Hello, from McKinney TX

[bantar]

Hi Guys. I've been lurking for quite a while, absorbing as much goodness as possible. Been trying to open a shop for the last 2.5 years and I've run into more road blocks than a collapsed mountain pass. I'm bruised but still moving forward. McKinney is a northern suburb of Dallas. One of the major challenges is finding a quality location for an auto-shop. Not welcome in many shopping centers, or too near residential, etc. Finally found a spot at what I believe will be a busy and frequented intersection in a high-end demographic. We broke ground in December and hope to be open late summer. It is a Kwik Kar store, which appears to be a franchise, but it's not. They license their name, build the stores, and sell supplies. I own the land and soon a building. I have no franchise fees, nor am I obligated to purchase anything from them, nor do I get corporate oversight (beyond maintaining the brand positively). 4 bays will be quick lube and 6 are for repair. In this market, it is a respected brand. But, I'll be honest, amongst others in the trade, it's not spoken of highly due to the quick-lube business. Where it matters, with customers, as best I can tell, it is respected.

 

My focus will be on quality repairs. I expect the business to be 50/50 lube/repair, but 90/10 with car counts. When I first started looking at this, I thought that we needed another honest shop, but as I studied it more, I've come to realize that the market is dying to have another competent shop. I've been secretly shopping many different places and I've seen poor quality work being done for very honest reasons. While I'm there, I talk to anyone and everyone that will speak with me. And I was surprised by what I've found. The need for competency, and I put this blame squarely on the management. A great technician at a bad shop is not at his full potential.

 

I'll say that I've learned quite a bit from reading the forums here and over at another technician forum. I feel like a paper tiger with all that I've learned (just about to walk into a paper shredding museum). I want to thank each of you for your contributions here. I've certainly valued your input. I'll try to share what I can and give back to the community as well.

 

--brian

[Jay Huh]

Hey Brian, best of luck to you and glad you're here. Excited for you, looks like you are starting big

[xrac]

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