Joe Marconi

Great article. I did see this article and read it too. The sad news is that the large majority of people do not fully understand the politics behind what is driving policy in this country. Although, I think the tide is starting to turn the other way. Look at Obama's approval rating. The gallop poll as of yesterday was down to 50%. I will do my best to educate as many as I can. Let's keep up the fight!

I think you’re right; we are not out of the woods yet, with respect to the economy. Also, consumers are more selective now on how they spend their money. The end of the summer is here and people’s thoughts are more on the start of school and their last chance of a vacation. July was also strong for us, but business in general is down in August. Not just for us but for the all businesses. I am confident as ever that now is the perfect time to push hard. Provide the best service, increase your advertizing and show strength. Anything less will hurt you in the long term.

I only got 13! Boy am I embarrassed!

I agree. What you are seeing is the same as what we are seeing. I think more shops should adpot this policy.

I have the same situation, I have to write on Mondays. However, the gain is worth it. We have 2 service advisors now, our goal is to add one more by summer of 2010. I'm glad to see that sales are great. Go for you! How much of an impact is Saturday making for you?

I'm not sure if I replied to this post. But, the answer is YES! We are open 7:30am to 2:00pm or later if we have a lot of work. We have built Saturday's sales to a point that I will never close again. Plus it sets up the entire week. The only issue, like I said before, is manpwower. That's why we rotate and give techs and writers a day off during the week. We also rotate Saturdays so that everyone will have off a Saturday every few weeks.

Let's hope it's not too late, but I do think that people like us need to be heard. I think we have an obligation to society. Shop owners are self-made sucess strories and understand core values. I intend to get invloved with local organizations and get my voice heard.

I never considered getting politically active, but I think the time has come for me (and I hope others who feel the way I do) to get more involved. We are headed down a slippery slope, and I fear we a putting our future in jeopardy. The youth of this country are being brainwashed and will end up paying dearly for the ills of today’s politicians. Your thoughts?

Great story! Great vedio! It brings a new meaning to lifetime parts.

I am happy to see that there are still sane people left in this country. I too believe that the government has no place in society that was founded on a free market, free enterprise and the foundation that the PEOPLE shall be the determining factor in how we govern ourselves. The idea that we need the government to bail us out and come to our aid will be our demise. The government has proven throughout history that it cannot successfully run anything. All it can do is to throw away more and more of our money (through increased taxes) in a feeble attempt to salvage failed programs.

Great, keep it up. We are considering expanded shifts. We will do it on a trial basis. In today's market we need to try different things. It's a new world out there!!!

I agree with your decision. I think it is a good move. Are you rotating the staff? You don't want to burn anyone out.

I took a week in July and went to East Hampton NY. The beaches were great, the food was great. Nice to get away a relax!

Below is an article from Dealer Magazine from the AAIA; Please read! August 10, 2009 AAIA: 'Cash for clunkers' peanuts next to routine maintenance Routine vehicle maintenance for an entire year costs a consumer less than a single monthly new car payment and would be significantly more successful in reducing gasoline use and pollution than the "Cash for Clunkers" program, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA). Vehicle maintenance would save consumers $30 billion in gasoline a year vs. spending $3 billion in taxpayer dollars to buy new cars. While the "Cash for Clunkers" program is estimated to save 72 million gallons of gasoline each year, simple vehicle maintenance would save more than 12 billion gallons of gasoline a year (equivalent to all of the gasoline used in Illinois, Michigan and Connecticut in one year), AAIA said. Additionally, vehicle maintenance does not require a dime of taxpayer money and doesn't require destroying perfectly good used vehicles that could be sold or donated to people who cannot afford a new car, reports AAIA. "Understandably the 'Cash for Clunkers' program is wildly popular among new car dealers, car makers and those consumers who have the ability to buy a new vehicle. However, the majority of Americans cannot afford a new car payment today, but they probably can afford to trade up to a newer used vehicle or make their current vehicle more fuel-efficient," said Kathleen Schmatz, AAIA president and CEO. "Doesn't it make more sense to give a tax credit or other incentive to the majority of Americans to improve the fuel efficiency, safety and dependability of their current vehicle, rather than taking their tax dollars to help a small minority of consumers and pump up new car dealer profits?" said Schmatz. AAIA opposes the "Cash for Clunkers" program for the following reasons: -- The program destroys many vehicles that are not even close to being defined as "clunkers" with years of remaining life and use. -- Destroyed vehicles are removed from the market forever, depriving consumers who seek to purchase a used vehicle or charities in need of donated vehicles. -- It hurts the aftermarket companies that manufacture, distribute, sell and install vehicle parts on used vehicles, and those who rebuild/remanufacture vehicle parts. -- Resources and energy use is multiplied when a vehicle is destroyed and a new one is built to replace it. -- The majority of vehicles being traded in are domestic, and the majority of new vehicles being sold are foreign. -- The program entices consumers to purchase a new car that they might not be able to afford and certainly to go further in debt, reminiscent to the sub-prime home mortgage debacle. -- The program is regressive since only those at higher income levels who can afford to purchase a new car will qualify for the $4,500 voucher, while destroying used cars that could be purchased by lower income families, most in need of assistance in obtaining transportation. Consumers interested in learning exactly how vehicle maintenance will save money should visit the Car Care Council Web site at www.carcare.org.

Good luck to you. If you any questions or comments, please post them. Let's see if Autoshopowner can help you.

