revving up the community engine

1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
oandh-retro-logo

Oaten & Hoffman
128/134 Summerland Way, Kyogle NSW 2474

www.oandh.com.au

Visit Kyogle Northern Rivers-01
revving up the community engine

In 2015 Tim Hoffman was riding the high on business success, and had no clue about the blow that was awaiting him.

He’d just won regional Young Entrepreneur of the Year after taking over his father’s Holden dealership and car servicing business Oaten & Hoffman the year before. He’d been recognised for being Holden’s number one dealer in Australia for sales over target and was enjoying 100% customer satisfaction ratings.

Then in June last year he received unexpected news from Holden. “Our dealer agreement expired at the end of December and we found out they wouldn’t be renewing our contract.”

Tim’s initial reaction was shock. Oaten & Hoffman, which was founded in 1977, had been a successful Holden dealer for more than 30 years and was still enjoying sales growth.

“Holden had just decided to reduce their network by 30 dealers across Australia, and we were one of the unlucky ones affected,” Tim says.

The Holden dealership accounted for just over half of Oaten & Hoffman’s revenue, and Tim wondered whether the business would survive.

He started by keeping people updated. “I wanted all our loyal customers to know what was happening and why. I put an article in the paper, on our Facebook page, and sent our customers a letter.”

The Kyogle community responded strongly. “We had such good community support – both emotionally and financially,” Tim said.

Customers who had previously brought in only one car for servicing, brought in all their cars, Tim said. And people contacted Holden directly to let them know what a great business Oaten & Hoffman was.

Meanwhile, Tim went into recovery mode. He searched for a suitable car dealership to replace Holden, without success. He invested in new diagnostic tools and technology for his servicing and repairs workshop and promoted this arm of the business. In October, he was approached by the Swedish outdoor power products company Husqvarna, and accepted their franchise offer.

Less than one year on, and Oaten & Hoffman is back on track. There have been some hard lessons learned for Tim in the four years since he’s headed up the business, but he’s philosophical.

“I’ve learned a bit of resilience,” he says.

“As a business owner you can spend so much time on small things that are reasonably irrelevant, I’ve learned not to get too stressed about those little things.”

Share this story

Read more stories

A community cornerstone bouncing forward

 2048 1260 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Coraki Post Office
For all that has been thrown at the small town of Coraki in recent times, the owners of the town’s post office are rolling with the punches.

rod n reel woodburn nortrhern rivers

reinventing a special highway town

 1920 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Rod n Reel Hotel
Woodburn NSW is a charming riverside town with which is about to embark on a transformation. When the Pacific Highway bypass is completed…

The Natural Rice Co.

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Natural Rice Co.
The Natural Rice Co. (NRC) is a unique enterprise not just in the Northern Rivers, but in a national context too.

Heart and Soul of a region

 1500 2250 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Co-operative
Norco has an impressive origin story.

northern_lights _ballina_northern_rivers_001

let there be light

 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Northern Light
“I eat a pot of honey every day and I’ve been stung more than 70,000 times,” says Jeffrey Gibbs, founder of Northern Light, an organic beeswax…

Community connection runs deep

 1644 848 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Connect Business Solutions
Connect Business Solutions can be thought of as the glue that holds a business community together.

Generational innovation

 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Australian Bay Lobster Producers
Thenus australiensis. Moreton Bay bugs. The Bay Lobster. Whatever nomenclature you want to use, there is no doubt that these crustaceans are a much-loved staple of Australian seafood menus.

Alternative. Accessible. Affordable.

 2560 2553 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nimbin Apothecary
Nimbin Apothecary is a herbal medicine dispensary providing acute over-the-counter consulting for herbal medicine prescriptions.

Nurtured by nature

 2560 1723 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Greenx7
For the past 10 years GreenX7 has been running workshops and retreats internationally and in the Tweed for clients as diverse as McDonald’s, Deloitte, Six Senses, and the Australian Defence Force, to inspire both individuals and teams to tap into the healing power of nature.

OConnors carriers tweed 001

community keeps on carrying on

 1920 1288 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

O’Connors Carrying Service
Friday 30 March 2017 is a day Paul and Sue O’Connor won’t forget. The owners of O’Connors Carrying Service left their depot in Murwillumbah…

Clean green superfood team

 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Foods That Love You Back
Health activist Erle Astrup founded Foods That Love You Back in January 2021, and her business – which has created the world’s first affordable, alkaline shot of concentrated microgreens – is infused with the passion she has for driving it.

A fighting spirit … and great networks

 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Five Sixty Farms
Stranded on the roof of his house with his wife and their eight children, Pepe Fassos watched helplessly as his beloved greenhouses smashed and floated away in a tsunami of floodwater.

harwood marine clarence

‘can do’ marine

 1920 1182 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Harwood Marine
About half way between Yamba and Maclean is the tiny village of Harwood, which sits on the peaceful banks of the Clarence River with its population…

Evans Head Cabinetry 001

carefully crafted business success

 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Evans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”

glass lab tweed heads 002

riding the wave of success

 1000 661 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Glass Lab
Adam Wessel may have worked in surfboard factories since the age of 16, but it was a stint in the luxury yachting industry that sowed the…

Farmers in the fields

 2048 1366 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Primex
Bruce Wright has made his career by bringing together and supporting many of the region’s farmers and primary producers.

Alstonville quality meats image 1

main street royalty reigns

 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Alstonville Quality Meats
There’s a giggle in the undertone of conversation when Ashley and Tina Thomson share their claim to fame as being the multi-award winning Sausage Kings…

Talking together for 50 years

 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Jumbunna Community Preschool and Early Intervention Centre
The early childhood sector has played a vital role in supporting communities and families in the Northern Rivers amid the onslaught of challenges in the last three years.

Three generations of style

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Scarboroughs
Running a small clothing shop in a country town is a fine art. It requires balance, delicacy and an open mind to serve the needs of locals, tourists, the area’s workers and more.

A planet of business diversity

 2016 1512 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tropical Fruit World
It’s been almost 50 years since Robert and Valorie Brinsmead bought the 200-acre farm in Murwillumbah.

Start Typing

X