Joe Marconi

1 hour ago, Transmission Repair said:

Although we had a classroom with weekly in-house training, we put away $200/wk. for the ATRA Powertrain Expo every year into a separate banking account.

Our weekly training was the employees' highlight of the week.  Here's why... We supplied lunch and during lunch we would chit-chat and discuss "The Job Of The Week" which was the past week's job that kicked our proverbial tails.  After discussing The Job Of The Week, the formal training through online or live would commence.  We did that every Tuesday and the entire event, including lunch would last about 90 minutes.  Sometimes suggestions for making the shop better would come up, shop policies would sometimes come up.  Over the years, weekly shop training and lunch became so automatic, everybody, including me, it was a given.  I don't know how any well-oiled shop could not have them.

I too became a big believer in in-house training years ago. It started out as a way to reinforce procedures and checklists, then evolved into online webinars, and inviting guest trainers. 

1 hour ago, RYAN B said:

On the Teslas we have been seeing tires wearing out around 18000 to 20000 and they are special compounds, $$$.  We have seen third brake lights go bad when they are in the spoilers. Most people who buy these cars think they are Never going to need repairs. I had a customer bring me in a 22 Lucid to inspect it the other day, I asked them where are you going to take if something breaks?  They told me "What's going to break"?  There are no service facilities on the East Coast, People just don't think this stuff out. I had a customer broke down up the street, with her new Tesla, she kept calling us wondering why we couldn't help her, Tesla left her up there for like 4 1/2 hours and people with means don't like to wait!   

I am really enjoying your posts!  And I really hate hearing, "It's an EV; what's going to break? It doesn't need ANY servicing or repairs!"   The public will learn the truth about EV eventually. Thanks for the info! 

4 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

Great questions, Joe.  My answer on both questions would be "it depends."  There's a lot of variables involved before I give a definitive answer.  All I can say is what my experience has been in the past because at different stages of my career, I've asked myself the same questions.  I'll just tell you about one.

I came to the crossroads in my career when in deciding if I wanted to take in European vehicles, specifically, European transmissions.  Every job was like a new adventure in uncharted waters.  They took more time, more money for parts, and a higher percentage of those Euro jobs would turn into a "dead job" sitting in the back parking lot awaiting payment.   I considered myself lucky if we were paid as soon as the work was completed.  To add insult to injury, there was a higher rate of  no-goes (failed the final road test) and warranty claims.  Perplexing to say the lease because I didn't want to turn away work.

Unrelated to this topic, I bought a list of all the vehicles currently licensed in our county from our state's DMV to see where our bread & butter-type jobs were at.  I put the list into a database and would write queries.  Two years after I bought the list, a new question/query came up.  I wanted to see how many European makes are there in our county.  I couldn't believe my eyes at the answer... an infinitesimal 6%!  In my mind, I see way-more than that going down the freeway.  Moreover, I later discovered from AAA that the rate of European vehicles nationwide was only 10%.  Ever buy a particular model and color of a vehicle that you never see on the road?  Then, after you start owning that particular model and color of a vehicle, then they seem to be everywhere!  A similar phenomenon I call "a head-turner" was exactly what was going on with me.  Every time I saw a Euro on the road, it was a "head-turner".  Any other type of car was merely just traffic.

I soon reasoned if I ever chose to not work on European vehicles, I would still have 94% of the market!  After several months of thought, I finally would say "no" to European vehicle owners in a very special way.  My strategy was to price the work so high, the customer would be the person saying "no" and not me.  Anything can be had/done for a price.  Looking back, that was one of the best business decisions I've made in my career.  In the end, we still worked on Euros, just not near as many.  I guesstimate we still had 95-

96% of the market

The lesson I learned was to NEVER say "no" to any customer.  If the customer has the type of car or job you don't want to take on, don't be the person that says "no".   Let the customer say "no".

 

Larry, you bring up a few things I did not consider. And I guess if there is a strategy that works for one, who is to say it's wrong or right? As always, thank you for your perspective. 

Last week I had the privilege to present the Fly with the Eagles Course in Indianapolis, Indiana. As always, the power of the course was the amazing shop owners, managers, and service advisors who attended the event.  I left Indy with a fresh new enthusiasm that the aftermarket auto repair shop is alive and well. 

The level of professionalism and passion is proof positive that as an industry we are the very best, and will meet the challenges of the future! 

