CHOO-CHOO LAWN EQUIPMENT, INC.
PLANT CITY, FLORIDA

Danny Scofield was a bit surprised when Gravely called him to sit on a panel comprised of other dealers. After all, he was only five months into owning Choo Choo Lawn Equipment, his Plant City, Fla., dealership, and it was his first. "I first thought to myself, ‘Why on earth would they want me to be a part of this?’ since I was so new to the business," he says. In fact, Scofield spent the previous 17 years owning a landscaping business, which at its height employed 45 people and grossed more than $1.5 million annually. "They wanted my experience as a landscaper to help them," the 50-year-old Scofield says. He says this experience has been invaluable in serving the needs of contractors. "When a landscape contractor comes in, I know what they need. I know what they’ve been through. When a mower goes down, they’re out of business." But had it not been for Scofield’s wife, Teresa, he might not have gotten into the business at all. After all it was Teresa who bought a used push mower in 1986 and began mowing in the neighborhood. "She basically just got bored and was going to mow lawns," says Scofield, a mechanic by training. "I kind of laughed about it at first, but then I grabbed a pencil and did the numbers." And he liked the numbers. Within six months, he sold another business he was part of and concentrated on the landscape business. Making the change Fast-forward to 2002. Now, Choo Choo Lawn Maintenance, as the Scofields' landscaping business was named, had 45 employees. "We grew fairly quickly," he says. But Scofield was looking for something new. "I got kind of burned out in the lawn business," he says. "You have a lot of turnover." He felt he would have more control owning a dealership than the contracting business. He opened Choo Choo Lawn Equipment in 2002, but continued to maintain his landscaping business. Initially, at least, that made it hard to attract commercial clientele. "When I first got into this business, the landscapers would not come to me because I was competition with them out there in the field," Scofield says. "So, they figured if they bought parts from me, they were giving me money to go out there and take their accounts away from them." So, in order to get some cash flow going, he began approaching mass merchants in order to secure their repair business. When clients came into the stores, those stores outsourced the repair work to Scofield. There was about a year of overlap where he owned both the landscaping business and dealership. He decided it was time to sell. So, he cashed out by selling the landscape business and concentrated on the dealership. "When I sold my landscaping business, that’s when the landscape contractors started coming in," Scofield says. "I spent a lot of time designing the building and making sure it was customer-friendly," Scofield says. What he got was a 13,000-square-foot dealership, featuring a 4,800-square-foot showroom and a modern repair shop outfitted with gadgets that only a tech would love, like the $20,000 machine that sharpens saw chains in minutes. Scofield's (Gravely) dealer representative, Les Curtner, praises Choo Choo's business. The facilities he maintains are in impeccable order," Curtner says. "He’s got the latest equipment in his shop." Of particular note, Curtner says, are meters that measure every drop of oil and fluid used during servicing, so Scofield has an accurate detail on what products were used. At the end of the day, Scofield has an exact tally of the profit and loss for that day, instead of at the end of the week or end of the month. "These are processes he’s put in place in order to do this," Curtner says. He tracks everything and sets goals for his service department to achieve." Scofield believes dealers won’t survive if they look like the dealerships of just a few years ago. He says many were dirty, dank and uninviting. "We have a lot of women come in here. If the facility’s not clean and inviting, they’re not going to come back," he says. Scofield admits he thought running a dealership would be a little easier, because, like with many things, running a business often looks easy when it’s done right and by someone who is experienced. "You’ve got to stay on top of things," he says. Scofield credits Gravely’s Dealer Council Board, on which he was invited to sit when he started the business, for giving him a leg up. It was a chance to meet 400 to 600 other dealers in Wisconsin four times a year to talk shop and keep apprised of industry happenings. He sat on the board from 2003 to 2004. Dealers didn't worry about competing with each other and talked candidly about issues. "We talk quite a bit. We ask each other questions about all types of things and say, ‘What are you doing about this?’" he says. But Scofield says his biggest resource has come from Curtner, his dealer representative. For the past four years, Curtner has been assigned to Scofield’s business to help answer questions and provide advice on a range of topics. "They’re the best people who can help you. He’s been very helpful," he says. "If I’m going to tackle something new that I’ve never done before, I ask him first," Scofield says. "If he doesn’t know, he’ll get the answer for me." Curtner has been Scofield’s dealer rep for four years. Curtner praises Scofield’s work to get both institutional and governmental clients to increase his repair business. Scofield has secured numerous contracts whereby agencies outsource their service work to Choo Choo. "He makes his services available at any time," Curtner says. "It’s something that some dealers overlook. It’s just another avenue he’s looking to for revenue." Curtner helped Scofield get his first open house up and running. Curtner offered advice on advertising as far as where to spend it and how much to spend. "If I want to bring in another line, I talk to him," Scofield says. "Gravely is very family-oriented. I would not be where I am today without Gravely." Dan Ariens attended Choo Choo’s first open-house and spent the day there. "He said, ‘Look, what can I help you with today?’" Scofield remembers. "I know that if I had asked him to unpack some chain saws, he would have done it." Scofield met Ariens during the Wisconsin meetings with other dealers. "I just got real close to him," Scofield says. "He would eat lunch with us and we have a very good relationship."