Sean

I would try to start utilizing a customer vehicle inspection form which will help you identify items for customers. The hope is this will generate work that can be scheduled.

All the sites recommended by Sean are excellent! thank you for the links!

Thanks for the kind words and welcome to the forum. Here are a few more good ones:

 

http://m.searchautoparts.com/motorage

 

http://www.motor.com/articles.asp

 

If you haven't joined iatn and are thinking of opening a shop or currently have a shop it is a wealth of knowledge:

 

http://www.iatn.net/

 

Albin Moore is a good author:

http://m.searchautoparts.com/search/apachesolr_search/Albin%20Moore

 

Don't forget to have a look at gonzos stuff as well

 

Cannot disagree more with this statement. It seems like there has lately been quite a few people who are obsessed with profit percentages, particularly on parts. I understand everyone wants to make money, and I know everyone sees profit on parts as free money. You buy a part, turn around, and sell it for more. But spending so much time worrying about percentages and matrices and discounts for 1 section of your business doesn't make sense. If at the end of the month, your OVERALL percentage is where it needs to be, who cares about your parts markup or whatever (within reason).

 

If you make 300% on a hose clamp and I make 20% on a transmission, who is going out to eat tonight? When you get your electricity bill, do you pay it with percentages or dollars? Instead of chasing a better parts discount, maybe you can look into better advertising to bring in more customers. Or perhaps send a few employees to do some sales training, converting more oil changes into big tickets.

 

Again, I understand how it is easy to get excited about selling some brakes pads for $50, when you only gave $20 for them. It just seems like there are a lot of guys obsessing about it and missing a whole other aspect of the business.

I couldn't disagree more with your disagreement. If you aren't getting proper margins on parts you are leaving money on the table IMHO. A lot of shop software programs calculate the margin and use a matrix to do so.

 

I do agree training is a good thing and management should be seeking training as well.

I like this idea and have been exploring it as well. I noticed you mentioned Mitch Schneiders book, which I haven't heard of. Are they worth the investment ? One of the books seems to sell for @100.

Great topic

 

 

Have you considered getting a basic ase certification like the new g1 if nothing else you would have a basic understanding of a vehicle and it's associated systems.

 

 

You can use sites like this to study for the test.

 

http://www.autoshop101.com/

Get some auto specific training by working. Alternatively there are resources such as elite worldwide trainings that can be had for little money. Check out the www.aaec.ca online elearning and or read everything you can ge your hands on by bob greenwood and others like joe the site founder here and writer for ratchet and wrench. Read motor magazine archives etc there is a ton of info online. Also customer link has a blog as does elite worldwide. One way to get educated on repair stuff, specifically drivability,

at home on YouTube is scanner danner he also has an ebook

 

Here are some links:

http://www.aaec.ca/newsite/elearning.cf

 

http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/

 

http://www.eliteworldwidestore.com/blog/

 

 

http://m.youtube.com/user/ScannerDanner

 

http://www.autosphere.ca/carcarebusiness/category/greenwoods-blog/

 

 

http://www.customerlink.com/auto-repair-marketing-blog/

I am surprised that more people haven't shared their info this could be a helpful thread to those starting out. I for one almost payed double what the going rate should be and this was the sole factor that made negotiations of a shop I wanted to purchase fail.

I think total car care is the future and we will probably see places that are considered quick lubes start to do more than just oil. There are good quick lubes out there they aren't all bad and there is much to be learned from examining their business model. Have a look at the www.noln.net site or google noln news and see what they are up to. As someone mentioned prior cars are made better theses days and lube centers that include basic maintenance items as well as tire rotations and small or simple repairs may be on the horizon.

You mentioned

 

I am at $9.2 gross plus state sales tax(hopefully this is gone soon). It's a bit high for our area but a great location and nearly fully equipped. Plus our landlord is not a real estate mogul so very easy to work

 

 

Thanks for the reply. What do you consider fully equipped? I.e lifts etc are owned by landlord?

I really enjoyed this months article Joe. Very insightful.

