PROFITS DON’T JUST HAPPEN – PROFITS ARE PLANNED

 

You’re the business owner. You may have opened up your shop because of your love and talent for fixing cars and trucks, but you’re in charge now. You’re the boss.

That change in mindset affects many elements of running and owning a business. From recruiting to all marketing initiatives – But possibly the biggest and most important component is making money. Your shop must make a profit in order to grow, to pay your employees – and pay yourself too!

Unless you have a handle on your shops data – unless you know the true financial picture of your business, you are just leaving it up to pure luck that you’ll be able to not just pay the bills and payroll but pay yourself.

This is where you start…you start each morning looking at your dashboard. What were the sales yesterday, what’s your production schedule for today and where are you falling short. And how does that answer fit in with your overall business plan for the month and year. These are the areas a good business owner focuses on each morning.

“Contacting DRIVE changed both my business and life.” – Kevin House, Owner CENTER COLLISION Tacoma, WA

Without that up-to-date knowledge of the financials of your shop, you will be doomed to always be playing catch up to pay the most pressing bills on your desk.  Maybe you don’t have the latest dashboard software, but you need to solve the issue of knowing where each day’s monies go immediately.

That’s the CONTROL a shop owner needs to move his business to the next stage. You don’t want to be caught in a perpetual press of playing financial ‘catch-up’.

But how does a shop owner get to the point of CONTROL? Having the day-to-day KNOWLEDGE and being confident in that KNOWLEDGE will bring a sense of order and stability to the business.

A profitable shop has DISCIPLINE. It’s easy to be consumed with that days problems – whether they are marketing or recruitment – and not have your eye focused on the overall business plan of the shop. What are the goals – where do you want to be in 5 years – and hopefully relying on your business Coach to get you there.

“Coaching is the reason I have the successful business I have today.” – Donny Yeoman, Owner YEOMAN SERVICE CENTER Fort Wayne, IN

Bringing DISCIPLINE to the business each morning is key. Knowing where you stand and knowing how that fits into your goals is the sign of a well-run shop.

But things don’t change and improve overnight. A business owner needs to have fortitude and have both mental and emotional strength to face adversity head on. Sometimes just taking that first step toward bringing order to the business will feel productive. You were able to look at the daily production and you now have a plan in place to improve production by 20%  –  you put that plan in action and you are slowly seeing results.

Now it’s time to attack that next item on the list. Do you have a clear understanding of your financial footing? When you look at your bank statements – when you look at your business accounts – do you fully realize how that information fits in with your overall GAME PLAN. Or maybe you look at the statements thinking you know you should, but you may as well be reading a foreign language. This is a perfect example of why you need a business Coach. After all, you know how to fix a car not analyze a profit & loss statement.

It’s also important not to be too hard on yourself through this process. Beating yourself up about not understanding the significance of profits doesn’t get you anywhere. As an Executive of your business, all you need to understand is that it is significant. Once you get that, it’s now time to talk to an expert. Someone that can bring clarity and hope for the future to your shop.

You opened up your shop because you are great at fixing vehicles – you wanted to be your own boss and provide for your family and future. Not because you love dissecting numbers on a bank statement. So talk to DRIVE about what they can offer with some professional and experienced Coaching.

“Why waste time? Reach out and grab the opportunity with DRIVE. Talk to DRIVE – it will work.” – Steve Galyen, Owner TRINITY QUALITY AUTO CARE Salem & Turner, Oregon

Acknowledging this is your first step towards running that business and possibly even having your son or daughter own it down the road – after you move to a tropical island of course!

Sign-up for the DRIVE Shop Business Analysis today or call DRIVE @ 818.863.1077.