Peyton Sporting Goods grows faster than expected

It all started when Steve Peyton and his father decided to buy a boat.

'I sold two of my guns and we bought the boat,” Peyton said. 'We fixed it up and sold it, putting the money into another boat. That's how we started doing boats in a shed out at his place.”

As the father and son expanded their fledgling business, Steve decided they needed a larger building on the highway to attract more attention.

About 18 months ago, Peyton Sporting Goods moved to 206 Main St. S. in Hazelton.

'I decided that we needed to add bait and tackle so we would have something else to do,” Peyton recalled. 'We started repairing trolling motors and became an authorized repair shop.

'As we have continued to add more things, the business has just blossomed.”

Peyton Sporting Goods sells and services boats and motors, guns and hunting supplies and fishing-related items. It serves customers from Buchanan and surrounding counties.

Peyton handles repairs, sales and all aspects of the business, which he admits has led to working some long hours.

'Some days, I don't get out of here until 8 (p.m.) and other days I leave at midnight,” Peyton said. 'I'm trying to get stuff done in the back for customers.

'I'm so busy with customers and phone calls during the day that I can't get back shop work done.”

Peyton recently met with Amy Dutton, director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Northern Iowa, who advised him to hire an accountant and someone to share the workload.

'It's one of the things that we see often with entrepreneurs, especially when they get to this point and become very becomes successful,” Dutton said. 'They're still trying to do everything themselves and they're not sure how to extract themselves.

'Steve's really at a crossroads where he needs to evaluate not only what is working in his business - what's going well - but where he can adjust and make changes to help him continue that growth.”

Peyton said he is considering adding employees to provide better customer service.

'I believe 100 percent in customer service,” he said. 'If you don't provide good customer service, you might as well not open the door in the morning.”