 

http://www.ratchetandwrench.com/RatchetWrench/April-2014/Would-you-want-your-children-to-work-in-automotive-service/

Anyone care to share what their lease rate per square foot is? Also what type of lease they have NNN or Gross?

 

Or put another way whats your lease per month and how much square feet does that cover?

Hello everyone I just edited this post for clarity.

Does budgeting 6.25% of gross sales for rent seem like an accurate number?

You could try the anonymous route if you are looking to get information on their labor rate. One thing to consider is why compare? Set your goals and your pricing structure based on what sort of numbers you want to achieve after careful market consideration. I would explore the information on here and iatn as well as the articles written by Joe and others on here and ratchet and wrench. Here are a couple of articles for thought on how to become profitable :

 

http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1880

 

http://www.autoinc.org/archives/2013/aug2013/manage.html

 

 

http://www.autosphere.ca/carcarebusiness/category/greenwoods-blog/

 

You can't discount your way to prosperity, not suggesting you are, but this is perhaps the best article on the subject of discounting:

 

http://www.searchautoparts.com/aftermarket-business/training/thinking-dollars-not-percentages

 

These two are pretty good as well

http://www.searchautoparts.com/motorage/financial/crunching-numbers?cid=95883

 

http://www.searchautoparts.com/motorage/financial/more-making-informed-clients

Great story Gonzo, makes me think about how to word the questions that I ask.

I just went through this and I got rid off 9 guys

Did you get rid of them all at once or did you give them a trial period?

I think this is the biggest challenge at this point. I know one of the guys is a bad apple of sorts in regards to his attitude. I personally witnessed him and the current owner yelling at each other. That said he is a pleasant guy to talk to sometimes. It appears to me he is just plain tired and set in his ways. Always looking for what's wrong and looking to leave early. He does show up for work every day. I have considered taking out an ad and attempt to get some replacment person lined up but I have hesitated to do this as of yet because I am not officially the owner. I guess I will just had to start looking and disclose the situation, I.e. shop is not officially mine yet.

I have been doing some research online and I am not finding any answers to this. I will be asking my attorney this question next time we meet but basically the question is; Do all employees have to get re-hired when I purchase a shop and form a new LLC? I am note sure all the employees are keepers and I am struggling to find an answer to this. Put another way do I have to keep or be saddled with a problem employee?

thanks

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good place to purchase the tire machine and changer? I have found some online I was just wondering if anyone has a company they love to do business with?

I spoke to tire rack on the phone this morning and it was a promising conversation. I need to do some research on the types of machines I would need. I don't want to finance a bunch of expensive new equipment so I will be looking for used, refurbished on sale etc. I will avoid super cheap machines that won't last. Any thoughts ?

Interesting thoughts here guys. I was considering the tire rack option already and appreciate that being pointed out.

Greetings looking for feedback on tires and associated equipment. A shop I am in negotiations to purchase doesn't have any tire mounting or balancing machines or alignment for that matter. The owner claims that due to the big tire chain store in town he feels it is a loosing proposition. The chain store does a lot of free work. I was wondering what others have to say? I wasn't necessarily looking to start selling tires but being able to mount and balance seems like a positive thing. I could see being able to do winter tire switch overs and balancing as ways to get a ROI

Thanks again

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I really appreciate it. Rambiss I did see your post and that was a good one with lots of good info. It was strange in fact how similar our potential shops are, I.e. messy and outdated. I think the moral of the story is that change is hard for people and techs have wheels on their toolboxes for a reason .

Hello I am thinking about making the switch from mobile repair to purchasing a shop and have found a shop I am interested in. Here are some of the facts about the shop:

Established for over 25 years. Two techs an A &B tech that have been here almost that long. Very dirty shop environment with piles of car parts everywhere. No employee manual or SOPs to speak of. Owner not showing a profit to not have to pay taxes. I could go on about the red flags. On a positive note there is a ton of potential for increased profit due to the shops repair and not repair and maintenance mindset. At this point my biggest concern would be the current state of the shop and the techs willingness to change. What y'all think so far ? Thanks

Agreed building connections would be nice I will have to look at that book