Running an automotive business is an extremely tough job. It seems even tougher to make money while doing it. Margins can be low, repairing modern makes and models is a science, finding great team members is daunting, and keeping car count numbers up is difficult. Sounds fun, right? In the midst of it all, how do we know if we are doing a good job? Is it total sales? Perhaps it’s meeting our mission statement? And don’t forget about happy employees, right?
The correct way to measure business success is with profitability and efficiency. Without efficiency, you can’t have profitability, and without profitability, your business will not survive.
If you’re reading this and you are a car guy then you probably know about engines. When talking about any subject I like to use analogies. What better way to speak about business to a car guy than comparing it to the engines.
We know what an engine does. It makes power. Wheel spinning, tire-smoking, power. How does it do this? Through adding air and fuel, squishing it together, igniting it, and BOOM.
Your business is no different. The things you put into it will create sales (ie: power). You get sales through marketing, adding tools, equipment, employees, and most importantly a process to make it all work together.
Recently I built an engine for my Ford Raptor. A bored block, better heads, big cams, long tube headers, high flow cats, ported throttle body….all the bolt-ons. My goal was to create more power, make it bigger, and make it better. I kept adding to it and eventually I blew it up.
This happens in business we add more, we want bigger. Before we have assessed how well our business is running, we add to it, or make adjustments without the important facts. We can’t just continue to add team members, tools, or marketing costs, without knowing how those things are going to affect the bottom line of our business. We have to first understand the way each of these items affects our business to understand what we need to add more of. Otherwise, feeding the machine becomes our obsession, costs go up, and sadly our bank accounts do not reflect it. Eventually, it blows up, just like my engine.
So how do we know the formula to make all of these things work just right to get the most out of them? We let someone who has been through this, and knows the answers, help guide us.
One of the best things you can do as a business owner is to hire a coaching program that can do the following:
- Teach you the right formula to create a profitable automotive shop.
- Look at your business with years of experience and find problem areas in your processes that could be running your shop less efficiently.
- Hold you accountable for the things that need to be done to ensure you are running the best possible business you can.
AutoFixSOS’ Coaches can look at your business and find out where you are running lean and or rich. And just like a great engine tuner, they have insight and experience to know when to tune for a little less or maybe a little more. Tuning your business is an ongoing process. Tweaking here and there in the ever changing environment so we can make more. So we can meet more of our mission.
Eventually, I rebuilt and supercharged that Ford Raptor engine. It made more power than ever.
Supercharge your business. Force that engine to be more efficient! I did – both for my Raptor and for my shop. I hired a coaching team for my managers, for me, and for my advisors. Now my engine churns out tire-smoking profits.
About Bryan:
Bryan is excited to announce he has joined the auto shop coaching and management training team at AutoFix SOS. The company caters to auto repair, lube, euro, transmission, diesel and tire shops across the nation who want to grow their businesses, increase profits, address areas that need improvement, and more. Bryan has always wanted to own his own shop. He purchased Casey’s Automotive in 2015 after working there as the service manager for 10 years. He started with a team of only three employees. Within the first year, he had expanded his team and doubled sales. After two years, he opened a second location. Now Casey’s Automotive employs over twenty people.
