juanpablo4219

great! who services these machines?

Yes indeed! We're a brake and front end shop. We're busy a shop in the summer. People travel and want their car in top shape. Keep in mind the Texas heat hurts the entire vehicle. Tires, brakes and cooling system. We're a small shop, if I take vacation, we closed. There's only 3 of us and we work hard. When it comes to vacations in the summer, either we take long weekend once in a while or/and if the entire week, we just close. My belief is that People deserve to be off for more then just a long weekend. We need to be away to come back fresh and ready for the 2nd half of the year. JP

Here's where we are. We had a great first half of the year. We grew 15% compared to last year. I do considered the Summer, a change of season and consumer habits. When June arrives the consumer behavior/spending habit change to the vacation period. Kids are out schools and families travel, life is good for shops. This year has been the exception, the heat wave that we're going through does not help in south Texas or any place in Texas. Texas has a hot summer, but the 100 plus temperature does not help at all. It just does not invite people to go outside. I do advertise on Google and I have been checking everyday, and my conclusion is that not many people are looking for services, since I am paying less than the usual budget. August is a different month, a lot of the parents who have kids in college come to services their kid's Car, get them ready for their kids to go back to school, I am hoping things will turn around, even thou" August is the hottest part of the summer🤞😁 ...and this is my mid year report Regards and stay cool😎 JP

Good Day Joe ...We are a brake and front end shop. I know what you are talking about. We don't do lifts for that reason. We do leveling kits and considered the job as replacing Struts and it's base on the time plus some. A lift kit leaves a lot of work with out been paid for.. I think is more of guess on the amount of work and hours combine.

Yes and no😁 My thoughts it depends on the area and the age and conditions of the vehicle. At some point the owner have to make a decision to continue with his old car or consider buying a new one, new/used. We have seen cars in our shop with hi mileage. 13 challenger 441K miles 17 Tahoe 290k miles 15 Durango 300k miles. Worst people but these hi mileage cars instead of new ones. Very few new cars.

There's only 3 persons in our shop and we all talk to customers. When the techs are ask for prices, they're referred to the office/me. Get him a quote and it's the customer's decision, and yes, I am part of the techs/ service advisor/manager/owner. And yes, I am a working Boss,like one of my friends told me, I also work as a tech and I am the one that tells the customers that they need to go to the office/customers' area. We even got a bad review for telling this one customer to come and wait in the office. I answered the review with respect and told him that we have a designated area for a reason, if you go to Restaurant, they won't allow u to go into the kitchen for a reason, same principle.

👏👏👏👏👏 congrats!

not so bad after all... real state investment it's a steady check at the end of the month and might be better than SS and 401k now days... that's my plan.

I have spoke with both local reps( hunter & snap on)and not much help,they send me links to what I already have seen and knew. keep in mind, I am in Brownsville, Tx. At the border, we don't see much of the equipment in question here but I know is there.

Good day. ADAS is my next adventure/challenge. I have been studying this for about a year. What I have learned so far... the technology is in the cars but not so much for the aftermarket repairs shops.. At this time, It's still very expensive for a shop to make such a large investment. There's no universal/one fit all equipment able to calibrate all models or cars. It requires an enclosed bay with a level floor, lighting(and why not A/C too😁) an extensive knowledge of alignment and be familiar with the different systems that are calibrated, able to diagnostic and trouble shoot electrical problems(at some point), It should be ez, I dare to say.😂 Here's my question, where do we get the training to have a better understanding of such systems? ...Things that I have encounter, sales people sale, tech installed and the training is very poor, since the tech does not do the work daily with the systems. I would like to know who's the "Guru" on this type of systems, If we have to attend a training that would make us feel comfortable on doing this type of service. If we can get some answers to this questions, it would make us more at ease in performing this task. JP Brake and Front Shop

Good Day! The first quarter went well for us, we are a Brake and Front End shop, We were able grow 17% . We increased that percentage of sales compared to last year's first quarter. We had to make a slight increase in out prices and still made some profits.. I can't say the same about April 2022 and 2021. Sales decreased. Here's my analysis, last year the people had money from the Government incentives and their tax return around this time of the year.. People were not buying new cars. They were buying used cars at a high price or fixing their old ones and that's good for business! Now this year, People don't have government incentives and they only have their tax returns. They're been cautious about their spending due to the high prices on everything. The last 2 years were extraordinary years due to Covid 19. Now the pandemic is almost gone and we're coming to a more ordinary year, meaning we're going back to our regular sales trend... my analysis till the moment. ...Regards to every one and looking forward to hear your comments JP

Good Day! We are a Brake and Front End shop! We do oil changes, state vehicle inspections, suspension work, alignments tune ups, cooling systems, what I call "basic maintenance". I have learned to say "No" for the fact that we have small location, the property itself won't allow us to do some of the big jobs. we are an in & out shop We have 4 bays, 1 for alignments, one for state vehicle inspections and 2 for brakes and suspension and anything else within our capabilities. we are a 2 man show, but we work fast and efficiently to where we don't delay our customers more than we need to. We have become a Suspension Specialist shop, most of our revenue comes from alignments and suspension work. The big jobs are for the big shops, where they have room for the cars and more techs, and the cars stay over night. I hate to take a car and don't deliver within the time.. Some of our customers want us to do odd jobs out of scope of work, but time is a very valuable commodity, we take a big job and then I have to either turn down work or don't deliver the big job on time. I just don't think is fair! the big jobs put a lot of stress on us because we want to finish them on time.. and some time we end up loosing time and money... My next addition to our list of services will be the ADAS. The camera and sensors calibration goes a long with our scope of work... I am still studying the process... not many places down here in Brownsville, TX doing that type of services yet..

