andresauto

The first shop that I bought was a tire shop. In the 90's we charged tire cost + $15.00 each tire -mounted, balanced and installed. It made money because we were the only game in town. In 2005, we charged tire cost + $40 each tire mounted, balanced, installed. In 2005 we now had two big tire discount stores that entered the marketplace. Each a few blocks on each side of me. These two are in fierce competition with each other. They have the buy 3 get 1 free deal, they have the free tire rotation deal, they have the free flat repair deal, they have the "free diagnosis" deal, and the latest is free oil changes to anyone. I cannot make sense of this free, cheap, discount business model other than some business models are to focused on car count with hopes of constant and continuous up selling for profits whether vehicles need it or not. I believe in sales, but only of what's truly necessary and beneficial. I have to believe in the sale and it's greatest good to the customer and so must the service writer. Otherwise it's unjustifiable in warranting and can't be defended. The bottom line at the end of the day is, was the business profitable or did we just see alot of people and alot of cars today. In my opinion, one way or another these discount places are overall profitable. Whether through up sales or kickbacks from tire manufacturers it looks like they are making money. They are selling "cheap, free, complimentary, discounted" the assorted wording is semantics. Oh yeah, I forgot one of them was bought out a few months back by the other. Initially I viewed it as a game of who wants to go broke first. But then I realized that a business can save alot of money by being known as "cheap, discount, etc." and minimally spend on promotion and marketing, good sales people and technicians if you have "discount prices". Cheap is its own class. Cheap has its dedicated followers. Cheap is everywhere. Just as people wanting high quality and demanding excellence and are willing to pay are everywhere. I feel that quality of service and quality products should dictate my market share. I like things done in a proper sensible manner. I like to make money on time spent and products. I believe in profits for goods and services sold regardless of the competitions tricks and gimmicks or semantics. Free, discounted, complimentary has never been my business model. Neither has cheap, inexpensive or any other form of discount. My business philosophy has been "does this make sense to me and how does it add up?", "will the customer be pleased with the final product?", "I'm not selling price." and others. I only sell a couple hundred tires a month now and it only adds up to 17% of our total revenue. I want it under 20% because it is an extra $10,000 per year in shop insurance if it goes above 20%. That is alot of free work one way or another to pay that $10,000. if I hit 20% or above on tires. Less is more for my case. As for pricing on tires as of 2012, I make no less than $40.00 per tire markup. With no less than $40.00 per tire mounted and road force balanced, installed. On a set of tires I make minimally $320.00 per 4 tires and up from there. That is the average car. On higher end and more expensive vehicles and tires we charge more due to higher risk factors. This may sound unbelievable but it is the truth. Some may think it's excessive profit on tires. I think not. I can afford to damage wheels, break tpms sensors, destroy beads etc., but the guys are so well trained on the best equipment on the market and we rarely have damages. I have paid for one tire out of pocket that an employee broke that I can remember in the last five years and one sensor. I am my own sensible road hazzard insurance company as well. I strictly sell Michelin, Continental-General and Perilli when I sell tires. I piggy back off manufacturers warranties and otherwise I am my own indemnity company. I can afford to be because I am profitable. Once upon a time I was not and that's because I foolishly followed a non-sensical trend and bad advice as far as I was concerned. Come to your own verdict, but I will never go home to tell my family "Sorry no money for groceries because I gave my time, money and potential earning capabilities away." P..S. The phrase "Go for broke", is bad advice.

Answers are in exact order as asked. I am. Initially zeal, not insight. No partners. Different for now. Took over existing shops and cleaned house to make sense of operations. Either way would have been fine with me. Cash Down Payment and Mortgage. Own properties. Self-confidence. Believers and supporters. Know-how. Paying attention. Intention to be successful. Unreasonablness, not making excuses, taking full responsibility for all success and failure. Doing things that make sense, not doing what's popular. Communicating clearly and concisely. Being able to hold a position I believe in. A market place trained by tricks and gimmicks. An illusioned market place. Supportive spouse that believes in me and allows me to make mistakes without ridicule or regrets and constantly pushes me toward improvement. People that hold my vision when I'm tired, burned out, or practically dead! A tainted and rising scale drug induced society that perpetuates what they see on TV instead of reaching toward the stars to better themselves and mankind. A society where apparencies trump actualities. Bad advice. Lack of due diligence. Pitfalls are subjective. One man's pitfall is another man's stronghold. Experience / Know-how; Personal inherent unwillingness. Lack of know how. A small business is an extension of its creator and management. If the creator and management is weak, so is the business. If the creator/manager is disorganized, so is the business. If the owner/manager is fiscally sound due to proper handling of income, so is the business. Don't waste time with losers. Losers only know how to lose and want to tell you I told you so while they are killing your game. Massive income comes from ethics, communication, sales, efficient well handled overhead, fully functional administrative lines. Everything that is in good good standing in the first location will have to be carried over to the next location. Anything and everything that is not handled, ignored, succumb too and avoided will be perpetually amplified to the subsequent locations and will become a greater monster to slay. I will add and update this post, but in short and for now, this is my quick response. I'm a business enthusiast and I am a continual and predictable success. There are many more people here that have built empires through willingness and know how. Hopefully they will chime in. Additional thoughts: I read a book called The Peter Principle about 10 years ago which stated how people hit the ceiling at their own level incompetence. For some people that can be owning one business, for others it may be 100. Know-how is attainable as long as one is willing.

