ExclusiveAutoCare

Thank you for your input. Yes, it is very tough thing to do do. We are working on it. That is the problem he gets offensive when I try to present an idea or when I suggest a way to do things different. I recently spoke with him about communicating things to each other. Hopefully he will stay committed in everything he said. I want the business to succeed. As for him as long as he is working on cars he is a happy camper.

"Damage Control" lol I like that term.

I was gone for 3 weeks. I left in the middle of a disagreement we had about the way the shop needs to be ran. This is my first week back and I must say that I shouldn't have never left.

I don't have a problem defining my self as a boss. I can take control of a situation and I can be stern to my employees. (3) The thing is that I'm not allowed to. Why is beyond me. I have noticed that my husband is not that all stern. His employees tend to stop working when he does, and at times pick up conversations with our customers. To me they need to leave that up to us. I'm not allowed to tell them otherwise. That is my husband job since he is over the shop. I'm more time in the office. I still pay attention to things that go on at the shop and Im not always happy. This causes alot of tension in between us. Yesterday my husband stop working for about 20 minutes and one by one his employees stop along with him. I believe it was my husbands job as a boss to tell them to go back to work and keep working. He never did and instead let them go back on their own when HE (husband) started back to working. UNACCEPTABLE in my eyes. I think that he wont let me make decisions or be verbally stern with them for fear of his employees not respecting him or probably because Im a woman! What do you guys think? I want something done about this. He is not good in taking in criticism especially if is coming from me. How can I approach this situation without him being mad or offended. He sees that this is a problem due to lack of productivity but Im not quite sure he knows how to take initiative to solve it.

I never though about this subject. Great article!! I'm from Mexico myself didn't live there long enough to notice the mechanics and their shops. I'm from Matamoros, Tamaulipas closed to the border with Texas. What I did notice is that most mechanic shops sell cars. Maybe that's how they make most of their money. Good to have you back!!

Welcome to ASO and good luck in your business!! We have been open for about a year. (Nov 22 would be our 1st year in business) We started with nothing. We had enough savings to lease the facility and that's about it. The thing that helps us was that my husband is a great tech and he had all his tools already. Don't give up and learn, learn learn. I have been on ASO for about a couple of weeks and I'm learning so much thanks to all of you that have some great advice. I'm still learning and I know that I have way more to learn about the business. My husband is the tech. I work inside the office and take care, of almost everything except working on cars. (not yet) We have had our disagreements because I want to do it one way and he wants to do it another way. It has impacted our relationship quite a bit. I hope that you guys have a lot of communication involved and you both agree on things concerning the business. We are getting better at communicating but we still need a lot of work. Good Luck and keep in touch. Zulma

How can we have flat rates for a specific job if the prices range according to vehicle?

Can you explain a little more about diagnostic reports? Written report vs. diagnostic report? Thank you

We also offer a towing service. We don't ask for money upfront but we do inform the customer upfront that there would be a towing charge. We add the towing fee in the final invoice. My question is should we type up a form for the customer to sign giving us permission to towed their vehicle and that we are not responsible for any damage while is being towed to our shop. We don't have any insurance on this service in case something was to happen to the vehicle while it being towed. What do you guys suggest.

Wow!! The shops that have sign up for the site must really be hurting for business. I also agree with most of you guys! I refuse to compete with other shops for any business.

Great idea!!! Awesome feature.