Yes Indeed, If you asked me, It's about having the right mind on innovation and having the right tools and technology, That's what's going to keep us busy and in business.

Good Day joe... In our case, we are a brake and front end shop. The little research that I've done, EV still needs to be worked on suspension, alignments, brakes and balancing tires. In our town, recently opened a Tesla Dealer ship, and up until now we have done one Tesla alignment and it wasn't so bad. nothing different! Please keep in mind, I am in Brownsville, Texas, where the gas and diesel trucks rule. I believe it's going to take a while for the local market to take off on the Teslas. We're beginning to see them more and more on our local town. It's just matter of time and they will come. JP

Policies and procedures makes a big difference and how a business is successful or a failure. They should be aligned with the mission statement of the business When we have written procedures, more than likely it's because something happened and was resolved. Policies and procedures reduced the amount of headaches for a shop manager or an owner. ...and Yes, the policies and procedures will confirm the success of the second location along with having the right people.

Again "hope is not a plan" A plan is better than no plan at all. It has been a tough year for the US 🇺🇸. This year has been our break through year. We have increased our sales by 10% . The last quater is always the hardest. There are, like it was mentioned before some factors to consider for the last months of the year. Google business has been a great tool for us... In the last 2 years we have been working on branding and promoting our business on social media with that intent. We're a 7 yr old brake and front end shop and we're beginning to see our efforts to pay off. Regards JP

...to answer your question, YES, that's the right "Business Decision" (key word Business). I know it's hard, I myself have been in that situation on previous Jobs as Dir. of Op's. You keep the staff that align with your business Mission & Vision statement and go from there. These are the best employees to have in this kind of situations. I am sure the compensation will come later on.

Thanks for the advice...exclty my plan but around my 60 years.. who's your coach?😁

"My banker just told me that 1099s don’t count because 1099’people are eligible to apply themselves. I had quite a bit of 1099 last year and it don’t count." Exactly, I was never a Banker, but I am an accountant by profession and Business owner/Mechanic by trade. therefore we should focus on how justify/paper trail to our expenses.. Tell your accountant to run your 2019 P&L and look at your expenses and go down the lines.. if u get the loan, that's whats going to cover along with payroll if any employees. That will give you and idea. Also do the pay roll for those that are employees, just to get an idea and be familiar with what the banker is going to request. if you keep receipts it's justifiable, Ex: lease agreement, utilities at the time, the Bankers are still getting familiar on the process itself. I bank with Wells Fargo and my banker didn't know much. I knew more than him... The process it's barely going to get in place/done by the government and then given to implement to the banks and then to us... In my humble opinion, we might get the EIDL first than the PPP We have to be Patience JP

Good day.. I have submitted our application for the EIDL and for the PPP relief, thinking that this would help us... Keep in mind, this process will take time but I am sure it is moving, any chance we have at it, it's better then nothing at all. On the Payroll issue, our company does not have employees, we are independent contractors, so pay roll won't work for us, even though I record our pay checks, and at the end of the year we get a 1099. ...but any of these loans will certainly help for our fix expenses, rent, utilities and such. In other words, we all qualify due to these Expenses. The PPP will help us to be and remain open until the new normal... The sales that we might have until we get to the new normal, it will only help us just to get money to cover part of our fix expenses and take home. Keep in mind, a lot of our customers, might be out of work. This is my plan on the works,😁 Note: and here's my contributions to this commune and be known for, I learned this from my old Boss "Hope is not a Plan JP" "HOPE IS NOT A PLAN"

Good day! We had to close, we are in mandatory shelter at home by the County for the next 14 days, ( March 28th to April 8th). Not many cases of coronavirus down here, but there are about 7 cases in Brownsville,TX. 6 are trip related and the other it's under investigation. School is out and a lot of places are closed. ...For us, a shop going on it's 7th year mark, we started the year with our sales at hi. In January we increased our sales by 27% & February by 22%. Things went down by Mid March, when all of this started. We're going to wait till April 8th and hope for the best and go back at it... In this particular area, we are at the peak, hopefully, Things will start going back to normal. I can cover the expenses for this April, but coming May it's a different ball game.. Regards Juan Pablo(JP) Sepulveda

We've been told by the hunter rep that we're supposed to charge more for the calibration of the steering angle/ connect the code link. The computer tells you at the beginning once you put targets and rolled the car.... but you do the update at the end. My though... we're a fairly new business and we're building a brand and name for ourselves...if we don't calibrate the steering angle of the car will drift or not run straight... we charge a flat fee for the alignment and that's it Now at what time we're going the tell the customer that we have to charge them more since their car's steering sensor need to be calibrate... what if the customer says no update?

I am in Brownsville, TX....down south or the upper part of Mexico if you will.... Lol It has been the same for us....our business is a 3 yr old but we still growing as a new business. Our numbers are very low compare to the numbers you guys mentioned... But it's very similar to you al'.....great in March and April and on the avg for Jan & Feb compared to last year. so far no loses yet and we're braking even. We were setting up to do State Inspection with the idea to increase our sales but the Great State of Texas decided to do away with them... now back to the drawing board and see what we can do to increase our sales,,,, ....and let me say this "Hope is not a plan" Regards