Marketing Success Capture Attention Create Interest Propose Value Sell, Sell, Sell Value Delivered and Paid for Repeat Cycle Elon is following the formula to success. And that is exactly what we all should be doing as past, present, future business owners and even employees. Step 1: Find a platform for communication. He did that by signing up and setting himself up as an advertising member. Step 2: Making himself known by creating a profile and posting on here. Getting attention and creating interest. Step 3: Trying to fulfill the wants and needs of the automotive repair shop market place with relevant automotive repair shop information. Watching his free videos on youtube, Elon delivers relevant information for automotive repair facilities. Not everyone wants and needs the same thing here. Some members are browsers, some are advertisers, some are critics, some are looking for a million dollar idea. Some are transmission shops, some are specialty shops, some are primarily tire shops. All are automotive related. We have shop owners, we have technicians, and we have prospective shop owners. Information is relative to needs and wants. It's ok to not be interested or just not see the value. But any individual or business must continue marketing themselves or their business regardless of any upsets, blowups or criticism for the sake of their own survival and that of the business and it's employees. Elon is trying to prosper, and rightfully so, by marketing himself and proposing the value of his insight and business on this platform for Automotive Shops. So he is doing what all of us need to do. Market! Some will be interested and listen. Some will sign up, and some will disregard or ignore his insight. The truth is all of us must do it and make it a non-stop action. When I go to my neighborhood movie theater and they are marketing the local body shop or curtain store I know that I have absolutely no interest in those things especially while sitting and waiting to watch a movie. I just want to relax and be entertained and the movie theater is marketing body work and curtains to me. What's the relevance? Outflow of communication from a business through that platform. That's it whether I like it or not. Protesting marketing is understandable since there is a constant bombardment of it, but the purpose of it is to create awareness and interest that a person, place or thing exist in the world and how and where you can find more information or get serviced. It's typically not meant to be offensive, but if it is, it still grabbed enough attention and captured your interest enough to talk about it. So it worked either way in making someone or something known, interesting and talked about. Pure Genius! Market anywhere, market everywhere! Make yourself known everywhere! Thats branding through marketing! If Coca Cola and Geico have not overwhelmed the public with their marketing campaigns I don't think Elon has exhausted the automotive marketplace with his posts. We are all looking for more clients, we all need to make ourselves known. Anywhere and everywhere with intention and attention on client gain. Success through communication is the only way I know success occurs. Elon's a communicator.

I signed an agreement when I purchased the tests from MasterTech that I would not share them, so I cannot post them. But you can call MasterTech or any other company that offers employee testing. I use IQ, aptitude, personality, and reading comprehension. It is one of the most money saving business decisions you can make for your company when it comes to hiring. You get a good preview. As for production, the true test is production. As for general tone and handling of "annoyances" the annoyance test is the truest indicator of civility. Create an annoyance, observe the reaction. That's your guy. It's like flipping a light switch, you can predict the reaction. I signed an agreement when I purchased the tests from MasterTech that I would not share them, so I cannot post them. But you can call MasterTech or any other company that offers employee testing. I use IQ, aptitude, personality, and reading comprehension. It is one of the most money saving business decisions you can make for your company when it comes to hiring. You get a good preview of your prospect. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS call past job references. As for production, the true test is production. As for general tone and handling of "annoyances" the annoyance test is the truest indicator of civility. Some people are absolute gentle souls that want to truly help solve any problems, inconveniences, misunderstandings, mishaps, mistakes, and then conversely some are so harsh and violent in their willingness to confront anything which could have been nothing at all. Create an unexpected annoyance, observe the reaction. Anyone can claim being brave, courageous, or an avid bible study but that does not mean that in every given circumstance they will perform that way, only the true test will show it.

Below is in addition to the my basic IQ, aptitude and personality tests that all applicants must take. Be certain the prospect service writer has the willingness and ability to spend alot of money themselves. If he/she thinks he/she are broke themselves they typically tend to believe the rest of the world is broke too. Broke or poor thinking service writers in my experience over and over again, create a broke and poor operating shop. Also, look at their possessions and conditions. Clothes, car, watch, shoes, etc. Whatever you can take notice of. Look at what their pride level of appearance is. A service writer should be professional in appearance. Clean shirt, clean pants, shoes in good condition. Also, communication lag time is an indicator of how well the person can handle communications coming in. See how long it takes them to answer your questions and if any fluff is added to the answer like umm, huh, mmm, or anything else that doesn't answer the question in a direct predictable manner. Your customer will get the same type of answer which can be nerve-racking. But the number one test: Who is this potential service writer when they are not under your interview spotlight? Call the person at a reasonable time of day or night, say you are so and so from so and so, say "We see you have an outstanding balance with our company from 3 months ago and would like to clarify and resolve the issue?" The responses will be real world responses, since they are not expecting it and are not putting on a show for the interview. Some people will try to sort it out with you in a friendly manner. And then you apologize for the inconvenience and mistake. Some people will hang up on you repeatedly. Hiding. They'll hide from your customers too. Some people will tell you things about your mother you never wanted to know. But now you have a real insight as to your potential service writer and their attitudes. Because when your not looking this is how these people will handle things. Even if not overtly, they do it covertly and your customer knows it, feels it and responds to it by never coming back again. Needed and wanted from a Service Writer - 1. Loves human beings 2. Excellent communicator 3. Takes pride in appearance and environment. 4. Truly believes that people have money to spend. There are many more that I have on my personal shops list, but these are the basics. Honesty and integrity go without saying and are priority.