When I started my repair shop in 1980, we mainly worked on three car lines: GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Through the decades, technology has dramatically changed the average automobile. Plus, today, we have many more car models to worry about, then add EVs, hybrids, and who knows what else car makers will throw at us.  

Is it time to rethink our business model?  Can we really be that shop that works on All Makes, All Models?  

I was speaking with a few shop owners last week at the Elite Fly with the Eagles conference. They were telling me that they are down a technician, and while the other techs are pitching in and doing a great job at getting the work done, one of their fears is tech burnout.

I guess being busy is a blessing, but at what cost?  What are you seeing at your shops?  Is tech burnout a real issue? 

On 10/5/2022 at 7:45 AM, RYAN B said:

I don't know, we have about 30+ customers that have EV cars.  The vast majority are the complainers that don't want to spend money on there cars. The Teslas have been a good source of income, everything for them is SUPER expensive the eat tires up, we have seen third brake lights go bad, and some of those repairs are over $2000, and I am talking about cars that have less than 30000 miles.  One other piece of Information, most of these people say they would not buy another one! EV is coming, But the infastructure will not support it!    

This is fascinating information.  What types of patterns do you see in terms of repairs and services on Teslas? 

Training is becoming more and more crucial, mainly because technology is changing at light speed. 

Do you have a training budget?  How do decide how much money should be allocated to a budget, and what areas of training?  

On 9/30/2022 at 2:37 PM, bantar said:

While at the Ratchet and Wrench Management Conference, I was able to review most of the management software packages available.   I have a few observations to share that might be helpful.   Each software package has its own pluses and minuses, but, I see some high-level commonalities amongst them.

At a high level, you can separate software packages into two groups based on age.    The longer a software package has been available, the more likely that many of its features are highly refined and give you the most controls.   The disadvantage of an older software package is that they are too busy keeping their customer base happy with fixes and minor features that they don't have time to take the leap of innovation (e.g. DVI).   If the platform is really old and/or they are not charging enough money monthly to have the revenue to hire a good team, they may not be able to completely rewrite their software to utilize newer technology features.  For these software packages, you are forced to change vendors to adopt new the new features.   On the other hand, if the software package is new, they go straight for the snazzy features and also, try to fix the perceived problems of the legacy software packages.   They excel in the basics, but lack the depth of feature functionality that only time brings.     Mind you, both types of companies are trying to reach feature parity.  New companies need to flush out features, adding complexity and older companies are working to build the snazzy features.    Both of these take time.

For the record, I'm using Protractor.    I can tell you all of the good and bad of this package.   I used my in-depth knowledge of this program to compare it to the newer packages.   In other forums, the two main contenders for new appear to be:

• TekMetric
• ShopWare
• Other New:
  • Shop Monkey
  • AutoLeap
• Older More Mature Systems:
  • Protractor
  • Mitchell (I didn't look at this one)
  • NapaTracs (I didn't look at this one)
  • Many others not at this show

I liked the snazzy new features that I saw in each new package, but quickly recognized that in my daily use, I'm using certain mature features that are not present in the new packages.

Another observation is that each software package somewhat enforces a workflow methodology.  You can choose to fight their internal structures (and lose), or go with their model.   I noticed a few idiosyncrasies, but, they are all trending towards a seemingly similar workflow.   This requires scrutiny when selecting a software package.  The new guys are often pushing their "better way" as a solution to the problems of old.  For instance, ShopWare had a unique approach to canned jobs that deserves investigation that I didn't notice in other packages.  

So, when shopping, make note of the real features that you must have.  Don't be fooled by the shiny new outer skin.  Balance it with your real needs.

I do see that some of these new contenders are investing much money into development of new features, so over time, they will likely build the feature that you need today.   As well, some mature packages are investing in the future. 

I will say this loudly.   Your software vendor must be charging you healthy monthly fees to have the money necessary to continue to innovate.  If you gravitate to the lowest price, features could take longer or never come.   Just like us, we must first survive before we can do good work and be able to pay the bills.

An amazing review on business management systems! Thank you.  Choosing a business system these days is daunting.  I urge ASO members to read this! 

The Right to Repair act affects independent auto repair shops.  Below is an excerpt from The Auto Care Association: 

To show your support, go to this link:  https://www.autocareadvocacy.org/take-action-tell-congress-support-right-to-repair/

The Issue:  From the Auto Care Association

12 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

Our Democrats, both inside and outside the White House, always look for a government bailout.  Did you hear President Biden just promise Florida and Florida residents that the Federal Government will cover the costs of Hurricane Ian?!?!?   Oh, brother...

