Hands On

What happened? What's TireHub?

I would start off with at least one helper of some sort. I thought the same way when I started out, but you can not support big boy shop expenses with one person, and it is not safe to work alone all day. Bottom line you will not make any money unless at least two people are producing repairs; unless you plan on living in the shop, taking cash only, and paying no taxes.

Can not beat that for rent. There have been other posts about specializing in a make or model. General consensus has been why start off limiting your customer base.

Will you owe when it is done? Any idea what your monthly rent/mortgage ect would be when all said and done?

I don't have any research to back this up but I think you will need more then 3 bays to break even on new construction.

I have been giving Zip Recruiter a try. I had them send me an email promising a refund in writing if it does not pan out, so far nothing, I get lots of applications from folks with experience in oil fields and fork lifts. @Mike the Mechanic Thank you for this, I added a lot of it to my ad, hopefully it gets me more results. What platforms have you guys had success with in finding new recruits?

something I just thought of for the original poster though, those rusted lug nut are an opportunity to tell the customer you just noticed they would not be able to change a tire on the road if they needed to use their spare tire. Then you could charge labor and new lug nuts.

If all you are doing to a car is the tire rotation that is a problem. You have to offer it to regulars as a service sure, but if it starts to become part of your meat an potatoes something is wrong

I do not stress over tires. The profit per hour is not worth chasing in my small shop. I offer them so my customers know they can one stop shop, but I refuse to try to compete with chains, it is not possible. That being said, if everyone reading this joined me in a buyer's group to grab certain sizes then we could make something happen.

I run my own Google ad words and I work my butt off to make sure I have good reviews. I run Yelp ads and again work off butt to make sure Yelp reviews are too notch. Beyond that community events, Facebook posts, and boots to the pavement introducing yourself should cover the bases these days. If you have a larger shop more then 4 lifts I think you have to run some coupon shoppers to keep the bats filled. Just keep in mind coupon customers need to be hand held through the process of you want any chance of converting them. Local radio shows have also helped us fill the gaps.

Thank you for the excellent and well thought out post. Before the thread gets to far off topic, I need a new tech. Is anyone willing to help me write an advertisement or help me with postings, over the phone or through e-mail?

I need to find some employees fast and I am having no luck, anyone willing to help me write an advertisement or help me with postings, over the phone or through e-mail, please let me know. Just found this, not feeling good about this. https://www.indeed.com/forum/job/automotive-technician/can-t-do-it-anymore/t459836

In case you missed it, the job is done, turned out great for all parties involved.

Yes I imagine a lot of shops would have turned him away, and possibly did before he made it back to my door. For me, running the shop is not just about making a buck, but also about providing a needed service to the community. I helped a young kid out of a tough situation and felt really good about it after. We do things like this on occasion, it helps keep me grounded and humble. We also sometimes make the news for the nice things we do. https://issuu.com/consumerreport/docs/cvcrjan2018

In the end we got the car assembled and running, and made money, worked out well in the end.

They responded: Yes, what is nominal to the customer for the convenience of using their card is huge for you! A $29.00 oil change would be $29.00 if they paid cash, pay with a card, it a $1.00 is added as a price adjustment. The change in the law allows you to avoid the fees. Call me at 470-377-6375 and we can cover it in 2 minutes or less. If he gave me real life numbers that is .97 to the customer.

I am looking for these hard answers. I would love advice on how to write an ad. As I am a tech myself I am starting to think I should focus on looking for someone who will work flat rate that can part swap on European vehicles and some minor diagnostic work. How do I attract this person.

I am too nice.

I am working on this. The photo you saw of the family was done by a professional. It was to duplicate a photo for the band that was playing at our annual party next year. We went to the exact location the band did their shoot and he used filters to get the same effects they had. The poster he designed turned out awesome, but seen out of context I see what your saying.

Put in my spam e mail, will see if they respond. Frustrating if they do bill the customers that they would not mention that on the website.

+1 on the snap scan. Mine came with a rack filer program that organizes everything. I still throw the paper into a bin in case the tax man wants hard copies, but dont waste anytime organizing that bin.

I did get a hold of him. He was a customer that stiffed me with bad checks over 3 years ago. I am guessing no other shop wanted to assemble the box of parts. He made good on the bad debt with cash and paid for 4 hours of assembly with cash also. I will update when it is done.

Had a Chevrolet Cobalt show up at my shop today. The kid called for a quick no start diagnostic. He thought it might be a camshaft position sensor. I sent my tech out to look at it and he comes back in to ask if I am joking. The Fuel injector rail is out and resting on the valve cover. The super charger is removed two of the intake manifold bolts are missing, one is spaced out with random washers. The kid mentioned none of this dropping it off. He will not answer his phone or texts.

I need to grow the balls to get this done in my shop This is my current ad, posted in two local cities on craigslist. I have received ONE interested fellow, the one that wants the salary instead of incentive based pay. How do I get more candidates? https://boulder.craigslist.org/trd/d/wanted-experienced-auto/6471665424.html

I do worry about the reviews, mainly because I have worked so hard to get all of the good ones I have. I worry that I will log in one day and see someone write a fake one, or get mad at me with out contacting me first. Or even just make a mistake and click the wrong star rating. I am kind of looking forward to a day when we get a horrible yelp review or two so I can relax a bit. I do everything right for my customers because that is who I am. I sell flushed because I have seen them work and I do perform them on my own vehicles. But, we only sell them when we see a true need, metal in the power steering, odd chunks floating in the brake fluid. Oil blacker then coal. Reviews can make or break a business, as well as your response to reviews. 3PuttFever I looked over your reviews and responses. If you do not mind me making a suggestion, you might back off on your responses a bit. I would suggest not trying to go after the customer at all in your response. Just simply state what you do right and offer to make it up to them. I know it can be infuriating when someone posts falsehoods about you online, but attacking that person makes you look bad. Be the better man and take the high ground with a simple I am sorry we dropped the ball, or I am sorry we did not live up to your expectations this time, ect. Once in a while I get a difficult customer in the shop. I take those as a challenge, to see just how much sugar I can dish out as shit is shoved in my face. I treat my best customers great, I try to treat the worse ones even better. The customer that comes in and balks at an estimate, offer to do a thing or two for free before they leave paying nothing. This way you wont get slammed online and they might even mention you to a friend with more money in a positive light.