On a daily basis, I go over financial reports with auto repair shop owners and find a negative number at the bottom of their annual report. Sales are not where they need to be. They don’t have enough money at the end of the month. The owner is living paycheck to paycheck—if there’s enough money…
As an independent automotive repair shop owner, you hold responsibility for the reputation of your shop. You are also responsible to keep your team motivated, productive, positive, and passionate about what they do. And you hold all the liability when something goes wrong. You deserve a raise! We’ve talked about giving yourself a raise by…
As the shop owner, you carry the responsibility for the safety, health, and financial well-being of your team and yourself — and most of the time, you are not compensated enough for that responsibility (and liability, if things go wrong). It’s time we changed that. What is profit? Your accountant might tell you that you…
Are you going to be sobbing over your Thanksgiving turkey as you think about December? Many auto repair shop owners tell me that the holiday season, while busy for many retailers, is their slowest time of the year. They see the car count drop off each week so repair orders are at their lowest and…
Feeling like the world has gone a little crazy? As an automotive repair shop owner, your #1 priority is keeping your team safe and busy. Your #2 priority is reassuring your customers that you are here to serve them. How you fulfill both of these is going to help determine whether you thrive in the…
“Fred” is drinking the Kool-Aid, all in, and on-board, when it comes to implementing most of ATI’s suggestions. As an aspiring Top Shop Owner, he attends SuperConference, is active with his 20 group, and is current with his classes. He’s so convinced of the power of coaching that he turned the tables on” Chris,” his…
“How do I put more profit in my pocket?” asked “Jason,” a shop owner who heard about our upcoming webinar on the topic. I responded as follows: “Jason, you’re averaging a 32% parts margin over the last four weeks, so using the parts matrix would be helpful.” To which he replied, “Yeah, but it’s a…
“I don’t understand how I can be so busy and not make any money.” If you’ve caught yourself thinking this, you are not alone. A lot of auto repair shop owners find themselves working harder than they ever did for someone else – and making far less money! Here are the top profit eaters that…
Have you ever seen a fight break out at the dentist’s office? Let’s think about your last visit. The receptionist handed you a card and said, “Your next appointment will be on May 1st.” She didn’t ask, “would you like to come in on May 1st?” or, “You don’t want to schedule your next appointment,…
“This tire is defective! I want to talk to the manager!” This is what I overheard at the service counter while conducting a shop visit back when I was a district manager for a national automotive chain. I won’t tell you the name of the organization, but I will say that the employees had a lot…