xrac

Tomorrow I will talk to my Banker and Accountant and will try to start a SBA Loan process. Do not have a choice at this point.

That is a great follow up post.

We have went to four days Tuesday-Friday. We will see what it is like after this week. Currently shop calls are being forwarded to my phone so I can speak with them and hopefully schedule them for the days we are open.

We have scaled back to a four day week. We were closed Saturday and will be open tomorrow. We will see how it looks the rest of the week.

I had a guy last week that had spent $600-$800 on his Grand Caravan having another shop throw parts at it. He then brought it to us to diagnose. Guess what low compression on cylinder #7. We told him $250 to test up front once we knew what we had to test. That should have been where he began not finished. I ask him before we took the van in if it was missing before the other shop worked on it. He lied to me and told me it was not. Initially I figured a cracked spark plug or the like. He knew it wasn't the case but lied to me hoping to blame it on the other shop. Some people don't want to pay diagnosis and then lie to you to boot. Makes for a tough situation. He has an extended warranty but I think they will deny coverage due to insufficient oil changes.

Our business was awful in January and February. The last two weeks we have been swamp but Alfred I am with you. I too expect everyone will stop spending money and going out very soon.

Everything went crazy on Friday. Schools are closed, all meetings of any size canceled. I am sure we will see a decline this week due to the craziness. My wife and I are staying in. She is high risk due to age, past chemo, and a weakened heart. Fortunately so far Indiana only has 12 confirmed cases and nothing close to our area.

Business here has not been affected but I suspect we will start to see things change starting this week.

What advertising did you use?

Joe to this point we have only saw about 2 vehicles where we could have used one of these units.

Raise your prices and eliminate the bottom 20%. Work less make the same amount of money is one thought on how to move forward. Maybe your labor rate is way too low?

Here is a little insight from a franchise owner who was never involved in auto repair before purchasing and opening a new business. Location, location, location is the most critical factor. The number of cars passing the location is not as critical as do they have a reason to stop where you are at. CarX looks for locations in a destination location i.e. retail center. Recently a Meinke opened in a high traffic area with a very nice building in our city. They only lasted about a year. All that was near them on either side is industrial type properties. Thousands of cars were passing by but no one was stopping. It was outside of their travel pattern. It was only a pass through corridor. I new they were doomed the minute they opened in that location. Be sure there is reasons for people to stop where you are at beside s you. If it is just you it will take an established following or huge advertising dollars and you may still not succeed. The other advice is do not underestimate how difficult it is to hire qualified help. I have been in business twenty years and went through a time this spring where I thought I might have to close for lack of help. I survived by overpaying and hiring a couple of problem techs that I survived with until I got very lucky and hired better people. When you talk about working on your own stuff you sound like every guy I interview looking for a job. Most of them are woefully under skilled and way too confident. The learning curve is very steep if you come into this business from the outside. I have survived but it hasn't been an easy journey.

In a town of 120,000 I started with a working manager and two technicians plus myself. I had another body I could bring in when needed. For us that was about right. People are so hard to find these days I would start with at least two. One or both may not work out then what. The question may not be how many you hire but how many you can find. If you have the techs you can go out and beat bushes and find work.

Joe, I know where there is one for sale in Indiana. The current help situation is making it too difficult. At almost 67 years old I did not intend to be working 63 hours plus per week.

Just and update about my daughter and her husband. Four years into their church plant and they are still surviving. They have just moved into a new facility in Woodstock, Georgia and looks like they may now have a rising tide.