How Do Auto Dealer 20 Groups Work?

Sam Parr says auto dealer 20 groups work by charging dealers a yearly fee to meet in small noncompeting groups and compare profit and loss statements line by line.

He believes the groups started in the 70s under the National Automotive Dealer Association. A dealer applies, pays something like six or eight grand a year, and joins a group of 24 people who are not in the same region. Members fly to the same city three times a year. Each person brings a profit and loss statement, sits with 20 others, and explains it line by line. Peers copy what is working or say what to change. The groups later opened to founders of HVAC companies, marina owners, and boat repair shops. Parr guesses the business probably does 13 to 15 million dollars a year, based on the member dues and the listed price. The website looks horribly marketed, and he does not expect the organizers to run ads. The organization says it has been running for 100 years.

The opportunity he sees is to copy the peer group, run it a little better, buy ads, and aim it at a less competitive field such as dentist practices or lawyers, where the average person makes a million dollars a year in take-home income.