The Fort #251: Kevin Lackey - President of Freedom Powersports - Selling Freedom, Market Overview since COVID, and prioritizing what's important.
Kevin Lackey is the President and CEO of Freedom Powersports, a dealership group based out of Fort Worth, Texas with 13 locations spanning three states. His career in the powersports industry started in 1998 where he worked his way up from a porter to manager to general manager and now owner and operator. Through strong leadership skills, dedication to operational excellence, and commitment to the industry he helped grow Freedom Powersports from $34.8M in sales in 2012 to a project of $157M in sales for 2021. Outside of Freedom Powersports, Kevin is on the Board of Directors for First Financial Bank, Motorcycle Industry Council, Yamaha Financial Services Council, BRP Dealer Advisory Council, Yamaha Financial Services Dealer Council, Texas Motorcycle Dealers Association, YPO Fort Worth Chapter Member and is on the Advisory Board for National Center for Middle Market. In 2019 Kevin was named the Entrepreneur of Excellence for the category of retail for Fort Worth Inc. Magazine and in 2016 he was named to the 40 under 40 by the Fort Worth Business Press. With continued growth on his mind, he has also become an active member of his community in Aledo, TX, started a podcast, and is always looking for the next opportunity.
On this episode Chris and Kevin discuss:
- Deepdive into powersports industry since COVID.
- Best practices learned over the years that helped build a great team and business.
- What he’s glad he did for the business so that it was easier to sell. (Sold to Rumble On.)
- Why Kevin has built a life that balances his family life with a demanding work schedule.
Links:
Episode #4 of The Fort with Kevin Lackey
The House that Built Me by Miranda Lambert
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Topics:
(3:25) - Reminiscing
(4:54) - How would you describe your business?
(6:02) - What happened to Powersports during Covid?
(9:20) - Why does focus matter so much?
(12:05) - The power of EOS
(17:15) - How did you navigate the Pandemic?
(30:23) - Is there anything you learned in the early months that will serve you the rest of your life?
(32:58) - When did you start to consider the process of selling the business?
(45:29) - What are the things you’re happy you did to get the business ready for a successful sale?
(49:27) - How did you delegate duties to your CFO?
(51:34) - Net Working Capital
(1:02:16) - Are there things you wish you’d done to get the business ready for a successful sale?
(1:04:22) - The experience of closing on the sale
(1:09:09) - The importance of Fatherhood