209 - The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severein

0:00Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or good night, depending on when and where you're joining us from today. It is a gorgeous day outside. I hope you are able to go outside and breathe in some beautiful fresh air. Hey, today is awesome. Today is going to be amazing. We've got a great conversation going to happen with a phenomenal shop owner, with a phenomenal coach and trainer from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence.

0:25But before we get into that, Let's talk about you and where you're at and what's going on in your life. This is going to be an interactive webinar. Interactive how? Well, in the comments section, in the questions, in the comments, put in there where you're joining us from today. Love to give you a shout out here as we are on the live webinar.

0:48We're streaming through many different multiple streams, multiple live streams are going out on Facebook and on YouTube and on StreamYard. So we've got all these avenues that we're reaching out to the industry to, to, for us to connect, for us to come together. So drop in the comments where you're joining us from, city, state, and your shop name. Love to give you a shout out so we can recognize everybody who is here for this live event.

1:20And it seems that everybody is shy today, which is awesome. That's great. You know where the comment button is. When you find it, put in there your information, and we'd love to give you a shout out here as we're on our live event, uh, streaming on Facebook and on LinkedIn and on YouTube and on StreamYard. Oh my gosh, this is so awesome.

1:41This is so awesome. All right, for our conversation today Jennifer Holbert is here from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. She is a shop owner, she is a coach, an industry coach, an industry facilitator with the Gear Performance Group, and most recently moved into the position of Director of Programs with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. Thank you so much, Jennifer, for being here.

2:07Good morning, good afternoon. Thank you, thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Yes, we're going to have an awesome conversation. I'm in the good morning part and you're in the good afternoon part. I am, right? Because you're in New York, right? I am, northern New York. Northern New York, awesome. How long have you been in the industry, Jennifer? Oh, uh, 25 years.

2:32Yeah, 25 years. So you started sweeping floors when you were like 5, 6 years old? Well, yeah, you could say that. I started filing probably when I was in my teens, but Officially joined the business in 2001 when we moved to our new building and started at service advising, accounting, marketing, and then now do it all. Yeah, no, and you've had a long journey with the Institute as well, joining as part of the Gear Performance Groups and then moved into being an industry coach.

3:06I did. What's that short story look like for you? Yeah, I was a group member in Group 2 for about 19 years prior to the opportunity to become a facilitator with the Institute. That was 4 years ago and just was recently asked and accepted the Director of Programs position. So I'll be overseeing all of our coaching programs with our owner's coaches, our service advisors, and our managers.

3:32So just in the infancy of that position right now, and we've got lots of good work to do and lots of exciting things to bring to the industry that I'm super excited to be part of. So yeah, it's been a journey, and I know all the things, all the positions. So as, you know, first time coming to a meeting to being an integral part of a group process and looking at elevating our own internal groups and the members that we were talking to, including myself.

4:01So yeah, it's been quite the journey. Oh, I love it. I love it. And here comes a shout out from Downshift with Tanika. That's my coach, Jennifer. She is. Love Tanika. Tanika's with Brown's Automotive out of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Uh, David Boyce also saying, hey, yay, Jennifer! And David, are you joining from Minnesota today, Minneapolis? Are you joining from Florida today?

4:27Where is home? Where are your feet planted today? He's all over the place. Yeah, no, that's awesome. That's awesome. Well, thank you for being a coach. Thank you for being in the industry. You are an inspiration to many. You have influenced many. And one of those people you have influenced is Andy, Andy Severin with Andrew's Auto. Andy, how the heck are you, brother?

4:54Doing wonderful, Jimmy. Good to be here. Good. Well, bro, you gotta sit up or something. You look like you're There we go. I'm so excited to talk to you about this conversation as we talk about you and your shop and your business. How long have you been in the business, Andy? What does that look like for you? I started in this business when I was in high school.

5:22Uh, I swept floors in a shop when I was 14, 15 years old, and, uh, Got a job working there right out of— I went to Vo-Tech when I was a senior in high school, and their work experience program puts you out in a shop halfway through senior year. So I started working there when I was 17, 18 years old and was in that shop for probably until I was about 25, I believe.

5:56Wow. Left the industry for a little bit, did some different things with trucks, and was, uh, learned a lot about life skills and running a business by owning big trucks. That teaches you a lot quickly. And, uh, when I got out of that, I got into the used car side of the business, um, in inventory management, which I had my fingers in the repair side of our inventory So I'd say I was a part of this industry at that point, that time, that 10 years of my life, but in a little different aspect.

6:34So yeah, most of my life I've had my hands getting dirty somewhere. Oh, I love it. I love it. Isn't it funny? We all start by sweeping floors. Mm-hmm. Yep. We got a shout out coming in from David Boyd. You're sitting low for a tall guy. Reach up there, grab your camera, put— point it down just a little bit because it looks like you're sitting on the floor.

7:00Oh, it's hard. I'm sorry. Oh really? That's funny. All right, David, you just got to get over it, man. Don't worry about it. Hey, so you, you got out, you went into trucking, you came back into, uh, into a shop. Did you go directly into owning another shop or did you get back into turning a wrench first? Um, well, I went into the dealership world in purchasing and inventory management.

