Practical Ecommerce Features Motor Book Store Founder

Luis Hernandez, Jr., the owner and CEO of auto repair manual provider The Motor Bookstore, was recently interviewed by Practical eCommerce as part of their “Lessons Learned” series.

Hernandez first put up The Motor Bookstore back in 1995 and the initial service was basically an electronic counterpart of a motor bike repair and restoration magazine. Using this medium, he was able to sell some motorcycle books and then this retailing aspect just grew from that starting point. Hernandez managed to break into the e-commerce part of his business in 1997.

Hernandez fondly looks back on his first sale using the then-new e-commerce platform (which was still named MotorcycleBooks.com): “I still remember setting up the site, which was fairly easy through Viaweb,”Hernandez says. “The first order came in that same day, in the evening. I sold a Ducati book — MotorcycleBooks.com was a real business.”

The DeBary, FL-Based company grew enough to accommodate automotive-related material and books as well by 2002. That was when it became TheMotorBookstore.com. An estimated gross revenue of $2.2M was hauled in by the company in 2007, at its peak. Last year, the site grossed some $1.5 million in revenue.

“When we first started the magazine online, it was me, my ex-wife and one part-time employee. It was a little challenging of course financially, but since I am the kind of person who escrows for pretty much everything, I always had enough to cover all expenses and even save some money for future projects. That's how I was able to purchase my first office.

“We kept growing and at one point we had six employees. We’re now reduced down to four. As far as management, I subscribe to the theory of hiring tough and firing easy. We are like a family, where everyone is respected and allowed to do their job. Our people contribute to our goals because they know what we're about. The golden rule I've always had is to hire nice people. We can teach anyone how to sell technical automotive books, but we cannot teach them to be nice. That's something you learn at home.”

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Online Repair Manuals: Bikes and ATVs

Cars, SUVs and trucks aren’t the only ones that have online repair manuals. If you own a bike or an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or a utility terrain vehicle (UTV), you can also avail of many online vehicle repair manuals for your specific machine.

While online repair manuals for motorcycles and ATVs may not seem as common as those of their more illustrious counterparts, but the truth is that there are many sites out there that you can use to gain information on various topics relating to the repair and servicing of your bike or quad.

Just like with automobiles, you can also find free online repair manuals for your motorcycle. These bike repair manuals and ATV repair manuals offer a good resource for your DIY and repair efforts, and the best part is you don’t have to pay a single cent to access the manuals via subscription or to download PDF files of actual manuals. An example here again is a web site that we’ve discussed before: FixYa, which has a motorcycle category.

While bikes and quads may have systems that are less complicated compared to cars, some issues can still be tricky to figure out and solve. That’s where online manuals come in. Just grab your laptop or turn on your PC, then log on to the Internet and you’ll have ready access to troubleshooting procedures and suggested fixes.

Whether you’re driving a top-of-the-line Harley or going off-road on your ATV, getting an online repair manual is a great way to ensure that any future repair or maintenance tasks can be accomplished easier, faster and with less hassle. With reliable workshop manuals and repair manuals to guide you and help you in tough situations, going the DIY route can prove to be much more fun and fulfilling. Plus, you get to shave off all those expensive repair costs by doing tasks yourself.