weighit

When I had my business across the drive from a auto repair shop I was asked to donate for the cause. They were having a free auto safety check for single parents from two or three, maybe more? churches in the area. These were different denomination and not for any one church religion. The pastors, or clergy had to sign the letter that gave some kind of proof that these were indeed needy individuals from that church. They also got donations from the various church goers and auto parts stores, and other businesses in the area so they had a small pile of money to fix the cars as needed. They were amazed at the conditions of some of these cars, you had to wonder how they even ran, or stopped or moved with the worn,failed or broken parts on them. I recall about 50 cars going through on a Saturday and the money in the kitty was spent to fix these cars. Some got a tire or tires, some got shocks, brakes,wiper blades, tune ups, heater fixed, fan belts replaced, leaking hoses replaced and anything to make them safe and then the church groups washed them when done. Sometimes it looked like the windows had never been cleaned in years. Each person that got their car worked on or looked at got a receipt of what was done and who had contributed. Each church got a letter saying like a break down of what amount of cars got what, not naming any person who got the work. It might say 50 cars were seen, 27 got wiper blades, 14 got 1 tire, 4 got 3 tires, 1 got 4 tires and so on. Besides making the crew feel pretty good bout doing something for people that really needed help, the shop was rewarded in many new customers from the various churches from folks that wanted to thank them for doing what they did.. It was a win win deal. As I understand since I no longer have my shop and moved away that the fellow who started this has died and I don't know if it has continued or not.

A $17,000 line of credit is all relative, I opened with 100 grand in the bank and all equipment paid for on my opening day, and there were times I felt I was under capitalized, but if you keep track of all the numbers, incoming and outgoing and work smart, you will win. Working for yourself is so rewarding and when you win, makes you feel like you accomplished something. Good luck

As bad as this may seem, I was the guy that stole most all techs from other shops whenever I needed one. I asked around, found out who was good, where they worked and tried as best I could to check them out. Then made contact, had a talk about what they were doing, how I could help them advance and earn more money. Money in most cases motivates people, not in every case, but it is a major factor. I made sure my techs were the highest paid around, and if they ever left me, they knew that it would be a dramatic drop in their pay. It worked for me and them, the last shop I owned was for 11 years and the newest tech had 5 years, the oldest had 10.5 years with me. Shortly after I sold the new owner felt the guys were paid too much and either chopped their rate or messed with the pay and they all left. Within 2 years the place was closed, all because the new owner messed with what worked and the reason he bought my place...

Way back when I opened my first place I was weighing the pricing difference between a high visibility building and one 3 blocks off that same street for 1/2 the price. I asked people I thought were smarter than me and was told by 2 of them, if your good, priced right, nice to deal with and do as you say your going to do, people will find you no matter where you are. The other two guys said go for the exposure and by accident you will make money because of the exposure. I went with the cheaper place, did exactly as I was told, excellent work, clean offices and waiting room and the shop was like an operating room, and priced my self higher than the other guys. It worked, so to me location is not necessarily going to be a deterrent.