Byron

I have been overwhelmed with the amount of reading, number crunching, how many people live in the area, how busy the road traffic is, average income for a household on and on and on..... right down to my overhead costs, insurance, gas and electric, internet, paper etc.... Will you shop owners give some insight as to how you go about marking up prices on parts. For example should I be marking up my parts to cover my overhead only or should my parts and labor be included to make up for my costs of doing business and profit. Is there a certain program used to mark up parts or do you do it just from experience. I hear the term matrix used will someone please explain what that means and how they reach there mark up using a matrix formula. I know for parts that cost less you are able to do a bigger or better mark up. At what point then for the cost of a given part do you do less of a mark up and how much. I also realize in a given area when peoples income are higher parts can be adjusted to fit for that economic area. So I hope to get this part of doing business figured out and it is giving me some anxiety over learning all this and would rather get the knowledge now from experienced shop owners. Thanks Byron

Xrac, did you try TABS autobiz software yet? if so how are you liking it and what do you see as the pro's and con's.

lol that is funny. Thanks xrac for the list.

I agree there is nothing like a manufacturers scanner. Having worked for ford with there NGS then world bay diagnostics computer it was nice to be able to have that in your arsenal of tools. But going out on my own it just is not feasible to purchase all the scanners. Just trying to see what you guys like using and the best bang for the buck. My first scanner was a OTC 4000e yeah I am old, then came the Genisys and now the new release Genisys touch has peeked my interest with all of its features from blue tooth to wiresless and not having to leave the car to look up data or information. Its platform is a tablet computer loaded with identafix as well as other features to help in repair. A good scope is for sure a tool that is needed. I have 2 Tektronix 465 scopes and been valuable to me over the years, they are considered boat anchors by todays standards. The snap on verus pro is a really nice machine but at 10k puts it out of my financial ability to buy one. With doing all the research I can now with hopes of being as prepared as I can be once the service bay door rolls up, knowledge is the key for me to learn from you guys that have been there and done that. Thanks for the input

Hi My name is Byron. I am a new subscriber to Auto shop owner forum, Just stumbled across here as I am putting together a business model to get a shop up and running. I have spent hours reading through the threads and found a wealth of information here. I have to admit the thrill of opening a shop and being in control of your own future is quite exciting. But also full of anxieties and stress putting everything together. I actually have 2 questions, the first being a shop name. I would like to hear how you chose a shop name and the whys of doing it. For me personally I think the name says a lot about a shop and will help attract prospective clients that are willing to spend there hard earned money for diagnostics and repairs. What say you shop owners. My second question is about scan tools. I would like to know what scan tools you like and why. I have always been a user of OTC and looking at there new Genisys touch as a shop scanner.