Not to get political, but we need to move from a mentality of entitlement to a mindset of accountability. That is not to say that if people need help, we should help them, but moving forward we need to define clearly what the government should do, and not do. 

21 hours ago, Jonathan Thompson said:

I was doing mobile for about 3 years. I made pretty good money. I really enjoyed it once I get my license straightened out I think I might get back into it. But if you do decide to do it I suggest making that your only thing. Cause running a shop and doing mobile would be like burning a candle on each end before you know it your burnt out. If your trying to get into it I suggest making a 1, 2, or maybe a 3 man crews that only does mobile or hire a manager. But I really liked it cause there's a lot of perks. it never gets boring, with the change of scenery and quick pace, it gets exciting. And the sense of freedom is awesome. There's Also no overhead so the only expenses are mostly gas, food, cellphone, cleaning supplies, occasional tool here and there, and maintenance on your vehicle. Everything can be a write off that helps. It makes it convenient for the costumers, that in return compells them to want to tip. Granted a shop makes things easier but it's still very possible to complete any job no matter How big or small...

You bring a whole different perspective to the mobile service business.  I guess with your talents and your positive mindset, along with the fact that you really enjoy what you do, it works. Keep us updated, it's a great topic for future posts. 

1 hour ago, Transmission Repair said:

They got into that situation because nobody has thought that far ahead to think of it, Joe.  Biden promising a $10K bailout just compounded the problem.  I was never good at paying bills with HOPE.  Assuming 2 different $10K of student loans are paid 2 different ways.  One is loan forgiveness and one other way is the old fashioned way of simply paying your bills.  

In both cases, you're going owe the tax due on $10K either way.  You're going to owe taxes on $10K to pay toward the loan you took out.  And in the other scenario of $10K of loan forgiveness, you're going to owe taxes on $10K to pay toward the loan on your student debt because it's a taxable event.

Further assume both parties are in the 23% tax bracket.  That ends up costing either party $2,300 in taxes on the $10K.  So... the student loan  pay off is really just $7,700 worth of effect debt paid.  If it's still unclear, post me a response.

You should work for the government as an advisor.  I get it, and you make sense. 

People need to go back to old fashion values and be accountable for their actions. Not looking for a bailout. 

5 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

Speaking of taxes...

There has been a lot of controversy over the student loan bailout program.  Whether a person is for it, or against it, it's costing tax payers money.  Here's a tidbit of tax information few, if any, think about.

I'll start off with a hypothetical scenario.  Let's say a person gets $10,000 in loan forgiveness.  That's a taxable event.  The person that gets a $10K in loan forgiveness still owes the tax that would be due on the $10K.  Yes, they owe state and federal income tax on $10K because loan forgiveness is viewed in the same light as if it were income.

IMHO, if a person can't afford to pay off their student loan, they would be hard pressed to have the money for the taxes due on $10K worth of loan forgiveness.  Think about it...

You bring up a great point.  How did they get into this situation to begin with?   What would they do if there were no bail out?  All good points. 

10 hours ago, GetStartedAuto said:

Mobile technician here!

I'll start by saying I love this site! My name is Jarvis and I started Get Started Auto Repair in Las Vegas, Nevada in February of 2021. I joined this site last year and haven't posted yet, since all of the posts are from shop owners and I was a bit intimidated to bother posting since I'm just a mobile guy. That being said, this topic is right up my alley, so I thought I'd provide some insight on the mobile tech experience.

It seems the concensus or possibly even the misconception regarding mobile techs are the work will need to be simple or only a few types of repair jobs can be performed. Here are just some of the jobs I've completed successfully at the customer's location:

• Strut and shock replacement
• Steering rack replacement
• Steering column replacement (and EPS recalibration)
• AC compressor replacement, AC condenser replacement, AC refrigerant hose replacement - including refrig. evac., recovery & recharge
• AC system cooling issue diagnostics (leak testing etc)
• Fuel pump replacement (inside of gas tank)
• Fuel injector & pressure pulse dampener replacement (after a series of diagnostic tests)
• Starter replacement
• Brake rotor, pads & brake drum/shoe replacement
• Timing belt replacement
• CV axle replacement
• Exhaust system replacement (from cat converter to flex pipe to resonance pipe down to the muffler)
• Engine performance & driveability diagnostics (using bidirectional scan tool & an oscilloscope, with a few self-made tools)
• Headlight replacement (on vehicles requiring removal of  bumpers and other components)
• Thermostat replacement, coolant flushing & air bleeding
• Oil pump rebuild (on GM engines where timing cover has to be removed and engine partially raised)
• Knock sensor code diagnostics, testing & wiring harness repair
• Transmission removal & replacement

