Salutations!

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Hi all,

I stumbled across this forum while researching my new new auto shop I plan on opening 1/5/21. I have experience in business, quick lube, service writer, but limited technician experience. Im located in a small town (5k) in Missouri.  However, due the age of current shop owners in town, there is a lot of opportunity. Hope everyone has had a good week!

 

[rpllib]

I believe he just called us "old guys"! (and rightfully so!)

Welcome and congrats on your new shop opening. You truly are from a small town, which does come with a certain uniqueness, as it applies to operating an automotive service facility.

I recently shared the following with a group of shop owners.  I believe you can find value here if you chose. They require  an email address to download the resource listed, but it seems well worth it, and no one has contacted me or solicited me as a result. I have no connection to any of the firms or individuals listed, but I am a fan of good content and simple brilliance. I would concentrate on the book to start. It is filled with core information you will need. Imo, the portion on scaling your new business may be especially useful.

Here was my message published elsewhere:

"As we look to transition our business to the next generation, I have been assembling resources that I believe might be helpful in ensuring their success. Occasionally one of these resources jumps towards the top of the stack as it applies to core foundational reminders.

This book is one of those. https://paarmelis.com/your-perfect-shop-book-download/     It is more of a targeted short story written in large font on a small page format, and an evening read. . The author is a veteran CPA from a firm that specializes in automotive repair shops. They claim 450 auto repair clients, and they do have some impressive stores listed as clients. I like this organization. I have reviewed a few of their podcasts and webinars and they speaks/articulate well.   Many of us can find some value here, if we chose. 

The link below is to a webinar I came across that was put out by one of this firms young CPA's, interviewing an industry coach on a cash flow system that I had not previously heard of nor ever given much consideration. As the concept took hold, I immediately thought "simple brilliance".

I have now done what I do, which is to dig into the digital footprint of this "Profit First" concept and underlying for-profit industry. It is essentially the commercial version of the "consumer side industry" built around the teachings of Dave Ramsey. 

None the less, even after many hours of scrutinizing, I would still call the core foundation of this concept "simple brilliance". 

Typically, as most stores transition to the next generation of ownership, there can be a substantial change in the reserve cash a business has to operate on. This is one of the places this concept would make a real difference. The other is situations where a business has been in place for many years, but mostly has underperformed from a profit/cash perspective. 

For those that are not aware, overall we have a profit problem in this industry. Not everywhere, not with everyone, but I would suggest it is more common than not. 

The webinar is based on a cash flow process that has been lacking in my business for my entire career. It's an hour long and they really don't give you a good picture of it until you are almost an hour in. It is based on this concept:

 SALES MINUS EXPENSES=PROFIT---WRONG!

SALES MINUS PROFIT=EXPENSES---CORRECT!!!

I actually burst out laughing when this slide came up. It seems so simple and made sense to me immediately(because I had watched the webinar up to that point)

My goal is to make my successor better at running a service facility then I am, and more successful then I am. 

I have spoken to two of my banks and have appointments with both to discuss further. I meet with Chris Cotton (the coach in the webinar) and we may use him for implementation. He no longer participates in the "for-profit based" company that Profit First is built around, but like me, he believes in the underlying core concept. 

Early warning. NO ONE likes the part about the bank accounts, but i would contend that it is indeed our bank account balances, we pay the most attention to. "

https://paarmelis.com/webinar-the-profit-first-method-for-automotive-shops/    "

Randy Lucyk