Small Business Showcase: Excelerate LLC

When Joshua Lockwood won $6,000 in a business plan competition at Quinnipiac University, it set him on a path to success.  

That was 22 years ago, and it was Lockwood’s winning plan that launched his growing automotive business in Branford, which includes European car repair and upgrades, and wholesale and retail sales of automotive performance parts.

“I always wanted to run my own business, so I started with $15,000 and a focus on repairing Hondas and Acuras,” said Lockwood, owner and chief operating officer of Excelerate LLC.  

“Then I started working on European cars, which tend to need more maintenance and repairs to own. So there was more opportunity to generate revenue.” 

Operating Structure 

Founded in 2003, Excelerate LLC includes three divisions housed in a 22,000 square foot location:  

• EuroSense Auto is the most well-known division to local customers. It’s a European vehicle repair business, concentrated on Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche and MINI brands.

• XLR8 Performance is an online, retail business for performance part installation. Think of aesthetic accessories, upgrades to suspension that improve handling, exhaust upgrades to produce throatier sounds, or software to improve turbo performance. 

• Peak Distribution is a business-to-business wholesale division that fills 8,000-square-feet of warehouse space with performance parts inventory. 

The majority of Lockwood’s 12 full-time employees focus on the service side of the business.

There are four highly specialized mechanics, including a shop foreman; two service advisors; and, a general manager whose main focus is on the repair division, but he also supports e-commerce efforts with Lockwood.  

“Not a lot of people can work on these cars,” he said. “German engineering is definitely interesting. You have to pay to play.” 

Additionally, the business employs a bookkeeper, e-commerce data manager, inventory worker, shop assistant, admin assistant, while responsibilities for human resources and finances fall to Lockwood.

Business Strategy 

Lockwood’s customers are essentially anyone with a European car looking for high quality repairs and services, generally at a lower cost and closer to home than many dealership locations.

“Everyone needs their car repaired and there are a lot of European car owners in the area,” he said.  

“So we’re like a dealership alternative. We can do almost everything a dealer can, other than warranty work. It all comes down to trust, transparency, quality work and location.” 

In Connecticut, Lockwood sees challenges with the high cost of doing business overall and finding qualified employees. 

“I’m seeing 20% to 30% increases in health insurance costs year over year.”

Excelerate’s Joshua Lockwood

To learn from other small business owners and find operations support, he’s taken advantage of networking opportunities and cost-saving human resource services through CBIA.  

He’s also received support from the U.S. Small Business Administration.  

“There’s a fairly decent-sized tax burden when you consider sales, income, and property taxes,” Lockwood said. “We also need to figure out how to reduce health insurance.

“I’m seeing 20% to 30% increases in health insurance costs year over year—and I attract healthy employees in their twenties and thirties. It’s crazy expensive.” 

Community

Locally, EuroSense is well-known in the community as a chamber of commerce member that hosts their own car shows and teams up with charity organizations.  

Personally, Lockwood said he also volunteers a lot of time teaching people about the Bible to help them practically and spiritually.  

On national and international levels, the impact of tariffs, the end of de minimus protection for goods under $800, and the proliferation of electric vehicles are concerns. 

“Cars will always need repairs.” 

Lockwood

For example, Lockwood said he placed an order for U.K. parts in December. They shipped in March with a 20% tariff on a 40-foot container—and he was left with an $18,000 bill.  

“There was no discussion of tariffs when I placed the order,” he said. “There’s just not enough margin to absorb those kinds of costs.” 

In the next five to 10 years, Lockwood said his focus will likely be on branching out to other locations along the Connecticut shoreline and considering general car repairs. 

“Cars will always need repairs,” Lockwood said. “So we’ll likely focus on that as we continue to evolve.”