Auto Shop Coaching Blog

The Perfect Time

"There will never be a perfect time to do something that stretches you."James Clear

I have fond memories of the summer of 2012 when my wife and I got the news that she was expecting our second child.  During my coaching calls, my clients would ask, “Eric, are you ready?” I would go home in the evenings, and my friends would ask, are you ready? I would see my relatives on the weekends, and they would ask “are you ready?”

I thought about the sleepless nights and additional childcare costs and wondered if I was truly ready. Then it hit me. If your goal is to “give birth” to a game-changing vision, there will never be a perfect time to start the process. There will always be an element of risk and a feeling of uncertainty associated with your pursuit.

Your Game-Changing Vision

What are you looking to give birth to in your business? If you just sit back and wait for the perfect time, you will never reach your goal.

Are you waiting for the perfect time to bring on that A technician that will free you up from turning wrenches? Are you waiting for the perfect time to invest in that management system that will make your life easier? Are you waiting for the perfect time to hire that General Manager who will allow you to work ON instead of IN your business?

The one factor that you may not have considered is the hidden cost, as it relates to how you are currently doing business.  How much is not having the right technician or service manager really costing you?

Hidden Costs

A recent Success Magazine study concluded that having the wrong person in a position can cost a business up to six times the salary for that position when you factor in lost sales opportunities, lack of repeat business, reputation-damaging mistakes, and training expenses. In other words, it may be costing you more now than it would if you hired the right person.

The slowest week of the year is usually the week after you interview that person who could be a game-changer for you. I get it.

Think of the inevitable drop in business that comes after the interview as labor pains that show up to test how committed you are to your goal. I challenge you to not let the labor pains keep you from giving birth to your vision. 

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Author
Eric, the Accountability Coach, is an Executive Coach at ATI and has coached since 2009. Eric came to ATI having managed over 60 different automotive repair facilities and having supervised over 500 employees at a given time. He loves seeing members progress beyond what they thought was possible and improve their shop to the point where they can leave for weeks at a time and come back to a business that's better than when they left.