How
I
I
ndependents
Make It
by Paul Mathewson
T
his is the second in a series of fied business plans the list goes on.
articles about franchising in Then the final joy: our new inde-
the transmission business. In Starting Points pendent shop owner has the pleasure
the last issue of GEARS, we looked at Franchised shops start by institut- of personally meeting all the inspectors
how to enter this business by the fran- ing a proven business plan. The fran- that the collective genius of govern-
chise route; today’s article will focus on chisor prefers to sell a franchise not to ment could possibly imagine. Get ready
going it alone. a transmission tech, but to a promising for the compliance orders that will
Both strategies have examples of businessperson. It’s a turnkey startup ensue.
success; both have examples of abject with immediate success.
failure. The attempt here is to answer But if the franchised shop fails to The Road to Success?
the age-old question: “Does the fran- employ talented technicians, that shop There’s no single road to success
chising concept really fit the transmis- will add more customer complaints to as an independent transmission shop.
sion business?” the complaint web sites mentioned ear- The roads to success are as varied as the
The advertised claims of the major lier. When that happens, the good name number of independent shops. Most of
franchises are graphically portrayed on of the franchisor is tarnished and all the attempts to start independent shops
their web sites (Just don’t look at the shops sharing that name take a hit. don’t get far out of the starting gate
adjacent websites where irate custom- Independent shops usually start before they fail.
ers have spewed their venom about with a gifted transmission technician. That happened in our town. Bob,
their upsetting experiences with those But independent shops face an uphill my lead rebuilder said “I made a mil-
franchises!) battle from the get-go. The problem lionaire out of my last two shop own-
The central issue is about secur- isn’t fixing transmissions — the prob- ers; now I’ll make a millionaire out
ing the largest share of the transmis- lem is making money. of myself.” He was the most talented
sion repair market. Can this be done And that’s just the start. From transmission tech in town. He was also
by independents, or is it better done there, problems include getting custom- the most introverted and unfriendly
by being part of a nationwide, glitzy, ers, keeping them happy, and working person imaginable. He didn’t commu-
mega-franchise? through people rather than working nicate with customers or other staff
The fundamentals of success are alone. Add to that the problems of estab- members. He made it clear when he
common to both shops, and ATRA has lishing operating ratios, bookkeeping, opened his shop that his customers
long recognized it. Every transmission inventory, physical plant preparations, must respect his abilities and not ask
shop runs on two tracks. These are: job pricing, advertising and promo- any questions. Bob the Builder had a
1. Technical competence tions, out-of-town warranty procedures, short business life.
2. Effective and constantly modi- insurance requirements, suppliers, and The roads to success as an inde-
14 GEARS March 2010
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