Getting out of the business

[AndersonAuto]

A bit of a clickbait title, but not inaccurate. The shop is doing amazing, and I haven't been here but a few hours here and there since last June. Prior to that I had been the shuttle driver and not much else.  I sold the shop to my manager, something that has been in the works for over 3 years. Spending the next couple days at the shop getting a few things settled (vendor accounts, recurring payments, etc) before the final handover on Saturday. I'm retired now at 55, and I won't have to work another day. My wife and I are moving onto our boat and we're going to sail around the world a few times.

The moral of the story is that you CAN get there. You don't have to be particularly bright, I'm certainly not. You don't even have to be an amazing manager. There are thousands of shop owners who are better managers than I am.
You do have to work hard. Way harder than the average guy, and a lot of guys work pretty hard. 
You do have to be smart about your business. Don't spend money you don't have yet. Cash in the bank fixes a world of sins, make sure you have plenty. 
You do have to take calculated risks. Business ownership is not for the meek. You'll have to take risks that the average guy would never dream of. Be fearless, but DO THE MATH before you jump.
You do have to fully understand your financials. If you can't read a P&L and be able to see there's a problem that needs further investigation, you better learn how. Same with your KPI's.
You do have to do great marketing, and lots of it. There are guys out there who claim they don't need to do any marketing and are swamped. Maybe there are, but I'm not one of them. Odds are you aren't either. Get busy marketing.
And you do have to get good business coaching and listen to what they say. You could be stupid like me and wait 12 years before you finally get a business coach and start making money, but why would you want to do that? Get one now. If they don't pay for themselves many times over, odds are you didn't do the work to go with the advice.

John

[Eric Allen]

Congratulations! How about a coaching referral?! Is the group from San Diego?

[xrac]

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[CAR_AutoReports]

Congratulations.

[autopractor]

@AndersonAuto I would also love to know who you used as a coach and what about them you found beneficial.  Prefer to discuss over the phone or not in this forum... I would be happy to discuss over the phone or something.

[rpllib]

John

Nicely done! Many take away's from your success. If can happen for many more shop owners. Plan often and plan early.

I have been know to say "if I had concentrated more on how I wanted to leave my business, i might have taken better care of it along the way"

That said, we are also closing an LOI with our manager this year, and fully expect that to culminate in a sale. Between proceeds and ongoing lease, the funds will provide for us nicely for the rest of our lives. We accomplished this in a 500 square mile county with two traffic stop lights in the county. I truly believe this can happen for more auto repair shop owners. 

We did it by following  a formula similar to what you lay out above.
 

Thank You for your willingness to share your experience over the years, and best possible wishes for your next stage in life. . .

 

Randy

 

 

[juanpablo4219]

Thanks for the advice...exclty my plan but around my 60 years..

who's your coach?😁