Unfortunately, there are many reasons why a hopeful automotive repair shop owner might be forced to close their doors.
Problems can range from poor planning, improper employee training or unsustainable turnover rate, financial difficulties, or any number of other business-killers.
However, most fledgling shops end up folding for one very specific reason—and if you’re the owner of the business, it might be tough to hear.
Let’s dig into this major problem, explore its causes, and discuss how you can avoid it so that your business can flourish.
First, we’ll begin with a simple question…
Why Did You Open Your Automotive Service Shop in the First Place?
Aside from the fact that you’re probably a car lover just like the BG team, it’s likely that you opened your repair shop because you wanted to be an entrepreneur. It’s true that you may have started out as a technician yourself, but at the very least you had enough of an entrepreneurial spirit to jump through all of the many, many hoops required to open a business of your very own.
The skills necessary to have done all that required you to think like an entrepreneur. But what happened after your business opened and the first six months passed? The first year? Two years?
When an Entrepreneur Becomes a Manager
In the early days of running your automotive shop, you were probably filled with a sense of excitement and urgency. You had to find a location, get the right equipment and products, and hire your first employees, not to mention all of the work you certainly did to get the word out to the local community that you were available to serve them.
This is the stage at which the big problem can arise. Rather than building your business—like you did in the beginning—you may have fallen into more of a managerial role for your business. Instead of innovating, you spend most of your time filling orders, managing finances, and managing your employees.
It sounds like just another run of the mill job, doesn’t it? Burnout and a lack of motivation from these tasks have caused more shops than you can shake a stick at to shutter their doors permanently.
While BG services would love to see every auto shop become a local leader in their field, all too often business owners fall into this “trap.”
On a positive note, once you become aware of this problem, you can take steps to avoid it all together. Let’s look at a few ways you can do few managerial tasks and reignite your entrepreneurial spirit—because that’s what drove you to become successful in the first place.
How to Avoid The “Pencil Pusher” Trap and Be an Entrepreneur Again
If you’ve found that the goals you had while you were still acting like an entrepreneur have slowly been replaced by the daily grind of “pencil pushing” tasks, take heart, because there is a way to get your fire back and not only feel better about your business, but grow it to a level you may have forgotten was possible in the first place.
The solution is something that hides in plain sight: when you first started your business, you undoubtedly had goals. Too many business owners (both in the automotive industry and elsewhere) slowly lose their goals over time, instead getting caught up in the day-to-day operations of their business.
To start thinking like an entrepreneur instead of a manager, you must establish a clear set of goals. Where do you want your business to be next year? In three years? Ten years? What would you have to do to accomplish those aspirations?
Not only will reestablishing a list of goals for the future of your business help it start growing again, you’ll also find that you can once again capture that sense of passion you had in the beginning. Work with your team, establish meetings, and find ways to spread out more mundane tasks to give you the room you need to work on the business tasks that really matter.
Learn How BG Products and Certification Can Improve Your Business
BG services is proud to offer our loyal customers a wide variety of best-in-business automotive products. From fuel cleaners to drive line products to power steering cleaners, we have it all—and your customers will thank us for choosing nothing but the best vehicle care products on the market today. You’re invited to request a demo to see our products in action.
BG also provides a training service for technicians and advisors. Automotive professionals can become BG certified to prove to their customers they’re the best choice for vehicle maintenance. You can learn more about the BG certification program here.
If you have any questions about our products, services, or certification program, please feel more than welcome to contact us today.
