weighit

Years ago I learned how expensive it was to hire a new emp;oyee without any experiance in the field of our business. With the maistakes and costly errors in learning it didn't take very long to realize it was much cheaper to keep the guys I had without having a big turnover. Making them feel wanted, thanked them for their work and desire to do a good job. Then came pay, I paid the fellows I had dollars more than any of the competition paid. That ensured that my guys would not be leaving to go to the other guys and lose money. I made sure the benifits were way above the competition too. In the 10 years i owned that business, one fellow was there 3 week short of 10 years, the newest employee had 6 years seniority. the other guys fell in between 6 years and 10. Turn over was nil and over the years I felt paying them more made me more, Not all business owners feel the same way, But I had a very comfortable living and actually enjoyed going into work with a crew that also liked being there. Worked for me.

In my 10 years of ownership in my little business, I told a few different people to leave and never return. One guy started crying, begged and pleaded to please not ban him from the shop...I relented and said you give me one ounce of problem and your gone. He returned many times and was a perfect customer, I guess he really needed my services. A couple of guys I didn't chagre them for what I had done, and said your all done here, find another shop to take your money. I worked hard to give everyone the best possible workmanship for what I was charging and didn't I need a jerk to make the job any harder that it was.

The local auto mechanical repair shop I use now advertises on the local am & fm radio program. He rarely talks about his shop himself, but he does have his customers that are other business owners talk about who they are and why they found and use this shop. They say they are looking for quality, fair pricing and on time repairs, and hearing the actual owners talk about why this shop got theior business is a two fold winner. They both get positive review advertising and since this is not that big a community, between the 4 actual cities maybe 120,000 people chances are you either have been to the person talking or have heard about them.. This little shop is very busy and I have found the same positive response to the shop owner when we go in for service. He told me his thoughts were to let the happy folks tell others why they found him, not him telling you. Seems to work well here.

When I had my business I always said if I could live my life style I was living without a single employee I would have none of them. BUT, I knew that was not ever going to be the case, so I treated them with the most respect I could muster. I paid them more than any of the competition paid their guys and instilled in every one, that when a customer entered our building, that was their payccheck coming in. They were to treat and talk with those customers, if they were involved with them, as I did almost all the interactions, with respect. I also let them know if they for some reason were to tick off that customer it would be said our business was the problem, not that employee. Anything they did was a true reflection on our business and conversly, their payvheck. Seemed to work for the 11 years i kept that business.

When I had my little business, for the first three years all we did was pay off loans, but at the end of those three years we were debt free. Then we started putting anywhere from 3 to 5% of the gross sales each month into that side account savings for what if expenses. It would grow and grow and if we needed some surprise un accounted for purchase, we had the money. No sweat, no more loans for us. When we decided to sell the business, that extra money was moved in to the bonus for the owners account! Worked out well and have suggested that approach to a relative that has a small business and so far they are doing it too. They want to buy a bigger building and are planning on using that money for expansion. Also they do not want loans.

Well congratulations on your kind of retirement. Have enjoyed all your input and thoughts over the years I have been here as a reader. I sold my stripping business and "quit" at 53 and got into a RV and full time traveled for 8 years till we bought another home after we sold everything to travel. All my friends and other business owners I worked with said your too young to retire when I let them know I was going to sell everything and travel., I said I never said retire, I QUIT....have a whole different attitude. That quit lasted a total of about 5 months and I started another business while still traveling. So I do understand you selling and "retiring' Kind of.... have a Blast and hope you enjoy the new life being "retired"!!

In the last business I owned I stripped paint and rust off anything with low pressure blasting of recycled plastic, walnut shells and glass bead at no more than about 30 psi. Had many folks come in and ask how much to strip this item, I would give a price and say you can have it back tomorrow. They would sometimes say, naw, i will just strip it myself and I would say OK, if you end up not getting it done, I will be here if you need me. Off they go, then a few days later in comes the part 1/2 done, and they ask if they get a discount for working 8 hours on the item? Nope, same price as before, but you can see how much work was involved and you only got it partially done, and not all that well either. On a few occasions I told them it was now more than the last quote as they buggered it up and made it harder for me. Some folks learned a lesson that paying for someone else to do the work is the right way to do it.

