Candice Davis: in the driver's seat.

• Author: Johnson, Melanie
• Position: Around Utah

Candice Davis became a business owner almost by accident. She and her husband were in search of a motorcycle in her favorite brand, BigDog. When they visited the local BigDog store, Davis proposed an entirely new purchase--buying the store itself.

"How would you feel if I bought the whole store?" Davis says, recalling what she asked her husband after looking at motorcycles.

The thought of owning her own motorcycle store drove Davis into action. She found investors and bought a 49 percent stake in the BigDog store. Her co-owner had recently acquired it, but had no definite plans for the store. Davis was on the opposite end of the spectrum. "From the time I was little, I have loved street motorcycles," she says. "Because of my gender, I was raised that it wasn't an option."

Her new venture did not go as planned, however. Three weeks after investing in the store, BigDog went out of business. "My investment was pretty much set for self-destruction," Davis says.

With her pipeline to BigDog products cut off, she went to work building a new business model with the help of her general manager and mechanic.

"I couldn't lose that kind of money. It was the first thing I had done that was for me," Davis says. "It was a personal thing for me; I could not let someone see me fail because it was deep-seated in me."

Her new business model came to life with the opening of Addictive Behavior Motor Works in 2011. The dealership offers outdoor recreation enthusiasts a one-stop consignment shop for everything that suits their tastes. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, jet-skis, wave runners and dirt bikes can all be found under the full-service dealership's roof. The company also provides parts and service for each vehicle it sells out of its Salt Lake...