7:26The shop that we— it was 10 years ago we started Andrews Auto. There was a shop that had been in business for 50 years. It's— I could see it from my house, we were that close, and it was a mess. I knew the owner, I had a relationship with the owner for years, and I kind of planted that seed at one point, you know, if you're— when you're interested in, in getting out, that I'd be interested in talking.

7:52And I, at that point, I don't know if my interest more was in cleaning the property up because I could see it from my house and it was that bad, or actually being in the auto repair business. But really, my, my experience and relationships I had, hadn't people coming to me constantly with advice and had people coming to me with it, looking at— they were looking for advice on their cars and they were sharing experiences with me, experiences that they had had at shops.

8:20A lot of them bad experiences. So it really, it really, it really made me realize that there was a need in our area for a good, you know, honest repair shop. Yeah, so that was my drive behind it, not having any idea what I was getting into at that point. I just knew how to work on cars. That was really it. But thankfully, through my life, I've worked with for some really, really good people.

8:49And looking back through all the way back to when I was sweeping floors, you know, what I learned from each one of those employers and even my years in being in trucking, you know, what I've learned from each thing really prepared me for where I am today. Oh, yeah, for sure. In a previous conversation, Andy, you said you've always put yourself in front of the right people.

9:16And I think right from an early age, that was just inherent in your personality to put you in the right place at the right time in front of the right person to give you some of these opportunities. Yep, yep. Oh, I love that you're learning along the way. At what point, um, as the business grew, at what point did you realize that your role had to change from being involved in everything to truly being leading the business?

9:43Um, definitely the Institute had a big part in that. Yeah, Jennifer, why are you laughing? Because we've had this conversation multiple times. Yes, we have. So we— I worked from— it was right in December of 2016 is when we started, and things went well. We were busy from day one. I mean, we grew, we added people constantly. We did our first major addition renovation to our building in the end of 2019.

10:14The, you know, things were going very well, but there was just so many things I didn't know. And when I was at the NAPA Expo in 2022 in Vegas and was in one of Cecil's classes, and it just, it made me realize there was just a lot that I didn't know and things I needed to know and what he said really resonated with where we were at that point in time.

10:46I had no idea. He said I knew how to fix cars. I didn't know what an average repair order was. You know, we were using Mitchell at that point, and I really paid no attention to the reports. I didn't even know what, what that stuff was, right? We were just using Mitchell so we had a platform to give people invoices. Um, so, so, so it, it taught me right away some of the, you know, key indicators to, to look at.

11:09And I thought, whoa, we, we have a long way to go here. Wow. And by that time, you had already been 6 years in the business. Yeah. Yeah. And wow, there comes an eye-opening experience. Interesting. That's awesome. So, what, so from that point, you decided, oh my gosh, we've got to change. We've got to grow. We've got to develop. What, at what point did you decide, hey, you know what?

11:38I need to really look at this coaching and training business. I really need to hire me a coach. What did that look like for you? Well, what drove that and, and what's still driving me today— I know I'm getting into the future there, but this business, I started it with my son on day one, and the intention of him taking this business over, I hadn't really put a time frame on when that would happen, but it— I, I think I realized that I need to make this a well-functioning, successful business before I hand it over to him.

12:13So that, that was really what, what, you know, resonated in me at that point. Like, hey, we have a long way to go. Um, so, so that, uh, that was, you know, why we made some, some significant changes there right away. And, um, you know, adapting to those changes is hard. I tell people that all the time. You know, being, being told, hey, your ARO should be this, and you think, oh my goodness, how are ever gonna get from $350 to— I believe our first goal was $550, if I'm not mistaken.

12:45And, you know, we were inching to $500, and all of a sudden it was like, well, you know, maybe we ought to look things a little different. Now at $600, I'm thinking, oh my goodness. I can remember one of those early conversations of, you know, Jen, everyone's talking about this $850, $900 average repair order, but But you don't understand, my customers are different.

13:08My customers aren't going to accept that because I live in an area of the country where we're completely different. And it wasn't until we started to break it down and Andy, you took a really, a hard look at understanding the KPIs. We had a lot of discussions on what they meant, what the formulas were, how they're impacted. And that, I think, opened your eyes to say, okay, we can do this with a better and a more thorough DBI and some sales training for our advisors and a different marketing strategy and conversations with our customers.

13:43So I was joking with Jimmy before we started this that that's typically the first conversation that we as coaches get is, oh, wait a minute, you don't understand, my customers are different. And what we found is is what most people realize is no, they're not. They're— they will respond to the presentations and the information that you're going to give them. And I mean, I have some statistics in front of me.

14:08In 2022, your average repair order was $367. End of last year at $732, and I think this year we're knocking the $800 range. So again, with some systems, process changes, ideology changes, training, this is exactly what's possible. Yep. So I have a coaching question for you, Jennifer. How often are shops coming to you as a coach or you as a facilitator and, and, and, and singing the exact same song that Andy was singing?

14:47Often. I would say probably 90% of the time. Yeah. And it's because we're fed, you know, there's a lot of noise out there. There's a ton of noise of what the industry should be. You know, there's news articles, there's, you know, all kinds of news report of what our industry's reputation is, and it's not positive. So we look at this differently. We want to educate our customers on what's best for you and your vehicle.

