Autonerdz forums

Best of luck to you in your next phase of your career.

  Thanks Rich.  I've always been a fan of salary, or hourly.  I feel it is my job to get the cars in, and to sell the work recommended.  I shouldn't make the tech bear the burden of my potential shortcomings.  Now that's just my attitude, I understand that for some shops the FR system is a good fit. 
  I have the lawyer looking over the contract, that's about all I foresee needing them for.  I've got a couple lead on accountant from good sources, going to make some calls in the next couple hours.

A friend worked in an aftermarket garage. Their employer went on a long vacation, leaving the shop in the hands of the employees. They earned the shop more money that month than it ever had, they did by not accepting all and any work that that came in; they worked on what they were comfortable with and on whatever they had tools or knowledge for, turning away the other work.
Good luck to you Preston.

Jamey wrote on Feb 17^th, 2017 at 1:57pm:

Derreck wrote on Feb 17^th, 2017 at 9:13am:


  Whoa easy buddy, I'm still going to be handling the fun stuff, ha ha.

Thank you so much guys, truly appreciate the encouragement and insight.

Preston, Here is a good post from that other forum

http://members.iatn.net/forums/read/msg.aspx?f=forum15&m=431768&nwr=636230096960...

Jamey wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 10:17am:


  That was a good read, will have to re-read a couple times.  Thanks Jamey.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  28 years in business the two guys running it now.  As far as sales numbers, effectively flat around 165K a year for the last 5 years, averaging that same number over the last 10, I don't have 4 years and past specifically written out.  They do no marketing.  One of the owners is 70, the other is early 60's, so they aren't pushing hard at all.  Plus, apparently they have done what could be considered a sizeable amount of cash sales.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  Private as far as I know, will know more hopefully tuesday afternoon when I go over to sift through the paperwork.  I'm sure they have a couple small fleets, and next door is a used car lot that has done business with them in the past.  I'm not a fan of used car lot jobs, but this lot deals with much newer vehicles.  I will definitely be the one setting the guidelines if business is to be done with them.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  It is a downtown area surrounded by water, with a couple yacht clubs in close proximity.  Farmers markets and weekend festivals are common occurrence just blocks away.  The hospital, which my wife works at, is only a mile down the road.  There are coffee shops and boutique stores and all sorts of things close by.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  If the deal goes through there will be no staff left behind.  It's only the two of them.  Personally I see that as a plus, because I have high standards and am fully aware of the caliber of technicians out there.  I will be asking my coworker, who I brought to my current employer from the previous one, to come work with me.  He would be the perfect fit for what I need.  If not, I know that I can truly still run it solo if needed, but that is definitely not to be any sort of normal situation.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  I've said for years that I don't want to be a service writer.  However, in the last 5 years I've basically been doing just that.  Speaking as a foreman with the other technicians on their findings.  Going over them and writing the estimates.  Checking price and availability with the vendors, and then handing it over to someone else.  Then, when the customer comes to pick up the vehicle, I end up being the one communicating and educating the customer on the services performed.  I'm at the point where I'm fed up with letting someone else talk to the customer, because they keep saying electrical components are shorted, when I clearly write out open circuit!!!  Haha, ok, but that is a real annoyance for me.

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  I plan on a week in the summer.  This is easy down here because it is the slow season, and it's god awful hot a humid so it's ideal to go visit my family in CA.  I also plan on taking legitimate time at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The day after turkey day is fucking closed, period.  Depending on where Christmas falls, there will be days before or after closed, period.  I have thoughts and ideas on how to train the clientele to understand that family time is necessary, in order to run my business efficiently and to the benefit of the client. 

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  Wife, 6 year old, 4 year old, and 6 month old daughters.  School is a half mile from the house, and the shop would be another 3.5 miles from that.  Being close will help significantly.  In this day and age, much of the clerical work can be done from home, and all my women are usually asleep by 8 for the little ones, and 9 to 10 for the big one ( um, in age, not size )

autosparky wrote on Feb 18^th, 2017 at 12:49pm:


  I want from my business, a platform from which I can educate the motoring public on why services are recommended, the benefit of the services, the quality of the repairs I perform, and how it all benefits them.  I feel that most shops are lacking greatly in educating the client.  I want people to truly understand why what I do, is good for them, and will save them money and frustration.  I want to have an entire customer list of informed and empowered people that sell themselves on my recommendations, because they know of the value.  All the while, putting myself in control of my own destiny and in turn having control over my families livelihood.

Preston,

Reading through all the replies here. Very supportive from everyone. It is a HUGH under taking to be a owner. You are at the right age and have the right drive to succeed in business.

