We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Finny Mlemchukwu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Finny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I first had to get to a place in life to truly understand what happiness was for me. In the beginning of my career when I had a ‘regular’ job, I thought happiness was correlated to my paycheck. So at the time, my goal was to make as much money as possible. I soon realized that after various promotions, bonuses and raises, happiness still proved to be elusive.

As a business owner, I have come to understand that happiness is something that is not tied to a job or money. For me, happiness has been directly tied to fulfilment. Fulfilment for me comes from doing what I believe I was created to do. I’ve also come to understand that happiness is a choice and no one person, job or thing can actually make you happy.

I had a lot of happy moments as an employee and really enjoyed working with my colleagues and helping clients solve problems. However, I never got a sense of fulfilment from that work.

As a business owner, I see the impact that my solutions have on our clients. I see the direct impact that the work we do has on my team and everyone we work with. That brings a sense of fulfilment.

Me wondering what it would be like to have a regular job is analogous to thinking about putting a fish in muddy waters. Sure, it may survive but the odds of it thriving are very low.

In the beginning of my journey as a business owner, I did entertain those thoughts of going back to Corporate America. But the higher I climbed and the more challenges I overcame, the more I realized that the only option was forward in my entrepreneurial journey.

Finny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the luxury transportation business through fate. I studied Electrical Engineering and graduated with a Bachelors degree. I left corporate America to start an Auto Brokerage business. A few years after starting the business, I realized that I was not willing to pay the price to scale the business to where it needed to go.

As I looked for a way out I noticed that we were selling a lot of Mercedes Sprinter Vans and the margins were significantly higher than other vehicles. I took a chance and bought one without knowing the first thing about Sprinters or the business.

The first few years were extremely challenging but those lean years not only taught me a lot about business, but it built me as a person.

We are a very niche business and operate in an elite space. We make it possible for our clients to travel in groups of 2-15 in style. Our core clients are corporate executives, Sports franchises, celebrities and the very wealthy. We also serve everyday people such as myself, who want to enjoy trips with family and loved ones in vehicles that they can create memories in.

I have never been in the comparison business, so the only standard I’m aware of in our business is the vision I have in my head for what the best looks like. My team and I chase that vision every day and it’s something that I am very proud of.

I dedicated the business to God when I started, and I promised that I would give ALL credit to the help and guidance I received from God along the way. It’s the only reason why I am here and have been able to see this level of success.

What I am most proud of is the people’s lives that have been changed as a result of the growth of this business. These people include myself, my family, and a long list of teammates, and vendors.

The most important thing I want everyone who meets me or reads about me to know is that I believe we are all created for success. I believe that our purpose is very simple. It is to serve others and continue to grow. I want people who meet me to be inspired to live their life according to their fullest potential and not out of fear. ATL Sprinters is just a platform for me to impact the world one person at a time and I want to encourage other’s to find their platform.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

When we first started, I had no idea about marketing. Instagram was fairly new as a marketing platform and I never had a social media presence. The only thing I knew how to do was guerilla marketing. So one of the tactics involved me putting together a 4×5 postcard and handing them out to anyone I met. On the flyer, there were 3 Sprinters and a few people inside that looked like they were having the time of their lives.

I probably printed about 5000 of these postcards and handed them out to gas station attendants, store employees, club owners and stuffed the rest in mailboxes.

On one interesting day I handed one out to a gentlemen I met at the Mercedes Benz Dealership. He stared at the postcard and then looks at me with a blank stare and says “These are my Sprinters”.

I responded to him and affirmed that we would be using his Sprinters when we needed them and quickly walked away. It was an embarrassing moment but also taught me a lesson on copyright infringement. Thankfully, he was cool about it but I immediately changed the marketing after that.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started the business with nothing. The first Sprinter that I bought was through a friend. He basically cosigned for the vehicle and allowed me to use it as a joint venture. I saved up for the first year, while also working on my personal credit to buy the first Sprinter.

The first Sprinter was used and we required $20,000 to make the deal work. It was a lease deal but the monthly payments were lower than what I was paying renting so it made a lot of sense at the time. Within 6 months, I had proven to the leasing company that we were a good risk and they approved us for 1 more. After 6 more months we were approved for several and have been growing since.

Credit has been the key to growth – both business and personal

Contact Info:

• Website: atlsprinters.com
• Instagram: atlsprinters