Most often than not in life, if you’ve always done the same thing, you’re always going to get the same results. While that might not sound like the worst thing ever, what happens if your auto repair shop growth stagnates while competing shops get ahead? Are you ready to make the changes needed to get your shop on the right track to success? In the end, what you allow is what will continue, so think hard about what you want with help from this guide.
Start with a Brutally Honest Look Back at 2021
You cannot make a plan for the future until you take a good, hard look at the past. So, reflect on the successes and failures in the past year to kickstart your change for the better. Think about what worked well for your shop and what didn’t while being 100% honest with yourself.
Ask yourself:
- Are you going to end the year how you wanted?
- What stood in the way of your true success?
- Can you do better in making and hitting your goals?
Finally, reflect on whether you’re willing to change your current processes. If you’ve fallen into the trap of simply doing what you’ve always done, you’re never going to get different results from your efforts. So, you have to be open to changes to start reaping the rewards of your hard work.
Identify All the Possible Areas of Improvement
With a look back at 2021, you’re likely coming up with a long list of things that could stand to change. Like most auto repair shops, most of your line items undoubtedly fall in the three following areas.
Behaviors
As discussed in the “Behaviors That Limit Success” Weekly Blitz with Chris Cotton, destructive behaviors can hold you back and prevent realizing your full potential. The same goes for your team as well, especially if you’ve done things the same way for so long.
Out of all the bad habits, these behaviors have the most significant impact on your ability to achieve great success:
- Giving in to jealousy: Skip the envy and only compare yourself to yourself, so you can feel grateful for what you have and how far you’ve come.
- Living in the past: To keep pushing yourself to the next level, you must learn from past mistakes and move forward with new goals.
- Engaging in gossip: Talking poorly about other people only makes you look bad, so aim to just put good in the world and reap the rewards.
- Giving up too soon: When challenges come your way, you need to double down and persevere, or you might just give up moments before success comes your way.
- Believing the naysayers: Never let the naysayers put disparaging thoughts into your head; Believe in yourself and discard the negativity to keep moving toward success.
In addition, self-limiting beliefs keep you from shooting for the stars and achieving great things. Want to hear the power of discarding those beliefs? Check out Chris’ “Hitting Your Five Iron” podcast as well.
Processes
The success of your auto repair shop greatly hinges on having excellent procedures and processes in place, such as:
- Are you performing digital vehicle inspections for all your customers?
- Does your service advisor go over all the details in each work order and find upsells?
- Do you regularly audit your work orders and phone calls?
Even not having a clear-cut time-off policy can eat into your bottom line, resulting in a lack of revenues and growth.
Revenues
Are your revenues regularly hitting or exceeding your goals? Is your money working for you? If not, it’s time to figure out why and get the cash flowing your way – or your shop could be in real danger of going under.
All that starts with a good look at what’s going on: Perhaps your labor rate is too low? Or do you need a surefire Profits and Cashflow System in place? Whatever the case, it’s never a good idea to wait around in hopes that it’ll work itself out.
If you’re having trouble in any, or all, of these areas, you’re not alone. Many auto repair shop owners go through this journey of identifying potential areas of improvement and working to change their approach.
Set New, Well-Defined Goals for the Coming Year
If you want to thrive – not just survive or, worse yet, barely stay afloat – you need well-defined goals that deviate from the norm. You simply cannot afford to keep doing things the same old way if your current approach is not getting you the desired results. You need to set out to find a new way forward and work on hitting each goal every month.
Unfortunately, there’s no secret sauce on how to proceed. Every auto repair shop is different, so you have to look at what’s not working for you and change it. If you’re not sure how to do that, you can get the insights and guidance you need from a skilled auto repair coach.
Stay on Track with Help from an Auto Repair Coach
By hiring an auto repair coach, you get a unique outside perspective about what’s likely holding your shop back from achieving its true potential. You can then use their insights about the industry best practices to make your company a true contender in the automotive world.
All along the way, you’ll also get an accountability partner who’s happy to cheer on your successes and encourages you to keep going when challenges arise. As a result, you’ll never again have to worry if you’re on the right track because your auto repair coach will let you know about problems before they can derail you.
Want Help with the Changes? Contact AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching
Change is never easy, but it can feel a lot more approachable with a knowledgeable auto repair coach by your side. Just reach out to Chris Cotton at AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching to schedule a call to get that support. During that meeting, you’ll get to learn about all the ways auto shop coaching can help grow your shop and improve your revenues. Want to talk shop? Just email chris@autofixsos.com to get the conversation started.
