11:27 am, September 30, 2024
A used car dealer has set up his own business in memory of his late partner after quitting his job at Arnold Clark to go it alone.
Ollie Pickett spent two years working at the Car Dealer Top 100 table topper, having previously lost his job in the bus and coach industry during the pandemic.
Employed as a sales consultant, he quickly learned the ropes of the motor trade and soon had dreams of setting up his own firm.
However, it was not until earlier this year that he finally took the leap, after hearing about Car Dealer’s AI Car Dealership Project.
In recent months, Car Dealer boss Baggott has set up his own used car dealership – The Clever Car Collection – using AI to help him wherever possible.
It was a story which gave Pickett the final push he needed and he is now three months in to his own venture.
It marks the latest twist in a long and varied career for Pickett, who also has a background in both the police and fire services.
The change comes after a heartbreaking period in Pickett’s personal life, which saw his long-term partner of ten years pass away suddenly in January.
He now says the business is aiming to honour her memory after he used a life insurance policy to get the dealership off the ground.
Pickett has now appeared on the latest episode of the Car Dealer Podcast to tell us about his journey.
He said: ‘This has been all self-funded. I had been in a long-term relationship and back in January of this year, my partner of ten years, she sadly and suddenly passed away.
‘There was a life insurance policy and I’ve made use of that. I wanted to do something good with the money, not to just waste it on things.
There’s one little thing I bought – an American police car – but other than that, I thought, I’m going to put it to good use and I’m going to make this business work.
‘It’s in her memory that I will make this work and I won’t waste it and I won’t grow the business too quick or make reckless decisions with it because I’ve been gifted this chance off the back of the traumatic event.
‘That’s also a driving force to make sure that I do this properly.’
Pickett also described how podcast co-host Baggott had helped to inspire the venture, without even knowing about it.
He added: ‘My main background is the bus and coach industry, which I was in for 24 years.
‘I made the move from Essex up to Shropshire, and then subsequently lost my job due to Covid. Then from 2020 to 2021, it was finding different things to do.
‘Then I saw an advert for Arnold Clark, as a sales consultant, and I applied. I had never done a sales job before but I went and did that, worked for Arnold Clark for two years and I really enjoyed my time there.
‘I learned a hell of a lot about the industry, and I decided if there was ever an opportunity to go it alone, and I could get the confidence to do it, then I would.
‘I started listening to the Car Dealer Podcast when I was at AC, and then when I saw what James was doing with The Clever Car Collection, that was kind of the thing that was the final inspiration to tip me over the line to go and do it.
‘He’s been a massive part – unknowingly – in getting me over the line to make it happen.’
Carscierge – has now been trading since June and is using a mix of data and instinct to get the best used stock.
During his appearance on the show, he explained that going against retail ratings has actually proved successful in his short time running the business.
He said: ‘Carscierge started only back in June of this year, and really started to trade in July. July and August were not too bad but this month has absolutely run away with itself.
‘Ironically enough, for some of the cars that I’ve bought and turned around in a day, I’ve moved away from the retail rating.
‘I bought a Renault Scenic, which had a 61 rating. I bought it on the Friday and that was gone the Saturday morning.
‘I’ve had a couple of things that have been in the 60s, and they’ve gone near enough straight away. So I’ve strayed away from the rating, and it seems to have paid off this month.’
‘Serve people, don’t sell to them’
Pickett says that prior to hearing about The Clever Car Collection, he had lacked the confidence to step out from Arnold Clark and run his own business.
However, he now believes that the teachings he picked up from the Scottish dealer group have been vital to making a success of his latest venture.
Speaking to Baggott on the podcast, he added: ‘To be honest, it’s only ever been down to one thing, and that’s lack of confidence.
‘A lack of confidence to think that I just wouldn’t make it work if I did it alone. I did relatively well for myself at Arnold Clark, again, not coming from a sales background, but I found I was good with people and a very open, transparent, honest person.
‘My videos are very detailed and I’ve always been the type of person who wants to serve people as opposed to sell to them, which was a line that was given to me from AC. It was only ever just lack of confidence.
‘I saw what you [James] were doing and I thought, “Okay, this guy has got the industry background, but from a journalist perspective, not from actually being a used car dealer”, but you’ve gone into it.
‘You’ve made use of resources like ChatGPT, which I’ve used to write wording on my website and stuff like that and I’ve seen you do it.
‘It sounds like a bit of a fanboy speech here, which it’s not, so apologies, but it really has been following you that has tipped me over and given me the confidence to say, “Right, go for it, do it properly, be honest, and don’t deviate from your ethos of who you are and see if you can make it work.”
‘So far, it’s been okay!’
The Car Dealer Podcast, sponsored by Carwow, sees an industry guest join our hosts to discuss the motor trade’s biggest headlines of every week.
A full list of the stories discussed on this week’s episode can be found here.
You can listen to all episodes of the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
