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My Thoughts on the Coronavirus and Business


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Joe, I agree with your comments 100%. 

For most, it's the FEAR that's driving them to make decisions that don't make sense. They PANIC. 

Now, the drop in business is real, but like most others, it's a bump in the road. If we all simply rely on the hard facts (like WHO information) and stay away from all the FEAR and PANIC, we'll do fine. 

I posted about this too with the best advice I've got. You can read that here: 

Thanks again for your calm sensible approach and comments. 
Matthew
"The Car Count Fixer"  

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Thank you Joe for the well written post. I have weighed the option to close as I'm sure many of you have. Here are my thoughts; I am fortunate enough to be able to go a few months without worrying about the financial repercussions but I do worry about my customers. My shop is in a rural isolated area and I would feel terrible not helping people that need emergency services. We fix flat tires and broken cars every day. We aren't doing upgrades we are getting cars back on the road. 

I certainly clean the counter more frequently but life goes on for us. 

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A few days makes a difference. We got all our work done that was here and I closed the shop today. It hurts me, I enjoy working. I enjoy talking to people. I like steady income. But I couldn't sleep the last couple nights worrying what if? So that's that I paid my help a couple weeks time off and I got enough groceries for a couple weeks so I'm just going to chill out and do nothing and just hope we get this thing under control quickly.

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I'm sending my two employees home today, and will do my best to keep them paid. My family and I live in the same building the shop is in, and so in order to keep them and us safe, we have decided to take a couple weeks off kinda. I'll still work and try to keep enough cash flow to not close my doors permanently. I to am concerned for my customers vehicles and their needs, but for time being, I'll have to do what I'm able to do without my help. 

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Interesting that no one has brought up the subject of parts availability. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if we start seeing spot shortages of parts in a matter of days, not weeks, and I fully anticipate that if we "flipped the switch" tomorrow and informed the world that it was okay to come out and play, that it would take many, many months for repair parts and tire inventory to return to normal. I'm anticipating a storage lot FULL of vehicles awaiting alternators, tensioners, water pumps, front end and brake components, PCM's, you name it. We don't make anything here anymore in our beloved country. We sold our soul to the devil years ago and now we are going to reap the "rewards". Too bad we have helped develop the economies of our adversaries on the other side of the world rather than our struggling neighbors here in our own hemisphere. You know, the hard working people who share our values (or what USED to be our values--hard work, sacrifice, providing a better future for our children, etc.), worship the same God, and speak the same language? Alright, alright, at least it's Latin based but you take my point. Forgive my rant, I'm just afraid of the debt TSUNAMI that is headed our way and the way in which those who wish us ill are going to take advantage of our greed and short-sightedness. Hold onto your butts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Just my dos centavos worth.

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On 3/30/2020 at 9:31 AM, moyersauto said:

@Hands On Has offering this service helped generate business?  

I got a few responses but nothing overwhelming.  FNGJWS I do wonder if the parts are going to stop rolling. I know the dealers around me let go of every single car salesman, and half their service center staff, half or more of the parts staff.

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I think we can COUNT on it (parts shortages). Oh, that and higher prices. Having said that, I believe we'll be well positioned as an industry because as the government slows down the printing presses, people will fix up 'Ol Betsy rather than buy a new car they can't afford. Debt is dumb and cash is king but anyway you slice it, it's a house of cards.  

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         2 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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