We recently connected with Matthew Belcher and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I love being a business owner! I feel that entrepreneurship takes a certain type of person. If someone goes into business ownership and is not fully committed, the majority of the time, that business will not survive. You must be fully committed and willing to fight your way out of the struggles and hard times that come along with it. Entrepreneurship is like jumping off a cliff and building a plane on the way down. If you think about throwing in the towel and finding a job when the going gets tough, you’ve already failed.

Matthew, 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?

We are known as “APEBUILT.COM” or “APE” which is short for the legal business name Appalachian Performance Engineering. We build high performance off-road vehicles, axles, and other vehicle components. We do a lot of in house custom fabrication and machining services. We currently have two vehicles in our lineup: a two seater vehicle, and the other being a four seater vehicle. I got into the automotive industry by following my passion. I have always been obsessed with high performance motorsports and pushing things to the limit. When building vehicles from scratch you have to get deep into your creative side while creating something beautiful but functional.

The problem we solve for our customers is building reliable and functional vehicles and components. There are a lot of utility vehicles on the market that are not built for the abuse that people put them through, so they end up spending loads of money building their UTV so they can actually use it. We build our vehicles to handle the abuse upfront, so our customers don’t have to spend any more money to upgrade or build their vehicle after the purchase.

Our APE team is a family. We are a tight knit crew getting it done and taking care of each other. The people are one of the most important parts in the success or failure of a business, so we try to take care of our crew the best way we can.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

Some very successful business owners have and continue to be extremely successful by building and selling. I have built and sold two businesses in my journey, and that’s what allowed me to follow my true passion in the motorsports industry. One business I built and sold was known as Belcher Insurance Agency. I got into the insurance industry because I wanted to learn how to sell, and what’s a better way than to get thrown to the wolves in one of the most cut-throat industries in the world. I will say, I had no passion for being in the insurance industry, but I sucked it up and dealt with it for over three years. I built a book of business from zero to over a thousand policies, and sold the business to reinvest the money into APE. One great lesson I learned from that time was if you’re going to throw yourself into the storm, you might as well be doing something you are passionate about… don’t chase the money, chase your dreams while doing something you love!

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

Starting any business from scratch will eat up lots of funds. There are certain businesses you can get start much cheaper than others, but marketing, product, inventory, payroll, insurance, and all the other little expenses can get deep into your pockets fast. My business APEBUILT.COM has been more expensive than any other businesses I have founded. The tooling, parts, and overhead cost can get extremely expensive in the manufacturing and machining industry. I have mortgaged my house three times, pulled loans on my cars, sold toys, borrowed money from friends, and taken hard money loans from venture capitalists because the banks don’t typically like loaning money to young businesses. Where there is a will, there is a way! You must remember that the value is not in the money, the value is in the product or service that is provided. Money itself is not worth anything and is simply a number… so don’t stress the money, just figure out how you can make it happen.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://apebuilt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ape.built/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apengbuilt/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-belcher-446436167/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmUelqWxNujCpq5fqm8TuHw