I have a no radio policy now for 5 years - music or news, etc. at the shop. It was too much of a distraction to customers and employees alike. To much mis-emotion (guy starts thinking of his ex-girlfriend or wife) and goes to lala land or another guy loves hip-hop while someone else wants to listen to classic rock or customers asking what the hell are they listening to. And then the disagreeable volume is its own thing, one guys loud is another guys deaf spot.The most agreeable solution and least distracting was no radio. I have not had a single employee or customer complain about the no music/radio policy. I had customers and employees comment, criticize and complain about music choices, radio stations and volumes. As for how to approach management when things are awry this is what I have in place at the shop. I have an employee sheet to be filled out at the end of every work day. It asks for any complaints, problems, concerns, issues, emergencies, or upsets and if there are None write down NO ISSUES and sign it and date it. If there are issues, write down a workable solution. DO NOT PRESENT A PROBLEM WITHOUT INPUT OF A REAL WORKABLE SOLUTION! When someone presents problem after problem without solutions typically they become the problem. I cut and pasted the exact written sheet below that I use on a daily basis word for word. "At the end of every workday I want a full written report of any complaints, problems, issues, emergencies or data that needs to be known and handled including workable solutions written along side. I want this signed and dated. If there are none of these issues I want "No Issues" written on the sheet of paper for that date and signed and dated a second time. It must be clear. If the issue is an on going issue write it down every day so it is known every day till it is handled. This is your chance to have and create solutions to day to day issues." The purpose of this is for the manager or myself to know and be able to catch any of these potential crisis at there inception. If we are not aware of these issues, we can do nothing about them to correct them and the employee or individual with the complaint harbors resentment towards the manager or myself for some time becoming more critical and less productive over time. The disgruntled employee then says I told about this problem September 5, 1942 through the bathroom door and you still haven't done anything about it. You suck, this place sucks, I quit! And you know what if he didn't bring it up during quitting and then written down on a to do list it would be forgotten for time immemorial. So, it needs to written down, made known, presented with a solution. If you want to make things better in your environment you must make management aware of what's SPECIFICALLY happening and you must present a fair workable solution that is cleary stated and easily understood. The solution does not have to be easy but the assimilation and understanding of both the problems and solutions by another or others must be. PS - The problems - solutions sheet works for my home life as well. That way I know what's happening especially when I'm running around trying to get other things accomplished. Since my wife is my biggest supporter and greatest asset I need to know what's happening even when I don't see what's happening. It's not a daily demand like the shop but it is an outlet for communication and a relief to her to know I have enough caring to look at it, understand it, acknowledge it and do something about it.

We need to create and have an educated industry. We need to be known as the magicians of the society. We need to be professionals in manner and aptitude and do professional quality work. Anything less than that is regarded as a financial burden of an inconsistent hack industry. I don't want to be regarded as a hack and I'm certain the majority of shops owners would agree that they want to have professional employees, do professional work and have a professional shop atmosphere and environment. That starts at the top of the chain of command. But every time we hire or allow an unable body into the shop without valid and verifiable evaluation we are taking a huge risk toward our business, our morale and our industry. Put it this way, not everyone that wants to be a doctor can be a doctor without passing a basic standardized exam for that field. Another example, I had a friend who failed his BAR exam 3 times. Would I want him as an attorney, unfortunately no. And he is a good friend but I don't believe he has the ability to represent me. To become a stock broker you must pass a Series 7. To become an accountant or enrolled agent you must be able to pass the tax law and finance exams. To become a "mechanic" you walk in, tell your heroic tales and if you make a connection with the owner or hiring manager you're in and your under the hood of some poor unsuspecting customer's car that may or may not need to come back 3 times for the same problem. There needs to be a standard. And standardly every mechanic should have a professional attitude and manners, a decent IQ, a high aptitude, but most importantly good reading comprehension to understand what he/she is doing, supposed to do and understand what is needed, wanted and required on the job. The field of mechanics has changed tremendously from my point of view over the last twenty years and the mechanics of today will be outdated like the mechanics of yesteryear if they don't have these basic qualities and abilities. WE NEED TO ENHANCE OUR INDUSTRY WITH STANDARDIZED ABILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS! The whole industry will be better for it.

That is correct, I am using the MasterTech tests for aptitude, IQ and personality. Separately and from the local community college I am using there entry level reading comprehension exam. The reason I started doing reading comprehension exams which are not associated with Mastertech is because, people were failing the aptitude test left and right. I could not figure out why. I initially thought we were grading them incorrectly because it was not very difficult as far as I was concerned. So when I was looking it over I realized these people are not fully comprehending what they are reading. It's like they are speed reading and not understanding what is being asked of them to do. So I decided to get a local community college entry exam, which I felt minimally they should be able to have that level of reading comprehension to make a decent employee. High school to college reading comprehension I felt was a fair estimation and requirement of ability.

