Shop owners ?

Bryan inIowa · Aug 1, 2012

Facing a few issues at shop . Had my place for close to 26 yrs now . Most of it one man show . One time had 3 guys working here. Seemed to be lot more stress ,comebacks , way more overhead , and general baby sitting. As they left I didn't replace them . Didn't really miss them . Picked and choose what i worked on weeded out the idiot /deadbeat/vampire customers . Over the last few years I have picked up some real good customers, bigger accounts and took on Small engine repair in addition to full service auto / truck service /carb rebuilding that I have been doing .
So I am expanding ,taking over the rest of the building I lease , nother 1000 sq ft. Looking at putting small engine repair and inventory into that area. Installed new 15,000 lb hoist . will have 2 hoists, 4 bays for car truck repair. Steady flow of work, etc. How the heck do you find anyone that wants to work ? I had one guy hired, seemed to work out good , knew his stuff . all was well for month or so ,,then didn't show up couple days, no call,,grrr! showed up ,,gave him the speech . Few weeks later no show, no call .Finally came like nothing new,,asked whats on the schedule today ? I told him his schedule was packing up his tools. Had nother guy lasted 2 weeks . Years ago used to have kids knocking on door all summer for part time work .

Royse · Aug 1, 2012

I run a different kind of shop now, but when I was a kid in mechanics class
the local guys that wanted to hire young guys would come into the coop
and ask our instructor to recommend someone with some potential.
Sometimes it worked, sometimes, well, you were dealing with high school kids after all.
Good luck!

Bryan inIowa · Aug 1, 2012

Oh yea... One kid I had years ago,openedhis own place. He's done well. Speed shop , building street rods and custom fabrication. He was good worker and sad to see him go. I always told him anytime he has a chance to better himself ,go for it . He reminds me of that whenever I see him . Nother guy had bad attitude . Quit ,said he was gonna open his own place . He lasted 8 months. Belly up . Everyone should be self employed at least once ! lol

Royse · Aug 1, 2012

Everyone should be self employed at least once

Amen to that!

ShadetreeRet · Aug 1, 2012

I feel that this "age of electronics" has a lot to do with the situation. So many today feel that if you can't push a button and make it happen, then they don't want to fool with it. Maybe I should have said, "age of button pushers", because today most things depend on electronics of some type to run. When I went to work at a dealership in '93, there were, If I remember correctly, eight service bays. We had three steady, dependable techs, and the rest of the bays were like revolving doors. Some would stay six months to a year and then find what they thought was greener grass somewhere else. Another thing is, you can't buy an old clunker and pull it under a shade tree in the back yard and learn to work on it anymore because of all the govt. required junk on them. I never was a professional auto mechanic, but I learned enough to get by from reading Hot Rod Magazine, and Motors repair manuals.

oldtanker · Aug 1, 2012

How deep into repairs are you? Computers and all? If you are doing all repairs and have kept up with it get to know the instructor at a local trade school. Maybe they can steer you into a good kid.

Rick

Dave Sherburne NY · Aug 1, 2012

I've got 2 grandsons I can guarantee are good workers one just finished his first year of college at Morrisville in AG mechanics and he's going back next year. The other will be a senior in high school this year. He's got 10 garden tractors right now he buys them fixes them up paints them then sells them. They're both in church every Sunday and don't waste any time watching TV. Only one major defect, neither of them has brains enough to get out of New York state. Probably inherited from their grandfather.

Welding man · Aug 1, 2012

36 years this month. Have been through the same issues you have.I am now a one man show also. I have customers that have been with me since day one and have spent tens of thousands of dollars with me. I am 62 years old would love to cut back to about 30hrs a week and enjoy myself a little, but it is hard to say no to someone that has paid your bills for over half your life. I have more business than I have had in my life, but I can't work 16 hours a day 6 days a week like I used to.I still love my work but I just need to slow down. Lots of tough decisions await me too. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Bryan inIowa · Aug 1, 2012

Yes I do quite a bit of computer diagnois'. Have up to date tooling ,Tech 2 , modis etc. gotta spend $$ on tooling to keep up with todays cars. I have been thinking about giving auto instructor a call .

big a · Aug 1, 2012

Worked at a few different shops in my life, and the only way I ever saw to attract and keep good help was to pay a good commission. Saw our share of idiots come and go, but the guys who stayed all worked commission. When the owner tried to take us off it, I demanded to stay on it, or walk. He kept it, for me, until he closed up.
Know what you mean...we had an awful time finding and keeping good help. Seemed like there was a core of about 5 of us that stayed till the end, and the rest was a revolving door. Not just kids either...one of the worst I can remember was a 60 year old guy who hands down was the most clueless person I have ever met!

tedregentin · Aug 1, 2012

My partner and I own a six hoist, ten bay shop. We have just three employees. We have a stack of job applications that is inches thick. It's funny, but not one of them would we hire, even though we have enough work to add one or two techs. The three that we have are top techs, and we pay them well. We also try to keep a pleasant and low stress work place. All three were hired strictly by word of mouth. They had been through the dealership ratrace, or had worked for shops with ethics problems. We have put the word out that we are looking for a Wyo-tech grad who has some skills. You might try getting in touch with one of the better tech schools if you have time and patience to train someone.
Hope this helps,
Ted

wisbaker · Aug 2, 2012

I'm an ex-mechanic, basically I can make a lot more money for less hassles than fixing cars. I enjoy the work but with the car business the way it is it's a rat race and to many shop owners want the mechanic to take a lot of the risk for not much money. The local Case IH franchise is looking for mechanics- paying $8.50 an hour, heck the golf course paid me $6.50 an hour 30 years ago. You can make more money running a package machine at a cheese plant or a rewinder at a paper mill and don't have to buy tools. If I want to work as a mechanic I can earn 20-25/hour as an industrial mechanic/millwright.