When I had my business there were jobs I really didn't care to do nor want to do, but reluctantly did. One day my wife asked, for that job you don't like, how much more if you charged would you like to do it? I gave her a figure, and she said Ok starting today that is the new base price. I started to actually like doing those jobs and funny thing was, not one person said Oh that is too much, they just said OK do it. You have to not only make money working, but like what your getting paid for that job. She was a LOT smarter than me somedays.

When I owne my body sho[ it was a good thing as I wrote and submitted the estimates and got paid off that. We were able to start repairs fast and things went through the shop quiclly. Then an inspector would hand pick a few final repaired vehicles to go and reinspect to ensure all that was paid for was done. That worked well, then they started hiring outside adjusters / or hiring their own and then it turned bad. Seemed to me they must have been paid a commission to low ball all repairs. No way to make any money, they tied up the shop waiting for them to come inspect, or come back for additional missed repairs. Demanding repairs that were not the best for the customer or the vehicle. I kicked them out of my shop and actually made more money without them. Things might have changed, but it would be up to you to give it a try and see if they are worst, or better.

Typicality I would start asking the vendors you have coming into your shop, the tool man in the truck. He is in and out of many other shops and would have a feel for who is good and who is not so good. Next time a insurance adjuster shows up for some insurance claim, afain another person who should know who they think is doing excellent work and who to stay away from. Once you get a coupke of good ones, call and make an appointment for a one on one visit to see for yourself. Ask them for the run down on what makes them a good shop and see how the "sell themselves to you". Just my suggestions. If you came into my shop, I would want to show you the frame machine and how the tech was trained by that factory to use it 5 times in some other state. That we use the German paint system and the painters are all expert in the applications. What warranty that paint companies gives. How we have an office staff that keeps control of all the billing with the comuter system that is state of the art. We only try to use orignial factory parts, when we can. The parking ,lot is monitored by 10 cameras and a guard stays on property over night. You get the idea, let them brag. You should get a feeling of good, well run and quality or poor everything.

As a past body shop owner I used to visit service repair shops to get the "tour" so i could use them when needing some mechanical repairs we could not do. Talking with the owners, asking questions and seeing with my own eyes, giving you the good feeling or bad feeling. If I was a customer, would I feel good about spending my own money here. Many smaller bodys shops are always fighting to get customers away from the big national chains. Take a few hours one day and go visit what is in your area. Many of the smaller shops will not be on the main highways but off on a side road/street. They may need you for things they can't or don't want to do just as much as you could use them. Could be helpful for both of you to build a relationship.

I started out as an assistant body shop mgr under a good leader, he was patient and honest to teach the new guy the right way and worked my way up learning the ropes. I had asked way back then why there was no training center for either body shop mgrs or estimators? There may be now, but back then there was none. You maybe could start asking all the paint supply store salesmen who in thier opinion would be someone maybe willing to switch jobs from where they are to your shop. Knowing a good paid and appreciated employess would not be willing to move, you just might find a good replacement close to you? Worth a try. Those salemen know a lot of folks doing exactly what your looking for. Letting them know your willing to pay a finders fee to the person who puts you in touch with that new hire might be a lot chaper in the long run?

I no lomger have a shop and the one I did have was totally different from yours. I just thought for anyone on here to help they needed more info on what it was exactly you were going to be doing. I hope someone can give you a better idea on what your looking for.

I cannot believe anyone can give you an educated guess with this as there is just too much information missing. But I could be wrong.

Recently moved to a new town, about 30,000 here and with the surounding towns about 100,000 folks. There are many radio stations I can listen to but have narrowed in on a conservitive one that is all talk radio. Many local businesses advertise in 30 second spots. I have had the pleasure of meeting some of these business owners and letthem know I heard their spot. I then ask how the radio is doing for their business? Everyone said they are or have seen a tremoundous increase in business and for the cost they are paying per month is a no brainer. The one fellow gets other local business owners that use his auto repair shop to to give in their own words how they have been treated and what a great service this shop provides to the community. The battery shop i was in yesterday said his business has increased 40% in the past 2 years after using the radio station. Are any of you advertising this way?

