Meet Billy Craven
Automotive Service Industry Leader | Sales Trainer & Coach | Multi-Generational Business Builder
Getting Started in the Family Tire & Service Business
My career in the automotive service industry began at age 14, sweeping floors, cleaning bathrooms, and stocking inventory at my father's Goodyear Auto Service Center. By 16, I was working summers at a Sunoco station in Falls Church, Virginia, learning customer service, oil changes, tire work, and light mechanical repair. At 17, I balanced high school with a work-study program — attending classes until 11 a.m., then heading to my father's shop to change tires and service vehicles until 6 p.m.
After graduating high school, I spent a year and a half in community college before leaving to join a direct sales program, where I received extensive sales training and thrived financially.
Learning the Trade: Sales, Product, and Store Operations
In 1980, when I was 20, my father passed away from cancer, and I returned to his tire and service center full-time, starting on the shop floor changing tires and servicing vehicles. A year later, in September 1981, I moved into counter sales, where I put my sales training to work and began receiving product training through Goodyear. I had the privilege of learning from John Floyd, a 20-year veteran of the tire and service business, and trained under our store manager, who taught me the administrative side of the operation.
Managing and Growing a Multi-Location Operation
In April 1982, I transferred to our second location, acquired from Goodyear six months earlier. With a year and a half of sales, product, and administrative training behind me, leadership entrusted me with managing a 9-bay location in Arlington, Virginia. It was a daunting opportunity, but I went to work — cleaning up the operation, building the right team, and driving steady month-over-month growth.
In 1986, I married Cindy — we're approaching 40 years of marriage, with 3 children and 3 grandchildren.
Over the next several years, leadership expanded to four stores, and in February 1987 I was promoted to Area Manager and Company VP, overseeing all four locations.
My Arlington store had become the top-performing and only profitable location in the group. I took the systems that made it successful and implemented them across all four stores — within two years, every location was profitable, and together they generated nearly $9 million in annual revenue.
In September 1993, I took an extended, company-supported sabbatical to chart my next chapter, and the business was sold in March 1994.
Building and Selling Craven Tire & Auto
That same year, I launched an automotive service center promotional company with a business partner, while Cindy and I also ran an advertising company focused on new-home golf course community development. In 1996, I sold my share of the promotional company to my partner, and Cindy, our one-year-old daughter Tori, and I relocated to Boca Raton, Florida.
In March 1998, we purchased an existing auto repair shop and renamed it Craven Tire & Auto. The business was generating about $8,500 a month; through continued training and coaching, we expanded the facility and grew sales to $1 million annually within three years. We continued to build the business and sold it in August 2006.
About a year later, I purchased a Dish Network contracting business — a venture outside my core expertise that proved to be a valuable, if costly, learning experience. I sold the business in November 2008 and, thanks to careful savings, was able to weather the transition while exploring other opportunities until my non-compete expired.
Purchasing and Growing Shores Automotive
In 2012, Cindy and I purchased Shores Automotive, a European service and repair shop in Boca Raton, Florida. At the time, annual sales were under $300,000. Through sustained investment in training, systems, and team development, we've grown it into a multi-million-dollar operation — one where all of our children have worked, and several continue to today.
Training, Coaching, and the Next Generation
As of July 2026, I coach our team on a remote basis, working roughly 25 hours a week training our management team and holding them accountable to the standards that have driven our growth. My current focus is mentoring our son Will and son-in-law Chayce to become skilled, capable automotive service center owners, with plans to expand into additional locations in the coming years.