There have been 2 testings I've used. One was from ATI and one was from Management Success from a company called MasterTech. I believe I paid around $1000. to $1500. for it. But the tens of thousands I must have saved in wasted time and nonsensical claims is priceless to me. The latter is the one I currently use and I find it to be all encompassing. Personality, IQ, Aptitude. The reading comprehension exam I use is the entry level exam from the local community college. People especially these days must know what they are reading, understanding and what they are doing. It is amazing to give people these exams and see the results. But you now have a good picture of what you will be working with instead of finding out on the dance floor that your partner can't dance. Predictably of a person's intelligence and capabilities is always better than guessing and hoping and finding out 10 cars down the line that they are all comebacks. And ability to study, learn, understand and apply is senior to "experience" because we know we have someone that at least meets the bare minimum qualifications of learning how to do things and can follow directions with the predictability of doing a good job. I'm sure there is other testing out there, but not testing and relying on hope that the person is what he says he is without verification of any kind I think is nuts. References are good but that per someone else's definition and standard of good. Though I do check references always. In my belief, the fact that the majority of shops probably don't test and allow any warm body through the door is a main reason we are looked at as grease monkeys and not professionals. I would bet 1/3 of our work force in the aftermarket repair industry are professionals while 2/3 are dabblers.

So I hire one person at a time now, there was a time I would put 3 people on at a time and cut out the unworkable but it was much harder to manage plus the dynamics were too unpredictable. Even experienced mechanics that would come in would work out of my tool box which is 15/16 Snap On and 1/16 Matco. I do not want anyone bringing any tools for at least 2 weeks because I don't know if they're a keeper yet. Sure it will slow things down in the beginning a bit, but you get a great feel of who's who and what's what. Who's organized and who's scatter brained. Typically by the time they made it through the testing they are solid with the only unknown being, will they work hard. As for out of the industry new hires, they use my tools initially in the now known as "the community tool box". I find that new hires are eager to accumulate tools and a box. I guide them accordingly to not get in over their heads and to buy only what is necessary. NOT WHAT LOOKS INTERESTING or is being promoted. But people make their own financial decisions and we are not the tool police.

Food for thought- This is how I hire - No experience necessary. Experience, as in years doing a job means very little. You can spend your whole life doing things incorrectly. So you can be experienced at being a bad mechanic, carpenter, lawyer, accountant, etc. So spending alot of years doing something does not make you good at it. I hire and test personality, intelligence, aptitude, and reading comprehension. So anyone and everyone that applies MUST take a personality, IQ, aptitude and reading comprehension exam. NO EXCEPTIONS. Good people want good fair pay. "Mechanic" or not, if they have ALL these traits with the willingness to work hard you have a winning team. In my experience this is 1 out of 150 resumes. I have 250+ resumes on hand from the past 2 months. The majority of people are ok IQ wise, are 50/50 personality wise. Where they really go south is on the aptitude test and reading comprehension. The aptitude test I give is not very difficult I feel, yet there is a 95% failure rate. I thought WE were grading them wrong, so I called the company to verify the correctness of the grading and sure enough the applicants were failing. People suggested it was too difficult, so I had my wife take it exactly as anyone else applying and she scored a 94 and she has no mechanical ability that I know of but she has the aptitude to do mechanical actions if necessary. That it is what I'm looking for. Yet the biggest test failure I found is reading comprehension. People read words and have no clue what they are reading. They can read you a whole repair manual section, pronounce every word perfectly aloud and still have no clue what they read and therefore can't proceed in the proper doingness. The reading comprehension shows that they can comprehend what they are reading and the aptitude test shows that they can comprehend what they read and do the actions necessary and properly from what was read and comprehended. So instead of hiring "mechanics" which was my long standing error I changed the ads to - "We are recruiting hardworking, ethical, intelligent people who enjoy working in the mechanical industry for great pay." Don't limit yourself to "mechanics". What's really needed and wanted, at least in my shop are hard-working, willing human beings with the personality, IQ, aptitude, and reading comprehension to do the job. I guarantee you that when hire in this fashion with ALL these criteria you will make money and have efficient technicians. When you hire a "mechanic" by his sweet talk or demeanor, now you have an unverified and probably invalid claim of ability. But most people learn this lesson the hard way as I did. Hiring and realizing that I just threw my hard earned money away to support a shop liabilty(mechanic) that has created more chaos and bad products than his apparent worth was . This does not mean that a current mechanic does not meet the criteria but it does mean that if he does not meet all the criteria you more likely than not have a liability more than an asset on your hands. So I would post a "now hiring" ad for hardworking, intelligent people for those who love working on cars. And test the above stated criteria and you will get a ton of resumes. Maybe none of them have previous experience but if they have a great personality, a high IQ, a high aptitude, good reading comprehension they are worth hiring on probation for 3 months to demonstrate they are hard workers, learn quickly and willing to do the job and deserve high pay. Since they also meet that criteria we automatically know that they can read, learn and apply the data to use a lift or piece of equipment, diagnose a vehicle properly, fix a car or piece of equipment, etc. And if they claim they cannot or are unwilling well they're fired for being lazy. The only test I have for determining if someone is a hard worker is to put them to work and see what they produce by statistics. But that's a different topic.