Nathan (SD) · Aug 2, 2012

I don"t do shop work but I am sandwiched between 2 shops. Shop 1 is farm repair. Owner tries to stay away from newer stuff. Likes stuff to be at least 10 years old before it comes in. He is in his 50s and has 2 guys in their late 30"s hired. Ones worked 20 yrs and the other about 8 yrs.
He himself likes to do on-the-farm repairs and leaves the shop work for the younger guys. I don"t know the exact particulars of how he charges out time but I know shop rate is $60 hour and the mechanic gets $40 of it. Each has mostly his own tools and rounds up their own parts and deals with the customer also. He could use 1 more guy he figures for more on-the-farm stuff. Shop aint big enough to fit a 3rd guy in.

Shop 2 does auto repair. Owner in his 50"s has 3 guys hired. Most are kids out of college. One guy his age has worked for last 12 years. Owner does all the talking with the customer and chases parts. Mechanics are stuck in the building from open till close. They have no interaction with the customers. Owner currently charges $54 shop rate and pays the employees $18. Most guys work 2-3 years and are gone.

I think shop 2 guys problem is he don"t let his employees feel involved. If you are truly a good diagnosis and problem solver, that same drive that makes you that way also drives you to want to be your own boss or always look for something more fulfilling.

Wile E · Aug 2, 2012

What kind of wage are you paying? It seems that the better money you pay the better employees you get. (this is true in many industries) If you are paying $9 per hour then you will get a guy that doesnt give a chit.

Jim in Ma. · Aug 2, 2012

Another option, would be to think about 2 older semi retired workers let them each work say 3 days a week.
Most people like that come with a lot of knowledge and seem to be more dependable.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 2, 2012

people want a paycheque, not a job

Sprint 6 · Aug 2, 2012

I own my own one man show after 11 years in the dealership and 6 at independents. It all comes down to how you pay. I was GM World Class Certified and it amazed me how many service managers would call me saying how great a position they had for me and offer $3.00 less per hour than I was already making. In this business you have to pay good to get good. If you want a person who knows their stuff and has $50-100K wrapped up in tools, you are going to have to pay $20-30 an hour. The other problem is the flat rate pay system. That system requires excellent record keeping and honesty on both sides. It becomes more trouble than its worth, not to mention the tech is paid for basically how fast he can do something, not how good he can do something.

ss55 · Aug 2, 2012

Someone that is ambitious will also need the best paying job he can find. What are you paying compared to what are the other shops in your area paying?

Spook · Aug 2, 2012

If you have been in the business 26 years, maybe you should be thinking about how to get out? Your best chance of selling is to a employee. That might influnce the hiring decision - look not only for a mechanic, but somebody who might want to take on the shop when you retire. I've seen several folks who didn't make that plan, and they ended up not getting any value for the biz that they built up.

Pitch · Aug 2, 2012

Good friend of mine was lead mechanic for a pipeline company. Pay was not great but not bad,but he was treated like crap. never was made to feel like he was part of the organization. Too many shop owners expect a guy to work like a partner,but then treat them as a no more than a hired hand.
Friend was told one day that a monkey on a bicycle could do his job. He loade his tolls in in his truck and left,took two other mechanics with him.
Opened his own shop did real well for several years and then changed focus. He now owns cement pumpers and is quite well off.

Jason the Red · Aug 2, 2012

Try finding a young person with motivation to learn. One possibly in high school still. You may have to go through several to find the "right one". Give them a few hours here and there and you will soon learn which ones are serious (show up on time, stay busy, watch and learn, etc.) and which ones want a paycheck. Then when they prove themself, pay them competitively, and treat them right.

You will never be able to keep good workers paying minimum wage and treating them poorly, not that you do either of these. There is always a competitor offering greener pastures, or so it seems!

bison · Aug 3, 2012

Shoulda stayed with the one man operation.
Employee spells,... t-r-o-u-b-l-e..
The good ones one can't keep,..the bad ones arnt worth keeping.

GaryinKs · Aug 3, 2012

When i worked for John Deere, I had to have my own tools and I was paid 11.00 an hour, they charged $78.00 an hour for the work I did,

bison · Aug 3, 2012

(quoted from post at 19:11:26 08/03/12) When i worked for John Deere, I had to have my own tools and I was paid 11.00 an hour, they charged $78.00 an hour for the work I did,

Last outfit i worked for(25 yr ago) paid me $25 an hr,they supplied the tools.
I'll be dammd if i would wear out my tools on their stuff. :roll:

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