Why Godwin Motors got started and why it is still in business after 26 years.

There is no need to kid ourselves, all businesses share a commonality and that is to make money.  All good businesses make money and the ones that don't are not around for long.  This concept of making money and being self-reliant is the reason most people start a business.  Some businesses are born of necessity and others by sheer luck.  My father, Ed Godwin, shared the view of most entrepreneurs:   I can do this task much better than the guy I'm working for and I can serve my potential customers much better than the other guy.  These beliefs lead to my father to strike out on his own in 1985, selling cars was in his blood and he believed he knew a better way to do it and he did.   Making money lures many in to business but before long you come to understand that the relationships you develop with your customers are what makes you stay in business.  This is not only what keeps you in business but it is what makes you come to work when times get  tough.  Twenty-six years is a long time and we see 3rd generation customers on many occasions and I think that is what has made Godwin Motors remain when others have failed.  Relationships my father developed from day one and the relationships we have continued to cultivate and create today have made us stronger.  The customers we serve have allowed us to be in business for 26 years and if we continue to serve them well hopefully we will be in business as long as we desire to remain.  

How our family got in the Car Business

My family has been in the car business since 1960.  My grandfather, Chalmers Godwin, was born in Summerton, SC and graduated from Clemson A&M with an agriculture degree in the late 1940's. During college he left school and volunteered to serve in WWII. He spent three years as a member of General Eisenhower's royal guard in Northern Africa and Italy.  After his graduation from Clemson, he became an agriculture teacher in Branchville, SC.  After just a couple of years teaching he decided that was not the career for him and he went to work for McLaughlin Ford in Sumter, SC.  After several years as General Manager, he was asked to join as part owner.  He then received an opportunity from Ford Motor Company to purchase the Ford dealership in Winnsboro, SC in 1972 and reopened it as Godwin Ford.  My father, Ed Godwin, was sixteen at the time and was very interested in the car business. He started working for my grandfather as a salesman and at 19 became manager.  Godwin Ford stayed open for a little more than a decade, but shut its doors in 1982 at the height of the recession.  My father continued to work for various Ford stores until he decided to open an independent dealership, Godwin Motors Inc., in Columbia. SC in October of 1985.  Godwin Motors hit the ground running and has never looked back.  My father put in very long hours for many years ensuring his business would succeed.  Twenty-six years later I think we can say he did a good job!

My Car Business Education

Since my family has been in the car business since 1960, they have a lot to pass down.  I started in a play pen on the showroom floor of Godwin Ford in Winnsboro, SC in about 1979.  I started watching my father and grandfather from the very beginning learning every little thing I could about cars and selling cars.  I worked in the summers from about age 10 on up and when I got my driver’s license I was at the dealership every spare moment I had.  I learned first how to work on cars and what made them go.  I think this is the most important part because you can’t sell someone a good car if you don’t know that it is a good car.  Secondly, I learned how to interact with customers and help them decide what they need.  This is the key to selling your customer the best car for them and their family and lastly, the most important aspect of any business, Customer Service.  When I decided I was going to attend the University of SC in the fall of 1996, I also decided that I would continue to work as much as I could as well as attend college full-time.  This was great for me and for business.  I learned even more and started building relationships with customers and vendors.  After graduation in the spring on 2000 I went to work full-time at Godwin Motors and for the last 11 years I have been learning more and more each day from my father, my customers, and many of my peers in the car industry.  I have also had the chance of serving on the Executive Committee of the Carolina Independent Automobile Association.  This has been very educational as well, learning from some of the brightest in the car industry and helping to shape new dealers and the way they buy and sell cars.   

Why am I writing this blog about cars? What do I know?

I figured since I was starting to write a blog about the car business, I should give you a little back ground as to who I am and some insight into my experience over the past 15 years- both professionally and personally - working and operating my family’s car business, Godwin Motors, Inc.  I am, Luke Godwin, a 32 year old male who has been the general manager of Godwin Motors for close to 10 years.  I am a proud graduate of the University of South Carolina class of 2000.  My father, Ed Godwin, founded Godwin Motors in 1985 in the great city of Columbia SC.  We specialize in selling Pre-Owned Automobiles; we have a unique advantage over most dealerships because we finance our cars to the consumer.  Reading this blog will give you an advantage over most car shoppers because I you will receive many years worth of car buying and car maintenance education along with the car buying tips I plan to provide you..... so check back each week; I will give you a new insight into buying, selling, financing or maintaining your car or new car in 2011!

PS-There may even be giveaways!