Conversations with Steve Ertle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Ertle.

Hi Steve, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I and my best friend of many years wanted to be in the motorcycle business and we searched for years in the Houston Area to find an underperforming dealership that was for sale. In 1996 we found the perfect opportunity.
We purchased Action Cycles on the east side of Houston in Highlands. It was a project to say the least. We got busy implementing systems and processes with the goal of increasing sales and profit. We were able to find some great employees and managers that helped us grow our business from a tiny little dealership to a powerhouse in the industry. We changed the name from Action Cycles to Tejas Motorsports and we worked on a footprint of not just the Houston area but a State wide footprint. We added brands and our business continued to grow. Our mission statement included that if we had a brand we wanted to be number one in the nation for that brand. Keeping this vision pinned to my cork board we were able to achieve just that. Over the years we have been number on in the nation with almost every brand we carried.

We added a second location in Victoria Texas and brought our systems and procedures to that store and set to building our brand there as well. We had at that time a General Manager that was ready to buy their own store and we helped her and her husband buy that store and make their own successful business in Victoria.

During the great recession the powersports business collapsed and it almost took us with it. With sales at 1/3 of the previous years our whole model had to change. We went from thriving to surviving. We had to layoff some great long time employees and that was difficult.

We were a member of the Spader Business Group that was a 20 group facilitator and consultant. We took their advice made hard choices and hunkered down to weather the storm.

We were able to regain our footing and market share and level up our business in a profitable model that afforded my business partner and I to start enjoying more time away from the business with our managers running the business.

In August of 2017 We had a devastating fire. It effectively shut us down. That fire burned up, melted and damaged everything that was on the showroom floor. I wanted to just give up, throw in the towel. But I have has this little paperweight on my desk that says never, never, never give up so we got busy we had to run on a diesel generator that used 60 gallons of diesel a day to operate for months from a single stall with no inventory we were able to reopen in about 5 days and our customers rallied behind us.

Luckily we had enough property to rebuild right next to the burned building and emerged form the ashes stronger and bigger than before. We added a few more brands because we had more square feet to fill up and sales were strong.

In 2022 we were approached buy a company that was buying dealerships all across the south and we were able to put together a deal that made sense for them and us and we sold the dealership in 2023.

I took some time to figure out what was next for me. I really am not the retired old guy type. So with the help of another buddy I landed on RV and Boat Storage.

I began down the road to construction and building the next chapter of my life but was blocked at every turn. I abandoned the idea for about 2 years and then a door opened and some things were able to be changed in the zoning and I made another run at it.

We got it done and construction was completed in December of 2025 and we opened for business Jan 2nd of 2026. It seems that i have a habit of learning while I go so every day I have a new challenge or blessing that comes my way but it is working and expansion is on the horizon.

One thing I will say is that none of this would have been possible without God, prayer and faith. I give all the glory to Him who made all this possible.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think I have been a good mentor over the years. Many of my former employees have gone on to won their on businesses and run other companies. I look back on several people that now own their own businesses and I am so proud of them. It is not easy to do.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Riding motorcycles with my Dad.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://daytonrvandboatstorage.storageunitsoftware.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daytonrvandbaotstorage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584567010934