The Definition of Success
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Send Me Your Best Student – Partnering with Vo-Tech Schools
Looking to take the local vo-tech school’s best and brightest? Fat chance – unless you’ve been partnering with that vo-tech school all along. If you’re all take and no give, don’t expect instructors to do you any favors when you suddenly need to hire.
Sold: Have You Ever Wondered what Happens to Body Shop Owners who Sell their Businesses?
In the final installment of our series, former shop owner Tom Sellers recounts why not to use buried money as a down payment and why he sold his shop to the son of a former competitor.
Movers and Shakers: Kevin Caldwell
Kevin Caldwell discusses his hopes for the industry, his concerns about third-party influence and his inability to remember punch lines. Hard work is nothing new to Kevin Caldwell, vice president and COO of Autobody by Caldwell in Laguna Hills, Calif. Whether he was scrubbing pots and pans at a small restaurant, delivering the local paper
I Spot a Time Saver: Search of the Ultimate Resistance Spot Welder
How many times have you bought a major or even a minor tool, only to realize that you didn’t really know what you were getting? Sure, you were able to get by with your purchase, but how many times did you want to kick yourself – wishing you’d researched just a little more? At our
6 Steps to Turn That Frown Upside Down
There are times when you must fire a customer.
DRPs: Don’t Go Away Mad, Just Go Away
Since so many changes are taking place on the repairer-insurer-consumer horizon, all anyone can do is speculate about the future. Not being a betting man (I’ve never even bought a lotto ticket), I’d venture that the answers to Bill O’Keefe’s questions might be “yes” and “no”–but not necessarily in that order. At a recent NACE,
Smart Start: Strategies for Opening a Shop
Once upon a time in the body shop industry, all you needed to start a shop was a garage, a couple pieces of used equipment and a good work ethic. These days, however, that formula no longer adds up to success. The advent of direct-repair programs (DRPs), the increased influence of insurance companies in determining
Cured: Let’s Talk About Why the Paint Shop Runs Slower than the Metal Shop
Both departments take their allotted completion times from a published labor time database, so 4.5 hours should pass just as quickly in both shops. But, as you well know, the 4.5 hours of work takes longer to complete in the paint shop. The difference of course, is the dry times. You can hang a new
The Secret to Success
Doing your best. Giving your all. What better ways to measure success?