Joe Marconi

This forum will outline the steps that I took the past three and half years, working toward my exit strategy.  I will outline each step, each week, to give you information that I know you will find informative and useful. Please note, these steps are the ones that I took, and your situation may differ. However, you will find so many similarities, that I am sure you will obtain a ton of great information.   Ok, here we go...

STEP 1 - Get Your Business Ready to Sell Today

You are never too young to begin thinking about your retirement or sale of your business. Work hard on your business to get it to run on its own.  For quality of life, and to grow a sucessful business, requires having the right people, the right systems, a knowledge of the numbers, and a plan.  Also, the more you are removed from the day to day operations, the more sucessful you will be and the more your business will be worth to a potential buyer. 

Here's another important reason to get your business to run on its own: A health crisis may leave you sidelined for months or longer, or may even leave you disabled to a point where you cannot perform the necessary duties as a shop owner.  We all have heard of shop owners that either became seriously ill, were in a bad accident or passed away, leaving the business in a state that it cannot run by itself.  Or, not worth much because the shop owner did not take the necessary steps to build the business correctly and not having clean and accurate financials.  

Begin today to start thinking about your business and when you want to sell, have family take over the business, or other options. Start getting all your financials in order, set your long-term goals, work on your business plan, review and refine all your systems and procedures, and talk to your family about your long-term plans. 

With each step, you may need help from either an accoutant, broker, attorney, or a business coach. Please don't make the mistake of thinking you can everything on your own. 

That's it for today- Next week I will discuss The Importance of Having Clean Financials and Showing a Profit

Thank you and Stay Tuned! 

7 hours ago, CTC said:

I understand everyone has a different pay plan, I also understand bonuses, I am saying that federal labor laws are easily violated by pay plans. Flat rate is cut & dry & shouldn’t be a problem, however I was specifically told that bonus plans are a problem & I paid heavily for having one. The easiest way to explain it is to say that if you are paying flat rate, don’t deviate without speaking with someone with the federal labor board. They will answer your questions if you ask.  If you pay hourly, or any thing close, you better make sure your people punch a clock & you better pay them for every hour they punch including time & a half over 40. Bonuses change the overtime rate you owe, that’s why if you have a specific plan, you have to account for it while factoring overtime.

Great points.  Please also note that there are Federal and state laws, and that there may be changes to the labor laws that are we not always aware of.  Do your due diligence with all pay plans. 

17 hours ago, Alex said:

Congrats Joe!

Thanks Alex!  I will reveal more information in the next weeks and months

18 hours ago, xrac said:

Joe, if I wasn’t trying to retire I would definitely try to make at least one day. I don’t think it is a good investment for me at the late stage. 

Well, if you can make it at all, even for one day, it would be an honor to meet you. 

18 hours ago, xrac said:

Congratulations Joe!  I know this is exciting and bittersweet all at the same time.  

Yes, my wife thinks it will hit me the day after the closing.  

I cannot reveal all the details yet, but I am in contract to sell my last location. The deal is set to take place by the end of the year. I will use this forum to outline my journey the last 41 years in business and the steps I took to exit out of the business.

My objective is to share my experience so that others can learn from my ups and downs and also to learn about the importance of an exit plan, no matter how old or young you are. 

I will give details on how I prepared my business for sale, how I negotiated with different companies, and different people, and how you can get the most for your business when the time comes.  Plus many behind the curtain details on how to sell a business- the good, the bad and the ugly. 

Please feel free to contact me with questions. 

So stay tuned for more details, week by week! 

Oh, by the way, I am not going anywhere. I will still be active in the industry, invloved with Auto Shop Owner, continue to work with Bob Cooper and all the great people at Elite as a business coach and trainer, writing articles for Ratchet and Wrench, remain invloved with the Service Stations Dealers of Greater New York and more.  

I am thrilled to announce that I will be the presenter at Elite's Fly With The Eagles course Oct 12 to 15. This is the first live event since before COVID. This will be held in Indianapolis.  We are expecting a big turn out, so please check this out ASAP. Details below. 

