Jim Lindsay and Greg Johnson have now achieved their dream of retiring early and with great success, but back in the day, they owned Bloomington Sinclair Tire and Southdale Sinclair Tire before venturing into a real estate opportunity.
Their incredible journey is one of hard work, strokes of good and bad luck, and help from CSI Accounting & Payroll in the forms of:
- Managing their accounting and taxes
- Tailoring advice for difficult decisions
- Establishing a successful exit plan
“We didn't want to go out and buy a book, ‘Accounting for Dummies.’”
Jim and Greg met in automotive tech school. They later worked together at an AAMCO station for a year and a half before working at a dealership for 10 years. When a Sinclair station became available for lease in 1993 in Bloomington, MN, they jumped on the opportunity to own a business.
After seeing others in their industry fail, they realized a common mistake: owners trying to do everything themselves. The pair agreed, “We'll do what we're good at, [and] we'll find people that can help us out at the things that we're not good at.”
That led to the next hurdle; the pair didn’t know how to do accounting. They needed help. Jim said, “We solicited information from a number of peers in our industry, and every single time they said ‘CSI.’”
With that, Jim and Greg came on board with CSI Accounting & Payroll.
“Making those decisions can really affect your whole life.”
They were initially introduced to their account manager, Brian Paulson, who became the owner of CSI a few years later. From there, Burt Monroe became their account manager.
The team grew close and had a few successful years. Jim and Greg say they received invaluable advice on:
- What they were doing wrong
- Industry trends
- Different ways to value their business
- Using depreciation to reduce tax liabilities
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. When the economy fell in 2001 and again in 2007, Jim and Greg’s two stores suffered hard times.
Thankfully, an offer was made on one location to put in a bank, and another developer made an offer on their other location four years later. The duo retired at age 49 but kept in touch with Burt and Brian.
In 2012, Burt and Brian advised them to purchase commercial real estate to utilize the 1031 tax laws. Jim and Greg came out of retirement to purchase a Goodwill store and continued to work with CSI for the next decade for an optimal retirement.
“Everybody at CSI is very friendly and helpful.”
Jim thanks CSI for helping them decide to invest in property. After selling the Goodwill store and dissolving their LLC, Jim and Greg agree that they’re now “living like kings” and credit CSI and each other for their success.
Greg said, “We're very confident that [Burt’s] advice was good advice that we needed.” Jim agreed, “History has proved itself. Burt is still my go-to guy.”
Also singing praises of the entire CSI team, Greg said, “If you do need anything, they get it to you right away. Either shoot them an email or give them a call, and they address it quite promptly.”
He added, “CSI was exactly what we needed.”
If you’re interested in becoming our newest success story, we hope you’ll consider giving CSI Accounting & Payroll a try! Click the button below for a free consultation.
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