15:18You know, nowhere in our sales process that we teach at the Institute or that we coach is a hard sales process, right? We're going to look at your situation, your vehicle. We're going to be open and honest about everything that we see and then work a plan that's going to work for you. So when you address it with honesty and true humility, it becomes a different conversation than one of a hard-pressed sales and I'm going to sell you services that you don't need That's not what we do.

15:50That's not the integrity of the Institute. That's not the integrity of the coaches. And that's not the integrity of the shops that we work with. So a lot of times it's, it's you don't know what you don't know. So you don't understand the power of a DVI process. You don't understand the power of an actual structured sales process. And that's exactly what Andy started to realize and then really took a deep dive in is, okay, I see things differently now.

16:20And I can see where we're benefiting our customers from doing this. So I'm gonna put all the effort into training staff and making sure that we're, we're starting to work towards those different key performance indicators. Andy, did you feel called out, just like Tanika? She's wondering if this is a setup. She feels like she's being called out right now. Did you feel like you were being called out, Andy?

16:49Um, no, I would say not. Um, no. When you were first starting, you didn't feel like you were being called out? You didn't feel like you were being spotlighted? Well, and you know what, let me tell— build up a little bit more, clarify a little bit more. I, I enjoy the process that we have at the Institute where we're, we're here to meet you where you are as a business and as a shop owner.

17:16And we're going to start from there. What does it take to run your business? What kind of business do you want to have? 100%. Okay, now that's the kind of business you want to have. These are the steps we need to take to get to that business that you want to run, as opposed to a rubber stamp that says follow this process procedure and you'll be successful.

17:39Well, okay, well, you don't understand my clients or my customers. Jennifer's laughing because yeah, we're, we're going to meet you where you are. What, how do you want to run your business? What do you, what does success look like for you? Because Andy, your definition of success might be different than Jennifer's, might be different than mine. Sorry, I dropped out with just a moment there.

18:02It was just about a 5-second window where I, where I had just the most important thing. Here's the meat of that. I lost you. He was saying what success is to you is not the success to someone else. And I'll use something that's very important to you, and that is compensating your staff very well with your profit sharing plan and your community involvement and sponsorships.

18:28So Andy and I have had the conversation of the effects of that on his overall net profit, but that's his why. He wants to give the best financial outcome to all of his staff based on their efforts towards their success with a profit-sharing plan, and then be a very good leader financially in the community to support those organizations that are supporting him.

18:56And that's much different than my why, and that's going to be much different than Tanika's why as well. So we've We've looked at what's important to you in creating that profitability level so you can carry out that why. Yeah, absolutely. That why is something that we've figured out over time. We didn't realize going into it what our true why was. I just wanted to build a race car.

19:20I thought, hey, I have a shop, I can deduct all these parts and it'll be great. And it took a few years of doing this until we figured out what our true WHY is, you know, why we are here. It is awesome. I love that. I will back up just a minute though, Jimmy, to your question if I felt called out. Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but I would probably share with the people that are listening that are thinking about coaching, like, no, I mean, I went in there new to everything that was happening and I never felt called out, put in the spotlight, like, look at this guy.

19:54The group has been awesome from the first time I was there with helping me to feel comfortable and share their, you know, their struggles and successes. So, you know, I never felt called out in a way that I was uncomfortable. And I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but hindsight, that's what I was thinking. Yeah, no, that's exactly it. You weren't called out in an embarrassment point of view, but you were enlightened into, oh wow, these are some things that I can do.

20:25These are the steps I can take and need to take so I can run the business the way I want to. I love that. That, that's awesome. Now, question for you here about, uh, pricing and parts and, uh, parts GP and, and labor rates. This can be very emotional for shop owners. This is an emotional subject. What helped you move from being emotional about these topics and these subjects to becoming more logical in those areas?

20:57Besides peer pressure. Peer pressure is positive, it can be. Definitely that emotional attachment that, you know, shop owners, you have that when you're working in the shop. You know, you're turning the wrenches, you're hands-on with the vehicles, you're talking to the people at the customer. I mean, you're talking to the customers at the counter and there's people you've known forever and you know their families and their financial situations.

21:23I mean, there's a huge emotional attachment to that and it's not bad. Yeah, but, uh, it definitely, it, it definitely is a hindrance to the growth and success of a business. And I— it took me a while to, to learn and understand that, um, and it's still why I stay away from the, uh, the, the counter. And the, you know, the service advisor, uh, role is so important.

21:48And I, and I, and I, and I realize that I'm so blessed to have the people we have now that are really, really good at what they do. And they get it, they understand, you know, they're coaching with the the APT programs, and I keep putting plugs in for you, but, uh, it's been, it's been very powerful for us. But, uh, you know, overall, the, the growth of the business is dependent on that.

22:09So we, we, we— I've learned to just stay away. Oh, I love it. You know your strengths and your weaknesses. Go ahead, Jennifer. I think you also had an understanding of the overall effects of what a labor rate increase will do. So that, that impacts labor gross profit, which impacts your total GP, which impacts your overall net profit. So when we first started to talk about what is your why and that you wanted to, to input this profit sharing and your community involvement, well, we need those net profit dollars to be able to do that.

22:45And we get those through parts and labor GP. So no, it's not just a 10 or 15% or $10 or $15 labor rate increase, it's going to overall impact that labor GP, which will help the net profit, which is going to allow you to do what you want to do. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Being in the upstairs, like, you know, your knowledge teaching me initially how to read my P&L.

