Mike, you recently opened your third shop. Thinking back, when did you know it was the right time to open that second shop?-I was in a position where I had three solid Managers and only room for two. One of my Managers was returning to work from a bad motorcycle accident and I didn’t want to lose him. We were seeing a steady increase in car count and were booking constantly two weeks out and having to turn away work. I needed to add another location to take on the added work load.
Which was a scarier proposition, opening the 2nd or the 3rd shop? Was it more like, “I’ve got this, I’ve done it before,” or was it “Am I crazy? Why am I putting myself through this again?!”-It was scarier opening the second location. There were still a lot of unknowns that had me worried at night. By the time the second location was rockin’ and rollin’ I felt that the third shop would be easier to pull off and so far I was right.
How long was the first Affordable Automotive location open for before you considered opening the second? –Twenty two years.
And how long after that until the third shop was opened? –One and a half years.
What did you learn when starting your second shop that made opening the 3rd that much easier?-I realized how strong my customer base was and how well my processes work to make my business run well without me being present all of the time at the other two locations.
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