Designing A Dream: Kustom Kreations
The newly opened Kustom Kreations, nestled in the scenic Sierra Nevada mountains of Carson City, Nev., is stopping traffic – literally.
A History of Success and Change
The time: 1894. The place: Boston, Mass. The body shop: Fitzpatrick Brothers.
It’s All In The Mix: Do it Yourself and Save on Materials
Mixing your own paint is the single best way to save money on a shop’s material bill – in fact, no other individual change will make a shop more profit than in-house paint mixing.
Legal Insight: Know Laws that Affect Your Business
As a body shop owner, you have a lot to worry and think about. If you’re successful, though, you probably make the time to check the quality of the paint work leaving your shop
– even though you employ painters.
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:
Starting Over
Russ Manley and his father, Ron, have run Manley and Son Auto Body and Paint in Forsyth, Mo., for 34 years. In the early years, custom work was the bread and butter for the shop, but because of poor work conditions, paint jobs that went wrong were as prevalent as the ones that went right.
Overcoming Roadblocks
Three men – Bob Anderson, Jerry Kottschade and Joe Sanders – have devoted a great deal of time over the years to assume positions of leadership within their chosen field.
Technology as a Marketing Tool
As a shop owner, you want state-of-the-art diagnostic and repair equipment to help you provide your customers with high-quality, cost-effective, efficient repairs. The value of advanced technology here is obvious.
Shop Forum/Addressing Aftermarket Parts
Some collision-repair specialists don’t mind using aftermarket parts, some do. For those who do mind, how do they deal with having to use them when an insurance company says
so?
Shop Management/The Future is Now
Even if you’re 30 years from retirement and 40 years from death (so you think), it’s still in your – and your loved ones – best interests to plan for these events.