The biggest business problem is that on the small business level of automotive repair and the auto body industry there are too many criminal enterprises and transactions. They can be recognized easily by "pay me cash and I'll save you the tax." Also by paying employees off the books. Quoting dealer parts and selling cheap aftermarket parts instead. Selling not needed or untimely repairs, etc. Claiming to have installed parts but didn't, etc. Misdiagnosis seems to be big in the automotive repair area too. So on and so forth. The reason this industry is so suppressed financially and distrusted is because there are too many unethical shops, unethical employees and unethical transactions creating unethical customers. I'm willing to bet that if we went to 10 shops in an area, 7 out of 10 would have these unethical practices if not more. How do you build trust or get a customer or employee to trust you when your blatantly waving a pirate flag stating I'm willing to break the laws of the land and I'm doing it so you can save the tax? I'm willing to get arrested, go to jail, pay tremendous penalties, and this sacrifice is all for you the customer. It would take a jackass on both sides of this transaction to believe this fairytale to be the case. Selfishness has created criminality. If the shop owner is afraid he/she can't eat his piece of bread because he has to pay more taxes when he shows more money, or pay employees more money off the books to save money, then that shop owner is losing his game as shop owner and trying to win by cheating instead. So let's stop lying to ourselves about what has been created in our industry. To many people believe the automotive repair industry is a racket. So to reiterate, the biggest business challenge is playing in a slanted game with an unfair playing field. Picture this, you are playing a game of monopoly with family and friends. You think you're good or should be good. You realize though no matter how good you are or should be doing, you are losing. The guy next to you has more money and/or properties and you wonder how. You catch a glimpse at the right moment and you see his slight of hand towards the cash box. You say, "This person is a thief". "This game is a joke." And that is what your customer says and thinks as well when you give them a glimpse of your criminality. From that point on he/she thinks that everyone in this game is a thief or has the potential of being a thief and the whole game is distrusted and goes to hell. The customer you created, who is now criminal also for partaking in these unscrupulous activities of save the tax goes shop to shop looking to save the tax, get the deal, or take advantage of a losing and unsuspecting shop owner. So the lack of consistency and standardization in the automotive industry is a problem I see. Automotive repair shops should play by a consistent, predictable, and scrupulous set of rules that customers can trust. Cheaters don't have that, they have fear based systems and pricing. Through that fear they resort to unscrupulous activities. Through unscrupulous activities they create distrust in an area, activity or industry. That area, activity or industry then gets suppressed financially or oppressed by the government. It then appears to become less lucrative. But that is only the case for those who don't know how to play the game right. In order to win in life you need to have self-confidence and self-respect. When you have self-respect and self-confidence you have power. People believe in you and people trust you to do the right thing and are willing to pay you to do the right thing. We get paid very well and handsomely at my shop. We attract many high end clients. I have never marketed to any of these people. They have been referred by other high caliber individuals. I am proud of this. I bought my first shop and cleaned up the previous owners BS and criminality, business doubled the first year and then doubled the second year from the first years numbers. I did that through ethical practices. I bought the next shop over and did the same thing. Both of these places were dumps from the get go. I am buying another shop a few blocks away that has been sold twice in the last few years. How am I doing it? Ethical practices. Self-confidence. Self-respect. Ethical environment - people, places, things. So my solution is: Have some self-respect and do the right things. Take survival actions. You will feel strong. Have the self-confidence to believe in yourself. That you can make it in an honest manner and do it and keep on keeping on with honesty and integrity. Create an ethical environment that you can trust in and people around you can trust in. This is how you make it in life and in business. Try it for a week, the worst thing that can happen is you feel better about yourself and like a more able human being.

What I'm trying to work out is the lapse of lift productivity. IF the lifts are at 100 percent productivity they should be producing $1125.00 per day per base hourly rate, right now they are $800. per day. Which means there is an innefficiency. I need to bridge the gap. If I add another technician to another 2 lifts I still have the same problem multiplied x 3 employees and so on and so forth. So the purpose of the question is a matter of improvement not complaints. And the question is, can this inefficiency be solved and how? The question is not "What is your problem if you are making money?" but rather, "How can I maximize the shops time and space?" Can it be done and if so how? So with 8 lifts I have a deficit. 3 dead hours per lift per day. Which means I have the capacity to deliver 120 more hours per week which would equal $13000.00 more weekly. Forgetting the extra income or the production value, I am certain no shop owner wants a piece of equipment or employee in there shop that is 2/3 efficient. This is in no way and absolutely NOT a complaint against the employees. They are second to none. This is a matter of equipment potential and possibilities. This is a matter of intelligence and "problem" solving of shop inefficiencies. How do we make things better? Of course one can say raise the price or charge more if you want to make more money but that still doesn't solve the 2/3 efficiency issue. The purpose is to maximize what already exists, not look for excuses or settle for the status quo. It's time to raise the bar. Problem : 2/3 efficient

I am currently producing $800.00 per lift per day in labor dollars. This does not include parts sold, and for the purpose of this question I do not want to include any parts revenue nor profits of parts per lift. I am talking about labor dollars produced per lift only. There is one man per 2 lifts side by side. So in this scenario we have 4 lifts 2 techs. Is there anyone out there that is producing more than this and how? The base hourly rate is $125.00 per hour. The hours are from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. No overtime worked or calculated in this equation. I am trying to refine my system and I'm wondering if there is something I'm missing or not seeing. I do not want to add a tech necessarily because there is a point of deminishing returns I feel. I like the 1 tech per 2 lifts system because I find it extremely workable and efficient when it comes to payroll. One tech costs $520.00 per day all in after all costs and produces $1600.00 per typical day. I consider it ok but not terrific. How can I improve this scenario?

