because of you we were able to start, and grow a business in an ailing economy, and because of your encouragement I got up each and every morning to battle the day. It’s the customers who called to say “Thank you, …” Or the emails from those who said “Hang in there, we’re here to support you, we know you do good work and care” that make any small business owner continue to work hard at it. A big thanks to you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you will accept the new owner with open arms, and continue to support him. He’s a good friend and he will do you well.
Moving forward now as Jon@NewGenWheels, I have some ideas that I hope will revolutionize order tracking that I think will make it not only be interactive and informative to our customers, but proactive in a way I don’t think any other wheel manufacturer has done. I believe order tracking is the single largest part of any custom wheel sale that a customer is concerned about. My software programmer that is building our new site is working on a way for customers to login to our site and check order status on their own with their order number. But wait, it gets better, you will also receive an email, and a text, as your order passes through each stage of its build, 1)Order confirmation 2) Machining 3)Finishing 4)Assembly 5) Quality Control and Packaging, and finally, 6) Shipping.
I believe this will not only keep the customer informed, but alleviate the “Where are my wheels” calls that take up so much of my time and energy, and free me so that I can better focus on product development, sales, and marketing to better grow our brand.
(Now of course that I’ve said it, I’m sure every other wheel company reading is quickly picking up the phone to do the same…. Lol)
Along with our new website, and “order tracker”, we are working on our new catalog, which we hope to have prepared for distribution by March of this year.
Again, a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support of Driverz Inc and NewGen Wheels. I, my wife, and my family thank you. We’ve all sacrificed a great deal to get to this point and we’re excited to start this new chapter in our lives.
Last edited by DriverzInc; 01-19-2012 at 02:58 PM.
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Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
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