When Opportunity Knocks—A Letter From John Prusak
Who remembers a guy named Chris Carlson? His name may ring a bell with some insiders, but longtime snowmobilers may know of his companies, products, race team or facility.
The Minnesota native and hardcore snowmobile nutcase started Sportech Inc. out of his garage in the mid-1990s, making headlight covers for Polaris wedge chassis snowmobiles. They were a cool accessory, and with Polaris building about 80,000 sleds each year in that chassis, the business took off quickly.
That alone would have been a neat story, but Carlson didn’t stop there. He quickly expanded into windshields, graphics kits, skid plates and other sled products, then branched into other powersports – most notably UTV cabs – and well beyond. By the time Carlson sold Sportech to private equity in 2019, the company had grown to be a major player in the powersports , golf cart, industrial and ag industries, employing 325 people.
It didn’t happen by chance. Carlson took risks, spotted trends and had the guts, confidence and wherewithal to jump on them. His business may have expanded beyond snowmobiling, but his passion remained. So, along the way, he also launched the Carlson Moto race team and partnered with Todd Plaisted to create the ERX Motorpark in Elk River, Minnesota.
After selling Sportech, Carlson searched for his next passion project before purchasing the then-struggling Premier Marine pontoon company. I attended a Premier dealer meeting recently and found Carlson as engaging as ever. And this time, he truly inspired me. He shared a story with the Premier dealers about a small business owner in his hometown who liked to chalk up all of Carlson’s success to luck. The guy claimed Carlson “got lucky” when he formed his snowmobile-products company, and got really lucky when he went on to dominate the UTV/side-by-side cabs business.
And now that he’s in the pontoon business? “Yep, you sure are lucky, Chris,” he said, implying a lucky horseshoe was lodged within on Carlson’s anatomy.
But that guy clearly didn’t know the huge financial commitments Carlson made to grow Sportech. And he certainly didn’t know the status of the pontoon business in the last four years since Carlson has owned Premier. “I’ve never had my butt kicked like this!” Carlson admitted with a wry smile. Yet things are turning around. In the past year, while pontoon industry sales fell 13 percent, Premier’s sales rose 24 percent, Carlson reported. Aggressive new product innovation, dealer development and “a relentless commitment to continuous improvement” have turned the tide, he said. Not luck.
“Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation,” Carlson said. “And opportunity never comes when you’re ready and looking for it.” Instead, he said, it strikes when you’re tired, overwhelmed and being pulled in different directions by personal and professional commitments.
“Give half the credit for your success to opportunities, and the other half to your ability [and willingness] to act on them,” he said.
Yes, indeed. Opportunity, plus an ability and willingness to act, is the secret sauce of entrepreneurs, but it could also apply to each of us in different ways.
In our professional lives, personal live and in the many other activities we take part in – including snowmobiling, snowmobile clubs, volunteerism and more – the same truths hold.
We all know people – maybe even the person in the mirror – who’s first reaction to an opportunity (whether it’s personal, professional or the chance to take the ride of a lifetime) is often, “Nah, I’m too busy,” or “I’ll skip this one, but maybe later.” Remember, the best prospects may not come at the most opportune times.
Will you be ready to act?
