Make Money with Strong Operations | Jason Haugen

Travis sits down with long‑time friend and entrepreneur Jason Haugen to unpack the very real, very unsexy side of building and exiting a nine‑location RV dealership group that peaked at $100M a year—then got crushed by a 70% sales drop and exploding interest costs. After taking some time off, walking through his wife’s cancer battle, and licking his wounds, Jason is now co‑founder and CEO of Black Jet Ventures, acquiring and growing brands with a focus on operations, marketing, and sustainable profitability.

On this episode we talk about:

• How Jason scaled from a few RV stores to nine locations and $100M+ in revenue—and what actually triggered his decision to sell

• The brutal reality of a market swing: going from 350–400 units a month to 100, floorplan interest jumping from ~$107k to ~$700k, and why revenue can hide operational inefficiencies

• Losing $20M, having an executive team walk out, sleeping at the office, and how he managed his mental health and focus through calls from the bank and constant crises

• Why he believes in “grow, then stabilize, then grow” (not growth at all costs), and how over‑expansion can kill a business even when top‑line numbers look impressive

• What Black Jet Ventures and Iconic Marketing do today—acquiring CPG and media brands, running a major golf‑focused content/marketing agency, and helping founders build real systems, not just hype

Top 3 Takeaways

1. Big revenue doesn’t equal real success; without tight operations, intentional growth phases, and clear profitability targets, you can “grow” your way straight into a cash‑flow crisis.

2. Mental resilience in entrepreneurship comes from focusing only on what you can control, staying in motion, and building routines (like golf or other outlets) that let you reset even in the middle of chaos.

3. Sustainable businesses are built by going deep, not just wide: simplifying SKUs, optimizing existing locations, and stabilizing systems before expanding again often leads to far better margins than chasing vanity scale.

Notable Quotes

• “The best thing that ever happened to me was losing $20 million—because I get to take those lessons into everything I do now.”

• “You can’t grow and stabilize at the same time; you grow, then you stabilize, then you earn the right to grow again.”

• “If you’re not absolutely crushing it with three locations, adding six more isn’t going to save you—it’s just going to multiply your problems.”

Connect with Jason Haugen:

• https://www.iamjasonhaugen.com/

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