Michael knew his brother was also growing tired of the corporate environment, so the two of them got together to figure out how much money they had to invest (given the fact that they both had mortgages to pay and kids to put through college), and what they wanted to accomplish. Michael told RV News, "There were very few businesses we probably would not have gone into. With my financial and management background and Alan's technology & marketing expertise, we really thought we could learn to run almost any business." Although they did not know exactly what business they wanted to be in, they did set some very specific parameters. Alan had just built a house in the area so they established a geographic parameter of roughly one-hour from his house. They had to have enough money coming back to support the two families. And the third parameter and perhaps the most important in both of their minds: they wanted to have fun again! "We wanted something else that was going to be fun in a different sense. Of all the businesses that we looked at this one gave us the appearance of having that potential," Michael said. They purchased Hitcharama from the Doughton's in 1985 and kept their two employees on board. Alan immediately instituted technology advances, including complementing the existing Apple II Plus computer with a few new PCs and gradually upgrading their systems. Alan said, "We were comfortable with the idea of computerization, and we saw it as an essential business tool." After surviving a bumpy start in the late eighties, Hitcharama emerged as New Jersey's top sales leader during 1998 according to Statistical Surveys. The full service dealership offers everything from new units to rentals to an extensive aftermarket parts and accessories store. In instituting the changes, Alan was very careful to point out that at the same time they tried not to make the same mistakes they observed in the corporate world. "We wanted to keep it comfortable, friendly, informal and not too much bureaucracy. We tried not to be egocentric and run the dealership that way. The dealership ran well at that time, and does even more so now, because of our people. We are currently seven times the size we were when we bought the dealership, and according to statistical surveys we sold more units than anybody else in New Jersey in 1998." Initially they were very profitable and were indeed having fun. Alan was busy running the parts, service, and the marketing and advertising departments, as well as keeping up with the technology wave. Michael was handling the sales and finance end of the business. "The first three years we were in business were super, and that was very beneficial because if the economy and the industry hadn't been strong during our initial learning curve we may have had problems", Michael said. But as everyone in this industry may recall, that fun quickly turned into fear as the industry plummeted into one of the worst recession periods of its time shortly thereafter. According to Michael the recession hit the industry in September 1988, a year to a year and half before it actually affected the rest of the country. "We actually look at Labor Day weekend to be specific. That's when we saw our sales fall precipitously. We were a little bit slow in reacting and I have to take a lot of the responsibility for that. If I had permitted that sort of thing to happen when I was in the corporate world, I would have fired myself. I certainly knew better, but I just couldn't believe it was happening to us. I would say, we'll its only been a week, two weeks, a month--it has to turn around." It was five years before the industry got out of that recession. During that time an estimated 25% of the dealers around the country folded, and they personally knew of three or four in the immediate vicinity who were among them. continued