You have to do a dry run with the systems over and over till they function flawlessly with no variables. By dry run, I mean, just you, your wife, and your helper working in sync with the systems you created. Systems must be written up, easily understandable and known and easily accessible if there is any question. Systems fall apart when too many variables exist. The only variable that may exist is the customer since they can be unpredictable by either presence or behavior. But they must be controlled well by good communication. If not, receptionist and service writer are not controlling the front and cause overwhelm throughout the shop. Everything else should be easily controllable. Your environment should be easy to navigate and manage. With a glance you should be able to know and predict what's happening. If you want the system to work properly and flawless every time it must be consistent. For example: Customer walks in: First: a friendly greeting Next: how can I help you Next: acknowledge what the customer said. Do not get into a diagnosis. Just listen and be sure it is something you can do or handle and/or be sure it is a customer you want to do business with. This is the time to evaluate your customer and predict his/her sanity. This is the time you should realize if the remainder of the customer relationship will be an asset or liability to your business. Next: Get a name, address, phone number, email address Next: Vehicle info - Year, make, model, color, mileage, etc. Next: Write up customers exact needs, wants, issues, concerns, etc. and repeat it back to customer clearly and at the speed of his/her comprehension and then ask if there is anything else that he would like to add to that. Next: With the customer, look the car over for damage before customer leaves, or take pictures of damage and make customer aware of previous damage. Look for check engine lights, tire lights, coolant light, etc that are on. This is the part of the system where you make yourself aware of the vehicle and reduce your liabilities. Next: Road test vehicle and duplicate customer concern. Typically, we do this with the customer if it's a noise or performance issue. Next write up an easily understandable technician's work order. Where the technician can see it, read it, understand it and check it off easily. We use an electronic system through tablets, but that is not necessary, it's just faster and more fancy and there's alot less chance of error or disorganization and lost paperwork. Ok, so that's just one basic system for reception. Next system would be Technician Workflow system. Write it out step by step, the exact procedure and asily understandable. Most importantly do not vary the system ever. Never deviate, no matter how crazy things are or get. If you need more people, then get more people to increase efficiency. If you have people and no systems you have chaos. If you have systems an no people you have overwhelm. So be a good manager of people and systems. PS : If you cannot demonstrate the system on a dry run, either you don't understand your system or it is not workable. Non-compliance is its own monster and then you need a better system for evaluating "help".

Another interesting point I noticed about the garage door company that charges. I had to cancel the appointment because I was going to arrive later than expected back to the shop. I did not reschedule, but the guy who is charging me for the estimate has followed up with me 4 times since. While the rest have not even called back once after giving me an estimate! Unbelievable! I guess they gave up. P.S. I did not quibble about price. I accepted pricing as fact, no negotiations, it is what it is. I'm typically an easy sell when I'm LOOKING to be serviced. Oh well.

Open market pricing in aftermarket automotive repair already exists, so I do not quite understand the discussion. In auto body repair with all the government/insurance regulations open market pricing is non-existent on insurance regulated claims which there are market caps on parts and labor.Only on custom work, some sublets, and non-insurance related jobs are there reasonable margins possible for auto body shops. As for aftermarket automotive repair ... ...for example, our shop labor rate is dependant on different factors that are easily understandable and by differentiation of jobs by risk factor of employee and vehicle, intelligence and ability required, value of vehicles (classics, customs, exotics), and equipment necessary to do a job. On a bare basic example, a shop down the road charges $10.00 per each wheel/tire to balance each wheel/tire. We get paid $35.00 each to balance each tire plus $1.00 each per ounce of weights used. Does not include mounting. Another example, our basic general labor price is $125.00 per hour on general labor, a shop down the block is $84.00 an hour for general labor and even another claims that they are $65.00 for general labor. The Volvo dealer 6 miles away is $160.00 per labor hour. The local Mercedes dealer is over $200.00 per hour in labor. On our exotic end we have been as high as $325.00 per hour for labor, depending on the value of the vehicle, the exclusivity of the client and what exactly they want, the time of operations (sometimes I have to start a job at 1:00 am with no hassles, distractions, etc.), equipment procured, and the supplemental insurance required. This above is open market pricing. If the industry goes regulation bound, as in not open market pricing the restrictive nature of producing an income will produce a lower class of technician with lower quality workmanship. The technicians in this industry are already too underpaid because of a cut throat fear based labor pricing system. With a low paid industry you typically attract low educated individuals who do not have the IQ or aptitude to produce good quality products. If your not to certain about this, go to your local fast food establishment and see if you can find highly intelligent/skillful people working long term at these low wage operations. Basically highly intelligent/skilful employees do not equate low paying labor jobs as a long term solution for survival for themselves or their families regardless of how good the working conditions may be. The uneducated but willing though are thankful to have jobs and will work for their money(lower income) but lack the education to produce high quality products. That does not mean they are hopeless, but initially they are productive on very low levels. They are laborers not technicians. Then the cycle begins: They are laborers and not technicians unless you highly train them into professionals. Then these laborers turned professionals, knowing their increased value and rightfully deserving to be paid more, look for raises or higher paying jobs. If the business can afford to pay the raises and higher salaries it will attract and retain professionals. If it cannot, due to low labor rates, regulations, and/or inefficiencies, that shop or industry is doomed to a low level survival potential or failure for the company and its staff. And the cycle starts all over again. _______________________________________ There is prosperity where there is knowledge and ability, but there is no hope where ignorance of facts exist. For basic financial prosperity: Income must be greater than expenses. Expenses × 5 = MINIMUM Income necessary for security.

