Hands On

I do not even bother with the insurance companies estimates. I tell the insurance company "this is what it costs to fix, if you do not want to pay it, call your client and explain that to them". I get my money. I also do not bother with the insurance companies electronic systems. I use tekmetric. I send a link to the adjusters e mail. I make sure to tell them there is $35 storage fee per day while waiting for them to figure out my system to authorize the repairs. When they try to tell me they do not pay storage for vehicles being repaired, I remind them they need to explain to their client why the bill is not covered. I do not work for the insurance company.

I think one thing should be mentioned in this thread for anyone still considering. The first step for me would be to make sure the town/municipality would allow it. Just because someone built a paint booth once, does not mean it is legal.

Are you trying to reply to a topic? You started a new thread, and it looks like you are talking to yourself, or in the middle of a conversation...

If your asking how to get in their system so you can repair vehicles and get paid by the Insurance company, that happens the first time you repair a vehicle covered by insurance, when you call the company to submit the estimate for the claim, they will enter you in the system. If you asking how you could become a preferred shop or repair facility what ever, you would call the company and ask them. If your asking how to obtain insurance, you would seek out an agent, or call various companies for a quote.

It looks like you have the lighting harness for towing, green is one of the turns I think.

All of my hires have been through Craigslist. Facebook marketplace seems to be the new Craigslist, and I wonder if it might work. Zip recruiter is a joke.. I have had some hits from indeed, but it was not any more effective then craigslist.

Another thing you could suggest to your friend, if he is really hesitant on bumping the hourly rate, many RO systems have a built in labor hour adjustment. I have mine set to 10%, so if a job bills one hour in the guide, the RO system writes it as 1.1 automatically. I have no problem justifying this as all my guys are instructed to take extra time to make sure everything is done 110%.

I was thinking of this topic yesterday. I received notice from the landlord that the rent will be going up about $4 per my average monthly produced hours.

I am with the current company because it was with a local rep who I can text his direct cell phone. That being said I would not pay 3 times the going rate for his services....

I liked your posts. I was looking forward to your response to my last post about the housing prices median incomes ect. I think the back and forth is productive. I thought we could do a podcast, point counter point with two Italian Americans. I do hope you will continue the discussion with a response to my post prior to me asking for the formula. There are some very generic formulas that can be used, I would have to look them up. Here is a link with some really great information on how to run the numbers. Maybe I will take some time and try to find a formula I can post. https://www.bplans.com/auto-repair-shop-business-plan/financial-plan/

You should at least put the formula here, otherwise your just shouting "everyone should charge more" with no actual reason why then "because there are maths somewhere."

I will challenge you and say why such the focus on the labor rate. How about you price your self $5 lower then the average of 10 shops near you, then do those myths you talk about to create your labor multiplier. This way when someone calls up and asks what's your labor rate, it looks like it is $ 75 an hour when it is really $125 an hour because you do the labor guide x 1.5 I just do not understand how you think a shop is going to go the long game selling labor at $ 200 an hour when everyone else is at $100 an hour. If you do those maths and find your labor rate needs to be twice the surrounding shops, maybe you need to trim the fat Instead of raising rates. Why does it cost you so much more then all the shops in the area for similar products. What are they doing that you are not that they can afford to charge less? Do these shops have horrible reviews and are about to go under? And you most certainly can compare houses to cars. If you want to open a high priced quality focused auto repair shop, you should be looking at local housing prices, median incomes ect. You can not expect to sell labor at $ 200 an hour where houses sell for 100k. You should not be pricing labor at $ 75 an hour where the average house goes for 1.5 million. The two very much go hand in hand. Now I realize I contradict my previous post where I say try offering another $10 an hour. Maybe that is just not possible in your situation, I get it. Yourmechanic is the new app, the "Uber" of auto mechanics. I just checked out the website. They told me I could make up to $70 an hour, more then what I make as a shop owner. I filled out an application, I will report back how it goes. My shop runs itself, so maybe this is a great way for me to make some extra play money and maybe I can drive some clients to my shop also.. It sure does make me wonder were things are going and how long the app will last. How long will those techs want to deal with the headaches that come with it. And what if I end up loving working for the app lol.

