Trealubit

I think its important that as service professionals we understand that technology will always change and as long as we adapt to these changes we will always be a choice for motorists service. We may not be changing spark plugs but something will sure needs maintenance and service. Point and condensers are no more but look at ignition coils...they still break. If not replacing power steering pumps we are replacing electric steering motors. Change is inevitable in any industry, it is those who are willing to adapt survive and grow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yea it all depends on your business model. There is no "one" way success plan. There are a lot of variables and market conditions. If saturdays is your busiest and you and your team willing is to work then keep at it. 👍

All guilt aside, I think its important to base your labor rate according to your costs, expenses and environment. It has to be fair to all parties and business makes its margins to survive. There are labor rate calculators out there to see what your labor rate should be calculating all of different factors about your business and market. There are also different labor rates for different jobs. You may loose few customers but the one who believes and trust your work will never leave. Then you can build a better base of clients from there. Good Luck!

Great replies from all the shop owners here. Check out Carm's podcasts as he showcases shop owners and their advice. "Remarkable Results Radio" Ultimatley if you want it go for it. Also understand that Owning your own business is a lot of hard work. It will test your patience, your strength and wits. Being an entreprenuer is hard! This is why not a lot of people go into it or quit after some time. My advice is do not ever give up. Make it happen, learn as much as you can and continue learning and again never give up. I started my business from a pick up truck full of tools, i was 19 years old then. Now i have a thriving business married 3 kids great employees, weekends off and stable. This may noy be considered much in reference to others peoples successes but from where i came from...its a success nonetheless. Goodluck with your choices in life and may you reach what you want to attain

For the past ten years we have been mon-saturday 8am to 6pm. We switched to monday to fri earier this year goes against your gut since we are so used to working saturdays. Several customers compalined about the no saturday hours but most all of them accepted it. Employees love it. And my wife and kids love it too! In business side of things we made our m-f more productive and efficient to increase sales and margins bcuz of loosing 1 workday. We made sure to offer rides to home, work, train stations, even pick up car from work and closed hours drop off to make it easier on the clients who preffer saturday service to bring cars on weekdays. It works but i do wonder about the opportunites available for weekend service. But at the end of the day you got to choose on what is important for you. Good luck on your decisions