Jason Meyer’s father wanted him to become a CPA. Jason chose a different path, returning home to work in the tire and auto repair business. That decision led him to grow a single 7,200 square foot shop into a business with 30 locations, all while maintaining a happy, fulfilling life.
Jason is the Director of Corporate and Partnership Stores at Tirecraft Ontario Inc. In episode 39 of Maximum Octane, he tells Kim Hickey how he scaled, why he staffs for the busiest days, what he looks for when hiring, and why he believes 30 locations can be easier to manage than four.
What You Will Learn
- Jason shares a bit about his background and how he decided to start a business in the automotive industry
- Jason talks about how important it was for him to be able to follow his passion
- Jason explains why we should always “staff our business for the busiest days”
- Jason talks about his mindset when hiring people and what kind of internal customer is the one we should hire
- Jason shares a story that perfectly depicts how to build trust and loyalty among internal customers
- Jason explains why he believes that it’s easier to manage 30 locations than 4
Following His Passion Into the Business
Jason starts with his background and how he decided to build a career in the automotive industry rather than follow the path his father had in mind. He talks about how important it was for him to follow his passion. That passion carried him through the challenges of growth and gave him the energy to keep building.
Passion matters in business because growth is hard. Building a company from one location to 30 involves setbacks, long days, and difficult decisions. Owners who genuinely love the work are more likely to persist through those challenges. Passion alone is not enough, though. Jason paired it with systems, people, and discipline, which is what turned enthusiasm into a lasting business.
Staff for the Busiest Days
Around the 9 minute mark, Jason explains one of his core principles: always staff your business for the busiest days. Many shops staff for an average day to control payroll. The problem is that on busy days, customers wait, quality slips, and employees burn out. Staffing for peak demand protects the customer experience and gives the team breathing room to train and improve on slower days.
Staffing decisions should be tied to your numbers. ATI’s Are Your Technicians Efficient AND Productive? and Why Efficiency Is the Best Gauge of Your Shop explain how to measure whether your team is sized correctly.
Understaffing has hidden costs. When the shop is short-handed, customers wait longer, phone calls go unanswered, quality checks get skipped, and employees burn out. Those problems often cost more in lost business and turnover than the payroll saved. Staffing for peak demand also gives the shop capacity to handle growth, as marketing brings in more cars. On slower days, extra hands can focus on training, maintenance, organization, and customer follow-up.
Smart scheduling helps balance cost and capacity. Reviewing historical car count by day and season lets owners predict busy periods and staff accordingly.
Hiring the Right Internal Customers
Jason shares his mindset when hiring and the kind of person he looks for. A big part of his growth came from moving away from “having all the answers” and instead selecting people he could trust, giving them freedom, and holding them accountable. The right hire makes that possible. The wrong one makes the owner the bottleneck again.
Jim Collins captures this principle in his “First Who, Then What” concept from Good to Great, explained on his website. ATI applies it to shops in From the Right Person to the Right Fit.
Hiring for attitude and values allows a growing business to scale its culture. When every new hire shares the same core values, the culture stays consistent across locations, even when the owner cannot be present. Skills can be trained, but values are much harder to change. Many multi-location operators say that hiring for fit is the single most important factor in maintaining quality as they grow.
Trusting people with freedom also changes the interview. Questions about how a candidate handled a decision without their manager, or what they did when they made a mistake, reveal more about whether they can be trusted with autonomy than questions about technical skill alone.
Building Trust and Loyalty
Around the 19 minute mark, Jason tells a story that captures how to build trust and loyalty with employees. The lesson centers on honoring commitments. When leaders do what they say, consistently, people trust them. That trust is the foundation of a culture where people stay and give their best.
Trust is built through consistency between words and actions. When a leader promises a raise, a schedule change, or a training opportunity and then follows through, employees learn they can rely on that leader. When promises are broken, even small ones, trust erodes quickly. Leaders who are careful about what they promise, and diligent about delivering, build loyalty that lasts through difficult times.
Why 30 Locations Can Be Easier Than Four
Jason makes a surprising claim: it can be easier to manage 30 locations than four. At four locations, the owner is often still involved in everything, stretched thin across each store. At 30, the business requires systems, strong managers, and clear accountability. Those structures make the business more manageable, not less.
For independent owners thinking about a second or third location, this is an important lesson. Growth does not work by copying yourself. It works by building systems and leaders. ATI’s Is Your Business Ready for a COO? explores the leadership side.
The transition from a few locations to many often requires a shift from personal management to systematic management. With one or two shops, the owner can rely on personal relationships and direct oversight. With many shops, that is impossible. Success depends on documented processes, consistent training, clear metrics, and capable managers at each location. Owners who build those systems early find growth much easier.
