xrac

When we started we had $50k-$75k in brakes, exhaust and shocks and struts. Today we have zero.

I ran an attractive ad on Career Builder for the last month and I only received one application and they were completely unqualified. I have searched resumes on Career Builder religiously for the last two months and have not found one candidate worth contacting. I have also searched the state sponsored job site Indiana Career Connect with similar results. It is very, very difficult. A guy must always be looking and willing to grab a likely candidate if they come along. I have five techs and four of the five have worked with me before and I took them back.

My on line reviews seem to generate as many sales as anything.

Too bad you ain't closer I would love to see your operation!

That is what I hate about stocking vendors. They are always trying to load you up.

We had a really good June. Our numbers were up by about 30% over last June.

Gonzo I love the article. Great insight and analogy. Glad you survived and I wish you great success as you move forward with a new stage of your life.

Did they do free diagnosis?

I love it. Great picture of you Gonzo and great idea Harry.

I am so happy things are looking up for you! One of the good things that has happened to me over the last few years is getting to know you (although we haven't met face to face yet). That is something that I trust will actually happen someday.

That is great news! We sure miss you here.

From what I see all Facebook he is doing well. I believe the home address is 15031 S. 4150 Rd Claremore, OK 74017.

I agree. However, I do not think the problem was our equipment but on our Interstate Battery suppliers part. The owners boy took over management and ran it into the ground. I don't think he wanted to warranty the batteries.

We have an old Vat 45 and a Midtronics. We use to have and use an Interstate Tester. However, after we tested two group 65 batteries with it and they failed we warrantied them out and sent the defects back to interstate they sent them back to us and said they were good batteries. We charged and restested the batteries and they still tested bad. Guess what? We sent the tester back to Interstate and we stopped selling Interstate Batteries. By the way that retail dealer was forced to sell out about two years after we switched.

THank you Joe and DITTO!

A visiting Priest was attending a men’s breakfast in Ohio Farm County. He asked one of the impressive older farmers in attendance to say grace that morning. After all were seated, the older farmer began------ “Lord, I hate buttermilk.” The Priest opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going. Then the farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the Priest was overly worried. However without missing a beat, the farmer prayed on, “And Lord, you know I don’t care much for raw white flour.” Just as the Priest was ready to stand and stop everything, the farmer continued, “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you are sayin' to us, we just need to relax and wait ‘till You are done mixin’, and probably it will be somethin' even better than biscuits. Amen.” You can't keep a good man down for long. I think this will all turn out o.k. for Gonzo!

I would say is it safe but I am not sure of the benefit. It seems to be geared to very large parts operations. http://www.opstrax.com/ops/

Our reels are all Reelcraft brand and have been in service 18 years. We have only replaced one reel in. That time and we have a total of 8 reels.

Gonzo is home and has been outside for a walk. His wife said this on Facebook yesterday: Here's the King on a walk this morning surveying his domain. He's feeling really good.

Reckon Gonzo will come out with a story to write?

He is tough as nails. It is hard to see how anyone as active as he is has heart blockage.

I just read this below on Facebook. Please send your thoughts and prayers to our friend. He posted this yesterday. Yesterday at 8:30pm · Tulsa, OK · Ok, FB friends. This has not been a great week. Severe chest pains led to a trip to the ER. Two different hospitals later it has been determined the blood flow is blocked. Monday they'll be performing a complete bypass on the old ticker. So, old Gonzo will be out of commission for a while. This is a big life changing event. But I'm up for it. More news later.

What a great thread this has become. Definitely conversation and ideas that all shop owners should read.

I can understand. The median income for my area is about $40,000 and for your community it is about $18,000. No wonder you have the competition you mentioned.

Joe you should run for office! But You are right. The cheap oil changes are used by some people such as Andre as a very effective way to drive traffic and grow business. However, some people just run cheap oil changes because they don't know what else to do.