As we all know buying a car can be very expensive. Whether you lease, buy or purchase a used one, the process of becoming a car owner can be tedious and pricey. As much as many of us would love to own our dream cars one day, the reality is, owning a car isn’t a privilege everyone will get to experience.
Thanks to the PTG365 dealerships located around the U.S. owning a car just got a little easier.
PTG365 which stands for
Prices Too Good 365 (days of the year) was founded by Brandon Medford, Dave Obaseki, and Eric Whitehead. With more than 10 years of experience in the automobile industry, respectively, these three men decided to combine their skill sets and create a dealership dedicated to those suffering with bad credit. The automotive dealership specializes in luxury car rentals as well as aims to help families purchase their own dream cars, regardless of their own financial status.
What makes PTG365 such a unique experience is that unlike many other dealerships, this one has direct relationships with car manufacturers as well as banks nationwide, making the car buying experience an effortless one.
“We have contracts with multiple manufacturers and multiple dealerships throughout the country, so the pricing that we get is a couple of thousand below of what the dealership owns the car for. We’re able to get our price very low and still give the customer a great price, which is less than average pricing, and still be able to make a profit at the same time,” Medford says.
As for those suffering with bad credit or low-income, PTG365 has got them covered too, with a number of alternative options and solutions to help with their future finances.
“We offer many different services for all automobile needs during the automobile buying process. We are a one-stop shop where we offer services such as credit repair, credit restoration, new car sales, pre-owned car sales, auto insurance, and financial education services,” Medford says.
Since launching PTG365 in 2017, this dealership has garnered thousands of clients nationwide ranging from everyday people to your favorite celebrities. Initially holding headquarters in their hometown of New York, in just one year PTG365 has expanded cross country with offices now in Florida, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
We spoke with founders Brandon Medford, Dave Obaseki, and Eric Whitehead, where they got candid about the automotive industry, and shared their own secrets to building a million dollar business.
Take us through the beginning stages of founding PTG365. What was the experience like building an automotive business from the ground up?
Dave Obaseki: PTG365 was founded in November 2017. We all met for the first time in Los Angeles. We decided that us making other people richer made no sense with our wisdom and drive and that the time we spent build others companies could be spent building our own. Building from the grown up having get the trust of clients and the trust of banks was tough in the beginning but we never stopped believing in the process and ourselves.
Eric Whitehead : It started with courage. I had to take a leap of faith from a comfortable paying job to follow my dreams. It became long hours, countless nights of no sleep, constant frustration, a lot of setbacks, I lost a lot of friends and even some relatives who didn’t see nor support my vision. Building a company from the ground up is like nurturing a baby from birth. It also takes a lot of patience. You’re going to hit walls and learn how not to ever hit them again.
Brandon Medford: PTG365 started with a small conversation about our lives and our work ethics for the major companies we all worked for at that time. After talking about all of our achievements at a young age, we realized that we didn’t have anything concrete to show for it. Besides the nice materialistic things. What do we really have? We don’t have the legacy, we don’t have our name on the door, we have nothing. So it’s time to turn that nothing into something.
Being three individually successful businessmen, how is it working side by side? What does the day in the life of PTG365 look like?
Obaseki: Working side by side with each other we learn how to endure things and learn from each other. Keep in mind it’s three dominant men who understand that listening to one another only brings out the greater good. A normal day in the at PTG365 is a lot—there’s thousands of clients who need assistance. We have our body shop that also needs to have eyes on it at all times, our credit repair service is through the roof and requires 100 percent of our attention. We are thankful for one another because we help each other watch over each department.
Whitehead: Being three individual men owning a business would normally sound difficult but in our case it’s not bad at all. We all have totally different personalities and I think the fact that there are three of us and it being an odd number plays a major role in the business as well, there’s always a mediator in any business situation. When it comes to a decision if two of the partners agree the third is automatically included, and vice versa if two of the partners disagrees with a decision, it’s a dead deal.
Medford: From that day on we put our heads together and decided to join forces to win and make a difference. Very similar to what the Miami heat did in 2010 when they had the Big Three [LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh]. It wasn’t easy at all, especially being three young minorities without major start-up capital. I think the hardest part was putting our egos aside and understanding our new roles as leaders. It’s hard to do things your way for the past 10 years and switch that style immediately.
What is your favorite part about PTG365?
Obaseki: The joy I get from clients getting approved and riding in cars they thought they could never have makes me work harder everyday.
Whitehead: My favorite part of PTG365 are the “Monster Deal Alerts.” The rush you get from finalizing an approval for a customer, completing insurance, and then delivering the car to the clients location of choice feels amazing! It’s that element of a surprise where a customer actually sees the car of their dreams arriving right to their doorstep without any hassle not only makes the customer feels good it makes me feel good.
Medford: There’s not one word I can use to describe PTG365, everyday is something different, everyday a life is being changed, everyday there’s a new goal being reached, everyday is a movie and everyday is a blessing. My favorite part about PTG365 is knowing that I have a positive effect on someone’s life everyday. Knowing that because I love what I do can change someone’s life for the better. That’s the most amazing feeling ever.
What would you say is the secret to building a thriving million dollar business?
Obaseki: There honestly isn’t any secret… work hard, focus, sacrifice, and don’t take no for an answer. These are simple [notions] everybody is equipped with but don’t use. Once you use your tools and train your mind the world is yours.
Whitehead: Honestly, I wouldn’t say there’s a secret in building a million dollar business, I’d say just follow your dreams and the money will follow! Money shouldn’t be the goal, the goal should be success. The money should just be a way to keep score.
Medford: There’s no secret to building a million dollar business. The same way it takes you to build a 100,000 business is the same way it’s going to take you to build a million dollar business. The ingredients are hard work, dedication, always learning, and never letting your foot off the gas.
Statistics show only 6 percent of nearly 18,000 dealerships are minority-owned within the U.S., as Black men how have those numbers impacted your pursuit in building PTG365?
Obaseki: We will always go through adversity being minorities and being young. We have tough skin so when we know what to expect we respond differently. We are African-American men that alone in America is a task in itself. But quitting has never been in my vocabulary.
Whitehead: Being an African-American male in a lower percentile of owning a dealership motivates and pushes me to become more successful and show other African-Americans it can be done and that there isn’t any excuse. Everyone has the same 24 hours no matter your skin complexion or nationality.
Medford: Knowing that minorities only own 6 percent of automotive dealerships in the U.S. hurts, but we believe it’s up to us to help change those numbers by opening eyes for other minorities across the county. That more than anything is motivation enough.
For young/future entrepreneurs what would be your advice to them?
Obaseki: My advice for my future entrepreneurs out there is very simple, to make it in life you have to do what the average person doesn’t do, you have to be mentally prepared for every obstacle that comes your way because remember success will forever take a jab at you but when it does take it on the chin and keep fighting.
Whitehead: When opportunity knocks at your door, kick the door down and force your way in. Don’t ever let anyone down play your dreams. [No] dream is too big. Not everyone will see your vision but that’s completely fine it’s your vision so you fuel your own fire until everyone notices and want to stand around your heat.
Medford: My advice to young entrepreneurs is to keep going, follow your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything.