Culture and Commitment
Jason also talks about building a solid culture, honoring commitments, and the harmful habits he had to drop along the way. Culture is what holds multiple locations together when the owner cannot be everywhere.
Culture is what employees do when no one is watching. In a multi-location business, the owner cannot watch every location, so culture becomes the main way to ensure quality and consistency. Leaders reinforce culture by hiring for values, recognizing behavior that reflects those values, telling stories that illustrate them, and addressing behavior that contradicts them.
Lessons for Independent Owners Considering Expansion
Not every owner wants to run 30 locations, but Jason’s lessons apply to any shop considering growth. Before adding a location, owners should ask whether their current shop can run well without them, whether their systems are documented, whether they have a leader ready to manage a new site, and whether they have the financial reserves to absorb startup costs.
Expansion multiplies whatever is already happening. A strong, well-run shop becomes two strong shops. A chaotic shop becomes two chaotic shops. Getting the foundation right first is the key to growth that strengthens rather than strains the business.
Common Mistakes When Growing Beyond One Shop
Owners who expand often make a few of the same mistakes. One is promoting the best technician to manage the new location simply because they are the best technician. Running a shop requires different skills, such as scheduling, coaching, handling customer complaints, and reading financial reports. Without training and support, a great tech can become a struggling manager. Another mistake is opening a second location before the first one can run without the owner. If the original shop slips every time the owner leaves, the new shop will pull the owner away and both will suffer.
A third mistake is assuming each location can do things its own way. Some local flexibility is healthy, but core processes, such as how estimates are built, how customers are updated, and how quality is checked, should be the same everywhere. Consistency protects the brand and makes it possible to compare locations fairly. Finally, many owners underestimate the cash a new location needs before it becomes profitable. Building a realistic budget and reserve, with input from an accountant, prevents a promising expansion from turning into a financial strain.
Questions for Owners Thinking About Growth
- Are you staffed for your busiest days or your average ones?
- Which decisions still depend on you, and who could take them over?
- Are your processes documented well enough to work in another location?
- Do your managers know what success looks like and how it is measured?
For another story of growth through pivoting, listen to Patrick Connell in Turning Obstacles Into Opportunities. Drew Bryant offers more on corporate-style discipline in Run Your Auto Repair Shop as Effectively as a Big Corporation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my auto repair shop is ready for a second location?
A shop is usually ready when it runs well without the owner present for extended periods, its key processes are documented, its numbers are consistently healthy, and there is a proven leader ready to run the new site. Cash reserves matter too, because a new location often takes time to become profitable. If the current shop depends on the owner for daily decisions, focus on building systems and leaders there first. Growth tends to magnify whatever is already happening in the business, good or bad.
Should a repair shop staff for its busiest days or average days?
Staffing only for an average day leaves the shop short every time demand spikes, which leads to long waits, rushed work, and burned out employees. Staffing for busier days costs more in payroll but protects the customer experience and creates capacity to grow. The right balance depends on the shop’s numbers. Reviewing car count and hours sold by day of the week and by season helps owners predict demand, and slower days can be used for training, maintenance, and customer follow-up rather than idle time.
What should a shop owner look for when hiring a manager?
Look for someone who shares the shop’s values, communicates clearly, stays calm under pressure, and has a track record of developing others. Technical knowledge is helpful, but a manager’s main job is leading people and processes. Ask candidates how they handled a difficult employee, a frustrated customer, or a missed goal. Check references with former supervisors and coworkers. Once hired, give the manager clear authority, measurable expectations, and regular check-ins so they can succeed without the owner stepping back in.
How do multi-location shops keep quality consistent?
Consistency comes from documented processes, shared training, and common metrics. Successful operators define how core tasks are done, such as inspections, estimates, and customer updates, and train every location the same way. They review the same key numbers for each shop and hold managers accountable for them. Regular manager meetings let leaders share what is working. Culture plays a big role too: hiring for the same values everywhere keeps standards consistent even when the owner cannot visit every location often.
How can an owner build trust with employees?
Trust grows when leaders do what they say they will do. Keep promises about pay, schedules, training, and recognition, and be careful not to promise what you cannot deliver. Communicate openly about changes, admit mistakes, and apply rules fairly to everyone. Follow up on employee concerns, even when the answer is no, so people know they were heard. Over time, consistent behavior builds a reputation that employees rely on, and that reliability is what keeps good people loyal during busy or difficult periods.
Resources and Links From This Episode
- M&J TireCraft Tillsonburgh website
Connect With the Guests
- Jason: LinkedIn