I started with no savings in the bank. Zero dollars. Every penny I had went into startup. My first day open I made $25.00, I repaired one flat tire that day. I spent the whole day doing maintenance and repairs on the property. My second day open I made $90.00 I think if not less. My shop overhead was approximately $10,000. a month in Long Island New York with no employees. Just mortgage, property taxes and insurances. I was sure at that rate by the end of the month I would be out of business. I stayed night and day with the lights on and the garage door open so people would see the shop open and know I existed. I did anything that came through the door. It did not matter as long as it was income. You know what? At the end of the month I made more than $10,000. Next month same story. This went on for months. I hired my first employee after a month and a half. Then winter came, slow times were upon me, I thought I failed the public and they just weren't coming to me anymore. I was falling behind financially, overdrafts and all. A couple of late payments here and there and a huge drop in my own morale. I pushed through. I had to look at myself and my past experiences and my determination towards goals I had set and achieved in the past that at those times felt hopeless. That helped me tremendously because I realized that alot of my past endeavors in life (academic, sports, relationships, etc.) started off in an apparent failing state because I didn't know what I was doing but then turned into gains and victories because I was getting more and more able and competent. It took time to learn what was necessary to succeed. _____________________________ Then all of a sudden business started picking up again. More than before. The first 2 years were the toughest because they were the most unpredictable. By year 3 I could predict seasonal patterns and cycles. In the beginning you will have to tough it out. There is no comfort zone. You need to get REAL SMART, REAL FAST. The faster you improve your operations, the sooner you will be successful. There are many lessons to learn and at least for me there were tremendous set backs and failures. Enormous fees and penalties. Money stupidly wasted. Tremendous amount of bad debt for the company, I believe my losses the first year were somewhere between $30,000 to $60,000. that I never collected for parts and labor due to my own stupidity and disorganization. But I, you, anyone must push through that stage. Everyone's business adventure vary's, but for everyone it's an adventure. For some people the adventure is a dream come true for others it's an absolute nightmare. But guess what? It's your tenacity that will get you through, not your hope, not your savings account. Success is a choice, failure is a choice.

So, I am putting new garage doors in the shop. I called 6 garage door companies to come down and give me options and opinions on quality and to get estimates (estimates on how much I trust the person or company to do the right job and stand behind the workmanship, what their dependability level is, and professionalism). The one company I called apparently is a national company that was recommended to me from a neighboring shop that has used them. He stated they were not cheap but unbelievably dependable. They wanted a service call fee to come down and give me an estimate. I was pleasantly surprised by that request. The reason I was surprised is because it was the first time ever a garage door company asked me for a service call charge to estimate putting in new garage doors. I need 5 new garage doors, I felt that any company would jump to the opportunity to do the job and would just want to show up to have a chance. But what I realized was that this company valued it's time, all its time!

Does anyone here have any experience with inground exhaust systems? Any cons? We are going to tear up the floor and lay new concrete and it has been recommended to me to install an inground exhaust system with all the duct work and blowers. I have never heard of this till today nor have I ever seen one. I have seen overhead only. Let me know pros and cons. Thank you. Pros: Cleaner shop air, healthier environment. Exhaust routed outside from under floor piping through a high quality, highly efficient exhaust system. Nothing hanging from the ceiling. Cons: $14,790. for 5 bays. There's more than 5 bays. Does not create justifiable efficiency. No profit created.

I am purchasing 10 new lifts this week, I am trying to decide between the Rotary Shock Wave lifts or the standard Rotary lifts. There is a $15,000 difference between the two options in total. I do not mind spending the extra cash as long as it is valuable. The basic difference is a 35 second difference going up and 30 second difference on the way down. It may not seem like much time to many. But I'm all about flow and efficiency. Does anyone have side by side experience with these two lifts? If so, do you find the faster lifts worth the extra expense? As well, any input, about the in ground Smart Lifts compared to the above ground two post lifts would be of help as well. Thank You

