Jay Huh

I don't charge "shop supplies" even though it is common practice. When I was working for big chain stores, I had so many customers complaining about shop costs - even with a sign hanging up. So if we use a can of brake clean, I charge seperately. Now if it's one ziptie or one fuse... I dont charge... Like the other day, I charged a customer MAF sensor cleaner bc I used it to clean electrical connections that were oil soaked and probably used about half a can. With this left over can, I will use it for someone else as a courtesy since the can has already been paid for. I built brake clean into the price of doing brake jobs. We do so many brakes that brake pads are a canned job. I alot half a can of brake clean per car and of course we will have a bunch left over. It is then free to use it for cleaning things like oil leaks and so on and I don't have to charge the customer for it. People appreciate having upfront prices without all the "add-ons." for us it's just Parts, labor and sales tax. Now I do want to charge supplies because that will just make it so much easier and I'm sure I'm losing money on supplies but I like advertising and letting people know that we are just parts, labor and sales tax. Customers like that

"Think and grow rich" is life changing. Buy the audio book and play it at 1.5x speed to get the overall picture. Chapter 7 is a must read.

WOW!!! You have quite an operation!!!!! You could start an Enterprise rental with that lol

I have not heard of either of those books. Slingshot sounds interesting but mixed reviews on Amazon. Only $10 though so might be on my read list

I bought this 2 days ago and is on my list to read. Past 30 days I finished "Think and Grow Rich" Napolean Hill "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek (must read by the way!), 10x rule by Grant Cardone. Currently reading "Contagious" and "The Tipping Point" at the same time. E Myth will be next and already sitting on my desk. Last night was the first night I took off from reading and played a game of CS Go. Been so long, I was completely unranked. You're asian so I have a feeling you play CS Go as well. If you don't know what that is then nvm lol

I just finished 10x by Grant Cardone. Great motivator

Yea I definitely understand. What really motivated me to do what I did was reading "Think and Grow Rich." Amazing book. Also "the 10x Rule" was part of it as well. If you see me in Chicago come Sept, that means I'm still in business

I also vote this one. Who designed these? The proofs look similar from when I got my logo designed. Wondering if it's the same person

But yea cash flow is important but when you already have a location making money, you don't get as stressed about the new location. Also with 2-3 months free rent, expenses are low so you should at least break even. Also for your second and third locations, you already have a customer base. But you should probably get advice from someone more experienced lol. I am experimenting as I go

Yea for march I did bc the second location just opened but this month I am seperating the 3. I see the 3 locations as an extension of one another. They are under the same LLC, shop management software is all under the same account so all my advisors see all RO's. Startup cost for each location is really low and really simple. I always try and negotiate free rent upfront. (Typically 2-3 months). The third one already had 4 lifts and air hooked up from previous tenant, I bought all the equipment from him for $4500 and he is taking $500 installments! Lol. He even left the furniture. I am still new to this and there's a lot that I don't know. I rather try and fail than not try and regret later in life. I'm still young so failing doesn't scare me but as of now I don't see failure as an option. Started this business with no capital. Every year I open a business card with no interest and pay it off before apr hits. I have a business line of credit that I've never touched. If I overanalyzed or delayed in taking action throughout this whole journey, I'd probably still be a mobile mechanic working out of my 01 Jetta or still a service advisor at carmax

Not sure if I understand the question but in Jan my car count was 178 and Feb was 179. My ARO Jan $159, Feb $238 (hired master tech and his apprentice and they do awesome inspections - reason for the jump in ARO) Now March was when I increased Adwords budget and started campaigning like crazy bc of the new shop. Yelp ads I kept at $425 and I boosted Adwords from like $1000 to $2000-$2500, also spent $50 on a couple small Facebook campaigns. March car count was 261 with $229 ARO. March was also when my second shop became fully open. 55 out of 261 cars were from the new shop. March of LAST year my car count was 129 with $229 ARO I broke a lot of records in March, total sales, GP and car count. Previously my record total sales for the month was low $40's. I was like $200 shy from $60k in March, and that's with nearly $10k sitting ($2400 head job just booked out today). Only thing that I have really seen work is Google. Yelp brought me a decent clutch job so far this month. Word of mouth is good too, got a $1,000 timing belt job coming Wed that is a referral. What I noticed after opening a second location is that my first shop started ranking better on Google (could be my imagination....) but if I type in "auto repair durham nc," I am #6 on the list and the ones before me have been open for YEARS. It's just now been a full year for me. If you sort by ratings of 4+ stars, I am #3 on the list. I think having more than one locations gives a perception of less risk for the customer and they are more likely to try out your shop.

