NS4L

Collin

Founder of NS4L

Entrepreneur
Founder, NS4L
COLLINAUSTIN.COM

#BOOM

Get to know Collin…

Out of all things, you based your business around SCOOTERS. Why?

When opportunity knocks, you better jump up and open the door. In 2004, I was a student that would sit at the bus stop and wait for a bus to pick me up for school. This bus would pass by with the words FULL BUS across the front top of it. After this happened to me enough times, I realized that something had to be done about this problem. Going through that headache again and again and having the stars align with one of my friends (and previous business partner), led to the birth of New Scooters 4 Less.

What are you most proud NS4L moments?

Wow!  There are so many, but anytime I hear a team member tell someone of why they love working at NS4L or when I see a team member post up on their status about how lucky they are to work in an environment where ‘team’ is exemplified in every sense of the word.  I often see someone post a Facebook status saying that they left work feeling inspired or they felt fulfilled by an event happening earlier that day.  Those are the moments that make me proud and keep me fueled to try and change the world!

How would you describe NS4L’s culture?

There is nothing more important in any business than CULTURE. It defines who you are. In an interview recently, I was asked about how we built such an amazing culture and the interviewer mentioned that, “NS4L is so well-known for it’s culture.” I got the biggest smile on my face. I feel we have accomplished something great because our company is known for its CULTURE!

We built NS4L for one purpose and that was to help people get to and from at their convenience on affordable, high quality transportation.  It didn’t take long for us to realize that our purpose was much greater.  We believe in small business and entrepreneurship and that NS4L is simply a TOOL to help others.  Our culture was originally built by our team around 3 key principles: Service, Integrity, and Quality. Our vision? We SIQ (pronounced SEEK) to be the most trusted, go-to, scooter dealership in existence and to revolutionize the scooter industry through our values, innovation, and by creating the ultimate customer experience. As our company has evolved, we have built our entire company around our top core value: Create and Re-Create the Ultimate Customer Experience. #UCE

There is not a business that has such a wide-variety of positions and people as NS4L. We have 20-yr-olds, 60-yr-olds, guys, girls, mechanics, salespeople, etc. It is such a diverse group, but we cherish our differences. We are one giant family and it is incredible to see this group come together and click on all cylinders to provide great service for our customers. We all pride ourselves on knowing that most of our business comes from referrals.

It’s exciting, fun, outgoing, and sometimes loud. It’s full of decor, lights, beanbags, and color. It’s full of randomness, baseball caps, horrible fake accents, and more. It’s US!

What is your favorite NS4L Core Value?

NS4L Core Value #1: Create and Re-Create the UCE – Ultimate Customer Experience! (If you couldn’t already tell). This core value represents everything about NS4L. If we continue to create and then re-create the customer experience so that every customer has an amazing experience each and every time they come back, then only an incredible future will await NS4L! Great Team & Customer Service → Incredible Culture & Customer Experiences → Success.

What inspires you?

A person’s drive. I love meeting people and building relationships and when I meet someone who is passionate about what they are doing in life, it is so inspiring. I often remember a person’s story and will share it in order to inspire others! Get out there and do what you love and then tell me all about it because THAT will inspire me! 🙂

What should you stop doing? What is holding you back and occupying too much of your time?

Good question! I know that I need to stop doing the day-to-day tasks and focus on the bigger picture. There are lots of projects and things in the works that would really accelerate NS4L to a new level and I often get wrapped up in the day-to-day tasks that my amazing team are perfectly capable of being rockstars at. For example: I LOVE selling scooters. I love building that relationship with customers, but I have a team that can do the same thing. I need to let them so I can focus on other stuff. This is difficult because the customers have personal relationships with me and they want me to help them, but I have to work on communicating and developing the relationships between the customers and the rest of the team, so the customer feels comfortable in knowing that anyone on this team can help them.

Donald Trump was the king of “You’re Fired”, Heidi Klum took a fashionable piece of her German heritage with “You’re Out, Auf Wiedersehen”, and The Sharks deliver the gut punching response “I’m out”. A good catch phrase is necessary. Sticking along the same lines of reality shows. If you had a reality competition what would be your catch phrase?

BOOM!

What’s your favorite quote?

I have so many! I can’t pick just one, so here are a few good ones for you…

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” – Dory, Finding Nemo

“Leadership is getting others to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” I believe Eisenhower originally said it, but I heard it from Norm Brodsky at a leadership conference I attended and it really stuck to me.

Another quote that really stuck with me came from Philip McCaleb, the previous CEO of Genuine Scooter Co. in a conversation we once had. He told me, “Every customer that walks through the door is business to be earned or a lesson to be learned.” Nothing more true than that!

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Phillippians 4:13, NIV

A recent favorite… “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Colossians 4:4-5, NIV