I do understand your experience, we have all had bad experiences with one person or company at some point or other. No matter how great I, you or the other people of the world truly are, upsets occur. We all have off days, or said or done things we later wish we never said or never occurred. People make mistakes and/or handle things incorrectly or unprofessionally. I could speak for myself and my shops. We have made mistakes and have upset family, friends and customers. I still haven't achieved a state of perfection and do not believe I ever will, though I do try. But I have achieved plenty of success by being blessed by great people surrounding me, excellent guidance, and an insatiable desire towards greatness through education. But what really makes me feel successful, more than money, is loyalty, support and forgiveness. My wife for starters who is my best friend, number one supporter, most loyal believer in me and is the most forgiving of my not so intelligent actions, solutions or ideas is my prime example and role model. She creates success in me regardless of my mistakes and shortcomings and I create success in her regardless of her mistakes and shortcomings. She blesses me with loyalty, support, encouragement and forgiveness when I truly feel I don't deserve it. Real Friends - the ones who are there with encouragement toward PRO-SURVIVAL actions and can point out NON-SURVIVAL actions because they too are successful in life and they know that we (you, me, others, and themselves) are special beings that need to be nurtured and protected. But most of all my customers who may not know me personally (outside of business) but at times could have and maybe should have been unreasonably upset with me but instead have believed in me, stuck with me, let me right any wrongs I or my company may have made and taught me about loyalty and forgiveness at a level I never thought or knew existed through their acts of kindness and forgiveness and have treated me more as family than mere acquaintance. All these people could rip me apart or stay angry with me, or criticize me. But what makes them great is that all have given me the opportunity to show my plus points, my strengths and abilities, and my desire and willingness to make things right. I guess my point is we can grimly state or harp about anyone or anything at anytime. Talk about their shortcomings or few mistakes, and completely disregard the value we could experience. But maybe even worse, through these criticisms, lead astray another who could have been truly helped or salvaged by a company, product or program. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

So first, Management Success must be a clear definition of what Management Success means to the individual. It must be known, communicated, and understood. Next it is a beingness, doingness, and havingness of the words Management Success. The following are what Management Success means to me. Management - The ability to handle and direct people and particles toward a predetermined direction or vision. Management - The ability to get people to do what is needed, when it's needed for the purpose of production. Management - Setting and directing the elements of the environment using efficient actions toward the attainment of necessary results and goals. Management - Controlling ones environment through causitive actions towards the attainment of known goals, desires, and end results. Management - The way that people control and organize different situations that happen in their lives or their work. Management is not coping. Often times people confuse their coping with management. Coping would be more a reliance of luck to see things through to brighter days. Coping is not very predictable nor fruitful. MANAGE per it's derivation/origin comes from mana (hand) to handle. To have Management Success, I or (One) must be the manager(handler) of my own success. I manage, I create, I make things happen, I am the responsible party. Whether through action or inaction, whether problem or solution, I am the MANAGER(handler) of my own SUCCESS . Next: Organization: The ability and constant action of setting, directing and arranging particles (people, places, things), for optimal flow and function in a dynamic fashion toward perpetual motion and growth. Management is: Organization (as a verb not a noun, doingness of) + Known Desired Outcome = Management So with continuous organazition and knowing what I am trying to accomplish I handle my life and environment toward the success I want to have. Success: The Setting(Having) and Achieving of ones Goals. SETTING GOALS(Having) + ACHIEVING GOALS = SUCCESS Since I have been mentioned in this conversation, and have had first hand experience with the company and its products. And have used them once, then re-signed with them a second time I will gladly participate in any question and answer on the matter. All one has to do is talk on the phone. PM me with a name and phone number and I will gladly communicate with anyone who has a true interest in prosperity. If you want to blame, complain or criticize don't waste my time, your time, or any body else's time whose lives are geared toward prosperity. Also, I am not a representative nor have a vested interest in any company. I'm a guy with intellect and observational skills, and real solutions to real issues I've had to overcome in life and in business.

The cost is COMMITMENT! The rest is Organization. You will need these things below for starters. Goals - Clearly written and easily understood. What is the destination? What do you want to have? Purposes- What is the fuel to this fire of having and operating your own repair shop. Is it greater security for yourself and your family? Is it because you want to travel around the world saving the elephants? You need purpose! That will keep you going when things seem arduous. That is the fuel to the fire! Policies - Ethics and integrity. What will you stand for? How will you operate? What will bring the greatest survival potential to the organization? Also: Reading, listening, sorting out information (useful data from non-sense), practicing, lots of doing toward positive results. Owner/Executive Counsel Manager Technician Pick one: If you try to be all 3, you'll be a one man show, even if there are other employees. If you pick 2, you will certainly be dispersed and overwhelmed sooner or later and from then on out. PICK ONE AND BECOME A PROFESSIONAL AT THAT! As for making money, that is the easy part, everyone makes money, some make more, some make less. Everyone has some, even if its only a nickel.The making money part will be a direct reflection of your COMMITMENT to the business and your goals, purposes, and policies.

"Hope" is not a survival action in business and in life. You wouldn't want to let go of a cars steering wheel and "hope" it stays on the road, at any speed. You need to drive success home. Change the way you operate if it is not a successful operating basis. I can tell you having more debt than you can comfortably handle is demoralizing but it can be handled. It takes willingness and ability, studying, learning, applying data and adjusting accordingly to get back on track. At this point I have bailed out a few businesses from the brink of hopelessness and they have the same mentality in common. Life's hard, bad luck, victim of circumstances, so on and so forth, truth is, something can be done about it, and you have to CAUSE the improvements.