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About this blog

A Blog by Joe Marconi, co-founder of AutoShopOwner , owner of Osceola Garage, and  Business Development Coach at Elite Worldwide, Inc.

Entries in this blog

Shop Owners Need to Define Themselves

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach from UCLA, once said, “In my forty years of coaching, I never took a shot at the basket, never scored a point and never made a rebound. That was not my job”. John Wooden understood his role as a coach and the role of his players. We, as shop owners need to do the same.   For too many years I wore way too many hats. This notion that I, because I was the “Boss”, had to be the best technician, the best service advisor and essentially the best at all po
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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The Lonely Leader

Everyone has their own perception on life and the world around them. This perception becomes reality and it’s the only reality that matters. At least for most. This does not always hold true for shop owners.   As shop owners, we don’t always have the luxury of viewing things from our perceptive. There are other people around us and their families to consider. As the owner, and the leader, our concerns and issues take a backseat to the concerns and issues of others. This is something I know
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

2

AutoShopOwner.com Exceeds 1000 Members!

AutoShopOwner.com is proud to announce it now has over 1000 members! This truly is a milestone and exciting to see how ASO has grown in just a few short years.   AutoShopOwner.com was founded on the concept that there is a wealth of business knowledge among automotive shop owners, and by bringing these shop owners together, great things can happen.   Thanks to its loyal member base, AutoShopOwner.com has exceeded expectations. It is within the forums that shop owners engage in dialogue, comm
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

1

When Exceptional Customer Service Is Not Enough

A good customer called me the other day to let me know that he has concerns regarding the quality of our work. Last week we installed an exhaust system on his Maxima and two days later it sounded like the muffler had fallen off. There was so much noise he was afraid to drive the car. We went to his house to pick it up. We found that the baffles had broken apart in the brand new muffler we just installed.   About two month ago this same customer had to bring the Maxima back due to a grinding
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

1

The Long Term Effects of Keeping An Employee Who Should be Fired

About a year ago I hired a service advisor that I believed at the time would be a great asset to my shop. He had a lot of experience, knowledgeable about the business and well-spoken. He showed all the right credentials.   Soon after being hired, I noticed something that I did not pick up in any of our three interviews; he did not smile. How was it possible I did not notice this? A few more days turned into weeks and I could see that this person’s personality, or lack of personality, did not
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

2

My Core Beliefs for Personal Success

Everyone has core beliefs; those values and ideals that determine your personal success. Notice I said, “personal” success? That’s because success is defined by your goals, your desires and your individual talents and potential. Not by the achievements of others. A great athlete may study other great athletes to see how they achieved their success, but ultimately it’s the talents, work ethic and the potential of the individual that will determine personal success.   Below is my list of co
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Losing My Patience, Never My Passion

Losing My Patience, Never My Passion   As a shop owner, that began his career as a mechanic 36 years ago, the effort of building a business has taken its toll in many ways. While I have not lost my passion for what I do, I have lost my patience with many of the things I see around me. I have built a business from a small 2-man operation to a 2-facility company with close to 20 employees. It’s often said that you need great people around you in order to achieve success. But the truth is without
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

4

A Customer Teaches Me About Life

A Customer Teaches Me About Life   I will always remember the first day I met Mort Rubenstein. He was in his early 70’s at the time, about 18 years ago and used a walker to get around. He told me that he preferred to wait with his car while it was serviced and that he didn’t mind waiting, no matter how long it took.   I remember as he was leaving my office for the first time, I offered to help him to his car and tried to hold the door open for him. Since he used a walker, I felt I was doi
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

3

Managing Your Most Important Asset, Your Employees

Managing Your Most Important Asset, Your Employees A practical guide for shop owners   By Joe Marconi   We all know that without customers, your business would not survive. The strength of your customer base insures the success of your business and that success is directly related to the quality of people who work in your company. The only way to insure a great customer base is by building a great team of employees.   When Yankee legend Yogi Berra was asked, “What makes a great manage
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Lessons from Failure

This past April 25th, 2010 marks the first full year since opening our new facility. As many of you may know, we built an additional 4-bay shop which offers while you wait service and welcome walk-ins. This new shop features basic services, maintenance work, tires, brakes, accessories, oil changes, state inspections and other minor services and repairs. It also serves as a feeder for more complicated work and diagnostic work, which is sent to our existing 6–bay repair facility. This business mod
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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To Sell or Not to Sell?

