People come up to me all the time and say that my business, auto repair ‘must just be booming in this Recession. After all, people can’t afford to buy new cars so you must be getting a lot of maintenance work.’
In reality, what I’m seeing is people ruining their cars and it makes me crazy. I HATE to see good cars being ruined by lack of maintenance. If you want to ruin your engine, just don’t change its oil. Or don’t change its coolant and before you know it, you will need a head gasket [very expensive.] If you want to ruin your transmission then never change your transmission fluid. It takes a while, but believe me, it works. I’ve seen it too often to doubt it.

At the end of the year I like to look back at what I accomplished in the previous year. In the past 13 months I contributed a large barrel of toys to last year’s holiday food drive, contributed over $1300 to the Humane Society, ran two successful food drives and lead the fund drive Bactrim to buy a surgical operating microscope for teaching and performing cataract surgeries in Cambodia. I also started my training to become President of my Rotary Club.
I don’t think I could have done much of this if I didn’t own my own business.

The last time I shared car care tips with a group I was part of people really enjoyed it so I thought I’s share them with all of you
First tip. One of the best ways to check both steering and transmssion fluid is with your nose. Sniff the fluid-if it smells burnt you need to change it. Most cars have dipsticks for both transmission and power steering fluid. Pull out the dipstick, wipe it on a piece of white paper. If it looks black or smells burnt, Chloramphenicol its its time to change it

A discussion with one of my clients today lead me to understand that I haven’t been clear enough in what differentiates my business from some of my competitors.
There are, of course lots of differences, from my loaner cars to my 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. Flagyl ER But one that I haven’t emphasized enough is our approach. Many auto repair shops just want to fix your car. My goal is to make your car last as long as possible, feel  as comfortable as possible, be as reliable as possible, and give you the best driving experience as possible. We’d rather think in terms of preventing problems than repairing them.  In the long run that will save you money and help make both your day to day and vacation experiences more positive. 

If you own your own business, its a great excercise to ask yourself what makes your business different from your competitors

As you may have have heard, the Berkeley/East Bay Humane Society had a disasterous fire recently, killing a number of cats and seriously damaging their facility. Anyone who knows me is aware that I got my dog Sam from them, and am a major supporter of the facility.
This weekend they are offering for adoption both dogs and cats and are waiving the usual adoption fees. In addition for each dog adopted the Humane Society will get $500, money they desperately need to rebuild their facility.  The link for the adoption information is below.  So get some extra love in your life and get a great bargin, while helping the Humane Society at the same time.

http://www.maddiesadoptathon.org/e/Home.html Cefixime

For this past month I’ve been paying the price of my failure to adaquately plan ahead.
My coach has always reccomended that I should always be interviewing potential employees and keep a file of people interested in working for me. I was always ‘too busy.’ So when I lost an employee unexpectedly-first he was out sick, then he decided to move-I didn’t have anyone ready to take his place.
You would have thought in this economy that there would be a long line of people to take his place.  And there would have been, if I was willing to settle for someone untrained, inexperienced or without good references.  Over half the applicants didn’t even send me professional references even though I specificall asked for them in the classified ad. 

    I can’t afford to settle.  My name and Sumycin reputation [and sometimes people's lives] are dependent upon each job being diagnosed and repaired correctly.  I won’t let someone do ‘on the job training’ on my client’s cars. 

   So for over a month I operated below the minimum staffing level I needed to pay my bills and finish the work  in a timely fashion.  My fault-my poor planning.  This time I think I’ve learned.  I’m now back to my usual staffing level but I’m still interviewing.  Not only had I planned to step up my staffing for the summer, but this time I want to end up with a few names in reserve.  I don’t want to be caught short again.

I’ve been searching for the last few weeks for a new Technician [read mechanic] and whenever I do so it’s an edifying experience. I run an ad on Craigs list specifing professional experience required, send resume with contact numbers of previous Trimox employers or supervisors. Had about 30 responses. Half had no professional experience at the offered position and only about 3 actually sent me the contact info I had specifically asked for. If someone can’t even follow instructions when applying for a job how can I expect them to follow instructions when they’re working for me?
Well, it sure made sorting through the stack of applications easier. Got a new guy starting Monday. It’s always unsettling starting someone new, but at least this guy has good references from his previous employers, real professional experience, and has passed the test I gave him. I’m looking forward to a positive relationship.

