BRENDAN Dooley was "backed into a corner" when COVID-19 arrived in March.
The father of three lost the job he'd had for 15 years at Auto Advantage car dealership in Wickham.
"My industry stopped in its tracks and my wife went from working five days to one, we were panicking," he said.
With a loyal clientele, Dooley decided to open his own vehicle brokerage business, AutoSelect Newcastle.
"I could have went broke quicker doing nothing or open this and go broke slowly," he quips. "All the supplies were in place and clientele, including companies I was doing fleet management for and with who I've built a relationship over years."
Raised on a farm in "God's Country", otherwise known as Vacy, Mr Dooley grew up around sales: his late father was an auctioneer at Maitland sale yards and also a local real estate agent.
"Back then, dad would sell a million dollar property on a handshake. I always heard him negotiating, he was a people's person before it was trendy," Mr Dooley says.
He got his start in the car game in mechanical workshops, dropping out of Sydney's St Joseph's College to take up an apprenticeship at Cannon Automotive in East Maitland. Eventually he moved into sales at AutoAdvantage, then owned by Kyle Loades, and didn't look back.
Mr Dooley adopts his father's approach to sales: "I don't get tied up in the bullsh**t, we throw out our best prices, if I can help you then great, if not thanks for the opportunity."
While Angela Dooley has returned to her role at Hunter Imaging, she helps her husband with the marketing of the new family business.
AutoSelect offers a brokerage service sourcing cars - predominantly new, but occasionally used - for people for business and private use.
Mr Dooley liaises between customers and dealers who offer their most competitive prices for a car, receiving a "spotters" fee which he says remains the same regardless of the sale price of the car.
The new business is trading well, with companies and mums and dads seeking cars: "People are pulling money out of their super, they can't go overseas so they are buying cars," Mr Dooley says.
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