23:15I'd never looked at a P&L when I started in the role. I didn't even know how much money we had in the bank. I didn't care. Bills were being paid, it was great. But now the composite reporting, which was really hard for me, and you remember that, it was super hard for me in the beginning. And, you know, now I'm not going to say I enjoy doing it, but I see the— I do enjoy doing it.

23:38I enjoy the results of it. But the understanding of how we're getting the net profit and why that net profit is so expensive. I mean, it's so important. Yeah, it's critical. That's, you know, not being downstairs, but my offices are upstairs. So, you know, staying up there and keeping an eye on that is, is, is, it's been my, the key to, to, to the growth here.

24:08Absolutely. Well, and let's break this down for those that are watching that don't understand what a P&L is. They hear the word all the time. They hear P&L. This is your profit and loss. P&L, profit and loss. Most shop owners will look at their P&L. They really don't understand it. They're looking for that last number. Is it red or is it black?

24:29If it's black, we know we're good. We know we're making money. If it's red, we're losing money. And that's what the, the understanding of most shop owners are. At the Institute, we also have a financial intensive that helps you as a shop owner to understand how to read the entire P&L, how to get it set up properly with your accountant so that you are getting the right and correct information when you need it most.

24:56And a P&L should not take months and months and months for your accountant to put together and deliver to you. Well, what's the average? How long should it take, Jennifer? To start to make changes? Oh no, Mr. Accountant or Mrs. Accountant, I would like my P&L. You should get that once a month. Minimally, I would say, I mean, our requirement, our reporting requirement is by the 20th of the month.

25:21So you should be getting that by the 15th or the 18th from, for the previous month from your accountant or your bookkeeper. So if you're only getting a P&L once a year, you may want to either ask for more and get a better understanding, or perhaps you need a different accountant. So if you need a different accountant, we know a guy. Come talk to us.

25:46We know a guy. We do. I mean, knowing where you're at from a profitability standpoint tells a tenth of the story. So where, where do we need to put our focus? Is it in gross profits for parts? Is it in gross profit for labor? Is it in expense control? Because, you know, so many times we have a lot of members who have really good gross profit percentages, but they're not controlling their expenses and they eat away, you know, their profitability that way.

26:17We break down our expenses into 30 categories, probably. 35 categories individually and have benchmarks for individual expenses. So that's what our owner coaching and our group process does, is we focus on not only systems and processes within your shop, but the understanding of your financials. So you know which specific areas to target and to make some improvements on. Yeah. And, and Andy, that's where I credit you, because we had some many meetings where he's like, Jen, make me understand this.

26:55I really need to understand how all this works together. And we probably worked for 6 months until you had that understanding. And, and now you do, and, you know, your profitability is, is increased quite a bit. That's awesome. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of shop owners that are out there that are just like you, Andy, that are in that same position that says I don't know what I don't know, and this is definitely one area that I need to know more.

27:22Help me understand it. And you dig into it, and you dig into it, and you dig into it, and, and the more you learn, the better you are. Our, our last financial intensive, I think we had 40-plus people here at— in Ogden at the financial intensive. So next April, if you're wanting to understand your income statement and your profit and loss and your balance sheet Come here to the Institute.

27:46We've got a phenomenal program for you. You definitely want to— whoa, that was cool. Now, oh, Raleigh, props, dude. That was your— that was mic drop. Scan the QR code, get in on our next financial intensive. Yes, that is going to be awesome. We'd love to have you here and you will learn Tremendous amount. I want to go back to another acronym you dropped out on, on everybody here.

28:14You, you mentioned the APG. Our industry is full of acronyms. APG stands for the Advisor Performance Group, and that's with the institute. So, Andy, you have your advisors in the program right now? We do. What have you seen with your advisors? What's the, the change that they've gone through? Well, probably the biggest thing I appreciate that I'm getting directly is, I mean, their understanding of the numbers that they're achieving, but also the way the program is put together, allowing them to see the big picture.

29:00Of what the business looks like, what it should look like, what it could look like, whatever your circumstance is. But, um, doing that, doing that from a different perspective than myself talking to them, I think, uh, allows them to, to grow. Um, and, and it's one thing for me, for an owner, for somebody to say something to somebody, but, uh, when they're hearing from an actual coach, it's like, hey, that guy's not just It's not just a school of hot air.

29:27He knows what he's talking about. That's been powerful. But aligning all of our people through those different programs has been really powerful for us. And that growth that we've really seen in the last, you know, what, year or so, I can directly attribute to— and I'll drop another acronym— the MPG program as well as the APG program. So what's the MPG? The Manager Performance Group.

29:56We have two managers here now, Nate and Brian, my son Nate, one of them. They just got back from Utah. We've been so busy, we haven't— we've done some quick debriefs, but we haven't had time to really sit down and put everything together that, that I brought back from the Group 5 meeting last week, or the week before last, and then they came back from Utah, with their normal plane delays.

30:22So, uh, oh no, dang, they made it. And let's talk about what that growth looks like. So in 2023, you ended the year at $2.1 million. 2025, you ended a million dollars up at $3.1. And you, you've entered the managers and the advisors into the program along with working in the owner's Gear Performance Group program. But like you said, you've aligned your entire staff in the direction that you want to take it with training and opportunities and information of to align to that direction.

