Stay Open Or Close? The Effects of the Coronavirus
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By Alex
Has the Coronavirus (COVID-19) impacted your auto shop business? If it hasn't yet, it has the potential to do so soon. Please share what you are currently doing, how your business is impacted, what plans you have in place, etc.
Some things to consider:
Do you have a plan in place should you or one of your employees become ill? With school, event, and business closures, how will this affect your shop? Are you sending anything to your customers in terms of sharing your plans around keeping your customer and employees healthy and doing your part in your community? Many small and large businesses have been sending email communications to their customers. Are you marketing to your customers in terms of not delaying car repair, should there be a need to temporarily close? Are your parts suppliers sharing their plans, should the pandemic affect supply chains? Are you stocking up on business and shop necessities? Please share your experience in this topic and stay healthy!
In the media:
The coronavirus and its growing tally of sick and dead victims around the world have been roiling financial markets, prompting countless hand-washing reminders and ruining more than a few vacations, and that’s before anyone knows exactly how widespread the effect will be on the automotive industry, including your local repair shop. Source
“By mid-March, the shortage of supplies will be felt and members are projecting they’ll experience disruption through May or June,” even if operations in China soon get back to normal, said Stacey Miller, senior director of communications at the Auto Care Association, a trade group representing 150,000 auto aftermarket and service businesses. Source
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By TechnologyFirst
Hi all.
I'm training to start a new business, and am tasked to learn the top goals and challenges of auto repair shop owners.
I know you don't know me... but I hope you wouldn't mind taking 60 seconds to help.
From your experience, what's the #1 most urgent or worrisome pain point a repair shop seeks to overcome?
And was the answer something else, before COVID-19?
Thanks in advance.
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By 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
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By CAR_AutoReports
Hey Everyone,
I'm Ricardo from Complete Auto Reports. You may have heard about the shop management software that we made at a shop in Linden NJ.
We've been really busy over the last year trying to refine the process at a shop through the software. We have come up with something we think that people can and will benefit from. We want to start with smaller auto repair facilities who are looking for something to transition out of paper and pen, as well as word documents and/or excel spreadsheets.
We've taken our software and made a free package that allows the following from any device with a updated and functional browser:
Take appointments from your customers Digital Vehicle Inspections - Included in every service request and sent to each customer if performed Workflow - Pending, Under Process, Awaiting Approval, Approval Completed, Work In Progress, Completed Ratings - Customers can communicate ratings directly to you Messages - You can communicate with customers through the platform Customer App - All service history available, can schedule appointments with the app, transfer vehicle records to new owners Sales Reports 100% mobile - Works on everything from your 5inch iPhone to your desktop.
You can presently upload all of your customer information: name, address, phone numbers, email.
Paid for versions offer parts ordering through PartsTech.com and Employeement modules that track employee time on jobs.
Are there members here who are interested in trying the free platform to see if it's a fit for their business? Anyone interested in the paid for versions, can also get 60 days of free use and discounted rates available from our SEMA promotions.
Our 3 plans can be broken down into these simple differences: Free: No inventory, no online parts ordering through PartsTech, only one photo/video per service request, one login, no employee management $50 per month (also have yearly options to save $): Includes online parts ordering through PartsTech and includes inventory, one login, no employee management $100 per month (also have yearly options to save $): includes everything with 5 logins to access the system. We often get asked, "What use can a bigger shop possibly get from the free plan?"
With the free plan, you can take appointments digitally from your customers and then upload a copy of their receipt from your existing system to their profile in CAR. Reducing paper waste and creating a digital record for your customer to always have. You can also use the free plan to send your customers a video or photo of the services you are performing, complete with billing the customer through the free plan at the end of the service. These are all features that you pay for with add on systems, they are all available for free with us as you learn to adapt to smarter, more efficient technology.
Data:
The data you enter is yours, we do not have any agreements presently to share it with anyone and we certainly will never be sharing any personally identifying information with anyone. Majority of the data we are interested in is to build better features to serve you better.
Should you ever decide you no longer want to use our platform, your account will be available to you for free for one year at minimum. In addition to that, we can and will provide you a complete data dump of all of your records within 72 hours of the request. These companies that make it impossible to recover YOUR data is the reason for our open policy. We want everyone to change their practices and we're leading by example.
Cancellation:
If you decide to cancel your subscription for any reason, all of your data can and will be exported and delivered to you via a USB stick you provide or through email in the way of an Excel file(s). Additionally, you can access ALL OF YOUR information on our server for one year without any interference from anyone at CAR. Most of you may not know, but I actually own a shop and if it's one thing I can not stand behind, it's these companies getting access to all of our information for secretive reasons or keeping us from having the very data that belongs to us in the first place. You will never encounter this experience with us.
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By JustTheBest
Thanks for stopping by!
Obviously we’re entering a new economy. At no other time have we witnessed wide sweeping changes to how we do business; what’s expected of us; how customers respond and what we need to do.
I released this brand new training to show you three things you can do right now. Shop owners who have done at least one of the strategies I explain in the training, have already got results booking appointments. You’re welcome to grab a pad and pen and copy any of the details to help you.
Hope this helps
Matthew
“The Car Count Fixer”
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By JustTheBest
We're in strange times.
I've published this video in hopes to help shop owners in these difficult times
Matthew
"The Car Count Fixer:
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By Mark Johnson
In an effort to update the group with all the most recent developments, we are happy to inform you that on March 20, 2020 the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Department of Labor announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees.
This relief to employees and small and midsize businesses is provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020.
The Act will help the United States combat and defeat COVID-19 by giving all American businesses with fewer than 500 employees funds to provide employees with paid leave, either for the employee's own health needs or to care for family members.
The legislation will enable employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks, their personal health or the public health measures needed to combat the virus.
To learn more about how this will work or how to access up to $2M in Federal SBA disaster loans call us at 954-324-0803 or book a time in our calendar https://calendly.com/markjohnsontaxplanner/45strategysession.
View full article
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By JustTheBest
Thanks for stopping by!
Obviously we’re entering a new economy. At no other time have we witnessed wide sweeping changes to how we do business; what’s expected of us; how customers respond and what we need to do.
I released this brand new training to show you three things you can do right now. Shop owners who have done at least one of the strategies I explain in the training, have already got results booking appointments. You’re welcome to grab a pad and pen and copy any of the details to help you.
Hope this helps
Matthew
“The Car Count Fixer”
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By Joe Marconi
First, let me clarify one thing: I AM NOT THE EXPERT. But there are things about the PPP that concern me. Such as this quote fron the SBA: "Forgeven amounts will be considerded income for federal tax purposes." So, if you get a forgiven loan in the amount of 100,000- that will be added as income?
And, the fact that we need to rehire to full staff by June 30, 2020. So, in an area like mine where we don't expect business to return for 6 months or longer, I need to rehire to full staff, with 60% of sales down, use the SBA PPP to make payroll???? This is insane economics.
I do not want to rain on anyone's parade here. Being in NY, I got hit early and got hit hard. We are going on more than 8 weeks with little to no business. I too need financial help.
Look, the point is take it slow and get all the information from a pro. This is what I need to do too. Please get the advise from your banker, your attorney, financial advisor and your accoutant.
The only true way out of this is for business to return to normal, through sales and revenue.
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