4 post lifts/alignment lifts are GREAT for quick oil changes. Also good for heavy trucks, ours is rated for 18k lbs and we've had some pretty big trucks on there

I'm mostly doing google adwords, that seems to work the best. I tried a couple facebook campaigns and I pay Yelp as well. My new shop was actually busier today than my old one - my third one opening next week I think will be busy from the getgo bc of the location. All my adwords ads links to my specials page and I have a really high conversion rate: carmedixnc.com/specials

Nicely said! It's hard but my goal is to make auto repair as convenient as possible and that's one of the reasons why I am opening multiple locations. I want everyone in the Triangle to be within a 10min drive to any one of my shops. It's hard to keep in mind that price is not number 1 factor so it's always nice to get a reminder

I use hostgator for webhosting service and have like 10 different websites on there. I just use wordpress and made my own site. It's convenient when I'm in control as I can make changes on the fly. I think I pay $150/yr for the hosting part (remember I host 10 other websites too) and pay $12.99/yr for the domain name.

Yea I get a lot of those as well. Since we do a courtesy 22 point inspection for every car that comes in, I let the customer know that. When they ask if we can look at something while the car is in the shop, I always say "sure, we do a courtesy 22 point inspection to see if anything is visually bad or needs attention." I also let them know if it's a specific noise that they are talking about and the 22point inspection doesn't reveal what it is, I tell them it'll be $40 to test and analyze the steering and suspension system to isolate that specific noise. This has worked well and the "looking" part is limited to 10min and anything extra we charge the customer to test the specific component.

I have the stands you are talking about. They were $1900 and I used them twice.... I actually had a 4 post and it was just much easier driving it on the 4 post than setting up the stands. Now if I didn't have a 4 post, I would've used the stands no problem. My third shop I just moved into doesn't have a 4 post so I am thinking of taking my stands over there when I get an alignment machine. If a 4 post will not fit, then 2 post with stands is fine.

www.carmedixnc.com

I just became "RepairPal Ceritifed" this month and haven't seen anything from it yet. $199 is really cheap to the $425 I spend on Yelp (which I'll probably cancel soon) and $2000+ on google (which is the best so far)

I too thought that dealers were not competition but I think we have to be careful. They're changing. Yesterday I called the dealer for a master cylinder and they were $2 cheaper than Napa! And Napa was a reman... I ordered a rack and pinion from Toyota bc once again, they were actually cheaper! I am seeing brake coupons and oil change coupons for dealers cheaper than I have ever seen before. And like AndersonAuto said, they have the visibility and road frontage. I have to say though, I love the look of your shop (pic on your website). You have been in business almost a decade longer than I've been alive! Being young I don't have much advice to give. From my very limited experience, I've noticed an increase of customers by giving more attention to social media. I am 31 but even I didn't know that Instagram is more popular among younger generation than Facebook. I just recently learned what snapchat was. I created a Instagram and Twitter account this month and tried to upload a pic 3x a week on facebook, instagram and twitter and put more money into google adwords. Also became RepairPal certified and now featured on Repairpals website. I had a record car count this month. I don't know how long you are planning on doing this but all teens are using Instagram. so if you're looking 5-10 years ahead, I would do Instagram. I post on instagram and it automatically publishes on Facebook and Twitter so it's super convenient.

😂 very funny story btw, it's how we tend to operate lol

You remind me of a friend that also owns a shop. He started because his goal was to help those in need and use his skills as a missionary abroad. I think he reminds of himself of that goal and he is very successful and I never see him down even if business is not going well for a season.