Joe Marconi

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.

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

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?

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.

You made great points. When I started in the 1970s, what we did was mostly mechanical. In the typical repair shop, mechanics had to be skilled in rebuilding components, from alternators, generators, starters, master cylinders, engines, steering boxes, engines, etc. The auto industry has evolved so much in the past 4 decades. Today, the hi-tech things we do has earned a different terminology. With all that, the consumers still say, "My Mechanic" Great post Jonathan!

There is a lot of horsepower through networking. And it appears you have harnessed that horsepower. Do you ever meet on a formal basis, or just casual? The reason I asked is that years back, a group of TechNet shops would meet periodically at a CARQUEST warehouse in Westchester county NY. These meetings were great. The shop owners shared a lot of great information, and I felt that this form of networking was so valuable.

Great perspective!

Great news, Brian! It's going to be a great conference! See you there!

First, we are the same age, and I'm still learning too. I had two locations, an 11-bay and a 4-bay location, and a 3-bay satellite facility around the corner from my 11-bay shop. The 11-bay and the 3-bay were located Mahopac, NY, in Putnam county, about 45 minutes north of NYC. My 4-bay shop we on the border of Westchester and Putnam, in a town called Croton Falls, also around 45 minutes north of NYC. While the area was populated, it's an area with very little mass transit, and nearly every drives themselves everywhere. An excellent area for auto repair shops. I was born and raised in the Bronx, and felt blessed that I was able to live, have a family, and have my business career in that area.

That's is what we did. We had Enterprise and Hertz in our area, and they gave up a deep discount for our customers. And, I agree 100%... "Each business must decide what works best for them."

Thanks, I did that. There are not a lot of Ubers of Lyft cars available, and the wait time can be up to one hour. Unless we schedule a specific time.

Good points, and agree. One thing to consider. I am from update New York. Most of the time you can't get an Uber or Lyft, they are not available. But if there were, that is a viable option.

Most communities have a variety of repair shops, dealerships, and franchise models. Do you consider them the competition, or colleagues? Do you think it's worth it to get to know other auto businesses in your community? To share and exchange business ideas and strategies?

There seem to be mixed opinions on what Business System is the best. And also, not all business systems fit a particular repair shop model. There are a lot of new players in the past few years: Auto Leap, Protractor, Teckmetrics, Shop Boss, Shop Monkey, and more. Are you happy with your system? What features are important to you?

Loaner cars have become more popular, and as you state, it needs to be managed correctly. Do you see increasing your loaner cars, or starting up shuttling customers home again in the future?

Here is an excerpt from a report from Lang Marketing: Read and enjoy! Six Major Takeaways Lang Marketing expects that new car and light truck volume will remain in low gear from 2020 through 2023 compared to the previous four years (2016 through 2019). Lower new vehicle annual volume will trigger five significant aftermarket changes that will boost the volume of aftermarket products from 2022 through 2030. By increasing used vehicle prices and shifting miles to older vehicles, lower new vehicle sales will boost aftermarket product volume through 2030. An increase in the average age of vehicles and more older vehicles on the road, both resulting from lower new vehicle sales, will provide a tailwind for aftermarket product growth. Although there will be fewer vehicles in the repair-age sweet-spot between 2026 and 2030, this will create a mileage shift to older vehicles and an increase in the upper age boundary of the repair-age sweet-spot, which will be positive for aftermarket product growth Lower new vehicle sales will slow the growth of Electric Vehicles on the road, increasing the use of ICE vehicles and pumping up their aftermarket product volume. Source: Lang Marketing Resources, Automotive Aftermarket Consulting, Research and Analysis

I have heard mixed messages from around the country concerning parts. Are you seeing acquiring parts getting worse or better?

I am from New York, so I can't speak in every state. In addition to owning a repair shop, I also did mechanical accident inspections, working with local police departments, law firms, and local district attorneys. Most accidents were due to excessive speed, drugs, and alcohol. If I found that there was a mechanical fault, such as bald tires or faulty brakes, there would be a personal lawsuit. However, if the car was just inspected by a repair shop for a mandatory vehicle state inspection, or just had a repair done that may have caused the collision, the shop that performed the inspection or repair was investigated.

It appears you are going through some of the same things we are, here in the U.S., although your economy may be a little worse than ours. And it also appears that your story and history are much the same for so many shop owners. I think we have been too cheap for too long, and as an industry, we need to take a real hard look at our price structure. That does not mean we can charge whatever we like. But, we need to be competitive and profitable. More and more are getting into the tire business, they see it as a way to thrive in the future. Our business is changing before us, and we need to think in terms of what services we can do to maintain car counts. I would like to hear from other shop owners to see what their view of the future will look like.

Plus, you guys drive on the wrong side. (Just kidding)