A recent Web-Est survey explored small collision repair shops’ opinions on the state of the economy. Conducted between July 7 and July 16, over 1,300 shops were invited to participate, with 70 percent of them identifying themselves as having three employees or fewer.
Respondents carried overwhelmingly negative views of efforts by Congress and the federal government (through Recovery Act/Stimulus Bill, auto bailout, Troubled Assets Relief Program, etc.) with 87 percent saying it has not helped the industry at all.
Another important finding from the survey was individual respondents’ views of their volume of business compared to the previous six months. Of the shops surveyed, 42 percent believe that their volume of business is worse than the last six months.