“People still order limousines?”
While people have questioned Robert Zollicoffer’s vision, he’s never been more sure of himself as a serial entrepreneur with a love for the freedom that cars bring.
Zollicoffer started Z’s Personal Limousine Services in 2017 after a previous stint with his own medical transportation company. Before the medical transportation company he drove cab, which bore the inspiration for his own venture. Zollicoffer’s entrepreneurial journey started much earlier.
As a child in inner city Milwaukee, Zollicoffer frequented a shop called The Greenhouse after school. There he would pick up some candy — but the fireworks caught his eye.
“I grew up in the inner city, kids popping fireworks; that wasn’t something that was out in the ordinary. People did that all the time,” Zollicoffer says. “But what I found out when I went to school is that a lot of kids have never seen fireworks before. They only hear about them, they’ve never really seen them in real life.”
Something clicked in his head. He had access to something other kids have never seen before and knew he could make money off of it. He would save up his lunch money, buy fireworks then sell them to kids at school. He was making money “hand over fist,” he says, but ran into some difficulties with competition between him and his sister.
One of his sister’s customers set one off in the school bathroom. Zollicoffer and his sister were both expelled from the school for selling explosives, he recalls with a laugh.
Despite that outcome, Zollifcoffer had his first taste for entrepreneurship and knew he wanted to continue.
Later in life he came into driving for American United Taxi. The company offered a medical transportation service to bring patients to doctors’ appointments and back.
“People didn’t understand that a lot of cab driving was medical (transportation) at that particular time. You could make tons of money,” Zollicoffer says. “You were doing medical and on the weekends, if you chose to work the weekend, you can make a little bit of extra cash.”
He continued to drive cab until American United Taxi lost its contract with the state for medical transportation. Zollicoffer recognized the now large gap in the market for the service. He started his own medical transportation company and found success, but decided to step back after a bone cancer diagnosis.
The severity of the cancer required immediate treatment due to how encapsulated it was inside of his knee. Zollicoffere had to get his knee completely replaced with metal.
“I lost everything. I have a wife and three kids. It was devastating because I wasn’t able to provide for my family,” Zollicoffer says.
Luckily, Zollicoffer had the support of his parents. They knew his character and that he needed a break to help recover and get back on his feet. During that time, he delivered newspapers around the Lake County area. He recalled it as one of the hardest jobs he’s ever had.
Once he got up and running again, he knew that he wanted to continue with his entrepreneurial ventures and drive.
“I knew that I couldn’t go back into the medical transportation world. I had become handicapped myself,” he says” I knew I loved driving, I knew I loved transportation, and so I had made up my mind that I was going to start a limousine company.”
An admiration for cars, and especially luxury vehicles, Zollicoffer got from his father. His family had multiple cars sitting in their driveway. He knew that if he got his license, he could use the Suburban collecting dust.
So when the time came to pick what he wanted to pursue next, the choice was clear to him.
“When I first started a limousine company, the first thing people would tell me is ‘People still get those? Is there any money in that?’ And I was just like people don’t see the vision. That made it easier for me to come up,” Zollicoffer says.
Zollicoffer prides himself on taking lessons from everything he’s done before. As a child, he learned how to notice key gaps in the market and found his love for cars. As a cab driver, he learned how to work in the transportation field. With his medical transportation company, he learned how to run his own business and service clientele.
Now, with everything put together, Zollicoffer brought his life experiences to luxury transportation. He doesn’t want to be seen as just some car coming to pick someone up.
“I want them to think, ‘Hey, my friend Robert is on his way to come and we’re gonna have a great conversation. We’re gonna listen to great music. We’re gonna talk about life,’” he says. “Even though I know I gravitate towards those types of customers, I also deal with business clientele, and even though I do like to converse, I know when to keep quiet.”
Zollicoffer continues to take lessons on how to improve his business. He prides himself on his ability to read people and their cues.
Z’s Limousine keeps a healthy stock of vehicles of SUVs and sprinters. The most important car to keep in his fleet are SUVs, like the Suburban he drove as a teenager.
Zollicoffer imparted wisdom on those looking to possibly start their own business — even if they end up as competition in the transport business. Confidence in himself has always been a key motivator for following his dreams.
He urges anyone who wants to go into the transportation business to learn how to vet potential drivers and maintain their credit, a lesson he learned during his recovery from his battle with cancer.
Zollicoffer knew his first step to starting Z’s Limousine was to repair his credit. “It’s your lifeline” he says and allowed him to purchase his fleet of vehicles.
“The things that I’m capable of doing, I’m not expecting everybody else to be able to do. That’s why I’m in a position that I’m in. I have a vision, and I’ve always believed in myself,” Zollicoffer says. “If you have a vision, if you have a dream, hold on to it, and don’t let anyone deter you from it.”
