ATLAuto

I could talk for a long time on this. However, in summary, we looked at two key criteria for choosing our location: - Daily traffic count - Area demographics You can get the daily traffic count online through the DOT websites. Or your real estate agent can get it for you. In a city, you want at least 30k cars going by your shop daily. You can get demographics through a number of paid sources or from your real estate agent (ask for a Costar report). You are looking for high median household incomes. Opening your shop in a good neighborhood will eliminate a LOT of the problems that guys in this forum are complaining about. Let me know if you want to get into specifics.

Same. We bought two from a friend for around $3k total. We have one running all the time an one as a backup plumbed in and ready. All compressors will die eventually. We are just ready for it. Having a compressor go down will cripple your shop.

Joe, I considered buying 7 of these lifts when we opened our shop for one reason ... they are FAST. The only reason that we did not buy them is that we were basically given 7 new Rotaries from a movie set here in Atlanta ... can't argue with free. Anyway, here is the video comparing the Shockwave speed to a standard lift:

The Snap-On scanners will get you a long way, especially the scope capabilities they have. They will not provide much (if any) in the way of flashing. Regarding flashing, I am with Gonzo on this one. Either use the OEM scan tool, or don't even try to do it ... it's just too risky. Can you do it with aftermarket tools? Yes. Should you? No. We just upgraded all of our scan tools. For $15k, we got the following tools: Toyota/Lexus/Scion Techstream Honda/Acura HDS Ford IDS GM Tech2 Hyundai/Kia G-Scan (also does a LOT more) Volkswagen/Audi VCDS A good Snap-On is going to cost you about half of that. Your A-tech should have that tool already anyway along with a good scope. Our techs use these tools daily, and they have saved us MANY times.

Guys, we are having a tough time figuring out mark-up on dealer sourced parts. Currently we are selling parts at DEALER LIST and getting parts at DEALER COST, which is roughly 5-20% below list. This currently isn't cutting it for us. We have considered using the Dealer Parts Matrix, which I have copied below. The problem is that using this matrix will put most of the jobs we do WAAAAAY above the cost of the dealership, which is not an option. Customers get a brand new loaner car at the dealer. They get free food there. They get factory-trained technicians there. etc. We have a great facility and a great warranty. However, we cannot compete if we are way above dealer costs... So, with that said, what strategies are you using on dealer-sourced parts? DEALER PARTS MATRIX $Part cost Gross Margin Divide By 0.01-1.00 70.0% 0.30 1.01-5.00 65.0% 0.35 5.01-25.00 60.0% 0.40 25.01-75.00 55.0% 0.45 75.01-500.00 42.0% 0.58 500.01-750.00 32.0% 0.68 750.01 and up 28.0% 0.72

Thank you for your kind words, Frank. It was great to see you.

Kevo, we did exactly this. Opened 3mos ago from nothing to 3 amazing techs and a phenomenal service adviser. I'm probably not the best guy to ask on this, but we did break even our first month, if that counts for anything. Take look at our website and feel free to shoot me a PM anytime. www.ANTHEMAUTO.com

In metro areas, Yelp (and other online review sites) has come to replace word-of-mouth as the main go to. Ask anyone under 30 to go to dinner with you, and their first question is, "have you Yelped the restaurant?" A lot of weight is put on these reviews. With that said, paying to advertise on Yelp seems a bit pointless if your reviews are solid. A solid Yelp page is free and advertises itself.

Could not agree more, Frank. There are at over 20 different software packages available for this right now. Here's a list that I have compiled: AllData AIMS AllsystemsMax Auto Genius / Simply Genius AutoShopWriter AutoTraker AutoWise Bay-MasteR Chilton Easy RO FastTrak GarageOperator ISI Master Repair Motive Power MotorWare Ominique ProfitBoost Protractor Pluss RepairWriter Ros200 ServiceShop Shop Director ShopMax1 StockTrak Sys2 Take Charge EDIT: Here's some more I forgot (I kept a list of the actually decent ones separate) IGST: In Genius Shop Tools NAPA Mitchell: Yes ROWriter WinWorks TCS AutoBiz Software

We are currently finishing up a large renovation on our shop and are in the plumbing phase. The GC asked if we wanted to install a shower in the shop for our techs to use at the end of the day. I honestly did not know how to reply ... most of our techs shower at home and prefer it, but it is a nice option. Do any of you have a shower at your shop? If so, does anyone actually use it?

That is an excellent idea!! Also, great article, Gonzo.

Frank, I've been thinking about getting in on this as well. What percent of your tire sales would you say come from these sources?

My friend uses Google AdWords to rent out his condo in Panama City when he is not there. Between AdWords and word-of-mouth (his only two forms of marketing), he keeps it rented almost year around.

I'm actually curious on overall dealer overhead. I bet as a percentage of repair, it is actually less than ours. The dealers in Atlanta have huge 20+ bay warehouses and can really get some solid economies of scale going. With a shop that big they can specialize in a bunch of areas, have steady work flowing into each of them, and crank through a ton of low priced repairs, and still come out with a great profit in the bank. Honestly, I'm not surprised they are lowering prices. With their structure, they could easily undercut most independents and still make a bunch of cash. It's Wal-Mart level scale vs. a small mom and pop grocery store.

That's pretty hilarious. Mobile storage unit. Try to upsell some IKEA storage crates.

(duplicate post)

Nice. New shops in Atlanta are all being built with A/C. I have interviewed a few techs that expect that now.

I've been thinking a lot about loyalty programs as we finish up our renovation and move toward re-opening (lot of down time right now). I've read quite a few white papers on this but am by no means an expert. Here's an example from Stanford: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/mktg_viard_rewards.shtml I'll try to summarize it: The purpose of a loyalty program is to change customer habits. For example, setting up a "get your 10th oil change free!" loyalty program would have the goal of getting customers to do oil changes at your shop rather than wherever they felt like going. However, research has shown that the bulk of customers are not swayed by that any more than simply doing a reputable job, good service, and competitive pricing. After all, a "10th oil change free," is only a 10% discount on an already fairly cheap service. Additionally, most loyalty programs reward "loyal customers," which are by definition, customers that are coming back to the shop regularly anyway. This defeats the entire initial goal, which is to change consumer behavior. If they are coming back to the shop anyway, a loyalty program is unnecessary for them. You can still certainly do it for them as a favor, but do not kid yourself that it is what brings them back. In general, the paper summarizes that the loyalty program $$ could be spent much better elsewhere. Again, I am not an expert on this at all ... just something I have been thinking a lot about as we develop our overall marketing plan. There are plenty more research papers out on this.

Do yall have A/C in your shop as well? Sorry to get off topic.

Glad you enjoyed it. All I do on here is copy and paste R+W articles, so I'm glad it helped out.

I look forward to them every month, Joe. Please keep them coming.

Do you have a link to these studies? I am very, very interested in reading these.

WOW!!! Is that a bag of concrete in the trunk?

The 2014 report just came out ... saw it on R+W (image below). Did not expect to see MINI coming in so low, at the very bottom. Land Rover never ceases to amaze me at the sheer price per vehicle and the terrible reliability.

My money is on deteriorated brake hoses and/or sticking calipers. Odd that it's all four at the same time, though... my guess is that this is a problem that has gotten consistently worse, and he finally brought it in.