The secret to their aftermarket success

By Jeff Hemmel
Contributing writer
By now, the aftermarket story is well documented. During the sport’s heyday, firms that offered performance enhancements thrived. PWC were almost begging to be modified and a generation of enthusiasts stepped up to the plate. But as the runabouts grew in popularity, enthusiasts grew older and the individual machines grew much better in stock form, meaning the aftermarket felt the pinch. Shop after shop fell off the map, leaving for other forms of motorsports, or simply getting out of the race all together.
This article, we pick the brains of a few of the survivors, as well as meet a fresh new face who has found a way to not only break in, but thrive.

Survivor PWC
“Multi-tasking,” answered Pro-Tec’s Mike Baker when asked how his company, once a force in PWC racing, survived the downturn. “We do motorcycle and ATV product, too, so that’s what makes you survive. Back in the day when watercraft was wide open, that took up pretty much all of our time. We still made stuff for motorcycles but didn’t do much R&D because everything was put into watercraft. Now PWC is down, but motorcycle has come back. That’s what pretty much saved us.
“You kind of just move around with what’s going on, and what the public likes.”
Indeed, many aftermarket firms turned to the surging moto or ATV markets to survive. Few, like Pro-Tec, remained in the PWC game. Those that have remained find little demand from the dealer level like in the past. Dealers stock few performance parts; customers who want to modify often head to the Internet or select performance shops.
Like RIVA Racing. While others fell, RIVA rose to the peak, emerging as the premier aftermarket name in the business. Size obviously helped. RIVA is one of the largest watercraft dealers nationwide, giving them the deeper pockets few small firms could match. RIVA uses that strength, however, to invest heavily in R&D, what owner Dave Bamdas considers the key to the company’s success. “We have a dedicated development center with four full-time employees who are constantly working on the latest and greatest performance products,” said Bamdas. “It’s expensive to keep our dyno center running and pay development staff, but it has paid off in the long run. Most of our competitors have backed off or disappeared due to the complexity of the new four-stroke PWC. We find that our customers always want to go faster regardless of the improved OEM performance.”
RIVA specializes in “stage kits” that are relatively easy to install and allow owners to choose their level of speed and expense. More than 900 dealers worldwide currently offer RIVA products.

Little Big Man
Not only the strong, however, survive. Jerry Gaddis’ 4-tecperformance.com had humble beginnings but has grown into arguably the biggest success story of the past year. Begun as a spin-off from Gaddis’ greenhulk.net performance forum, itself once just a message board, now fast becoming an industry powerhouse, 4-tecperformance proves there’s still room for the little guy to break in.
“The greenhulk.net performance forums were gaining a very large amount of traffic,” said Gaddis. “With this traffic came increased server bills, and the time I had to spend maintaining the forum was increasing, so it only made sense to break out and launch the performance parts e-commerce site to help cover expenses.
“I believe this format is working so well due to the participation of the members on the forum. They all share a common interest and that is PWC performance. They can talk with each other online about the available parts from the various manufacturers and discuss how to make the parts work for them at peak efficiency. Linked directly to the forum is my performance parts site, 4-tecperformance.com, which they can go to and purchase the parts they just discussed. Having a place to discuss the parts, learn about new ground breaking, soon-to-be-released parts, and to have a place to buy the parts just a click away is working out well.”
Though early e-commerce sites proved mostly a bust following the initial Internet boom, quality sites as of late have found success. From mainstream sites like Zappos, to the greenhulk-driven 4-tecperformance.com, business owners who know and understand the Internet have found it to be all that it was once promised.
“For me, the Internet has proven invaluable,” continued Gaddis. “It gives me the opportunity to discuss ideas with thousands of people and even listen to any problems they might have. The Internet is a key tool enabling me to promote products and connect with each and every one of my customers.”

Parting Shots
Perhaps the key to any of these success stories, however, is that their founders followed the simplest of business advice. Gaddis said: “The best advice I can offer is to love what you do and promote our sport. Most importantly, listen to your customer and be there for them … and to always remember that without them, we have nothing.”