The Eagles course is Elite's premiere event for Shop Owners and Managers- course covers:

1. Leadership, Time Management, Goal Setting
2. Financial Reports and Cost Controls
3. Recruting
4. Employee Management
5. Marketing 

Click on the link below for more information.  You can reply to this post too with questions. 

https://eliteworldwide.com/event/fly-with-the-eagles/

Back in my day, you didn't get a lot of praise from your boss. And, you never really looked for it either. You did your job, and the only way you knew you were doing a good job is if the boss didn't reprimand you.   It was different back when I started, 1974.  Times have changed and the way we manage people has changed too. 

If you want to motivate people, make sure you praise them when they do a great job. Be sincere and be honest with your praise.  People crave positive feedback from their leaders. By giving praise often, your employees will feel good about themselves. Their self-esteem will get a boost and they will be more likely to repeat that great job again. 

Now, this is not to say you should ignore when things go wrong.  But make sure you give at least 5 to 8 "at-a-boys" to every one reprimand.  Trust me, fill someone's emotional bank with sufficient "at-a-boys", and they will be more willing to listen to you when they drop the ball. 

2 minutes ago, bantar said:

I've not had a single negative reaction to our labor rate rise.    We're higher than one of the local Honda Dealerships and some others too right now.   It did enable me to pay enough to steal a shop foreman from a local dealer.   Deal is done, but not consummated yet (vacation, and notice standing in the way).  I'll remain nervous until he's on board.   Having great people further supports our labor rate.   Price is only one variable in the value equation.

I did raise my European lube prices.   I'm only seeing reactions from 8-9.5 quart VW owners so far and had but a few declines.

Frank, $125 sounds the same as $129.99.   Push it a little more.  

I agree. 125...129...same

57 minutes ago, xrac said:

Well I did it too.  I was going to go up to $110 from $105 but a talk with my Car-x area manager persuaded me to go to $125.  Well I have jumped on the train lets see how this plays out!

 

Nice! Proud of you.  Trust me, all will be ok.  Shops around the country are realizing that labor rates need to increase in order to stay in business, pay our bills, pay our employees and build for the future.  Good for you Frank! 

20 hours ago, derektinder said:

In high cost SF Bay Area I am now $180/hour labor rate from $155 for a few years and the dealers are all at least $200/hour. My senior tech makes $40 an hour flat rate and he is worth it. My B tech is $30 and my two C techs are $24 and $22. I also keep my reputation high so people are choosing to come to my shop. 

I am seeing more and more labor rates hitting the $180 mark and higher for the same reasons you state.  Good news.  Let's hope all the shops around the country act on this. We really need to collectively raise labor rates. 

11 hours ago, xrac said:

I am trying to go from one location to zero locations. I will be 69 in December. Anyone want to buy a good business in Indiana. 

Ha!  I am 66 and there too.  I will let everyone know soon my next chapter in my life.  After 41 years in business and 47 years in the auto industry, it's time to turn the page. 

With so many baby boomer shop owners retiring, there is great opportunity for shop owners looking to add new locations. In addition, there are many shop owners that have not survived the COVID crises.   

Is anyone looking to open new locations?  If so, it would be interesting to hear your strategy and the reasons why.

Oh, if you are wondering If I am thinking about expanding. The answer is no.  I had three locations, down to one now, and I am close to announcing exciting news very soon. So Stay Tuned.

2021 started off real slow, with Jan and Feb being the worst months.  March to August were very good, with sales hitting our goals.  September is a little slower than we like it to be, but I feel we are trending in the right direction, with customer coming back to us that we have not seen in over a year. No complaints. Could it be better, of course. But all good and moving forward! 

You guys are lucky.  I pay 10 cents a gallon to dispose of the used oil. 

I was asked recently if it's possible to be a true absentee owner. Here are my thoughts.  First, it really depends on the staff, your position in your business and how the business is structured. There are shops that are run totally by a manager and the owner is not involved in the day to day. There are shop owners with multiple locations. There is no way to be at all locations at the same time. 

Build the business by having a strong team. Find leaders in your business.  Give others control and allow others to grow.  You, the owner, do not have to be in on every single situation, and you should take time away from the business. 

But remember, you are the owner and the primary leader. You set the tone. 

