benzfxr

that's why I love the digital inspections we use with pictures emailed to the customer (even if they are waiting!)

the burden of proof should fall on the customer - call your insurance company they may (my does) call an outside company to inspect. Hopefully you have pictures of the oil pan before you did a teardown. I'm surprised you are not concerned about the spun bearing.

Don't feel bad if a lower quality customer leaves! Lower car count with higher ARO will reduce the stress of the staff, increase profits and continue to bring in better new customers. We look at our bottom 20% from time to time and decide if they need to be fired. By paying more attention to the top 20% (the quiet ones) you'll have a better run and more profitable shop. 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of its customers (Top 20) 80% of a company's complaints come from 20% of its customers (bottom20) 80% of a company's profits come from 20% of the time its staff spend 80% of a company's sales come from 20% of its products 80% of a company's sales are made by 20% of its sales staff[7] Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

One thing about partnerships. It's a ship that's hard to sail. (Or may not sail at all) Read the E-Myth and how to win friends and influence people right away. Have very clear written job descriptions for both of you. if you haven't done so, get buy/sell agreements in order as well Good luck!

NEVER mix your personal assets and liabilities with business - you're wide open for being personally responsible. Here is a list of companies that offer Insurance, consulting, legal and other services related to renting cars (same as a loaner for liability) I got the list from : SHARON FAULKNER <[email protected]> Lancer Insurance Company Sal Scuderi www.lancerinsurance.com 800-782-8902 370 West Park Avenue Andrew Arnold 561-889-9872 Long Beach, NY 11561 Asst. Mrktg. Mngr. Zurich American Insurance Co. Nancy L. Wilson [email protected] 913-339-1294 Zurich Towers Senior Marktg. Spec. 913-906-2131 1400 American Lane 800-840-8842 ext 4394 Schaumburg, IL 60196-1056 Edwina Mellow [email protected] 508-676-0240 866-690-2518 Hull & Company Angela Dodd [email protected] 800-544-8966 ext. 9066 5690 DTC Blvd. Ste. 300E Mile High Markets Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Knight Management Ins. Serv Eric D. Jarvis [email protected] 323-692-4033 4751 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 111 CEO www.knightinsurancegroup.com 323-692-4133 Los Angeles, CA 90010 Sonoran National Insurance Teresa Quale [email protected] 866-998-1001 7502 E. Pinnacle Peak Road 866-998-1002 Suite B-210 Scottsdale, AZ 85255 Bluebird Auto Rental Systems Angela Margolit [email protected] 973-989-2423 200 Mineral Springs Drive Dover, NJ 07801 TSD Rental, LLC Charles Grieco [email protected] 978-794-1400 ext. 8019 1620 Turnpike Street President [email protected] 978-296-6169 North Andover, MA 01845 www.tsdweb.com [email protected] Sonata Software North Am.Inc. Reetaja Majumdar [email protected] 91 80 3097 1866 39300 Civic Center Dr. Suite 270 www.sonata-software.com 91 99 1623 8479 Fremont, Ca 94538 Abrams Associates Neil Abrams [email protected] 914-696-5100 3020 Westchester Avenue Puchase, NY 10577 VRCG Inc. Mike Kane [email protected] 248-298-0509 1912 Bellaire Avenue 248-568-8150 Royal Oak, MI 48067 Jim Anderson Fleet Sales Jim Anderson [email protected] 561-994-9267 7025 NW 4th Avenue www.carrentalfleetsales.com 561-319-1388 Boca Raton, FL 33487 208-988-9267 LaPlaca Law Leslie Pujo [email protected] 240-453-9522 50 West Montgomery Avenue Suite 335 Rockville, MD 20850 ARRC Auto Rental Resource Cntr. [email protected] 800-585-2772 P.O. Box 26000 www.arrc.net Scottsdale, AZ 85255 Town & Country Ins. Agency Steve Cable [email protected] 713-461-8979 10575 Katy Frwy. Suite 150 Houston, TX 77024 The Tennant Group Jim Tennant [email protected] 707-287-1311 PO Box 3231 www.tennantgroup.com Napa, CA 94558 Frontline Performance Group Ziad Khoury [email protected] 407-682-3434 1075 West Morse Blvd. Winter Park, FL 32789=3737 GMI Insurance Carter Trudel [email protected] 610-933-4679 ext. 21 P.O. Box 701 CFO 619-933-4993 fax Valley Forge, PA 19482 Jim Schalberg Auto Rental Solutions James Schalberg www.schalberg.com 800-396-9128 2025 Ebenezer Road [email protected],com 208-988-9267 Rock Hill, SC 29732 Williams & Stazzone Insurance James Onaro [email protected] 610-524-5440 116 John Robert Thomas Drive www.wsins.com 610-524-1546

I'm an independent business development coach for Elite Worldwide. What you need is training to understand how to measure what you're doing. Few accountants know how to help! Do you know your gross profit on parts and labor? How do you measure other aspects of your shop? Do you need help on how to effectively run your shop? Elite Worldwide wants to give back to the automotive community and for a limited time we will be providing all shop owners the opportunity of downloading up to $50.00 worth of our products, at absolutely no charge. We would like to give you this opportunity to become more familiar with our content, our culture and our professionalism via our downloads. First of all, please feel free to use the code to download whatever products you would like to have. Secondly, please feel free to forward the coupon code on to all of your industry associates to take advantage of the $50.00 gift. Below you will find the $50.00 gift code that can be used to access up to $50.00 worth of our downloadable products. We know that our downloads will help you as shop owners build more profitable and successful businesses. We'd like to help as many people as we can, so please forward this gift on to all of your industry contacts. If you have any questions, please let me know. $50.00 Gift Code: Elite50 Redeem at: www.EliteWorldwideStore.com Frank Scandura

great tip, thanks

Read this article I wrote about this topic for Shop Owner Magazine. You can't save enough money on cheap equipment to justify down time for repairs, or worse injury of staff. http://www.shopownermag.com/Item/92737/is_your_used_equipment_safe_does_it_comply_to_sae_ul_ali_standards.aspx

We should look at our customers from time to time and decide who should be released from our service so we can concentrate on the top 80%, they will become better customers. Frank

I had a long time good customer ask for time to pay. I said yes and haven't seen him in 4 years.

We have one, it's great for a small footprint drive on rack. A four post is better IF you have the floor space ( we have one of those as well) . Here is an article I wrote that may be helpful when you're looking for a lift. http://www.shopownermag.com/Item/92737/is_your_used_equipment_safe_does_it_comply_to_sae_ul_ali_standards.aspx Frank

We allow our techs time to work on their car at the shop. It boosts morale, and prevents them from setting up shop at home and avoid the temptation to do side work. We also wash all customer cars and each employee can have his car washed one time per week.

Is his attitude spilling over into the quality of work? Is yes, start to look for his replacement - we have had very good applicants lately thanks to shop and dealer closings. You are the company owner, it should be a pleasant place for every one to work at.