These are just a few repairs that come to mind that I've completed on a customer's site, within an hour and no more than 3 hours (except the tranny swap -- I'll never do that again!). The trick is to know your limitations when the quote request or referral comes through. I research ALL quote requests briefly, to get an idea of the labor rate average and what the job will entail to complete. If the quote request states they have white smoke coming from the tailpipe and their coolant is disappearing daily, I tell the prospect it's likely they have a blown head gasket and that job is outside of our scope to do since it's a job that may not be finished in one day. And as a mobile tech, I don't take on any job that won't allow me to have the customer's vehicle fully assembled and ready to roll on the same day (unless more parts are needed and I planned a return visit).

As far as sending them to a "real repair shop," I would never use the term "real" because that downplays what we offer and my value as a tech. But I do like to be able to tell a customer "while we can't perform the repairs on the diagnostic we gave you, feel free to contact our partner, XXXXXXX auto shop and tell them Jarvis sent you for a great deal and customer experience."

I'm still in the process of finding an actual shop I can refer customers and prospects to when the work is beyond my scope, but the same reason I got into this as a mobile mechanic is the same reason I haven't yet found one -- lack of trustworthiness among so many in the industry and it's tough to find one you can trust without actually experiencing their services as a customer.

 I do think once a tech gets some experience offering mobile services, the natural progression is to open up a brick in mortar, simply because you start to see the limitations posed by being mobile, which the number one concern being scalability (or lack thereof). As well as dirtbag prospects who feel they can get over on you because you're a "mobile guy." Until they realize you have processes and procedures in place to make them as accountable as a brick and mortar would.

Hope my little $.02 brought a little perspective to those of you who may not know how a mobile repair company operates and the types of repairs that can be done on the road. And I'm glad to see a mobile conversation on the site. I'll definitely be trying to post more as time allows and people engage.

 

First, thank you for posting!  Your perspective as a mobile technician is very informative.  It is obvious you have great technical skills, as described by the work you perform.  And I see that you do advise customers that some jobs are beyond the scope of what you do.  

A few questions: How do you bill your jobs?  Would you mind sharing your labor rate, and part pricing?  And what does Your future look like?  Do you have plans on opening up your own brick-and-mortar shop?  

5 hours ago, xrac said:

Business has slowed but his still strong. I think business will be string until people are able to buy new and used cars again at a decent price and adequate selection. Then things may fall off the cliff. 

Frank, that's what happened in my market area after the 2008/09 recession. People held back from buying new cars, but then a flood of people purchased new cars, and we saw the dip in business. Build now while business is still good, in order to ride the slower times. We have been through this before, we are no strangers to the economic roller coaster. 

3 hours ago, bantar said:

I attended my first ever industry management conference.  What a great experience.   If you've never gone, I would encourage you to add it to your do-now bucket list.  There was a lot of open and detailed sharing.   For example, in a work session talking about bay efficiency analysis, they used real numbers from the audience.    Monthly Overhead, Gross Profit Percentage, desired bottom line profit.   It showed multiple paths to success that were immediately relatable. 

None of the presentations were about perfection.  As a matter of fact, most presenters shared information about how they did things stating that this may or may not apply to your situation.  No one told you what to do, but rather offer tools for analyzing your own situation.   None of the presenters were making sales pitches.

In other sessions, real shop owners share tips and techniques on a number of topics that we see here.    Being a live event, these were more dynamic conversations.

I've returned from the conference with a renewed sense of urgency analyzing my numbers to see where we had success and where we need to improve.   I do expect to make real changes, but don't yet know exactly what changes I'm going to make.   Got to crunch some numbers first.

I signed up for the conference when it was first published, but sat on the CC screen for a while debating the value of this conference.  Should I go, or should I stay?   I reluctantly pushed the GO button.   However, looking back, I should have enthusiastically smashed that GO button!  

The next one is in Denver.   I recommend that you consider attending.

