dealer profile ersports dealerships . Although family can present challenges , Roberta said she ’ s enjoyed the experience of working with family . Daughter Jamie also works in the business .
“ I could count on one hand any arguments that my dad and I had ,” Roberta said . “ We just had to work together as a team to make those joint decisions .”
In 2010 , Britny Guffey , Jason ’ s wife , joined the dealership full-time to support their ever-growing IT and marketing needs . “ Together , we redid an old family business that never had any marketing ,” Jason said . “ The business kind of started taking off , and we just slowly started expanding .”
Four generations have contributed to the growth of Belgrade Sales and Service in nearly 50 years serving Montana .
Over time , the dealership ’ s needs grew and square footage was added in the early 2000s , 2016 and 2023 . In 2021 , the dealership welcomed a fourth-generation employee . Jason and Britny ’ s daughter , Teaghan , joined Belgrade full time in the parts department . Britny feels they are blessed to get to work together .
“ I can ’ t imagine not going to work with Jason and our daughter every day ,” Britny said . “ It ’ s pretty awesome to build something with your family , to take something and make it what it is today .”
Beyond family , Jason said Belgrade Sales & Service has many long-term employees . “ We ’ ve got an extremely loyal group of people ,” Jason said . “ One of the guys , Jordan Thronson , joined us in 2006 when he was 17 years old . He ’ s been part of our management team and is like family . I think we have five more employees who have been with us more than 10 years . We ’ ve been able to cultivate all these people .”
Jason says it ’ s worked well for them to be very hands-on and work the business alongside their employees . “ I think a lot of owners don ’ t work the business , they don ’ t want to be in an office or interact with the employees ,” Jason said . “ I think your staff , they want to see you working with them . Plus , then you have a pulse on whether they ’ re happy or unhappy or what ’ s going on at home . We just to try to keep everybody positive and going in the same direction .” Belgrade has 11 full-time employees .
A Robust and Adaptable Business When Bob Wyer and his daughter were operating the business , they focused mostly on parts and service . Now , Jason said Belgrade has flipped that and is now about 75 percent new unit sales .
Having multiple product lines has been a big plus for the dealership , he believes . Today , the business sells and services more than 10 outdoor power equipment brands in a retail location measuring 17,500 sq . ft ., with warehouse space of 12,500 sq . ft .
“ We ’ ve gotten comments from sales reps that we have way too many brands ,” Britny said . “ When the pandemic came , it really paid off to have different avenues of products coming in from different people .”
She says they sustain all those brands at high levels – no favorites for the staff . The team at Belgrade Sales & Service is able to make product recommendations based on customers ’ needs and budgets .
“ Most don ’ t come in here knowing what they want , so we ask a lot of questions to find out their needs ,” Britny said .
Commercial business makes up approximately 60 percent of the store ’ s revenue today . Scag , Exmark and Toro are Belgrade ’ s top three brands , volume-wise . The dealership is proudly a Scag Pro Gold Dealer , Exmark Turf Star Dealer , Echo Signature Elite Dealer and Honda Premier Dealer .
Some of their commercial customers started their businesses when they purchased equipment from Belgrade Sales & Service , so they ’ ve gotten to grow their businesses together . “ We know most people on a first name basis ,” Britny said . “ We have tons of customers who ’ ve been coming here for 30-plus years . We even have secondgeneration customers .”
With nearly 50 years in business , the Wyer-Guffey family has learned quite a bit . Their largest takeaway : flexibility . “ You have to adapt to change ,” Jason said . “ To be a successful business today , you ’ ve got to be constantly moving forward and progressing .”
www . OPEBusiness . com May 2023 OPE Business 27