Guys, I had one of my parts suppliers tell me about this post so I thought I would answer.
I started Asheville Engine in 2011 as what was intended to be a "semi-retirement", part time business. I have some physical limitations that forced me to quit working a little early so I partnered with a friend who was Master Heavy Duty Truck Technician who used to work for the City of Asheville.
I did the inventory and took phone calls while he did the physical work. I built a shop to work in but I contracted with 3 local machine shops to do the machining because neither of us were machinists.
In 2012, our first full year our revenue was $360,000 which to me was just about right, but because we put out a quality product, our business quickly earned a good reputation and our business doubled in 2013.
in early, 2013 I found myself constantly yelling at the three machine shops because they didn't have the parts I needed ready when I needed them (you guys know what I mean). I had to look outside the area for another machine shop to pick up the slack. That's when Top Speed started doing some of our machining. Top Speed has been in business over 30 years, primarily doing what most machine shops do but were also well respected for building high performance gas engines.
In August 2103, the guy who I originally partnered with was in a motorcycle accident and was not able to work anymore. Because we had engine orders that had to go out, I found that I was not able to keep up, having to do everything that both of us had previously been doing so I talked to Daniel, the owner of Top Speed, about building some engines to help me keep up with orders.
I personally taught the guys at Top Speed all of the particulars about the 6.0 and by October, Daniel had taken it upon himself to build a separate room for my inventory and to build the engines that he was building for me. His attention to detail was so much better than the other three machine shops that I was using so I figured I would incorporate all of the machining into one spot. I also talked to Daniel about whether he would like to take on the responsibility of building all of my engines
Because our business was growing so fast and I was taking all of the calls from customers, doing inventory, scheduling shipments, etc. I found myself working 10-12 hour days, 6 days a week so I hired my son, Mat, and trained him to take customer calls in early 2014. That year, we doubled our business again and in 2015, we did $2.2 Million in gross revenue.
Along the way, I found all of the very best people that I could find to do the work for me. Daniel was totally committed from the minute I talked to him about doing all of the engine building instead of just the machining. He hired more people, purchased a lot more equipment and has since, quit doing most of what he used to do for other people. I would say that 95% of Top Speed's business is building Engines for Asheville Engine, Inc. Every one of Top Speed's employees that build engines for us are skilled machinists and engine builders, each with over 20 years of experience.
I could probably have purchased Top Speed and kept everybody on but why would I want to? Daniel pays his own electric bill, is responsible for payroll, has to fix the machines when they break, takes care of workmen's comp, fills in when somebody is sick and has a business that does 4 times as much work than they did before they met me. Most importantly, he stands behind all of his work for me.
In our office, we have my wife Debbie who does our books, My son Mat who takes the calls from customers and my daughter-in-law is starting today to schedule all of the engine shipments because our business has grown 600% since 2012 and I can't do it all by myself.
I trust the guys at Top Speed so much that I keep over $100,000. worth of inventory on hand so we can get an engine out to you within days. Asheville Engine stands behind all of the people who work in our office and all of the guys who work at Top Speed.
For your information, The Ford Motor Company does not re-manufacture their engines themselves, they contract it out similar to what we do. The difference being, everybody who is in volved with the building of an engine from Asheville Engine CARES about what they are doing!
The best thing about our business is that I have surrounded myself with the best people that I could find to do their respective jobs. That way I know the job will get done properly, even when I'm not looking. That frees me up to answer the phone if you feel that you have a problem with what we send you.
Try getting the owner of any of other engine company on the phone when you need them!
