Est. 1974 · Polk County, Iowa

Harry Potter

Agricultural Equipment Dealer · Des Moines
harry.potter@example.com✦(515) 555-0173 ✦potter-implement.example.com ✦Rural Route 4, Des Moines, IA
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I have sold and serviced farm machinery in central Iowa for 26 years, the last 11 as owner of a dealership with 14 employees and about $9.2M in annual sales. I know combines, planters, and the people who run them, and I answer the phone during harvest. My repeat-customer rate has held above 70% for a decade.

Seasons of the Career

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🌕 Owner & Principal Dealer
Potter Implement Co. · Des Moines, IA · 2015–present · Full Moon: harvest years
  • Grew annual revenue from $4.1M to $9.2M across 11 seasons while holding parts-counter margin near 28%.
  • Run a 14-person shop: 6 techs, 4 sales, 3 parts, 1 bookkeeper; turnover under 10% a year.
  • Keep a 4-hour in-field service promise within 60 miles during planting and harvest; met it 96% of calls in 2025.
🌔 Sales Manager
Prairie Line Machinery · Ankeny, IA · 2008–2015 · Waxing Gibbous: the ripening
  • Managed a 5-person sales floor moving roughly 120 units a year, tractors to grain carts.
  • Built a used-equipment trade program that lifted trade-in volume 40% in 3 seasons.
🌓 Territory Sales Representative
Prairie Line Machinery · Ankeny, IA · 2003–2008 · First Quarter: rows laid straight
  • Covered a 5-county territory, about 30,000 miles a year, and doubled its active accounts to 210.
  • Ranked first of 9 reps in new-unit sales for 3 consecutive years.
🌒 Service Technician, then Parts Counter
Hollow Creek Equipment · Indianola, IA · 1999–2003 · Waxing Crescent: the seed years
  • Wrenched on 300+ machines a year; learned hydraulics, PTO drives, and patience in that order.
  • Reorganized the parts room and cut average pull time from 11 minutes to 4.
When the combine idles rough in August, the dealer who answers on Sunday keeps the account. · Counter Wisdom, ch. 3 ·
Key to the Phases:
🌒 apprentice 🌓 territory 🌔 management 🌕 ownership

Planting Table of Skills

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Sow in the season shown; harvest as noted.
Crop (Skill)SownYield
Equipment sales & trade valuation2003Heavy, all seasons
Dealership operations & P&L2015Steady, year-round
Hydraulic & drivetrain diagnostics1999Reliable in drought
Floor-plan & ag credit financing2010Best after rain
Precision-ag retrofits (GPS, rate control)2017New ground, fair
Auction buying & used inventory2009Heavy in spring
Plain-spoken negotiation1999Perennial
A dry spring sells irrigation; a wet fall sells dryers. Stock for the weather you fear. · Potter's First Law of Inventory ·

Schooling & Papers

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A.A.S., Agricultural Systems Technology Meadowbrook Community College, Boone, IA · 1997–1999
Certified Equipment Dealer (CED) Midwest Dealer Institute · renewed 2024
Commercial Driver's License, Class A State of Iowa · current

The Ledger of Note

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  • Regional Dealer of the Year, Corn Belt Equipment Assn.2022
  • Board member, Polk County 4-H equipment program2018–present
  • Customer accounts on the books640
  • Machines sold, lifetime (my count)~2,300
  • Sunday harvest calls answeredall of them
Fog in the morning, invoices by noon. · Shop Door Proverb ·