40 Under 40 honoree shares expansion and employee satisfaction tips  

Nick’s Powersports of Dickeyville, Wisconsin, was acquired last March by Hawkeye Boat & RV Sales. The new owners, Ryan and Jeff Becker had shown interest in the dealership in previous years and were excited to acquire their first powersports dealership after Nick Leibfried, the dealership’s former owner, reached out to them.  

“We’ve always been into the lifestyle of the powersports industry and wanted to get more involved in the business side of it,” says Ryan Becker. “It fit well with our boat and RV dealerships also.” He and his brother, Jeff Becker, now own three Hawkeye locations and hope to expand their reach in the powersports industry. “I think that will be our next step forward, but not immediately,” he says.  

The acquisition of Nick’s Powersports led to a smooth and natural addition to the Hawkeye group portfolio. “We’re passionate about the product and [the dealership] seemed like a great fit for what we already do,” Becker says. “For years we were big fans of Can-Am and Ski-Doo. In the past few years, we have seen growth in the [powersports] marketplace, especially side-by-sides. Even before that, we were still interested in the snowmobile and ATV business.” Not to mention that, according to Becker, “selling fun is fun.”  

He shares that Nick’s Powersports was well run by the former owner, so after the acquisition, he evaluated the team’s routine and processes with an open mind and today, best practices from each location are implemented within all the Hawkeye stores.   

From discomfort to growth   

Former owner Nick Leibfried is now the general manager of Nick’s Powersports and manages a team of about 16. He grew up riding dirt bikes and four wheelers and became a regular customer at the Click Cycles dealership. He started working at the dealership as a senior in high school and 12 years later, Leibfried bought the Can-Am and Ski-Doo dealership. He renamed the business Nick’s Powersports and added the Lynx line.   

His wife Jessica Leibfried, also worked at the dealership as the finance manager until about two years ago. Leibfried explains that he enjoyed working with her because they were always striving for the same outcome. “You have more people looking out for the dealership,” he says about working with a spouse. “You have more passion in the business. Working with your spouse all day is nice, it’s easier to look over things, and, as a whole, is very good.” 

Leibfried explains that as a business owner “Finances are always on the back of your mind, but you have to put them aside and run your business. That’s why it was nice having my wife up here. She would watch that for me, and I would run the business.”  

As a business owner for almost 10 years, Leibfried honed his leadership skills and learned the importance of patience when working with both employees and customers. Along with patience, he explains that open-mindedness is a necessary practice. “I think you always have to listen to everyone’s opinion,” he says. 

He put these practices into action and listened to the advice of fellow industry peers when he moved Nick’s Powersports to a new location in October of 2021. Nick’s Powersports was relocated to a 21,000-square-foot building with highway frontage about half of a mile from its former location, which was about 6,000 square feet. He bought an industrial park and developed part of it for the new location. After building the new facility, he sold all but about 15 acres of the park, assuring room for the dealership to grow in the future.  

While this period of growth was uncomfortable for Leibfried, “I wish we would have done it three years sooner,” he says. “Everybody kept telling us, between vendors and OEMs, that ‘if you build, it’s worth it. We’ve never had anybody regret it.’ I was nervous about spending that amount of money, no doubt, but they were 100 percent right. Kind of like the saying, ‘If you build it, they will come.’”  

“We’re a pretty small community,” he continues, “and we had people coming in who didn’t even know that we existed in our old location. I would highly recommend anybody thinking about doing it – do it. It’s worth it.”  

Support and trust within the dealership   

The Nick’s Powersports team gathers outside of work often, whether to attend an event to support a co-worker’s child or simply to hang out. “The biggest thing for us up here is, we have a tight group of workers. Everyone is like family and that’s the biggest part for us.” 

“In a small town like ours, that’s key; keeping everyone involved and everyone close knitted,” he continues. “There are no secrets up here. If you want to know how many units are sold, we’ll tell you. If you want to know how shop numbers are doing, I’ll tell you. There are no secrets. Our employees probably know more than they should, but I feel that’s a good thing for them.” 

Along with the trust that is built between management and employees through this leadership style, Leibfried shares that employees are also supported by the dealership. “They know if they ever need help with something, or extra time off because they’re going through something, we’re obviously going to work with them,” he says. “If you treat your workers like family, they treat your business like it’s their business.” 

Leibfried shares that he has never hired an employee that he didn’t already know. Located in a small community, he has either hired existing customers or approached a peer who he thought would be a good fit for an open position. “While I was owner, I never ran a help wanted ad,” he explains.  

Despite this, he shares that staffing in the service department is a continual challenge, so bonus incentives are one way the dealership retains technicians. “We’re still a family-run business. There’s a personal level; you’re not just coming in to punch in without talking to anybody. That’s another big part of it,” he explains. 

And ultimately, working in the industry offers countless gratifying moments. Leibfried finds reward in helping customers fix their unit up in time to make a ride. He also enjoys seeing families walk into the dealership together and leave with units for both the adults and children. “It’s nice to see the whole family involved together and walk out with a machine together,” he says. And as general manager, Leibfried will continue to play an important role in the addition of powersports to families’ lifestyles, along with overseeing that employees experience a family-oriented dynamic at the dealership.