Transmission Repair

Read further up in the thread. I posted an image.

All great tips I never had until I met my wife, an accountant, as I've said before. Prior to that, my bookkeeping and accounting was lame at best. I just sort of "winged it." Not a good business practice. I was also guilty of skimming cash and underreporting income. I did everything worse than wrong, what I was doing was illegal to say the least. I was lucky and never had my personal income tax or sales tax returns audited. I was the type of tax payer the Biden administration IRS would be looking for today. From 2006-on, I was above board and I was a legal eagle. Women, by nature, are security-seeking and she is above-board in all her dealings. My wife used another lesser-known Intuit product to do only tax returns called ProSeries. Boy was it expensive. It was $2K EVERY year. She just spread the cost over her 70 or so clients each year. You can check it out here: https://proconnect.intuit.com/proseries/pricing/ The software can intake most popular bookkeeping's P&Ls and Balance Sheets and populates all the necessary IRS forms while leaving very little for the user to fill out. It's almost automatic. I sure wish I would have had Joe's advice when I was younger. I only met with my bookkeeper (I didn't have an accountant or CPA) once a year, usually in April. She would file an extension every time, but I still had to pay the taxes due by April 15th, which I usually didn't have. I was a shop owner who could have been a poster child for HOW NOT TO DO YOUR BOOKS OR TAXES. But that was back then. Things are much better today especially since I've fully retired. Neither one of us have a side job in retirement. I feel very lucky to say that and I owe it in a huge part to Joe. He said you'll never make enough on the sale of your business to retire; you'll only make enough to retire by selling the real estate your shop is in. I tried to lease the building to the person I sold the business to, but it didn't work out. Once I heard Joe's advice, I felt and did much better selling the real estate vs leasing it for $11K/mo. Thanks Joe!

An online friend of mine, Todd Hayes is opening up another multi-million dollar shop. I asked if he believed in "Build it and they will come" or if he's doing something different. Here's the thread... Facebook Conversation

Why go to a test center to keep your ASE certification(s) up? Here's how you can take practice questions as well as the recertification tests on your phone! Here's the link for the Android ASE Practice Tests... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.abc.ase&hl=en_US&gl=US Here's the link for the Android ASE Renewal App... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hltcorp.ase2&hl=en_US&gl=US

I just had a second though. You could manually scan A/P and cash invoices -THEN- use the drop file that's in your version of QB.

My wife is an accountant. She doesn't like QB Online because it lacks so many features that only the Desktop Pro version has. She predicted that you wouldn't have the Intuit/QB scan utility feature in the online version. Now I can tell her she's right. 🙂 It's looking like you're going to have to use the tried and true manual filing system. 😞 Essentially, she says the online version is more for business owners who have little accounting knowledge/experience where as the desktop version is made for more knowledgeable business owners and accountants. One feature I personally fell in love with in the desktop version was the ability to design estimates, invoices, and forms in general. We only updated QB every other year, not every year like they recommend. That saved money. However, we did update the payroll utility every year because 941 taxes would vary. Good luck on you endeavors!!

Here's my screen shot of being able to scan an AP invoice in QB. You click on the "Attach" button and you get 3 options and 1 of those options is scan. Clicking on "Scan" brings up QB's scanning utility. AR invoices are automatically stored in QB.

CLARIFICATION: QB DESKTOP DOES HAVE a scan feature. When posting A/P, there is a scan button to scan invoices. Perhaps QB Online doesn't have that feature, I don't know, because I've never used QB Online. I've only used QB Desktop.

After much thought, I think of something that's more on the near horizon than servicing EVs and it's ADAS servicing, adjusting, and calibration. ADAS takes u a lot of room and the floor needs to be flat and level. As time goes on, it will become an increasing necessity. If I were to make that investment early on, I would do outside sales for ADAS work sublet to our shop from other shops to help defray the costs. Eventually, ADAS will be standard on all vehicles, both ICE and EVs.

I wrongly assumed you were a working owner who also worked out in the shop. Sorry about that. 😞 Are you using QB Online version or the QB Desktop version?

I just discovered I won't be able to shoot a video of our file keeping system. My how time flies, I just found out it has been 7 years since we sold the business and all the files I wanted to shoot in a video have been thrown out. 😞 I'll do my best to articulate the file keeping system we used. Everything was kept by the month. We used Heavy Duty Pressboard Classification Folder, 2-Dividers, 2" Expansion, Letter Size from Quill.com for our monthly folders. Here's the link... https://www.quill.com/smead-recycled-heavy-duty-pressboard-classification-folder-2-dividers-2-expansion-letter-size-dark-blue-10-box-14062/cbs/52270309.html The folder had 2.75" top hole clasps for the paperwork. It also had pockets for small receipts like cash register tapes. It would only expand to the level of paperwork you had. Once the month was over, we would start a new folder. 12 folders per year. About $65 for folders per year, but they were worth it. Don't forget, if you use QB, you can also scan everything that goes into a monthly folder. QB only came out with the scanning option the last year we were in business. However, if we would have stayed in business, we would have made the move to scan everything and forego the monthly folders. I hope this helps. If not, you can either call, text, or Email me. [email protected] (801) 885-2227. Good luck!