Those are my thoughts...yours? 

5 minutes ago, juanpablo4219 said:

Good Day joe...

In our case, we are a brake and front end shop. The little research that I've done, EV still needs to be worked on suspension, alignments, brakes and balancing tires.

In our town, recently opened a Tesla Dealer ship, and up until now we have done one Tesla alignment and it wasn't so bad. nothing different! 

Please keep in mind, I am in Brownsville, Texas, where the gas and diesel trucks rule.

I believe it's going to take a while for the local market to take off on the Teslas.  We're beginning to see them more and more on our local town. It's just matter of time and they will come.

JP

JP, I agree with you. The EV still has brake systems, steering, suspension, tire balance, tire rotations and wheel alignments.  In addition, EVs have a heating and A/C system, sound system and all the other electronic features of its gas cousin.  The biggest change is how the EV powers itself.  The industry will change, but it always has. 

8 minutes ago, Hands On said:

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.

I agree.  In my area, about an hour north of NYC, the better shops are $125.00 to $185.00 - Dealers are more, some Euro dealers are around $200 and more. 

By the way, good for you to provide that pay scale program. 

There is a lot of talk these days about the Electric Cars, and no doubt they will become more and more accepted during the next few years.

All car makers are investing big bucks into EV's and battery technology.  While we are a ways away from EVs becoming mainstream, what are your plans to prepare for this? How do think the EV will change our business model? 

Thoughts? 

/

This Sept 11 marks 20 year when four planes were hijacked, the Twin Towers were destroyed and 3000 people lost their lives in the terrorist attack.

The day after, Sept 12, Americans came to together as one.  Let us all once-again reunite as Americans.  

Let us never forget what happened on September 11, 2001. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big proponent of understanding your numbers, and the need for bottom line profit.  However, we can sometimes get side-tracked by focusing too much on the numbers and not enough on people. 

I have seen time and time again with struggling shops that have their numbers dialed in properly but can't achieve their goals, and the reason all too often is their culture.

Focus on people. Find out what's important to them. Your employees have dreams and goals. Find out what they are. Align their goals with company goals. 

When an employee sees that by achieving company goals, they can achieve their own goals, then you have the right culture and a powerful team. 

Let's face it, we all know you can't find techs, and it's time that we do something about it.  We all need to implement an apprentice program at our shops and hire entry level techs. And we need to start tomorrow.  

I know many of you are saying that you don't need a tech right now. Well, trust me. You will.  And I don't want to hear you can't afford to do this either. 

No one is going to help us, and the best techs have jobs. 

If everyone in the industry commits to hiring an apprentice, we will solve the this shortage in a few years.

There are many apprenticeship programs available, like the NAPA program, and more. 

Oh....worried that you train someone and they leave. Let me ask you, How Did You Start Out? 

I really do believe that no matter how well you are doing in business and no matter what age you are, you need a plan to exit out of the business.  And equally important these days is a team of advisors, starting with a business coach, accoutant, attorney, financial advisor, insurance agent and banker

I am thrilled to announce that I will be the presenter at Elite's Fly With The Eagles course Oct 12 to 15. This is the first live event since before COVID. This will be held in Indianapolis.  We are expecting a big turn out, so please check this out ASAP. Details below. 

The Eagles course is Elite's premiere event for Shop Owners and Managers- course covers:

1. Leadership, Time Management, Goal Setting
2. Financial Reports and Cost Controls
3. Recruting
4. Employee Management
5. Marketing 

Click on the link below for more information.  You can reply to this post too with questions. 

https://eliteworldwide.com/event/fly-with-the-eagles/

29 minutes ago, John Shanderuk said:

Raised mine $54 in the last year no pushback. Don't care what others are charging need to make this money to pay techs bills and myself!

Wow! I am thrilled.  I am seeing this more and more around the country.  As many of you know, I am also an Elite Coach, so I speak to a lot of other coaches and shop owners. The best shops in the country have raised the labor rates, and have not looked back.  Let's face it, expenses are going up around us.  Plus, we need to Attract and Retain employees.  PLUS, you the shop owner needs to earn the money your deserve too.