Driven Performance Advisors

I have met with 28 shop owners in the last two weeks.

Each of them has a story about the cars they’ve built, how and why they started their business, and how it’s going today.

Every car has a story – they capture us with speed, beauty, capability, independence, freedom, challenge, struggle, satisfaction, and experience. To me, cars are the last line in living.

Each shop owner I met with is providing some sort of automotive satisfaction to their customers, whether a built engine, wheel fitment, fixed issues, a color change, a track alignment, or a tint. Your customer drives away happy and further captured by their car. I know that’s been my experience.

I love that. I love what you do to improve and personalize cars.

There is a war against this industry right now. The automotive aftermarket is being squeezed by AVs, the city’s war on cars, speed cameras, bike lanes, public transportation, and more technologically complex and secure vehicles. Some of those things are good – as an entire society, the world of transportation has significant room for improvement.

However, the automotive aftermarket – specifically those businesses that support enthusiasts with the manufacture, distribution, and installation of modifications – is not a consideration of those above initiatives. There is no place for the parking garage car meet if public transportation takes up the space of unused lots, there is no exhaust noise if V8s are replaced by Teslas, and there are fewer and fewer technicians, installers, and customers as new generations rely more on the bus to get them to their job in tech.

The car is an incredible machine, both in utility and satisfaction. Enthusiasts like me and you, and those that come after us will eventually have no means to appreciate the car for what it is, given the current trajectory of government initiatives and priorities of nearly all OEMs.

Driven Performance Advisors exists to create a strong future for the automotive enthusiast. Compatible with the positive trends of transportation, there is a space for enthusiasts to continue to enjoy our vehicles.

To create that space, we need leadership and resources, both of which are lacking in meaningful concentration in our heavily fragmented industry.

DPA is me. My experience in finance and operations and my application to my work with shops is important, absolutely, but more importantly I am a vehicle for the collective experience and knowledge of automotive aftermarket business owners all over the world. In sharing what works, the industry can grow and thrive. In supporting businesses that give quality to their customers (DPA only works with clients with a 4-star review or higher) those who deserve to succeed and grow will do so, and you will beat your competition.

In conclusion

DPA exists to push the automotive aftermarket upward, and to empower businesses who manufacture, distribute, and install aftermarket modifications and provide aftermarket services to enthusiasts to create a strong future for the automotive enthusiast.

Here’s to 28 more shops, with sufficient resources and leadership to succeed in our mission. Onwards.