Troy Webber never planned to own a software company. The third-generation owner of Chesterfield Auto Parts needed to solve a business problem and found others in his salvage industry were facing a similar issue.
“We had been using a piece of software that was created in the early 2000s,” Webber said. “It was written with really old code.”
The system to track inventory and sales only ran on old Windows machines, and it got to the point where Webber had to update the software. He researched the marketplace and found only one piece of software existed.
“We looked around in the industry and tried to find something that would work for us; unfortunately, there was only one viable option and there were huge features that were lacking that were a necessity for us,” Webber said.
Webber hired Richmond software development company Simple Thread. The company worked with Chesterfield Auto Parts and learned the needed features. Simple Thread built a custom platform. For the last year, Chesterfield Auto Parts has been testing the software, and his staff has provided positive feedback.
In December, the product debuted at the Automotive Recyclers Association and Webber said people expressed interest. Unlike other platforms for salvage yards, it is cloud-based, so Webber can check on the status of his stores from anywhere. In December, the company was given the Innovation in Cloud Computing award by RVATech.
Webber decided to spin the platform out into a separate business called YardSmart. He serves as CEO.
“We have been going to industry trade shows and demonstrating the product,” Webber said. “A lot of people are interested, and we had our first client sign on on the last day of 2022.”
He added that three other salvage yards are testing the product and could purchase the software soon. YardSmart is a software-as-a-service model, and subscriptions sell for $499 a month. Webber said he offers discounts if the buyer needs to subscribe for multiple stores.
Richmond Auto Parts was founded in the 1930s, and Webber’s grandfather purchased the business in 1947. The company does around $18 million in annual sales and has 110 employees.
“I am very proud to be the third generational owner,” Webber said.
He said his salvage business is different than a lot of others in the industry. Most salvage yards sell to mechanics and others in the wholesale market. Chesterfield is a retail market. The cars sit on the lot, and individuals come and salvage the parts.
That was one of reasons he had to make his own software — he has specific challenges that others do not. One is that the platform had to have a point-of-sale system at the counter. People must be able to pay for the parts and the system needs to track the sales. The other challenge is reporting to state and federal officials when a vehicle moves from one place to the next. YardSmart automatically sends a notification to government agencies.
The software cost $1 million to develop, and Webber is confident YardSmart will be a profitable stand-alone company in the future. He said the amount of data the platform produces is invaluable to a salvage yard operation.
“We make significant decisions on how to run the business based on the metrics from the software,” Webber said. “That is something we evaluate every day.”
He said he’s hoping to sign on at least five new clients for YardSmart by the end of the year.
