Figuring Out Financials
This Month’s Ailing Shops … Shop No. 1 Annual Sales Volume: $449,000 Units Completed: 357 Average Repair: $1,257.70 Organization: Sole Proprietorship Employees: 7 Owner: Steve Accounting Duties: Steve’s wife, Cheryl Shop No. 2: Annual Sales Volume: $2.4 million Units Completed: 1,369 Average Repair: $1,753.10 Organization: Sub Chapter S Corporation Employees: 17 Owner: Mark Accounting Duties:
Plastic Filler: a Good Product in Bad Hands
When plastic filler first hit the market, no depth of filler was too great and manufacturer’s instructions were just there to make the can look good. Even today, decades later, plastic filler is still misunderstood and misused. Why? Because repairers try to use it as a substitute for skill.
Image is Everything
You might perform top-quality repair work, but if your shop or employees look bad, smell bad or seem bad, your image is alienating potential customers and perpetuating negative stereotypes that the 20/20s and Datelines of this world so like to exploit.
And the Survey Says
Consumers’ attitudes toward a vehicle that’s been wrecked and repaired.
DRPs: Probing the Legalities
There’s a definite conflict of interest when the payer (insurer) controls the quality of repair work. In fact, without the independence of the professional repairer, some say there’s no difference between the DRP shop and the insurer – just a different organization with the same interest, adverse to the property owner. But that doesn’t make DRPs illegal – or does it?
PDR: The Urban Legend of Body Repair Revealed
Back in ’80s, strange tales circulated about paintless dent repair techs’ “magically” disappearing dents. As the rumors grew, I convinced myself that these guys were dabbling in the black arts. (If not, then why all the secrecy, huh?) But when I got tired of losing work to them, I decided to take my chances and learn the skill myself.
Out of Retirement: Full-framed Vehicles
Just when you thought they were gone for good, MJ, bell bottoms and full-framed vehicles are back. Though Jordan can still score 40 points per game and bell bottoms are still … scary, today’s full frames aren’t the same as the ones produced in the past. And the repair procedures aren’t the same either. by
Can Your Shop Withstand the Scrutiny?
Shops producing poor quality repairs?
Clean Up your Act
That tiny spec of dirt in your paint job costs you a lot more time and money to remove than it would have to prevent it. In The Big Book of Painting, page 2,344, paragraph 6, the author explains “The Rule of Dirt”: “All dirt comes to you. But from where? you sayeth. I sayeth,
Save a Buck… Pass the Buck?
As the market demands cheaper, faster, better repairs, the concept of “better” can often be forgotten. But who decides what’s acceptable in terms of repair quality? And how close is close enough?