31:00So just like, you know, you talking to your staff and coming back from one of the GPG meetings, Gear Performance Group meetings, and it's like them trying to absorb what your understanding of the training is versus now I'm getting it from a coach who is aligned with that ideology and now we're gonna move everyone in the same direction. So I think for you, Andy, that that's been the biggest change.

31:28Now, has it cost you some money? Yes, coaching is not free. Sometimes, you know, people say, I want cheap coaching. Well, you get what you pay for. And you're going to get the results that you pay for. So, you know, a 30%, 32% increase in 2 years in sales is the, you know, you can attribute that directly to, to the coaching. And again, I know this sounds like a sales presentation for the Institute.

31:55It's not meant to be that way. I just know that Andy and I have had these discussions over the past 3 years of how what can I do to improve? And because you have dedicated the time and the energy to some coaching programs, you've gotten some very good results. Now you've set some of that standard, you know, I expect X out of you, Service Advisor, from a gross profit and an average repair order and an effective labor rate standpoint, um, because you've held those, those standards high.

32:29And communicated those expectations, which is also very important for results. But you know, you've, you've done a very good job at communicating what the expectation is, and then your team has, has followed up with those results. Yeah, I love it. There's the saying is, um, uh, you, you were talking about the expense of training training is so expensive. What, what, you know, what if I train my guys and they leave?

33:01Well, what if you don't train them and they stay? Yeah, yeah. Andy, have you ever had a situation where you've trained someone and they left? I have not. We, we have very, very good training today, is your people will stay. Yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely. Now we have very little turnover. Of people. In fact, I think there was only one advisor I had that was— he was here for a short period of time, and, and he had come from managing an entire operation and had another opportunity to go back to what he had been doing.

33:36So I don't fault him at all. So he's the only person that I had in training, and, and I hope that the things that he learned he could take into his future. Yeah, great guy. He's a great guy. Well, unless Talk about why your staff stays. You know, what, what makes you different from some other shops that have some high turnover? And we've talked about this.

33:59Yeah, yeah. What are you doing, Andy? Is it, is it pizza on Friday? Wednesdays. Wednesdays. And we try not to do pizza too much. I mean, that really gets old, right? We have a big old grill here. I like to make food and, and do different things, but we really try to take care of our people in, in many different ways, you know, not just, you know, in their, in their, you know, problems that are going on in their life, you know.

34:24We try to speak into their lives as much as we can and, and just be there, um, for them. Um, and, and, you know, they're our family. We, we spend more time with the people that work for us than anybody else. So I'm careful who I allow into that family. And I feel we've done very, very well. In fact, we had somebody start here just recently, and his comments are just like every person I've heard in the past.

34:57Like, everybody here just gets along, everybody helps each other. It makes me— I'm really happy that— I'm really happy about that, you know, because I That's what I want. I want to treat our guys really, really well. I want them to be excited about what they do, try to keep them motivated and try to— my goal has always been to try to have a place that the word on the street is, hey, you want to work for this guy, you know, because they'll really take care of you in every way, not just pay.

35:29So, I mean, it's extending a lot of grace. Regularly. You know, that's, uh, that's, uh, part of it. Managing that grace can be tough, but, uh, but we— it's, it's a blessing overall. It really, really is. We have a, we have a great staff of people here. Oh, I love it. I love it. And what those people are talking about is the company culture, the culture that you have created in your company.

35:54They're just— it's— they're just so impressed by it, that this is a great company any culture. So I— that doesn't happen by accident. What are you doing today as a leader that is different than what you were doing 3 years ago, 4 years ago, 5 years ago? What are you doing different? Well, you know, I can't— honestly don't know if I'm really doing anything different.

36:20I hope I'm not, actually. You know, I've always tried to connect with everybody regularly and just, you know, listen to their needs and keep an open atmosphere that they can come to us with whatever is going on. You know, if there's a problem at home or just, you know, bumped into another car in the parking lot, you know, don't be afraid to come to us with anything.

36:47You know, so to answer that, I don't feel like I'm doing anything really differently. I have the help of my wife. Now. She's a huge part of it. She was here in the beginning for the first 5 years, and, uh, she was working the front desk. And, and it wasn't quite 5 years, it might have been 3 or 4 years, and, and, and she just couldn't do it anymore.

37:08It was way over her head. She's a people person, and, uh, she had an opportunity to go work in a restaurant for some friends, which she took. And that opened the door for my my, my front desk guy Jimmy to come in here. Jimmy's just an awesome person. I mean, he's just a light. He's always, he's always smiling. He's a lot like you, Jimmy.

37:30It goes with the name. You're both Jimmy, right? Right. But, uh, yeah, Lori came back here in the beginning of '24, I believe. She's been here a little over 2 years now. Um, I convinced her that her her skills while she was much appreciated at the restaurant, the effort that she was putting in there would be, would be very beneficial to us and our staff as we grow here.

38:00So she is a huge part of it. Yeah. Jennifer, what are you seeing that Andy does different today? And by the way, Andy, you're constantly improving. So to say you're not doing anything different, It's not exactly true because that constant improvement is changing and you are becoming better. So as a coach, coach, what are you seeing different that Andy does today that he didn't do when you first met?

