CHANGING PROBLEMS VERSUS FIXING THEM
Terry here.
Have you heard that you can crack an egg into a radiator to plug the leak? Even if it works for a time, all it does is change the problem. The leak may be temporarily stopped, but now … Read the rest
Terry
GROW OR DIE NOW!
This is my 6th recession as a business owner. The first 5 were relatively short and simple. This one isn't -- for most businesses. Now I admit in the early part of my career I was lucky to make it through those tough times. But as I applied lessons learned I began to focus on what I could control and not allow paralyzing fear to set in.HOW TO HIRE AND MANAGE A BOOKKEEPER
It was only after 30 years of miscommunication, pain, suffering, embezzlement, and all-around general bamboozling that I finally figured out how to hire and manage a bookkeeper for my shop.CONFUSING ACTIVITY WITH RESULTS IN MARKETING
Not too long ago, on a rare slow Saturday afternoon, I caught a re-run of the show Restaurant Impossible. If you’ve never watched the show, it’s like any other business makeover show: a host comes in, identifies problems, gives the … Read the rest
ARE THEY SELLING ACTIVITY OR RESULTS?
My last article probably came off as angry… because I was (and am). If you haven’t read the article on how to actually fix a problem like “pencil whipping” in your shop, you can read it here.
I’m angry … Read the rest
THE LOW ROAD MYTHS PART III-HOW TO TAKE THE HIGH ROAD
Now that we have discussed the reality facing shops that ignore their average repair order and dissected the myth that repair shops can price themselves as low as chain stores and still survive. The truth is, pricing yourself too … Read the rest
THE LOW ROAD MYTHS PART II-THE PRICING MYTH CONCEPTION
When we left off last time, we discussed the reality facing shops that ignore their average repair order. The dangerous myth we’re combating is that shops can take the Low Road and still stay profitable. The truth is, whether … Read the rest
THE LOW ROAD MYTHS
Shop owners are surrounded by myths…misconceptions about how to grow profits, how to attract great customers, and how things should and shouldn’t be in their shop.
These myths lead owners to accept decreased profits, low-quality customers, long hours and small … Read the rest
THE CAR COUNT MYTH: WHERE IS YOUR CAR COUNT? (PART III)
Is your car count growing or shrinking? In Part One of this blog, I discussed how 60%-80% of car count is the responsibility of the team…not the owner!
And in Part Two, I talked about what you should be … Read the rest
THE CAR COUNT MYTH- WHERE IS YOUR CAR COUNT? (PART II)
In my last blog, I discussed how 60%-80% of car count is the responsibility of the team…not the owner! Click here to read part one if you haven’t read it!
So…what should the team be held accountable for?
Controlling… Read the restTHE CAR COUNT MYTH (PART I)
Is your car count growing or shrinking? Why?The truth is that car count as an average is shrinking across our independent repair industry. Competition from the dealers and chains…higher quality automobile construction…longer manufacturer-recommended service intervals…cautious, dissatisfied, uneducated drivers. Each … Read the rest
WILL HYPER-INFLATION KILL YOUR SHOP?
By David Rogers
A few weeks ago, the Federal Reserve announced that it would purchase $600 billion in U.S treasuries. What does this mean? What could it mean to your shop?
Very high inflation will cause prices and the cost … Read the rest
REPAIR SHOP MANAGEMENT: COMPARING YOUR SHOP’S NUMBERS TO WHAT?
By Terry Keller
BenchmarkingMost of us shop owners understand the process of comparing our numbers to a set of benchmarks or standards. I remember way back over 35 years ago, I had monthly meetings with my accountant where he … Read the rest
REPAIR SHOP MANAGEMENT: WHY CAN’T I GET MY PEOPLE TRAINED RIGHT?
By Terry Keller
I can just imagine some of you thinking, “Why waste time reading this when I’ve already tried everything to train my people to act right and perform well AND IT CAN’T BE DONE?! Why keep beating my … Read the rest
REPAIR SHOP MANGEMENT; MANAGEMENT STYLES… TOO HEAVY, TOO LIGHT, OR JUST RIGHT?
By Terry Keller
This issue keeps coming up! Last September I wrote a blog on Holding Your Team Accountable and David Rogers recently did a great class on the Two Critical Faces of Leadership.
For the majority of shop … Read the rest
REPAIR SHOP MANAGEMENT: INCENTIVE PAY PLANS
If you are finding yourself somewhat resistant to reading this article because of its title, you are exactly the shop owner who needs to read it! If your employee pay plans have little or no incentives in them, I’ll bet your team’s productivity and your profits are lower than you want or are on a serious roller-coaster. Even if you do have an incentive type structure set up for your employees, are you sure they’re truly incentives under all circumstances and don’t have accidental disincentives built into them that some of your people resent?ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW THAN YOU WERE TWO YEARS AGO?
When it’s all said and done, the times we’re living in make it almost impossible to imagine that small business will survive. So, what will you do? You've got one of three choices...REPAIR SHOP MANAGEMENT: HIRING AND RETAINING QUALITY PEOPLE
How good are the people that work for you? How loyal are they? How long do they stay with you? Are they better than you are at their position? For 25 years, I really struggled with this one. Because my shop was not consistently profitable during that period, I was always looking for ways to hold costs down including the wages I was willing to pay.REPAIR SHOP MANAGEMENT: HOW TO KEEP SCORE AND KNOW IF YOU ARE WINNING
By David Rogers
If any principle of management is true and valuable, it’s this…
The Numbers Don’t Lie!There are many issues and problems every business owner, CEO and manager has to confront when analyzing sales, production and profitability:
Is… Read the rest