Smart Cars President & CEO Stuart Rothstein
Schiller Park, Ill. — Smart Cars President & CEO Stuart Rothstein is celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary by thanking the industry and his clients for their role in the firm’s success.
“I can’t thank our clients and the industry enough for their continued support,” says Rothstein.
Founded in 1994, Smart Cars was the first livery-only sedan service in Chicago. When he learned that there was no Chicago equivalent to the black car services that he utilized on Wall Street while working as a derivatives fund manager, Rothstein saw an opportunity when the city of Chicago opened up an additional 1,250 livery licenses.
“At that time, most livery plates in Chicago were held exclusively by ‘limousine companies’ who dealt in the retail markets. I was looking for new business opportunities and considered buying a few taxi medallions. After some due diligence, I learned that there were no black car services in Chicago, so I decided to take a chance,” says Rothstein.
He and his partner at the time purchased three used police cars, and repainted and restored them for passenger use. The initial challenge was informing prospective clients about their service, but they got their first riders by staking out luxury apartment buildings.
As an industry novice, Rothstein was inundated with forewarnings from seasoned veterans. “They told me that I would be out of business within a year—as an athlete, that’s all I needed to hear to motivate me to succeed.”
Having come from the finance industry where he competed on the floors of the CBOE, CBT, and CME as both a broker and trader, Rothstein was well equipped for handling both the ultra-competitiveness of the industry as well as the myriad of challenges and unknowns that face staring a new business.
It took several years of making mistakes, testing, learning from others—most notably as a long-time member of the Illinois Limousine Association, the National Limousine Association, and The 20 Group—and reliance on theory acquired from his MBA to create a corporate framework and culture that supported Smart Cars’ success. Rothstein states that this framework has evolved as a result of three tenets: “1) Your staff and chauffeurs are experts at what they do—listen to them and give them what they need; 2) approach each failure as an opportunity to learn (thus, a robust and accurate policy and procedure structure evolved); and 3) base all of your interactions and decisions with staff, chauffeurs and clients on honesty, transparency, respect, mutual support, and integrity.”
To ensure Smart Cars clients receive consistent high-end service, Rothstein has created a proprietary orientation system for onboarding new chauffeurs, which includes a 110-page manual and a 240-question review. Prospective chauffeurs are required to get a 70 percent correct to move on. The process for maintaining a positive culture has been successful for Smart Cars, as Rothstein says the average tenure for chauffeurs is 10 years, while some office staff have more than 20 years with the company.
Rothstein admits that the economic downturns around 9/11 and 2008 tested his and the company’s resolve and patience.
“After 9/11, we went from over 260 services per day to 20. When considering the outlook, we realized that we could either fold up shop and give up or hang tough. We decided on the latter, and actually sent out over 100 letters offering to buy competitors. None acquiesced, but this helped to mold the staff into the tough and thriving group they are today.”
Smart Cars continues to provide luxury ground transportation to the Chicago area and beyond, and is looking forward to future growth and surmounting whatever challenges come their way in the next 25 years.
Visit smartcarsinc.com for more information.
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