38:27I would agree with him. I think, you know, his heart is in the right place and wanting to do the best for his staff. So that, that's just who Andy you are. I think today you're a little more intentional with that in some of the conversations and interactions with the staff from discussions that we've had. I'll give you a recent example that they've just acquired their second shop a month ago, couple weeks, 3 weeks.

38:57Yeah, beginning of May we started, yep. And the advisor there, they're looking to, we're gonna look to bring her to the service advisor intensive that's happening happening right now. She's never flown before. So Lori says, I'll go with you, I will join you on the plane, I will go to Utah with you, I will, you know, get you all set up, make sure that you're, you're completely just at peace with this.

39:22That's who Andy and Lori are. So to say that they've done a lot different, I would agree with you, Andy. I don't think you have. I just think you're a little more intentional with it today than you may we were 3 or 4 years ago. Yeah, that's to the core of who you are. That's to your heart. Your heart has always been in that right place.

39:44And that constant improvement are things that you're doing, the things that happen. You don't— probably don't see that you're doing it, but a coach, someone on the outside looking in, would say, you know what, Andy, you are becoming much more intentional. You are having these great conversations. Your heart has always been there. And, and it, it's something that you don't see because it's second nature to you, Andy.

40:04But a coach is going to go, hey, you know what, this is unique, this is, this is special, this is awesome that you do this. Mhm. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's pretty good. So what is the future? I mean, you just added a second shop. Does that mean that, uh, there's a third one, or is it too soon to ask? Well, I've planted the seeds for the the third one.

40:26I did that a while ago. That might have been the second one, but this one just kind of flew in there quickly. But it's a neighboring shop. Um, I can see it. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's just one, two buildings over, buildings away. So they were a close competition. Wow, interesting. Yeah, had the opportunity to buy that. The owner was, uh was wanting to retire and wanted to make it happen quickly.

40:56So he— we were able to work a deal out there. I acquired all of his employees and it's been really good so far. I'm really excited about where that is. And I've said this to Jennifer, like to take a business that has not been run well for years and apply you know, what we've learned, uh, you know, we've, we've learned and applied it here slowly to try to apply it to a, a business like that.

41:26It's, yeah, it's a pretty exciting challenge. And, you know, seeing that ARO, you know, it was $200-some when we started it, and, uh, you know, I think we're, we're substantially over that. We haven't advertised it yet. The building needs a lot of work, and we, we're looking looking forward to doing that work over the coming weeks and months. So we're really excited, uh, of what the possibilities are there.

41:52We really just needed some overflow, honestly. We're almost, almost at capacity here where we are, and having a little bit of, uh, of option, uh, for more, more base space to send some work over there— customers we can't help in our time, in their time frame, with busy schedule, uh, to be able to capture them was high on my priority list of what to do.

42:14So, love it. Always kind of looking for ways to, you know, looking ahead that, you know, what is our next, next, you know, way to grow, you know, to have— if there's more shops, I, I don't know if that's— if that happens, fine. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I have no problem with that. I'm not focused on that. I want to— I still see a tremendous amount of improvement we could do where we are..

42:36And, uh, we'll try to, we'll try to continue to focus on that. Um, but our pattern's been about every 3 years we do, you know, what's the next step. 2023, we did a pretty large addition to be able to handle, um, heavier pickup trucks and, and, and, uh, uh, you know, the dually trucks, construction pickup trucks. We were doing a lot of that stuff, so we put an addition on there.

43:03So here we are 3 years later you know, buying another shop. That's our, uh, that's— this is the next step. And, you know, what's the next in 3 more years? That's been our pattern. So, you know, we've got some ideas. Oh, I love it. What's going to come in 2029? That's— yeah, exactly, exactly. Oh, that's awesome. Got some pretty cool ideas. We'll keep focused, uh, keep focused on what, what could happen there and work towards that goal.

43:30Yeah, for sure. So, uh, is it too soon, or can I ask this? Uh, you, you only bought this other shop at the beginning of May, so we're looking at 6, 7 weeks, 8 weeks now that you've owned this, the, the second shop. $200 average repair order. Where are you now? I mean, in a very short time period, has it increased significantly, or are you still hovering in that $200 to $300 range?

43:56No, it's, it's, it's climbed. Um, I think we're in the $400 range right now. I'm sorry, I haven't looked at that lately. I just realized that you were asking me that question. So we've about doubled it. Doubled it in, in less than 6 weeks. Yeah. Implementing proper process procedures. Uh, you inter— did you introduce a DVI program to them? We did. Yep.

44:20Introduced that. And so So that's been good. You know, that's a— we're trying to— we have— there's so many customers there that were the customers that you don't want, that, you know, we're trying to get rid of them. You know, you tell them what their car needs, they take it home and fix it and then bring it back and get an inspection.

44:37We have state inspection here in Pennsylvania, an annual inspection. So it's a huge part of what we do. And so yeah, it's been, you know, working those customers out of our system is sort of the goal. Here, make way for good customers. And we've really seen an upturn just in the last few weeks of busyness. So it's, it's, it's exciting. Oh, that is exciting.

45:03That's awesome. Congratulations. So as we, we look in towards the future here, what leadership, what leadership skills are you working on today to help you strengthen yourself, strengthen the business as you continue to grow? What are you working on yourself or the business in your leadership realm? Oh goodness. Well, I'd love to say that I read a book a week or even a book a month.