I always looked at as they are working for and with me, they make me a good living, giving up profit for an employee was a no brainer. They got cost on parts, they did their own labor without my paying them, so off the clock. All family members got a cost plus on parts and 25% off labor. And they got scheduled as to not disrupt the normal business we had. Helping employees was what helped me keep a crew together for years. I learned a long time go it was very expensive to hire and train a new person, much cheaper to keep good guys happy.

I know this fellow, Keith, he has helped untold new business owners with his videos dealing with landscaping and other small businesses. Really a nice fellow and wants others to learn from his mistakes. Have never seen a body shop owner or service center owner ever talk this way and try to help the 'new guy' start up.

Years ago I woirked for Hertz Rent-a-Car and the whole management team was sent to a seminar for 2 days to learn to do exactly as your describing. I know it changed my attitude and outlook as a manager and it did make a difference in my groups work output. We seemed to 'click' as a team in a short period of time after that 2 day work shop. When I left Hertz I made it a practice to carry that new learning on to my own businesses.

I'm sure we would all toss out a figure now, but back when I was young and knew everything, no way would I think I could learn anything from some old guy!! Its amazing how smart we get as we grow older.....

Why would you not pay the employee for doing his civic duty when called by the courts to do Jury Duty. The jurist is paid a daily rate from the court but it is not much, here it is about $35 for the day. That is a far cry from what most employees make a day and in some cases they pay mileage from the center of your town to the court. Telling the judge that my boss won't pay me while I'm here in court won't get that person released. You think your employee WANTS to be in court? I think not. Not his fault he/she got selected to report. It only happened one time to one of my guys and I paid the difference from the court pay to what he normally made a day with me. He was not selected to be on a trial so it was only one day for him.

Wow I was generous I guess. Each employee got 1 weeks average pay paid in check with taxes paid one week before Christmas. I didn't have anyone with less than 5 years working for me so didn't have to worry about figuring out what the 'new' guy should get. I looked at it like these guys work hard for me, make me a really decent income and I wanted them to stay working for me.The money would not change my life style one bit, but they could use the added money and besides, it felt good to shake their hands and say Merry Christmas!

Unfortunately Mr. Trump was not my first or second choice, but I now support him as a better choice than anyone else running. I look at what he has exposed as the corrupt news media that I have for years said were not giving real information. He is not a politician and thus has some baggage that some real politician would not have, knowing they wanted to be in the political world. But he seems to get things done and know what it takes to run a business, so he is getting my vote. Worst case he is a flop and we boot him out in 4 years.

Many years ago I was hired as the service manager of a Toyota dealership that had 7 techs. I was hired to replace the last fellow that could not get the sales number up after a couple of years. Things flat lined and even with the many additional sales of vehicles, the service department was stagnent. Did not take long to figure out the problem, one tech, actually the best tech in the shop that got many of the best jobs had the worst attitude of anyone I ever met. His being grumpy caused the other fellows to always be on guard and in my opinion they all held back. I told the owner I was going to let this fellow go, he was strongly against it as this was the star producer he said. I said you could have 6 star producers as opposed to just one. After a few months one day I did it, cut that guy loose. It was like the whole shop perked up the next morning, then I started getting all kinds of thank you's from the other techs, One fellow kept the whole shop down, sales went way up, production went up, employee pay checks improved and my checks really got good. Finally a few months after the change the owner came to me and said he had no idea that the one guy caused so much problem.

How about looking in another state? Sometimes hunting out of your own area might pay off. Once i was working in Detroit and someone in Chicago contacted me. He paid for me to fly in for an interview, offered at least 10% more than I was making, would pay for the movers to move me and gave a $1,000.00 advancement check towards the cost of deposits on the new apartment. That was to be repaid over the course of the fisrt year. He said he was having a hard time finding qualified applicants in that area and was willing to pay for help outside his area. Of the 20 or so mechanics I bet 5 or 6 were from other states. Some areas of the USA are probably better at having employees willing to leave and move to another area especially if they can not only make more, but learn and become a better tech.