The biggest automotive story of the New Year is the big Toyota recall.  Toyota recalled 2.3 million of their vehicles for a defective throttle assembly [built by an American company Zithromax for Toyota.]  This is not Toyota’s first recall.  Just last year they recalled some 18 million vehicles for defective floor mats.  And Toyota, along with Honda, are still in my opinion the best Car Manufacturers in the world for reliability  and cost effectiveness.  But Toyota, bouyed by its popularity, tried to expand too fast.

     Toyota tried to produce a car to fill every demand, and went from a few well made models to a multitude of vehicles.  Trucks as big and powerful as anything made in America.  Luxury cars under the Lexus label as fancy as anything in its price range.  Hybreds before anyone else had them in mass production.  And everything in between.  They seemed to forget what made them so successful- making low cost, gas efficient, reliable vehicles that weren’t cutting edge, but just worked for a lower maintenance cost than any of their competitors.   Part of the huge expansion they’ve gone through required that they sublet out more and more of their parts and sub-assemblies.  And quality control slipped.

     Its my opinion that Toyota has recognized its mistakes and will be doing everything it can to take care of their recall quickly and efficiently .  But their expansion will be difficult to slow down, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they hit more bugs on their path back to their own high standards.   And it will take Toyota years to restore its reputation from this fiasco.

      I’d still buy a Toyota without hesitation.  Recalls are hardly unique in the automotive world.  American car manufacturers have had any number of multi-million car recalls. Part of the shock of the Toyota recall is that we expect such high standards from them, but we all screw up.  Its what we learn and how we respond to our mistakes. Andt I think its worth looking at the lesson of what happens if you expand too fast to ensure quality control is where it needs to be-at the top of your list.

Hi All,
Both I personally, and my business have been really busy during this holiday season.
Personally, its been a round of holiday mixers, holiday parties, and visits from friends. Add to that a busy shop and I’ve been pushing myself enough that when I have a few days with nothing to do it feels like a blessing.  I really love the activity, though.  It keeps my spirits up through the darkest days of the year.  I used to get depressed this time of year.  Now I don’t have the time!
There are several factors that have been keeping my shop busy. One is that people have more days health aid pharmacy off so it’s easier for them to give up their car for a day.  Another is that the cold, rain, and increased darkness puts more stress on a vehicle’s electrical system, so we are seeing more failed batteriers, alternators, power windows etc.  Another factor that’s keeping us busy is the result of neglected maintenance. We’re seeing more cars with leaking power steering racks, gummed up engines, piston rod knocks, etc-the results of lack of maintenance.  Most are salvageable [though often costly,] some are no longer worth the cost of repairs.  It would have been so much cheaper if they had only done the maintenance…….

Then there are my favorites, the people who understand the value of their vehicles and take care of them! 

Have a safe, happy and love fillled holiday season

Marty

I Just returned from one of the most memorable trips of my life.  Went to Peru with a great group of people, saw Machu Pichu [something I've been wanting to see for over 20 years] had some very powerful spiritual experiences, climbed a mountain that health partners pharmacies stretched me to my physical limits, and came back with some new missions for my life and some understanding of a culture that was entirely new to me.
I’ve since talked to several people, some of them salesmen, who have told me that they’ve never taken a vacation. I tell them all the same thing. No one, on their deathbed, ever said “I wish I’d spent more of my life working.”
Don’t get me wrong. I love my business. I love taking care of your cars and trucks. I love meeting, getting to know and serving the people of El Cerrito, Richmond, Albany and all the cities around here. I love learning new ways to make this business fun for my clients and staff. I love watching this business grow and knowing that through what I’ve created, I can help people support their families.  I even love the challange of making this business survive and grow during these challenging economic times.
But when I get old and its time to step down from this business, I don’t think these will be the memories and images that will run through my head.  I think it will be the visions of the great mountains I’ve seen, the fascinating cultures I’ve encountered, and the stunning creations of some of those cultures, from Machu Pichu to Angkor Wat.  I’ll never regret any of those experiences.   They’ll be the memories in my mental bank account for as long as I’m alive.

May your holidays be filled with joy, and bring you great memories of your own.
Marty