45:34But that doesn't happen. You know, I mean, I could, I You know, I probably said it to Jennifer, I'll say it again. You know, what we're doing in the GPG groups right now is so good. You know, what we just did in the Group 5 meeting in Indiana the other week, our two main presentations are things that are so relevant to me right now.

46:00And that's, you know, defining where in the business, where we need to be and what those roles are and focusing on those things. That's, you know, it's funny, I still struggle with basic things. At times it feels like, you know, what my roles need to be. But that clarity is huge to me. And we're really, as a— we as our managers, myself and the managers, really, you know, working on that stuff.

46:31But, you know, I personally And I'll reiterate where I started, you know, in this business, my goal almost from the start was to work my way out of this and create an opportunity for my son to move into, which will probably at this point looks like it'd be my son and Brian together, the two managers, you know, and presenting opportunities for them is exciting to me.

47:00They're both going to the to Michael Smith, to the leadership intensive in Washington, DC. Just another plug. See the thing come across the bottom of the screen right now? Leadership intensive in July in Washington, DC. Is that the one? Oh, look at that. Oh, my God. Raleigh, way to go, brother. He gave me a thumbs up. But I did that course 2 years ago, I think it was.

47:28In Ogden. And I, I really feel like I could do it again because I'm at a— I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm— I've learned so much in 2 years, but I'm really happy to be able to give those guys the opportunity to do that, to let them grow. Because I look at this now, it's like, hey, this, this is gonna be for you to run.

47:51And I want them to outperform anything I've ever done. I just want to set the stage for them to be able to hit the ground running. Yeah, well, and, and attending another leadership intensive, you're going to learn even more because you've had 2 years of runway under your belt that you have learned and developed and grown. Now when you attend it again, you have such a solid foundation.

48:15Now you're ready to build that building. You're ready to build upon what you've already learned, implemented, discovered, rewrote as your, uh, truth tapes You know what those next steps are going to be, and you'll go to leadership intensive. Your brain will still melt. We'll still have to pour it back in your head because of the learning that will happen. And now the development and growth you'll have for the next year as well will be just tremendous.

48:40So Andy, get to the DC, get to the leadership intensive. You need to be there. Hmm. Um, I'll consider that. That's a good idea. Yeah, take that into consideration. Anybody that's watching this as well and you see it, go back to that QR code, get it into that leadership intensive. It really will change— thank you— it really will change the way you think about yourself, about your business, about your life, about why you think the way you think.

49:12And then you can help to discover why other people think the way that they think. Absolutely. Uh, so powerful. Well, and one of the things that I really want to point out to the listeners is, you know, typically when we have a new client coming into our individual coaching program is they see people like Andy and they're intimidated. But hearing Andy's story that he started off, you know, fixing cars in a very small shop himself, building it to now a multi-shop owner, not having to be an integral part of the day-to-day of the business because he has put people in the right seats, grown the business to a level that you can have a mid-tier

49:51manager. It's totally doable. Now, does it require blood, sweat, and tears? Absolutely. I mean, I own a shop. I was a service advisor for 2 years full-time. Like, you don't get to this point without going through some of those steps, but it is doable. And, you know, sitting saying, well, I only have $500,000 or $600,000 in sales this year, that, that was Andy at one point.

50:18And, you know, now, now we're in a completely different scenario because of the changes and the improvements and the attention you put to these improvements and your leadership style. So I get a lot of new members and I was actually at a group too, member our Group 2 meeting a couple weeks ago and then had a meeting with a member and, you know, she said, you know, Jen, you don't understand what we come back to because you have 2 managers in your shop.

50:47And I said, hold on a minute, I was you 15 years ago. So it does take time and it does take attention, but it is totally doable and we can take you from opening your own shop. I have 2 members who have started to work with us prior to even purchasing their shop, to now owning their shop, to becoming a multi-shop owner.

51:11So all of those steps and processes, we have the ability and the knowledge and the training and coaching to fill all of those steps. But it is a process. You're not going to go from Andy opening your shop to $3.1 million being pretty much a hands-off owner in 2 years. I mean, it's taken 10 or 14 to do that. Oh yeah, you— if you keep doing what you've always done, you're going to keep getting what you've always got.

51:40You've got to do something to change. And so, Jennifer, to this specific scenario, a shop owner that you would have worked with that they went from, from, uh, a bucket and a wrench and a computer to multi-shop owner? What, what did their timeline look like? So maybe others who are listening can go, oh, you know what, in 6 years I'm going to be 6 years older.

52:05I'm either going to be still with a bucket and a wrench, or I can invest in myself and improve. What's that look like? The time frame differs because of this. So it's your ideology, it's your mentality, it's where do you want to go and How are you going to take the steps to get there? We can give you the information. Again, one of the reasons I suggested Andy being on this podcast is because he's done a lot with the information to get to where he is today.

52:37So if you, if you enact it, if you take it home and you actually implement some of the things that we talk about, you're going to move much faster than someone who is, you don't understand, my customers are different. Yeah, totally different types of shop owners. So I would say the time frame is different for everyone, but 5, 6 years to go from, from, from small to large, um, maybe if I had to put a time frame on it.

