Cars are definitely in the Sangster clan’s blood. Melissa Sangster hasbeen in the car game most of her working life after buying an accessories business from her father.

Sangster now owns All Vehicle Accessories, with two showrooms in Melbourne and one on the Gold Coast. Her brother Scott runs her Queensland business, while Sangster focuses on operations in South Melbourne and Thomastown. As the business name suggests, it stocks and fits quality accessories for all types of vehicles. The list is exhaustive, but products include bull bars, tow bars, child seats, ski and snowboard racks, fog lights, bicycle carriers and canopies. You get the picture. All Vehicle Accessories cater for clients driving passenger cars, commercial vans, utilities and 4 Wheel Drives. New and used car dealerships account for 80 per cent of Sangster’s business while retail customers generate the other 20 per cent.

“I love the car game,” Sangster says. “I’m passionate about it. It’s a tough industry, but if you do it right, it can be so rewarding in many aspects. It brings you in contact with so many people and I enjoy working with people. And what I’ve learned through good and tough times is that you have to have fun. Too many people work at what they don’t enjoy and performance suffers because of it.”  What Sangster has also learned is to employ staff with drive – those who share her outlook and commitment. “I have 20 staff and 10 have been with me for more 10 years,” she says. Now, that says something about what it’s like to work for All Vehicle Accessories. Sangster says she withdrew from studying a physical education course to focus on business. “I believed I would make a better sales woman than a teacher,” she says. So why should motorists buy from All Vehicle Accessories rather than the opposition? Sangster replies: “Because we stock the best brands, sell at the cheapest prices and offer fast reliable service.” She knows how to sell.

Point two. Sangster says a key to business success is to figure out “what you’re not good at” and hire someone who is. Skilled employees make for smoother sailing and enable the proprietor to work on the business as opposed to in it. She also believes it’s important that businesses belong to an industry association that act in the best interests of members. An industry body must be active and fiercely represent its membership on any issue that’s likely to have an impact on the industry. Sangster belongs to the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association, which she says is actively across the issues and offers good value in an industry subjected to stringent and often changing regulations.

Also, what is changing the nature of doing business on an almost daily basis is technology, and Sangster says making the most of the digital age not only enhances prospects, but can dramatically cut business costs. She says she no longer spends $80,000 a year on Yellow Pages advertising when her website can achieve the desired results. “All our marketing is now online and the beauty of it is you can tweak it anytime you want,” she says. “With the snow season now upon us, we use our website to market the relevant accessories motorists might need before they go on their journey. Business is about keeping up with the trends.

”And business is good, according to Sangster, but it can always be better. “We have been in the car accessories business for a long time so experience counts for a lot,” she says. “We have built strong long-term relationships with our customers so we act each in each other’s best interests. But over the years, I must say that I’ve had some good mentors.”

All Vehicle Accessories
107 Northgate Drive
Thomastown VIC 3074
1300 133 353

166 Buckhurst St
South Melbourne VIC 3205
1300 133 353

www.allvehicleaccessories.com.au

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author: Story researched and written by finance journalist Anthony Black, of BlackMedia. For further information email: anthonyblack3@bigpond.com or 0418 54 3330. 

Anthony Black, is a long standing journalist, having worked in newspapers for more than 20 years. He was finance editor of the Sunday Herald Sun for eight years and his work was published in News Limited newspapers across Australia. As a freelance writer, Black has interviewed and written exclusive and extensive stories on Gerry Harvey, of Harvey Norman, NAB and Woodside Petroleum chairman Michael Chaney, Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond, Boost Juice founder Janine Allis, tyre magnate Bob Jane and Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder. His reports can be read on finance website thebull.com.au and in business magazine, INTHEBLACK, a trademark of CPA Australia, which is also online.