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To Specialize or not to Specialize?

TonyD
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TonyD

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Just wanted to bounce a idea that i have been entertaining as of late . little about me and my current situation i am a 20 year veteran own and operate a general repair shop in a suburb of Boston. i am sure like most of you have done in the past rethinking my business strategy. with in 3 mile radius of my current location we have approx 7-9 pretty large ( meaning 4 plus bays tire and auto shops) not including myself and about 3-6 gas stations that are doing some sort of repair). but not one "import or foreign " specialist. now my question to you gentleman and women has anyone ever done a successful transition such as this ? i do have some extensive European back round and am more than comfortable with German auto lines as well Swedish. right now we do service a large amount of imports. just been looking at our industry as a whole and cant see being able to do "general repair" for all makes for ever but maybe i am wrong. i think there is def something to be said for focusing on a specific sector and funneling our time money and expertise into one area, it does make sense when looking at it from the outside. but obviously the grass is always greener i know . i do have have a friend that owns a import shop and does very well again different situation in the city and much older company ect ect. demographics do play a large part in a decision like this . where do u guys see our industry going as a whole? with tooling and software costs seem to be growing every year how long can the independents keep it going . thanks any and all imput greatly appreciated. hope you all have a great productive day....

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CARMandP Proficient

CARMandP

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When I started my business I tried to specialize in Asian import cars. The problem that I ran into was most people don't own all of the same kind of car so you would run into only getting half of the work the customer had to offer. Also my customer base for this area wasn't big enough to specialize like that so I needed up just going to a general repair. You may want to focus on letting people know that you have specialized training in these vehicles and trying to get more customers with those type of cars.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      Want to End Your Technician Shortage? Focus on Retention!
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      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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