27 in business for 6 years need help

[yourbuddystevesgarage]

Just a little back story, have been in business for 6 years. Started from my house garage and grew to a 3 bay shop 2 years ago with one full time b tech. Very diverse shop we do a lot of collision repair,mechanical repairs,and used car sales with an inventory of 30 cars right now. when i first started, being so diverse helped keep the shop busy but now i am at the point where i would really like to perfect and enlarge my auto repair side of the business. i am very tired of throwing parts at cars and i know we are weak in the "CHECK ENGINE" world but i don't know how to make the jump to correct this. I know for a fact this will help my shop become more efficient and improve my used car business as well. ideally i would like to hire a Master tech who could help train the other tech and let me step into a manger position so i could buy more cars and be more aggressive in marketing the business, maybe land a fleet account. i just feel stuck with all these decisions and can't seem to decide which turn to take. i feel very lucky to have found this site and i am very excited to see what advise people have.

 

 

[xrac]

Premium Member Content 

This content is hidden to guests, one of the benefits of a paid membership. Please login or register to view this content.

[mspecperformance]

It seems like you are in a position of "jack of all trades, master of none." You have 3 businesses going there from auto body, auto repair and car sales. There are a lot of guys who have done all successfully but everyone's path is different. To see the best results you definitely have to pick 1 and run with it. If auto repair is where you think the best opportunity is then awesome! If your issue is not having a qualified tech I would suggest to hit the ground hard on recruiting. Leverage any opportunity you have to look for a great tech. Once you have some candidates my suggest is to vet them thoroughly. Worse thing is to get into bed with a bad employee, trust me I know and most of the guys on here can attest to the pain you'll go through.

[Jay Huh]

If you are weak on diag, you need to hire someone that can. They're expensive but worth it. I just signed on a master tech and super excited. I have pretty good ability to diagnose but I just opened a second shop so I hired a master tech for the location I was at. It's a great peace of mind having someone that can do EVERYTHING.

[skm]

Master tech who could help train the other tech

 

I think this will be very hard to do.. In today's auto world there is so much that needs to be learned . Training is a full time job and it also never ends even for the best Master mechanics out there. In my opinion a Master mechanic is out there to make a living not teach. You may want to find a master mechanic then possible look for a few good guys a few years out of automotive school that have the background knowledge and have some practical experience in the field which can for the most part hold their own with a little guidance from your Master mechanic.. The business is only as good as its weakest person.. Just like a dog sled team it can only go as fast as it's slowest dog. just my opinion .

Edited February 4, 2017 by skm

[carolinahigear]

If I had 30 cars in stock I would concentrate on turning my inventory and make a butt load of money in the used car business, and hire another B tech to do more work. It sounds like you have a gold mine right there.......you just will want to get everything running as smoothly as you can.

 

Hi-Gear