Small Business Stories - Dr. Performance

Alex Fees: I’m Alex Fees with sbtv.com coming to you from the Las Vegas Convention Center at SEMA 2007 that’s Specialty Equipment Market Association. With me is Kenny Laughlin. Kenny, are you the owner? Kenny Laughlin: President, CEO. Alex Fees: Both? Kenny Laughlin: All of the above. Alex Fees: Dr. Performance. Kenny Laughlin: Yes, sir. Alex Fees: Kenny, you’re not from around here, right? Kenny Laughlin: No, I’m not. Alex Fees: We’re joking about his accent. What is Dr. Performance? What do you do? How it just come to be? Kenny Laughlin: Well, it’s a long story how it came to be. We’re a module manufacturing basis performance enhancement for diesel engines. That’s all that what we do. We make them run better, more efficient. The way I got involved to the business of I’ve all been a drag racer, a tractor puller. Alex Fees: Oh. Kenny Laughlin: Yes, sir. The company came for sale about four to five months ago. I’ve only owned it about four to five months. I’ve got a background in that in the racing industry. I’ve been racing for about 25 years and it was just kind of natural when I came available for sale. I end up buying the complete business to build in the land everything. Actually my son works for me. He is 19 years old going to college and it was just kind of a natural looking for something that he’ll be interested in and it was a good mix. Alex Fees: And you guys are located in or your home is Morgan Mill, Texas? Kenny Laughlin: Yes sir, Morgan Mill, Texas. Alex Fees: But Dr. Performance is in Weatherford, Texas. Kenny Laughlin: Weatherford, right in the interstate 20 right at the Fort Worth. Alex Fees: Okay, right after the Fort Worth, Texas. Kenny Laughlin: Yes sir, about 60 miles in the Fort Worth, 100 miles out of Dallas. Alex Fees: What about a website? Is your Dr. Performance website? Kenny Laughlin: Yes sir, drperformance.com Alex Fees: So like drperformance without the period. Kenny Laughlin: That’s correct. Alex Fees: drperformance.com Kenny Laughlin: Yes, sir. Alex Fees: All about performance. Kenny Laughlin: Not necessarily that’s our key right now we’ve got a race team, we have a vehicle pro truck we’re the current DHRA world record holder. Alex Fees: Oh, wow! Kenny Laughlin: And we’ve also just in it’s —. Alex Fees: What is the record? Kenny Laughlin: 820, a 165 miles an hour. Alex Fees: My! Kenny Laughlin: And we’ve got a dragster We put our diesel engine. It is also here at the SEMA Show. We’ve only need one or two passes and yet down at Houston it’s a new rig. Our take on this is our racing background leaves us into a lot of other avenues of this. We specialized in the comings of a Dodge engine if you will. And we still provide other services for the Ford and Chevrolet, but we actually specialize in Dodge right now. Alex Fees: Four to five months you say you’ve been President and CEO? Kenny Laughlin: Yes sir. Alex Fees: What are you doing a year ago? Kenny Laughlin: Well, I’ve own a good different basis. My background is machining. I’m owned the CNC Machine Shop and Engineering Firm then I know all the gas business in Texas and of course I still drag race I’ve always done that. The engineering part of it led me into the building and then the development on these, the modules. We’ve really changed a lot since I’ve taken the company over. Alex Fees: Yeah. Kenny Laughlin: A whole new product line actually. Alex Fees: Well, Kenny with machining or drag racing, do you have a history at SEMA? Kenny Laughlin: Now sir I don’t, I really don’t. Alex Fees: First time ever? Kenny Laughlin: I’ve actually been to the SEMA Show, but first time I’ve ever been here as an exhibitor. Alex Fees: Oh, I see. Kenny Laughlin: I’ve been in the PRS Show those kinds of things, but for a SEMA Show the first time I’ve actually been an exhibitor. Alex Fees: Well, talk to me about the difference between just simply attending a SEMA Show and actually being one of the venders or exhibitors. Kenny Laughlin: Well, it’s totally different. You know you come here with a different attitude. When you come as an exhibitor, you want to get in touch with of course like the customers, the dealers, even the individuals explaining what you do, why your part is better, what differentiates from your competitor. It’s really a unique opportunity you get to see so many people on the short amount of time. Alex Fees: Yeah. Kenny Laughlin: And they all are here for a reason. They are not just stumbling into you know they actually came here looking for something. Alex Fees: Oh, definitely. Kenny Laughlin: So it’s really a unique group of people to be around. Alex Fees: You’ve got a well educated audience. Kenny Laughlin: Yes, sir. Yes, sir and a good class of people. I mean you just try to look whose here and it’s whose who of the industry, really is. Alex Fees: And a couple of dozen of them I think Kenny Laughlin: Oh, my gosh. I can’t believe it. Alex Fees: You’re the President and CEO, was here earlier they’ve been emphasizing quality recently at SEMA, but the numbers keep growing, quantity more and more and more. Kenny Laughlin: I’ve seen that, actually I’ve been here for several years and I just can’t believe every year I look up and it’s like you can’t explain it. You go back home and tell somebody you’ve got to experience it. You really got to experience it. Alex Fees: Alright, Kenny, thank you very much. Kenny Laughlin: Yes sir. Thank you. Alex Fees: He is Kenny Laughlin. He is Dr. Performance. I’m Alex Fees. You’re watching SBTV.com.