Driven Motorsport

WITH JON LANGHAN

Can you tell us the history of your business?

I started Driven Motorsport in 2005 as a car club. I was in my apprenticeship, it was just a group of mates that I caught up, went for drives and entered car shows with.

It grew pretty quickly. I started doing after-hours work and my name and reputation started to grow, especially within the performance Mitsubishi community. I continued working after hours whilst in other full-time work with other workshops, pit crewing and lecturing Automotive for TAFE SA.

In 2012 I made the choice to leave the secure teaching role and took the business full-time as an owner operator. Looking back now, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing in terms of running a business, I made a lot of mistakes. I've slowly grown the business, ensuring that each step was a calculated risk and never 'running before I could walk', making sure I stayed at low to no debt in the business.

Many late nights, endless stress, tears and much uncertainty, along with lots of small wins, eventually brings us to 2022, which marks a decade of Driven Motorsport! We now operate on a four-week lead time for service and maintenance work and approximately 10 months for larger scale performance builds and projects.

We have a strong reputation with Mitsubishi Evo, STi and the Subaru range, Nissan S and R chassis, Mazda MPS, Hyundai i30N and the Toyota GR range. It's a really cool feeling to reflect on where I've come from to what we have now - an in-demand, respected, sustainable, profitable business keeping five employees happy, well paid and growing their skill set.

We've come a very long way and have only just found our legs, we've got our best years ahead of us.

What services/products do you offer?

We specialise in maintaining, modifying and tuning Japanese performance vehicles, working mostly with enthusiasts. We carry out general maintenance and logbook servicing, engine and drivetrain rebuilds, engine/ brake/suspension modifications, engineering, fabrication, track preparation and support, dyno tuning and performance parts sales.

How many employees do you currently have and what areas do they work in?

We have five full-time staff: a general manager (myself), one office manager and three techs.

Why did you become a member of the MTA?

I became a member of the MTA because I felt we needed support and information in regard to our rights and entitlements within the industry and dealings with our customers. Thankfully we haven't had to lean on MTA much, but I know that when we do, they're there. Knowing that there is professional advice geared toward industry is great peace of mind.

What have been the greatest challenges in 2020-2022 and how have you responded?

2020-current has been incredibly difficult. A lot of the performance parts we use are sourced from 'small' production companies in Australia, USA, Japan and New Zealand. Parts supply has been a large issue causing significant delays.

We're experiencing large delays in machining and heavy fabrication also, but do our best to schedule around that. Thankfully we have patient and understanding customers and have been able to remain open, with only a few closures from personal choice.

The close contact and COVID isolation rules have made scheduling very difficult. We implemented our own management plan early on which has worked quite well. I really have adopted the 'it is what it is' mentality since COVID kicked off.

How do you market your business?

We utilise social media, netting solid customer engagement. As we work mostly with enthusiasts we find that social media is the best way to target existing and new clients. We are a small outfit and already booked out, we don't need to advertise as we already can't keep up. We are at an interesting stage as demand is trying to force the business to grow but in order to grow we need a larger workshop to fit more staff. However, I'm not sure I want that. I love the recipe we have at the moment, I can engage meaningfully with my customers and each staff member.

What are the factors – including personal traits and business factors - that have contributed to your success?

I believe I owe Driven's success to my drive, ethics, accountability and desire to always do the best I can, for Driven and my customers. I believe consistency and communication is paramount. In terms of business, I have a good relationship with my accountant and planner and often seek advice from mentors. I have ensured we diversify, with strong knowledge in popular marques to not have all our eggs in one basket but not diversify so far that we are spread too thin.

Does your business help the local community in any way?

We regularly sponsor local racing events, individual drivers and car shows.

How did you get into the motor trade?

I started my trade due to my interest in cars when I was 18 after finishing high school. I was employed by MTA-GTS and hosted to Portside Mitsubishi under David Court. He was a good boss, I guess he saw something in me and gave me some good opportunities.

What do you enjoy most about working in the retail automotive industry (and do you have a favourite memory)?

This job is incredibly difficult but having a great team around me and having my dogs at work definitely makes the days easier. We've got a great workshop environment. Some of my best memories, as cliche as it sounds, is reaching the customer’s goals and having them happily crying on handover.

One of my best memories is a pretty recent one, when a new customer came in after having a horrific experience with another workshop on his Skyline. We were able to turn a traumatic experience around for him and literally have him lost for words, smiling from ear to ear and being so thankful when he picked up his dream car. I'm very proud of what we do here at Driven. I thoroughly enjoy planning and executing a build to the exact spec and result that the client is after... getting paid for it is pretty good too!

Any hobbies or pursuits outside of work?

Driven is always so full on and, as I get older, I have realised you need to step away and clear the head. I love 4wding, touring and camping with my partner and the dogs. Just peace and quiet whilst exploring, there's nothing more relaxing. I also love what we do, so I enjoy building my own cars. I own a few Evo's and an STi that I'm always planning and working on in the background. I enjoy circuit racing and Time Attack, currently building an Evo 6 which should be pretty quick and showcase the results that can be had on a modest budget.

Any other comments?

Working with enthusiasts can be incredibly difficult but also immensely rewarding. They aren't like 'non-car' people who only care about the cost and that the car works. Enthusiasts notice everything, they're informed (sometimes ill-informed thanks to mates and the internet), they're particular, anxious and can be very full on. They add a lot of stress to the job.

The other side of that coin is that they see and appreciate the work we do and they're happy to pay well for quality work. To be trusted to work with enthusiasts and their most prized possessions brings a good level of job satisfaction and pushes us to do our best with each job and allows us to constantly expand our skill set and work with new technologies.

Jon Langhan (pictured centre) with the Driven Motorsport team.