Ratchet+Wrench Radio

Innovate: Setting Yourself Up for a Business Loan

Jon Thompson, owner of 14 locations in Illinois as a part of Butitta Brothers Automotive, joins the show to discuss how a shop owner can obtain a business loan before acquiring another business. He goes over how shops can find the right bank to partner with and the right documents that need to be prepared. Thompson also details how smaller or newer shops can work around a collateral shortfall.

Lead: Eliminating Time Wasters in the Shop

In this month's edition of the Lead podcast for Ratchet+Wrench Radio, host Aaron Stokes discusses how shop owners can cut out distractions and eliminate time wasters in the shop. He details how shop owners can plan out their priorities in advance, and how they can manage distractions like text messages or emails. 

Grow: Building a Pipeline of Employees

In July’s edition of Ratchet+Wrench Radio’s Grow Podcast, host Rissy Sutherland revisits one of the major issues facing the industry today: the technician shortage. Jay Goninen, CEO of technician recruiting service Find a Wrench, and Kyle Holt, president of SRSandco Automotive Partners share their thoughts, including how shops can always be recruiting, help young people understand what the industry is all about, and build a pipeline for entry level technicians.

Innovate: Developing a Successful Onboarding Process

Jeff Odom oversees 24 full-time employees at his shop, Evergreen Autoworks in Mill Creek, Wash., and over the years has learned how to onboard his employees swiftly and efficiently. He’s learned how to get his entire team involved in both the hiring, and initial training process, to best set up his new employees to be successful. Odom goes over the most important aspects for any shop owner to think about when implementing an onboarding program.

How I Did It: Jeff Matt

Jeff Matt owns the six-location Victory Auto Service & Glass operation in Minnesota. He details how he grew his network and offers advice for any shop owner looking to expand.

Innovate: A Top-Down Approach to Improving Efficiency

No two shops are the same, and various factors can determine a shop's efficiency numbers. However, there are universal tips that can improve one of the most crucial KPIs that determines profitability. To help, Andy Fiffick, owner of 10 Rad Air Complete Car Care locations in the Cleveland area, lays out how he builds his shops from the ground-up for maximum efficiency and how he coaches his team to maximize the KPI.

Grow: Fighting the Technician Shortage

Is there truly a technician shortage? According to Grow host Rissy Sutherland, there are just as many if not more men or women entering tech schools. The issue is there aren’t enough people staying in the industry after tech school. In June’s Grow podcast, Sutherland speaks with two members of NASTF’s Road to Great Technicians board, Jill Saunders and Donny Seyfer, whose objective is to recruit new technicians, train them, and communicate their findings to the industry.   Saunders and Seyfer detail the work they’re doing with NASTF, and how shop owners around the country can get involved.

Lead: Surviving the Slow Days

In this month’s edition of the Lead podcast with Ratchet+Wrench Radio, Aaron Stokes discusses how shops can get through slow days and slow periods. Stokes discusses the misunderstandings most shop owners have about slow periods, how to best prepare for them and how to keeping your cool and keep your staff in check when you experience a downturn.

How I Did It: Brian Sump

This week, Ratchet+Wrench is launching the “How I Did It” series, where we look at some of the most successful shop owners throughout the industry, and the obstacles they overcame to take their business to the next level. Our first guest is Brian Sump, a former professional athlete who had no business experience prior to owning Denver-based Avalon Motorsports in 2007. Since that time, Sump has turned the German-specialty shop into what a number of industry consultants consider to be one of the best repair facilities in the industry. Additionally, he launched Klasse Auto Rentals to supplement Avalon, and launched a second facility, Denver-based Urban Autocare in 2015. Sump goes over the calculated risks he took to take his businesses to the next level, and discusses how he improved his business acumen as he slowly grew his shop.

Innovate: The Past, Present and Future of Shop Technology

In this week's Innovate podcast, Chris Cloutier, shop technology expert and owner of Golden Rule Auto Care, joins the show to discuss the timeline of a shop's technology.  Cloutier created his own site to go over this topic, and he walks through the timeline's three stages, including where your shop is now, and where it can be. The further along on the timeline you are, Cloutier says, the more efficient and productive your shop can be. Stage One (3:26): Stage one covers the vast majority of today's shops. This is the inescapable technology, like your shop's website, or online reviews.  Stage Two (10:10): Shops in stage two know they need to embrace technology, and leverage it in their day-to-day operations. These shops have already embraced software like automated workflow, or digital vehicle inspections.  Stage Three (30:04): These shops are in what Cloutier calls the advanced category, and are the 1 percent. These early adopters may have already included cloud based SMS software, or telematics into their daily operations.