Prepare to Paint
Paint preparation is more difficult and complicated than it was a couple decades ago. To keep your shop as productive and profitable as possible, keep yourself up to date on the latest paint products.
In SOPs We Trust
Standard operating procedures could offer a body shop owner more freedom and the ability to attract new insurance business by creating ‘verifiable’ trust.
When the Experts Are Absent: Cross-training Works
Do you dread employees going on vacation or calling in sick because your shop can’t function without them? Do you dread being sick or going on vacation because your shop can’t function without you? If so, cross-train to create substitutes who fill in when the experts aren’t there.
Use It – Or Lose It: New Technology
If you’re not fully utilizing today’s technology — if your shop’s full of “toys” that no one uses — then you’re not fully utilizing your shop’s potential for profits.
Change Waits For No One
In the rapidly changing world of collision repair, something that was revolutionary yesterday may be obsolete tomorrow — including your business.
When Worlds Collide: Collision Repairers vs. Insurers
Can collision repairers really fight off the insurer invasion of the industry? Or, rather than waging war, should they learn to live together in peace?
Breaking the Bottleneck
The collision industry has gone through a gamut of changes in
the last 20 years – most of them due to the constantly changing
automobile industry and the technology required to repair those
vehicles to preaccident condition. Others have been due to EPA
guidelines and the concern for the environment. Along with these
changes, new equipment, materials and procedures have been introduced.
The Necessary Equipment
If your shop were simply painting used cars,
you could do an adequate job with a bare minimum of equipment.
A paint gun, a random orbit sander and a masking machine would
get most of the work done. If you intend to do productive collision
repair, however, much more equipment is necessary.
Blueprints for Success: A Plan for Profits
Floor plans lay the groundwork for production, but other factors build on this foundation. To construct a solid business – brick by brick – learn how four shops implemented a plan for profits.
Multiple Shops, Multiplied Profits
Name: Alamo Body & Paint, Inc. Location: San Antonio, Texas Owners: Wayne Baker Established: 1973 Square Footage: 80,500 (total of three locations) Number of Employees: 152 (total of three locations) Repair Volume: 1,150 cars per month (total of three locations) Average Repair Ticket: $1,300 They say everything’s bigger in Texas. Take Alamo, for instance. (No,