You just summed up the entire problem with this industry. We all need to be on the same page, but we are not. How in the world could a shop misdiagnose a weak fuel for seized calipers! That's the other problem, incompetence. The ASA (Automotive Service Association) just gave AutoZone an award for excellance in customer service. What a joke. I canceled my membership with the ASA. We charge for diagnostic time and honestly don't really care what _______ shop is doing. I'm growing, is _________ ?????

I’m going to be very careful here. Why? Because I like to track profit dollars and not profit percentages. For example if I buy a brake rotor for $20.00 and sell it for $40.00, that’s a 50% GPM, right? But if the part's supplier lowers the rotor to $15.00 and I sell it now for $30.00, it’s still 50%, but I make $10.00 less! I look at profit dollars. I calculated what my entire expenses are to maintain the business. That becomes my breakeven. After I arrive at that number, I add a percentage for return on investment. My goal is make a 20% overall return after all expenses are paid. Now with that said, I do shoot for a labor goal of 70% and a parts goal of 50%. For tires, it varies from 17 to 25%. We also use a matrix, as most people do. Hope this helps and not confuse the issue. Remember, you pay your bills with dollars, not percentages.

I agree. To compete in this tough arena, we need to play with the big boys. We have gone to a rotation basis, to give techs off a day during the week and a Saturday every few weeks. This is what we need to do. It’s the way the business is in these times. Our Saturday sales are all gravy for us. We usually hit our numbers for the week by Friday. Saturday is gravy day.

BG offers a variety of plans and services that we can use to market ourselves. Have you heard of their new roadside assistance program call Saftrack?

You are right! What held me back for too many years, like so many others, is that I started out as a mechanic. Once I learned how to be a "business man" and not just a "man in business", I started to grow and make money. We just opened up our second location and looking to open more. Glad to see you off to the right start!

It does take a little salesmanship to sell some of the services. I have found that if you focus on the benifts and what can happen if you don't do the service, it works better. Plus, with BG, we talk about the Lifetime Protection Plan for cars under 75k and the road side assistance program.

I received a distressing email the other day from a fellow shop owner. The shop owner stated in his email that he was scheduled for surgery the next day and asked if I knew of a tech that wanted temporary work. He went on to say that his other tech (a full time Police Officer), works at his shop between shifts, and with him out of commission due to surgery, he will need help in the shop. This shop owner fills in when the tech is working at his other job. This shop owner has been in business for more than 25 years and well into his fifties. What’s wrong with this picture? To be honest I didn’t know how to reply to the email. After years of being in business, this shop owner has not grown his business to a position that allows him to take time off, without the worry that the shop can’t run on its own. I’m not talking about leaving early on Friday afternoon. In this case this particular shop owner is scheduled for surgery the next day and while his main concern should be on his personal health and well being, he has the added stress of finding a tech to take his place while he’s out recuperating. And to make matters worse, his other tech has a full time position and career in a different trade. Is this the way a business should be run? It may sound like I’m passing judgment on this fellow shop owner, but please understand, I know exactly what this person is going through. Back in 1988, I broke my foot playing basketball with a group of friends. Back then my shop centered on me. My job positions included everything from answering the phones, lead tech, service advisor, shop foreman, bookkeeper and janitor. So, when I broke my foot I had no choice but to suck it up and go to work. I was supposed to be on crutches for at least 4 weeks but rarely used them. I didn’t take any time off. My doctor told me to rest a least a week and use the crutches, but I told him I had a business to run. My foot never healed properly and to this day it gives me pain. Another time, I was cutting a piece of steel with a torch to fabricate a section of frame, when the jig broke and a piece of hot metal shot into my hand. It was a serious injury, which required minor surgery and stitches. Again the doctor told me to rest for a few days, but you know the rest of that story. I’m not saying I was wrong with my decisions, at that time I did not know any other way. The difference is that I learned through the years that if I were the center of my business universe, I would never grow. If all the daily tasks of running a business were solely my responsibility, I would eventually fail. For the first 11 years of my business career, I never took time off, worked 6 to 7 days a week, worked holidays and put in a minimum of 12 hours a day. By 1991 I was physically and emotionally burned out at the ripe old age of 36. It took me years to turn things around and run my company like a true business. Today I have every position filled by trained, qualified people. My business grew dramatically when I let go of total control and put the right people in the right positions. I learned that a well-run business is one that runs without me! I urge you to ask yourself these questions: Could your business survive if you had to take time off for an extended period of time due to illness or another crisis? Would you still draw your usual income if you could not work for an extended period of time? Do you have people in place that could run your business the way you want it to, without you? And, do you have systems and policies in place to insure your business runs smoothly until you return? If you answered no to any or all of theses questions, your business needs help. The only possible exception to this would be shop owners that work alone or have one other employee. But, regardless of your size there still needs to be a system that allows the owner to take time off, for either health reasons or just for a well-deserved vacation. We will be faced with many challenges in the coming years. The better you become at running your business, the better chance you will have at thriving, and not merely surviving. Look at your business and do some sole searching. Not just for you, but for your family too. You made the choice to go into business, that doesn’t mean you need to be a slave to it. Have the strength to hire people, put yourself in a position that allows you to grow the business, and take time off. It won’t happen overnight, but it will work. To be successful you need to let go and not let the business control you. As for my fellow shop owner, I replied back that I would keep my eye out for anyone looking for temporary work, and that if I could help in anyway, to please let me know. When he recovers, I plan on talking to him. By the way, I changed the story details, as not to embarrass or insult him.

Bronxbomber: Are you from the Bronx?

We have every BG product and all their machines. It's a great profit center!