Hiring your first person ( One man shop)

[lakesidetire]

When do you know it's time to hire someone? Who do you hire ? Just a tech to do light work like or a mechanic to do the more profitable jobs? Is it best to 1099 them or what? I looked at my numbers for the month of December 2014 and it was on the 10th of the month this year. My numbers so far this month has doubled for the whole month from last year. I have to Joe for having this site to help use network and help each other. The things I've learned so far is what is making a difference at my shop right now and it's just the beginning for me!! Thanks guys!!

[mspecperformance]

If you are going to take the advice of industry coaches, you should start looking into hiring a quality full time tech (if you can afford it) and take yourself out of that position so you can work on the business. This may cause you to take the role of the front end person for a while but thats where you'll be able to make the most difference to the bottomline and grow the business. Eventually you can hire more techs and a service advisor and not have to write service anymore.

[RyanGMW]

You will know when you need a guy. If you have more work than you can handle in 8-10 hours, it's time. Your new tech will quickly lighten your load and you will have a lot of time to build your business. I hired my first guy when my sales exceeded 30k/mo gross. Your needs will vary...

[HarrytheCarGeek]

You will know when you need a guy. If you have more work than you can handle in 8-10 hours, it's time. Your new tech will quickly lighten your load and you will have a lot of time to build your business. I hired my first guy when my sales exceeded 30k/mo gross. Your needs will vary...

30k/mo as a single man shop is phenomenal! Kudos to you!

 

 

For me it wasn't as simple. Between answering the phone, selling jobs, and turning wrenches, I came to realize that I needed help to turn out an acceptable service.

 

Being the type of man that I am, I sat down and made a list of things I needed to do, and what were my expectations to give my customer an excellent service.

 

I made a revenue projection and at a worst case scenario, I saw that I could hire someone even if I had to do all the work. I gave myself three months to try it out.

 

I would like to tell you that the first guy I hire was a complete success, but it was not. The numbers held true, and he did make me money, but there came a lot of aggravation for not knowing how to have done a proper screening.

 

Hiring is more than just making the numbers work.

 

I now check references, I ask about the attitude and willingness to learn, I rather take someone with less experience and teach them my process if they have the right attitude and willingness to learn.

 

I also keep in mind their personal relationship with their significant other in their lives, if their spouse is difficult, that will find a way to pollute into their work environment.

 

my 0.02¢

Edited December 19, 2015 by HarrytheCarGeek

[lakesidetire]

Ryan was your Aro and profit percent at the time you hired your first tech?

[FROGFINDER]

If you are going to take the advice of industry coaches, you should start looking into hiring a quality full time tech (if you can afford it) and take yourself out of that position so you can work on the business. This may cause you to take the role of the front end person for a while but thats where you'll be able to make the most difference to the bottomline and grow the business. Eventually you can hire more techs and a service advisor and not have to write service anymore.

Some one invested in the future of the shop needs to quality control check each vehicle before it is released to the customer. A perfect repair can be ruined by grease on the steering wheel or oil cap left off, bad repair,etc.

[alfredauto]

I worked alone yesterday, I can't go back to that way of life. I had forgotten how hard it is to get things done being service counter man and technician.

[CMillet86]

Be careful who you hire, I thought I vetted my last hire well. I knew he was limited in his skill set but said he could do brake lines no problem. He did a whole Chevy truck yesterday, and I got to looking at it and he had the brake line ran through the clutch fan. I was speechless, I immediately sent him home and let him go this morning. This was the 2nd time I had to redo the entire brake line job I had him to do, the first one I chalked up to a learning experience.

[J.P. GLENN]

I worked alone yesterday, I can't go back to that way of life. I had forgotten how hard it is to get things done being service counter man and technician.

I went through this last week and it was not fun at all. I totally agree that I CAN'T go back to that. Not only do I suffer, but so does the work and the customer.

 

 

As for when to hire, I agree that you should hire when you can't keep up with the work in an 8 hour day fairly consistently.

 

As for who to hire first, I made the mistake of hiring the lesser experienced techs because I was terrified of the expense of a top level tech. I paid dearly for that mistake. From my experience as the business grows you will find yourself at the counter more and more, and keep in mind that is a good thing! You will need that guy that doesn't need much instruction when this happens. I will also tell you that I waited way too long to do it.

As for how to pay, you will most likely be required to pay them W-2 by law. Incentive based plans are the way to go in my opinion, especially when starting out (base pay plus bonuses/incentives). The right person will help you grow with this type of plan, but keep in mind it's not always about the $$ to an employee. As for 1099's, their really is no such thing as a 1099 "employee" because 1099's are for independent contractors. It can be done but you must be very careful and know the rules. Consult with an accountant to be sure if you can or can't do it. And on a side note: we do our own payroll in house and it is not that difficult.

[RyanGMW]

Ryan was your Aro and profit percent at the time you hired your first tech?

My ARO was around $350 at 52% profit. Now we are $675ARO at 62%. On pace for a 1.1M year (5th year in biz) with just 2 employees and myself in the shop. One top tech, myself wrenching and a service writer. Hitting over $100k/mo gross several times this year and averaging $96k. I have had my share of bad employees. Key is to not be held captive and fire them as soon as you know it's not right to keep them. Your better off on your own being efficient and doing it right then doing it wrong and having to repeat it over and over.

[mmotley]

1.1M with only 2 employees!?!? That's impressive!

[FROGFINDER]

I worked alone yesterday, I can't go back to that way of life. I had forgotten how hard it is to get things done being service counter man and technician.

You are never alone because we are there in spirit !

[FROGFINDER]

The good news is that we have the technology to clone ourselves;)

[LPANDSONS]

This is a great subject, I just open a 2 Bay Shop and I'm bearly making, great potential due to location I even open a hand car washow in the lot and hire a guy to it , but coming from a Factory own dealership (BMW) to work in general mechanic is a whole diffeent world, I notice I need to hire a mechanic with experience and probably pay him 40% of all labor. That will allow me to run the front. Can't afford base salary yet.

[Jay Huh]

I got lucky with my first employee. I wasn't even looking to hire anyone as I was doing everything fine. It was a kid and he had experience working for his grandpas shop and wanted a chance to work in the real world. He was willing to do anything for minimum wage! Well.. a year later, he is now one of my 4 employees and one of my best techs! He did 2 back to back head gaskets last week (both Jeeps, surprise surprise). Having another guy pushed my business to the next level. I can never go back to working alone.

 

If it's going to be your first employee and if you guys are working side by side, I would hire someone a little bit inexperienced so that you can teach him how you want things done and don't question your methods. Also they will be really loyal to you and you can start their pay low and raise their pay as their skills grow

[Jay Huh]

This is a great subject, I just open a 2 Bay Shop and I'm bearly making, great potential due to location I even open a hand car washow in the lot and hire a guy to it , but coming from a Factory own dealership (BMW) to work in general mechanic is a whole diffeent world, I notice I need to hire a mechanic with experience and probably pay him 40% of all labor. That will allow me to run the front. Can't afford base salary yet.

You should flip. you work on cars and hire a counter guy. Counter guys are dime a dozen and you can find one for a lot cheaper than a good tech. If you are used to working on BMW's, you can work on other cars. Hondas, Toyotas, chrysler, GM's etc are all easier than BMW's.