53:10And I think you hit on the two elements that must be implemented in every situation You talked about the attention. You've got to give it attention. You've got to give it the attention it needs. It needs your attention. And the second one is that you have to be intentional about what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing, you could wander in the forest and be walking in circles because you don't have that compass.

53:43Compasses were created before time, before clocks. Why? Because we needed to know where we were going. So compasses are more important. You need a coach, you need a direction, you need some help to make sure you make— well, and some accountability. I mean, that, that's what the premise of our whole GPG program is, is it's not only the facilitator and the coach holding you accountable, you're being held accountable by a group of your peers.

54:09Yes. So yeah, yes. So if you're listening to this and, and you are the shop that's at that $500,000 or $600,000, let's start that journey together. We can do this. We can do it together and make it happen for you that in 4, 3, 4, 5, 6 years, you're having the same conversation with somebody else who's doing a podcast to talk about your success story.

54:33And it's going to be similar to what Andy has. Mhm. Andy, final question from me, uh, and then Jennifer, a question from you for Andy if you want to pipe in here. And in fact, I might have two. My first question is going to say, um, what advice would you give another shop owner who is thinking that there's got to be a next level?

55:01Well, there absolutely is, and I, I could say from experience, to figure out what that level or what your goal is, you know, what do you want to achieve and, and, and, and how can you achieve that? And it, that's true to anything in life, but it's having the, having the understanding or the, the understanding of what tools you can use to get yourself to that point.

55:24Once again, in my case, it was I want to work my way out of a job, you know, what does that look like? So, you know, and, and, and, and, but, but certainly doable, um, with, with, with, with some input, some coach people, you know. Most shop owners, uh, uh, that I found are pretty close-minded, don't want to be told what to do, you know.

55:48They're doing it great, don't tell me. And, uh, That's why I was at an auction earlier today for a shop that closed down, because, you know, they just choose to just do the same thing they always did, and at the end of the day, they got nothing left. No business and just a bunch of tools to sell. So, um, wow. It doesn't have to be that way.

56:10It doesn't have to be that way at all. No, no. Yeah, they're, they're getting pennies on the dollar for those tools and assets. Jennifer, I don't think I have a question for you, Andy. I— and you're, you're a pretty humble guy, and I want you to really hear this. So thank you for being an industry leader, and thank you for setting the tone and the example of what success can really look like.

56:36And, you know, I hope you're an inspiration to those who are watching and listening to this because you, you've done exactly my why. My why is to, to help elevate individual shop owners. And because of your attention and intention to the information that we've been discussing, you've, you've climbed to that level. So I want you to really hear that you are an industry leader, and I thank you for being here, and thank you for being a part of the Institute.

57:04Yeah, well, thank you. That means a lot to me. I, I certainly don't see myself that way. I, uh, I still, I still hear Parker Branch telling me maybe 2 years ago, with a few changes you'll pass me. I'm like, yeah, right, whatever. You're getting close. You are getting close. Yeah, yep, yep. By the end of 2027, when shop number 2 kicks in, watch out Parker.

57:31You'll join him in that million-dollar net club. That's That's the plan. Yeah, yeah. All right, one final question coming from, uh, Tanika, uh, and then a final question for me. Did you get any pushback from your technicians, the technicians you acquired, implementing a DVI program, changing their process procedure, moving their cheese? Honestly, if you're, if you're asking about the shop we just bought, not a whole lot because they knew that their leadership was terrible.

58:05They knew that there was a better way to do things. They're a neighboring shop. They saw our parking lot full of cars all the time and their parking lot empty, right? So, ouch. Yeah, that was, you know, for them to be shown how we do it. I mean, they understood right away that it works. They knew that. So I mean, it's, it is, it's been, certainly has its challenges, but it hasn't been hard at all.

58:35Teaching them the, the processes has really been the hardest thing, but the understanding, the knowledge of it, uh, the knowledge of, you know, the why we're doing it, um, I don't want to say it's one of the easier parts of taking over that business, but I think it has been. It kind of sounds like it. It sounds like they were were, uh, definitely primed and ready for you to step in there and take over.

58:57They were all really hungry, you know. They knew that their leadership was bad. I don't know why they didn't all quit and walk out. Yeah. Now congrats, man. That, that's awesome. All right, last and final question. Years from now, years down the road, don't know what that number is, um, what do you want people to say about your shop, about your team, and about the owner who built it all?

59:23Boy, I, you know, I, I hope it's— I hope it's what our goal's always been, and that's that we are just awesome people, you know, trustworthy, um, you know, give back to the community, you know, the same things we've always been. I, I hope that can be our legacy here, you know. Yeah, for sure. I hope so as well, because you are awesome people.

59:48Yeah, well, thank you. They are people. You guys are too, so that means a lot. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for everybody who's listening. If any of this has sounded interesting or information that you want to pursue even further, get out your cell phone, because as soon as we go to credits, there is a QR code.

1:00:07Let's meet, let's talk, let's sit down and review your What can we do to help you? Our, our goal, our core is to help build a better business for you, which results in a better life for you, which our intention is to build a better industry. So we are all about building a better business, a better life, and a better industry. With that, my name is Jimmy Lee.

1:00:32I'm with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence, and thank you. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Andy. Really appreciate you guys being here. Yep. Thank you. Thank you.