Andrew Ross

Thoughts? Smart Tips on Employee Discounts

I guess these are as much a question for shop owners on this topic: To me, your door rate should be firm, but you have a quite a bit of flexibility on parts in both quality and in terms of the markup you are willing to take. When you are "negotiating" on price, do you negotiate on the price of the same parts etc., or offer other lower price/quality part options? Also, if a customer is willing to pay cash or debit, would you consider a discount based on not having credit card fees (not suggesting no tax, just 2.5% or whatever off.)? Looking forward to input!

Being able to vacation is a learned skill. Some folks are naturally better at disconnecting then others, but I agree it's important to be able to let your mind rest. I would imagine that there are quite a few shop owners rolling their eyes at the prospect of taking weeks away from their shop. To them I would suggest starting small: take a long weekend off, then work up to a few days during the week, then a week "staycation", then a week away. Pretty quickly you'll learn that your staff will fill in most of the gaps and put out those little fires themselves. That will give you confidence to take longer vacations and disconnect more. The irony is that this will likely help you be more successful as when you come back you'll be more comfortable leaving more day-to-day tasks with staff and be able to focus on more big picture initiatives. So learn to vacation; your family and your accountant will thank you!