If you are surrounded by businesses selling widgets for $1, You have to have some damn good skills to push widgets at $5. The best way to set your labor rate is to call around to shops in your area, see what they charge, then set your rate according to the quality you try to provide. If you are a budget shop you should be on the lower end. If your shop focuses on quality with a great warranty and loaner vehicles and shuttles ect then you should be near the top. If you do not know whether you are budget or quality you should sit down and figure that out. I am not sure Joe why it surprises you so much that some shops are still sub $100 an hour. You know some houses still sell for sub 100k dollars? Are you trying to say I should be able to buy a house in the most dangerous area of Chicago and sell it for $500,000? Come on man, you have to realize there are different markets. I think what may end up happening is some of the lower income areas may end up with out shops as it becomes harder to run a profitable shop in said areas. That being said, there is always someone willing to fill a hole when it comes to business.

We need to raise our prices and raise our pay. In the trucker forums I follow, the big Industy players claim it is hard to hire truckers, the truckers all complain the companies do not pay enough. It is too easy to get a decent paying job working from home. In our industry you could work as an adjuster for warranty programs, insurance companies, work for identifix, or look outside the industry too. Someone made an Uber for Auto mechanics also, which is not going to help. Anyone with tools can log into the app and see local jobs and what they offer. TLDR offer $10 more per hour then you currently are and see if you get any interviews lined up.

I paid 1.78% overall total in August, 36,275.42 in transactions, 648.61 in fees. Part of that is a 19 PCI non comp fee cause I am lazy, and part is a 15 monthly service fee. I was with a local company for years. They were bought by a larger company, which was then bought by an even larger company . The service turned to garbage, so I found another local guy who works at a local bank. I like having someone local whom I can text or call with any issues, and since you can see them face to face as often as you want, you are less likely to be lied to about rates then you are from some traveling salesman that has worked for a major processor for 5 days now. As to why my rate was so low? Over half the transactions were debit, even though no one ever entered a pin into my machine. The majority of the rest of the transactions were what I call cheap cards, under 2% base. My processor charges a flat .1, so if a card is 1.5, I pay 1.6. This is the best deal you can get pretty much. It really boils down to what kind of cards you end up getting after that. On a side note, It was a pretty bad august for me for CC transactions. We usually average 60k a month, had a lot of checks that month, and was down an employee, which really hurts.

I agree. My accounting system has a few options for how they are entered in the system, hourly, salary, or commission. All of my guys are entered in as commission, and their base pay is well above minimum wage to ensure I never come close to violating minimum wage laws even if they drag feet all month and take base.

In my area Mc Donalds and Walmart pay $15/ hour. We start at $900 a week base for entry level, and go up from there. Bonus kicks in after 30 hours produced each week for a month straight. We bill $132/hr. I think this thread needs all of us to include our labor rate also, pay is different depending on your market area.

65 an hour? When is the last time you called around to see average hourly shop rates? I know each market is different, but we are at 127 an hour and I think we could do another bump. I second on the salary thing. Make sure they are commission in your accounting software, then you can pay a base plus commission.

I would like to get procedures written for everything in my shop. It is something I really need to sit down and take the time to do. I want to open a second location. Duplicating what made my first so successful is going to be crucial. If I am going to put my name on a second shop I want it to be held to the same standards as I hold my first.

I always try to keep a tech on hand that can repair anything. When I do not have one I step into that role myself to deal with the difficult ones. I have a dealer around d the corner from me that sends cars to me. The key to staying profitable is explaining the diag fees up front and billing for your time accordingly.

My state had one online you could print out. That is what I used.

American Osteopathic College of Anesthesiologists

I hope you go for it. I am 43 and getting ready to pull the trigger on a second location in February. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Good luck. Any advice for my second unit?

Good advice Joe.. I always try to ramp up advertising a month before I know it might slow down. You might talk about being prepared for the unexpected also. November 2018 I was in an accident and lost my left leg. Luckily I had decent employees in place, and a fair savings account. I was in a good place to spend a month in the hospital. Could you walk away from your business for a month? Would it survive or go under?

The only people who have been applying at my shop are the people that did not qualify for unemployment because they were terminated with justification. Anyone I have spoken to that was laid off and eligible for unemployment is making too much to sit at home. In Colorado you just have to check a box on a computer every week, no need to submit any info proving your trying to get hired.