No matter whether one or many of our members come up with a solution, it’s going to involve paperwork. You indicated you don’t like paperwork. I’d be willing to bet you also don’t like answering the phone, either. My vote would be to start looking for a secretary that knows QuickBooks (QB). She could also screen phone calls, sell appointments, and generally get your back office and front counter organized. And save you from needless interruptions. Additionally, QB allows you to scan invoices when posting A/R or A/P. Your secretary could handle that. I have my solution to a filing system like Joe mentions. It’s too hard to explain in words. I’ll shoot a short video and post it later.

I would take my time and consider the shift to servicing EVs being a part of long-term planning. Don't forget EVs are million mile vehicles. Other than battery pack swaps, servicing the rest of the EV is like a regular ICE vehicle. The "scanner" in an EV is part of the vehicle and software updates are Over-The-Air. If I was still in business, I wouldn't be in any kind of a rush to update to servicing EVs any time soon. It's a long-term play of 5-10 years.

Good information... Larry The_Ultimate_SEO_Checklist.pdf

I'm guilty of not recognizing employees enough. I never knew of this aspect of the business till I came to this group in my retirement. It sounds so simple, but I'm surprised that no management seminar or training class ever mentioned it. It's all my fault for failing in this area.

Are you using a call tracking phone number? Call tracking is your measurement tool. Here's the one we used. https://www.convirza.com/free-trial/

I agree, Joe. I would send the customer the report AFTER making the sale.

I put them in the "hiring pipeline" and work on trying to fit them in at a later date. Good techs are looking for a better opportunity, not looking for a job. I never hire unemployed techs.

Great information. Six months after we changed our shop's location, we purchased a Frost & Sullivan report in 2009. It was similar, but more detailed, than the Lang Report; and more costly at $5,000. It gave a 5-year forecast for the transmission and engine rebuilding industries. Over time, I found the forecasts to be accurate. The report was 183 pages. You can download the 2009 report below. The latest report(s) separate transmissions and engines in two separate reports. The latest transmission-only report is $3,712.50 and can be had here.--->

I would always give my employees Thursday & Friday off for Thanksgiving. Our shop is normally closed on Sat-Sun so it turns into a 4-day weekend for employees. I had a shop phone extension (VoIP) in my home office so I can take in new work on holidays and weekends. Admittedly, I didn't answer every single phone call but I did answer most calls. It worked pretty well for me.

We hooked up with 4 technical colleges: UVU - https://www.uvu.edu/auto/auto-tech.html ============================= SLCC - https://www.slcc.edu/.../programs/automotive-technician.aspx ============================= WyoTech - https://www.wyotech.edu/.../core.../automotive-technology/ ============================= Weber State University - https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html ============================= All had "Job Fairs" in an Expo-like setting. We had a hiring booth set up on the Job Fair floor. These colleges and universities provided us with trainable candidates that had already exhibited a strong desire to go into automotive/transmissions. We would offer R&R careers with the hope to move up to rebuilding eventually. I had brochures printed, took our cutaway transmissions, and tried to make our hiring booth look the most appealing. Out of all the ways we tried to hire, this strategy was the most fruitful for us, although it was A LOT OF WORK. If a shop is looking for help, hookup with the local colleges, universities, and tech schools in your area like we did. Yeah, we struck out more than a few times but overall, the strategy worked.

We hooked up with 4 technical colleges: UVU - https://www.uvu.edu/auto/auto-tech.html ============================= SLCC - https://www.slcc.edu/.../programs/automotive-technician.aspx ============================= WyoTech - https://www.wyotech.edu/.../core.../automotive-technology/ ============================= Weber State University - https://www.weber.edu/automotive/j_kelly.html ============================= All had "Job Fairs" in an Expo-like setting. We had a hiring booth set up on the Job Fair floor. These colleges and universities provided us with trainable candidates that had already exhibited a strong desire to go into automotive/transmissions. We would offer R&R careers with the hope to move up to rebuilding eventually. I had brochures printed, took our cutaway transmissions, and tried to make our hiring booth look the most appealing. Out of all the ways we tried to hire, this strategy was the most fruitful for us, although it was A LOT OF WORK. If a shop is looking for help, hookup with the local colleges, universities, and tech schools in your area like we did. Yeah, we struck out more than a few times but overall, the strategy worked.

What a great topic, Joe. I agreed with you when the first sentence in your topic-starter post said, “There are many things to consider when creating a marketing plan.” My experience of creating a marketing plan didn’t come until later in my career, the last 8 years to be exact. For the 32 years prior, my idea of marketing was having the nicest sign and the biggest Yellow Page ad I could afford. I quickly learned I couldn’t afford to pay someone to build a website, let alone the SEO/SEM/keywords work. During the last eight years of my career, I learned to build a website which included learning to write HTML and CSS3 code. Marketing and the activities involved with it were a never-ending project. Having a happy crew and great shop curb appeal was a given for me. We already had that. But to stick to the topic, what would be my advice for the first step in a marketing plan? It would be to have a great website. That’s key. A shop’s digital presence is top of the list nowadays. Everything digital should point to your website. Oh, sure, I could add to that ad infinitum. But I won’t.

I've "fixed" more transmissions we had problems with at 2:00 am than I care to mention. 🙂

Thank you! Our YouTube channel has over 2,200 "Show-N-Tell" customer videos.