The other day one of my techs was replacing front brake pads and rotors on an older Subaru. The caliper bracket bolts were seized and one of them snapped off. This is a common problem and we are well aware of it. We try our best with rust busters and heat, but sometimes nothing works. The tech drilled out the broken bolt and finished the brake job. No problem, right?   Here’s the problem, who pays for it? Me,or the customer? I asked the tech if he informed the service writer. He said he did. I
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

2

Expanding The Business: Growing Pains

Since our opening on April 25, 2009 we have increase business by a whopping 29%. We now have to insure that this becomes the norm and not just a grand opening bounce. Just about all our plans are falling into place. The added four bays and increased parking have allowed us to take on more work and become more efficient. We handle just about all walk-ins and refuse no one who calls for an appointment. We are determined to take care of our customers on their schedule, not ours.   There is, howev
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

0

Expanding The Business: Open For Business!

Our grand opening was held on Saturday, April 25th. The weather was perfect. Hundreds of people came out to visit our new facility. The affair lasted all-day and ended about 7:30 that evening. All the money spent on prompting the affair was well worth it.   A special thanks to CARQUEST Auto Parts, who provided their barbecue wagon, blow-up racecar, tent, banners and other items.   It was great to see many customers share in the festivities and we had the chance to meet many new people from
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

0

Expanding The Business: One Month to Go!

With one month to go, we are working hard making all the final preparations for the grand opening. The building is complete and most of the equipment has been installed. Each day starts with a review of our plan list to insure every task will be accomplished before opening day. Ten months of construction and years of planning are nearing the end.   We had a team meeting last week, after hours, to review the workflow process and the elements of the expansion. Adding four bays and another bui
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Expanding The Business, Step 18: Acquire Knowledge and Give it Away!

With two months to go before the grand opening, I reflect back to 7 years ago when I first had the vision to expand. It took a few years to actually begin the process. There were things I needed to learn and a tremendous amount of fear to overcome. I can tell you honestly that the fear never goes away nor does it get any easier to handle. It’s there and I accept it. The hardest part was to pull the trigger. Once you make the decision, only look forward. It makes no sense to look back and second-
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Expanding The Business, Step 17: Promote the Grand Opening

Now that we are close enough to pick a date for the grand opening, we need to start the promotion process and make plans for the day of the grand opening. We need to jump start this business with a big splash in the community. Having momentum right out of the gate will be important to the success of the project.   To help promote the business I have greatly increased our advertising and marketing. Prior to this project the only advertising I did was in the local yellow books, sport sponsorshi
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Expanding The Business, Step 16: Establish Deadlines, Stick to the Game Plan and Review Constantly

Everyone needs direction and everyone needs deadlines. We would never conduct business without knowing when parts are going to arrive, when jobs need to be done, how long jobs will take to complete and every other aspect of running a repair business. What’s vital to your business is to understand the amount of work needed (labor hours and parts sold) in order to reach your sales goal, which translates into profit. In other words you establish deadlines and goals on a daily basis. You probably do
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

0

Expanding The Business, Step 15: Design Layout, Build for Profit

We are in the final stages of construction. The exterior siding is almost complete along with the electrical work, plumbing, security system, heating and air conditioning. We expect the building to be complete within six to eight weeks, barring any unforeseen obstacles. Photos of the project will be available soon.   A great deal of time has been spent on the design and layout of the not only the building, but the parking lot layout and the workflow process, as well. One thing I have learned
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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Expanding The Business, Step 14: Sustained Growth, Key to Success

In business, if your not growing you’re dieing. This may be harsh, but true. All companies need to grow to survive. Whether you have 2 bays or 30, it doesn’t matter.   For the first five in business I grew from nothing, so any growth was positive. After eight years my sales hit a plateau and hard times followed soon after. By my tenth year, I was nearly broke. It took me an additional 2 years to realize that although I could fix cars I could not fix my business. My skills were all mechanical
Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi

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