I don't know the demographics down there to well. This is your area of expertise. But I would like you to think about a couple of things I noticed in the threads.

First thing I noticed is the gross sales. This to me is extremely low. I opened my shop and it was not a turn key. Just a fresh shop with myself and a service writer. We had generated that type of number the first year. The number you provided needs to be doubled within the first year being it is a turnkey business already. You have to set a goal for yourself. Figure out your average car count and set goals to increase the car count. But with saying this don't over promise and under deliver as well. It is easy to do.

Next issue is how you are going to market yourself? As with any business you need to stand out from the rest. We all here know your talent. Questions is does the public in your demographic are know this?

I would spend some time going around to the shops in your area and letting them know your talent. Most shops can do mechanical work but it is the electrical and runability which they have issues with. You have to sell them you can diag it for them without the customer knowing about it. Basically you want their shop to be the hero and retain their customer. In return you get their headache problems and grow your business!! Pretty soon you will be the go to guy in the area!!

The other thing I noticed in your posting in your wife works at the hospital. This could be a good source of cliental for you. Most usually have a good income and you are close and convenient and you can offer rides back and forth.  I would caution with your wife working there to be discrete as some things can back fire with referring.

These are just a couple of things I just wanted to point out. I think starting with the basics of you opening your doors and getting the word out of your capabilities is critical. As this thread grows we can all provide feedback to you. The bottom line is it's up to you to make your business grow and thrive. We can only provide input and some guidance for you.

Have you given any thought to OE tooling?

The yellow horizontal line is for reference, it's about 8 miles end to end.  The shops with the purple pins are mostly euro stuff, the red pins are what I would consider actual competition for the customer base I want, the yellow pins are general repair shops that could be IMO easily overtaken by someone such as myself.  By that, I mean motivated and making a big push to bring auto service and repair into the 21st century.  I mean hell, just having a neat and clean waiting room would likely sway people to come to me.  The wife is already ordering some stickers that would reflect the shop as a "breast feeding friendly" facility.  I didn't even know they had those.  Let me tell you, with the money down here, there be a lot of younger mothers that are homemakers and need to have vehicles serviced.  My head explodes just thinking of having my wife at the shop for a couple hours, right around the time a young mother comes in for a waiter oil change.  Just the conversation alone would keep them coming back!!

Congrats again Preston, wish you the best.   Now I have another good excuse to go to Florida every year, go visit you at your shop😉

busjockey wrote on Feb 19^th, 2017 at 1:13pm:


Jose aka superskyliner wrote on Feb 19^th, 2017 at 1:32pm:


  Thanks guys.

busjockey wrote on Feb 19^th, 2017 at 1:13pm:


  I'd be more than happy to see some ugly mugs swing by.

Jose aka superskyliner wrote on Feb 19^th, 2017 at 1:32pm:


  Believe me, I have been, and taking notes!

Exactly.  If I was them, I'd be concerned about the amount of money that the IRS didn't know about.

  Sorry for not updating, the shop I was looking to buy fell through, or I should say I pulled the plug.  After going through last years QB's, I found that 46% of the sales could be attributed directly to the car lot across the street.  On it's own, that would be a crazy deal to take over, as I would essentially be at the car lots mercy, and that ain't how I fly.  On top of that, I went to speak with the owner of the car lot, and he had a falling out with the shop owners a few months ago, so he hired his own mechanic and would not even be doing any business with me anyway.  I can't blame him at all, makes more sense for him.  If he was closer to 15%, I would have moved forward. 

Bill Hamilton wrote on Mar 6^th, 2017 at 5:40pm:


  Likely one of the most difficult things to have anywhere in this country, but down here in South Florida it's really difficult.  I go to many training classes and unfortunately there just isn't much existing.  I would really be looking to create the talent from within.  I'm a big believer in finding someone with the attitude and drive in the right places, and then showing them the way.

Bill Hamilton wrote on Mar 6^th, 2017 at 5:40pm:


  I hear that.

  Thanks again all for the info, advice, and knowledge.

autosparky wrote on Mar 7^th, 2017 at 10:11am:


  Potentially.

  You make a good point Sparky, just a seemingly daunting task trying to fill the void right out of the gate.  I really am in no position "lose" that much personal income, however for another 20K less than my initial offer, could be considered my salary cushion. 
  Honestly, I would not be surprised at all if I got a phone call or email in a couple weeks asking if I would be interested in making another offer.

PRESTON wrote on Mar 7^th, 2017 at 5:06am:


It wasn't meant to be.  There will be another, and another and (etc.) opportunity and when the RIGHT one does, you'll get it.  You will be wiser then too.

In any case, we are behind you all the way!