Streets of Gold: Shurway AutoCenter Ltd.
Name: Shurway AutoCenter Ltd. Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. Owner: Giovanni "John" Scarfo Established: 1981 Square Footage: 17,500 Number of Employees: 20 Repair Volume: 150 cars per month When the first immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, they believed the streets of America were paved with gold. Obviously, they weren’t truly paved in a precious metal. But, to
Small-Business Administration Loans
Ask 10 body shop owners to tell you the most frustrating aspect of running their businesses, and eight of them will probably name the area of financing. It’s no secret that obtaining adequate funding to meet day-to-day needs for working capital, equipment and facilities poses a major challenge.
Strategic Partnerships
No business exists in a vacuum, least of all a collision repair shop.
More Than an Estimate
It used to be so easy to write an estimate. Easy, that is, until the ARMS people announced to the country: "A customer doesn’t need an estimate. The customer is in pain and wants his vehicle made whole again." This tiny piece of information had a huge – and dramatic – effect on many leading
A Model of Success: A 1:24 Collection!
Lee Stone began collecting cars nearly two years ago – everything from a Ford Model T to a ’56 Ford Pickup to the newly designed 1994 Mustang – and the collection is now pushing 30 vehicles.
The 1997 Industry Profile
That was then … On Nov. 14, 1896, Britain abolished the Red Flag Law, a crazy, crazy mandate that forced motorists to drive behind a person who waved a red flag and walked ahead of the vehicle. While arguable – and in no way based in fact – this very well could have been the
The Tale of One Shop Continues…
….with Paul and Teresa Slate
Ask the Executives
There’s no better place to go for advice than to those who’ve reached the top. To help you climb your ladder of success, we asked Clark Plucinski and Russell Verona – both industry leaders and BodyShop Business Executives of the Year – questions ranging
from productivity to customer relations to future trends:
Paint-Shop Smarts
To increase production in the paint shop, you can do one of two things: Buy more equipment – the object here being to do more work in the same time period by mechanizing
the task. Or, you can produce more by better utilizing your present facility and equipment – the old “work smarter not harder”
school of thought.
Negotiating with an Insurance Adjuster
Regardless of where the majority of your business comes from, one fact of life of owning a collision-repair shop is having to negotiate with an insurance adjuster.