Driven to success - racing school owner Skip Barber

Entrepreneur, April, 1996 by Bob Weinstein

To skip barber's ears, there's no sweeter sound than a finely tuned engine revving up for a race. But then, auto racing is more than a hobby for the former racer, who opened Skip Barber Racing School Inc. in Lakeville, Connecticut, after retiring from the sport in his mid-30s. Last year, the school celebrated its 20th anniversary, racking up sales of $15 million.

The consistent theme in 58-year-old Barber's life is a simple four-letter word: cars. He's been around them since he was 7 years old and earned his living racing for more than 10 years. But when the sport became more expensive and the number of big-purse races began dwindling in the early '70s, Barber figured he'd better find other means to support himself. Friends urged him to start a racing school.

"Everyone made it sound so simple," says Barber. "They said I could run the school and continue my racing career. When I wasn't racing, I'd make lots of money teaching and still be able to cultivate a great suntan. I figured I had nothing to lose."

But after he and a partner launched the Skip Barber Racing School in 1975, Barber quickly discovered the transition from professional race car driver to entrepreneur was no piece of cake.

Starting with four students and two borrowed race cars, he and his partner made every mistake in the book. "By the end of the first year, we were $10,000 in debt," he recalls.

The good news: Barber had figured out he had a great product. "I realized you could teach people to race and that plenty of people were anxious to learn," he says. And with few competitors out there, the timing was perfect.

Even though Barber still wasn't convinced he could earn a living at it, "the racer's mentality" wouldn't allow him to quit. "It's a mind-set that says 'Do it now, do it right and do it to win,' " Barber explains.

By buying out his partner and aggressively promoting the business through networking and print advertising, Barber turned the school around. By the time sales hit the

$1 million mark in 1981, the Skip Barber Racing School was the country's premier racing center.

Today, Barber has locations in Sebring, Florida; Lakeville, Connecticut; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin; and Sonoma, California. From those strategic vantage points, he shuttles cars and instructors around the country, scheduling one-day $475 courses and three-day $2,250 competition courses, as well as holding races for his graduates.

Barber's racing courses have attracted an impressive list of celebrity students, including actors Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Al Pacino and Charlie Sheen. All in all, it's been an incredible trip, but not without plenty of hairpin turns.

"It's been on-the-job training all the way," Barber chuckles. "In the beginning, I was operating by the seat of my pants. I'm still working at being a manager."

One thing he's no longer working at: racing cars. "I'd only screw up," Barber confesses. "You need total concentration and commitment when you're behind the wheel of a race car. I'd be thinking about what's going on at the office."