 

A side benefit is that I got to meet Joe Marconi and in a session that we jointly attended, I overheard Joe say that he was mentored by Jerry Holcom.  Later in the conference, I had the pleasure of talking with Jerry as well.  In the many networking sessions, we met many different shop owners and had great conversations.

 

--brian

I feel the same way.  I urge everyone to attend the next R+W conference and others like this.  Hands down, you will walk away a little smarter, a little better, and with renewed energy and passion. That I can guarantee! 

3 hours ago, bantar said:

I enjoyed hearing you speak and meeting you.  I also saw great value in this conference, so I posted a topic in the Management Section to extol the values and take-aways that I got from this conference.   It would help for everyone to attend it at sometime.

--brian aka bantar  😉

I agree, Brian.  The level of professionalism from other shop owners and other industry people was amazing to see.  Great meeting you too in person. 

7 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

Great reminder!  Because my wife is an accountant, she handles all accounting functions.  She has a 2-year degree in accounting and a Bachelors in Economics.  Lucky me, huh?  We met online and married in 2006.  Even with all that, she impressed upon me that we still need a CPA to double-check the tax liability amount.  So, we hired a CPA with whom we became great friends.

He told me the most common bookkeeping error he sees in small business is misclassifying employees.  Businesses will hire someone and claim they are a subcontractor and no withholding in their paychecks.  At the end of the year, the employee is shocked to get a 1099.  Often times that would trigger a tax audit.

As our CPA was telling the story, I felt like he knew my history because that's EXACTLY happened to me in 1986-87.  I was audited by the Texas Tax Commission only to discover I owed $50K in payroll taxes to the IRS.  It took me 5 years to pay that off.  Even as I write, a cold chill comes over me just thinking and writing about it.  My tip:  There's no such thing as a 1099 employee.

 

Wow, thanks for sharing that!  I hope everyone reads this post! 

8 hours ago, Transmission Repair said:

For many years, I handled all payroll duties in my home state of Texas.  After moving to Utah, there was also state income tax to contend with.  Texas doesn't have any state income tax.  As the business grew, it was becoming progressively difficult to work payroll duties into my weekly routine.  

I switched to QuickBooks Pro around 2001 and was happy to learn they (Intuit) had a payroll service for $30/mo.  They handled all the compliance issues, did direct deposit to all of my employees, and filed the quarterly 941 tax return.  They were a Godsend.  I was able to concentrate on running the business, not handling payroll.

They would draw money out of my account, pay the employees, as well as withhold the tax liability.  Fast forward to today, that same service is now $50/mo. +$5/per employee which I feel is cheap at twice the price because they handle it all.   They now offer a 50% off price for the first 3 months to see if works for you.   You DON'T have to be using QuickBooks to use Intuit's payroll services.  To see which plan works best for your situation, go to https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/  if you're using QuickBooks and https://quickbooks.intuit.com/payroll/pricing/bundle/ if you're not using QuickBooks.

Great tip! Quick Books has a great payroll service. 

From what I am hearing from my fellow shop owner friends, the shops in my area, Northeast (New York), auto repair shops are busy and steady. However, there is a feeling from many shop owners to be cautious about the future. 

Things that give shop owners concern: Inflation, the cost of living affecting the consumer's ability to afford auto repairs, dissatisfaction with the current administration,  and possible recession. 

Your thoughts? 

As a former auto shop owner, one of the things that kept me up at night was not knowing enough about all the labor laws and human resource regulations.  

How do you keep up with all the changes to the labor laws and human resource regulations in your state? 

2 minutes ago, Jonathan Thompson said:

Hey bud thanks for noticing I meant every word. It's a prideful feeling to get someone's vehicle back on the road again. Specially when it's been to two other shops that couldn't figure it out, and the customer seems to lose all hope. And no matter how you look at it it's still a much needed skilled trade to have. 

Perfectly stated, Jonathan. And I agree with you 100%! Keep posting!

We are almost into the 4th quarter of 2022, which means that you need to consider your 2022 tax return. Many shops are having a very good year, which means there may be more taxable income at your bottom line.

What do you do to plan for and minimize paying taxes, while still maintaining a cash reserve? 

I was honored to be the keynote speaker at the Ratchet and Wrench conference this past week. It was an amazing event, with so many great shop owners and industry people.  

The networking with so many great people was priceless, along with the great training. 

And, I was thrilled to meet fellow Auto Shop Owner member, Craig, known to us as bantar.