By Dale Buss, Contributor
Edmunds.com
Successful entrepreneurs are marked by their passion
for the companies they've founded and nurtured. But many small-business owners
get almost as attached to their cars and trucks. That's because a vehicle often
can play a key role in the success of a company and its founder.
We talked with some entrepreneurs about what they drive for their companies, and
why. They told us that the following 10 points shaped their decisions. If you're
an entrepreneur who's in the market for a new vehicle, their thoughts may just
help you narrow your choices.
Sara Fisher of Atlanta, Georgia, for example, switched last year from a
Nissan Maxima to a 2004 Ford Explorer because she is a professional organizer. She's continually
hauling shelving and other organizing hardware to her clients' homes and
offices — and, more often than not, dragging away much of their junk.
"It's just what I need," said Fisher. "The seats go down, and there are
smaller compartments within the interior where I can put my tools."
For Mary Bell, a general contractor of luxury kitchens and bathrooms, that
meant buying a 2006 Hummer H2. It's crucial to create the right first impressions with
her affluent clients. So that meant, obviously, "not driving up in a ratty
old truck," said Bell, owner of BellReed Designs, in Houston. But it also
meant not showing up in a Mercedes, "because I'm not a frou-frou decorator,"
she said.
"The Hummer is well designed and has a presence that most cars don't," Bell
said. "Plus, if I need to take a client to a stone yard to pick out a slab
of granite, they're thrilled to be able to ride in one."
Brian Scudamore has built a highly successful franchising business,
1-800-GOT-JUNK, but he isn't above promoting his company all over his
hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia. So he bought a
2007 Volvo XC90 and spent about $2,000 to have it covered with the company logo and other
messaging, figuring it would be a good way to get more value out of his
$600-a-month lease payment.
"I'll stop at a gas station or a park and people will come up and ask for
business cards," Scudamore said. "So it gets noticed. And besides, I'm proud
of the business."
Alan Weiss understands that. The president of Summit Consulting Group Inc.,
in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, spends much of his time coaching CEOs and
other top executives. So he picks up clients at the airport and squires them
around in his $203,000 Bentley Continental GTC.
"CEOs want to be around successful people, not vendors or subordinates,"
said Weiss. "If someone is threatened by the car, I don't want them as a
client. If they aren't, then fees and money are never, ever an issue."
Genma Stringer Holmes uses her
2006 Ford F-350 to break through another barrier: gender. She owns Holmes
Pest Control in Hermitage, Tennessee, and said pulling up in the Ford truck
"disarms my competition. No one expects a woman to get out of it, especially
jumping down in heels as I do," said Stringer Holmes. "It says, 'I have come
to do business.'"
Tsufit is a corporate motivational speaker and author who must haul around
everything from copies of her books to podiums, display tables and props.
Off the job, she also conveys her four children and their friends. So the
Toronto-based entrepreneur — who goes only by one name — loves her
2000 Toyota Sienna minivan.
"It's reliable, as well as being big enough to haul everything," she said.
"And I'm not that concerned about image: I've seen plenty of clients drive
up in BMWs that they can't afford to pay for."
Tom Scarda is owner of Super Suppers, a Long Island, New York,
"meal-assembly" studio franchise, so the cargo space and load stabilizers in
his 2004 Yukon Denali sure come in handy. But what really thrills him are
all the power receptacles up front.
"I can be charging my Bluetooth earpiece, my Blackberry and something else
all at the same time because there are three outlets there," said Scarda,
who also is a franchising coach.
For Beth Shaw, it's a
2006 Range Rover. "It's not over the top, but it's a good-quality vehicle,"
said Shaw, founder of Yogafit, in Torrance, California. "I'm always hauling
clothing and other merchandise. But I also can bring my three dogs to work."
Jeremy Brandt took advantage of that in buying his 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser. "It's a great way to get some benefit on the
tax side," said Brandt, owner of 1-800-CashOffer, a Dallas enterprise that
connects "motivated" homeowners with real estate investors across the
country.
Robert Ansin, for instance, is a sustainable-real-estate developer in
Lawrence, Massachusetts, who bought a
2003 Toyota Prius to replace his old
Ford Expedition.
"It dawned on me that it would just be a matter of time before someone would
ask," said the CEO of MassInnovation LLC. "Our customers care about living
their ideals."
But some business owners concede that going green has its, well, moldy side
as well. As president of Glutenfreeda Foods Inc., a natural-foods company,
Yvonne Gifford gave up her luxury sedan for a fuel-sipping
2007 Volkswagen New Beetle convertible "to show that we're environmentally
conscious and are trying to carry that concept through to all aspects of our
business," said Gifford.
"But frankly there are elements that aren't the most comfortable," she said
of the small car. "And it's noisy. I wouldn't be happy if I had a long
commute."