The Tale of Cha Cha: A Pint-Sized Relationship Lesson
Sometimes when you meet someone, you have no idea the lasting impact they’ll have on your life. They might annoy or burden you or seem like someone just whizzing by in the periphery. And sometimes, even when the start isn’t great, it’s the beginning of a relationship you just can’t shake.
The Price is Right – Or Is It?
We may once have figured out exactly what everything costs us and worked out the appropriate markup to allow us to make a profit, but how long ago was that? What has changed since then and how far behind are we? If you were once profitable on a certain amount of volume, and although the volume hasn’t changed, the profit is dwindling lower and lower: It’s obvious the fault is with your pricing.
Know Your Outcome
A couple weeks ago The Reman Runner talked me into doing a 5K: a race that happened to be a trail course, something I had never done before and certainly wasn’t training for. I convinced myself the three miles without any sort of recent running would be completely fine despite the total lack of preparation. Easy.
Do unto Others
I believe the most significant management skill is the ability to deal effectively with customers, coworkers and suppliers. If you can continually treat all three groups with the respect they deserve just for being who they are there’s a good chance they will respond in kind. Customers will want to come to you because they know they will be well treated. Techs will want to work with and for you because you make them feel safe in their environment, and suppliers will want to go out of their way to help you because you don’t try to chisel them on every deal.
Your Attitude Defines You
I often wonder how many people in our business are content with the trade they’ve chosen and are excited or at least happy about going to work each day. I know there are some, but I fear not as many as should be. After all, this is a very tough business. It’s one of the few that the job isn’t over when it’s finished. It isn’t over till the warranty has expired and for maybe some time after that.
Building Projects (and Relationships) in the Dark
Imagine with me for a moment that you and your team are working together to build a project vehicle. Because of scheduling challenges, each of you has to take separate turns doing the work. When your turn arrives, you enter the workspace to find all the parts you’ll need. It’s obvious something has been done, but it’s not at all clear how far and where your predecessor left off. You spend the first several minutes of your time figuring out what’s been done and then get to work.
The Fine Art of Listening (and Asking Questions)
Why is it so hard to get people who are supposed to be taking in facts, sorting them out, and returning useful information, to listen? There are any number of reasons ranging from lack of proper training to thinking they know more about the issue than the person explaining it to them, to bad attitude, to burnout, to over inflated ego, to daydreaming, to pretending to understand when they really don’t. You name it and you’ll probably be right.
The Most Important Part
I met my supervisor for the day, grabbed a pair of safety glasses, and gloved up. After a few brief introductions to my new coworkers, I was ready for the challenge: Jennifer Porter, parts washer.
In my usual day-to-day, I’ve posted, updated, and promoted an open parts-washer position on an almost monthly basis.
Expansion: To Open More Locations or Not
The excitement that comes with being successful at your first location is awesome. You feel like you can beat the world because it means you’ve accomplished something that most small business owners can’t. It’s something to be really proud of when we realize that about 80% of startup businesses go under within the first couple of years. That leads to the inevitable question that almost all successful small business owners ask: “If I can do this well with one location, couldn’t I make twice as much money with two, or three times as much with three?” The answer unfortunately is “no” in most cases, and here’s why.
Be the Special in Specialization
What about your business? Is it a specialty shop, perhaps one that specializes in a certain “T” word we all know and love in the automotive industry – or perhaps not?
Finances: Dealing with the Money
No matter what the product or service might be, and no matter how large or small the company, the goal is always the same: to make a good profit. Profit dollars drive everything. They allow for employees to make a good living, for new equipment to be purchased, for expansion to take place and for the owner to make a good return on investment.
Deciding Your Role in the Business
Ever tried fixing a car with not enough tools or the wrong ones? It’s hard, if not impossible, to do it right. The same goes for managing a business. If you aren’t properly equipped you probably won’t do a very good job. In management the tools are quite different. There are no wrenches or hammers. The tools consist of what you’ve learned and how you apply that knowledge.
