How a CEO boosted her recycled auto parts business 20% for 3 straight years
This Milwaukee auto maven invested in working smarter, not harder.
Natasha Broxton looks over recycled taillights in her Milwaukee indoor auto parts facility.
Natasha Broxton, CEO of Select Auto Parts & Sales, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had been successfully running her automotive recycling company for years when she realized she had a problem. “I would get people that would come through the door,” she explains. “We’d been open five years and they’d say, ‘Oh my gosh, we didn’t even know that you were here.’”
The customers were thrilled to find Broxton’s warehouse of recycled auto parts. But Broxton, a solopreneur, realized that she needed help in order to get her indoor auto parts facility — one of the only Black-owned, woman-owned businesses of its type in the country — on the map.
She was already juggling many roles — doing all the bookkeeping, accounting, marketing, and human resources for the company — but she sought out the free resources available from Verizon Small Business Digital Ready to improve her business acumen.
Broxton took over 50 courses total through the program, including over 30 live coaching events, on topics such as email marketing strategies, branding, and financial literacy. “I became just obsessed with this online training program, because I could complete these trainings from home or in between handling my customers at work. They were easily accessible and straight to the point,” Broxton explains.
The 1:1 live events in the Verizon program, which allow small business owners to meet with experts for feedback, were especially beneficial, Broxton says — particularly a session where she received individualized analysis of her website. After implementing changes that boosted her search engine results, “we’re receiving lots of calls,” Broxton explains. “Because I set myself up for success from the coaching that I received.”
All in all, Broxton has seen revenue increase 20% each year in the three years since she started the Verizon program. She also shared her knowledge of email marketing, social media strategy and website design to benefit her husband Eric’s business, Tires Express. “Tires Express has been able to increase their revenue by 30 to 40 percent, just by updating the website and making the website more user friendly,” Broxton says.
Another great benefit, however, is the time she saves. “With some of the education that I received, I’m able to show up in other places. So because I’m introduced to other platforms and resources that I can use to actually run and operate my business efficiently, it’s also helped my team to save time,” she explains.
Being able to share the skills she’s learned from the program and throughout her years as a successful business owner is now a highlight of her work, Broxton says.
“One favorite part of my day is being able to bring the knowledge and experience that I have — anything that’s going to help them to be able to succeed, and help us succeed as a company, just being able to present that to the team.” Broxton says of her 10 employees. “I love just sharing my knowledge.”
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is part of Verizon’s goal to support 1 million small businesses by 2030 with the free resources to succeed in the digital economy. Visit CitizenVerizon.com to learn more about the company’s responsible business efforts. To sign up for Digital Ready, visit digitalready.verizonwireless.com. An individual user's experience may vary and results are not guaranteed.
