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Your automotive shop is the beating heart of your business. A well-designed basic auto shop layout can streamline operations and refine your business.

When you plan to refresh your auto mechanic shop, consider how to make efficient use of your available space, enhance safety, refine the look and feel of the shop, and improve customer comfort.  Most of all, upgrading the technology that forms the backbone of your business is a major component of a modern auto shop. 

Manage space effectively

No matter how much square footage your shop has, you can maximize your layout to house everything you need. Consider the size and shape of your space before you commit to a specific layout. Evaluate the services you currently or intend to provide so you can plan your space safely and efficiently. 

Some of those considerations include: 

• Equipment locations: Look at your  permanent installations, such as lifts and compressors as well as movable items.
• Storage: Organize storage areas so parts and equipment are easily accessible and tidy, both making them easy to find and improving your shop’s appearance and parts storage.
• Working areas: Set up your workbenches and counter space so technicians can perform detail work away from the vehicle. 
• Loading bays: Verify your loading bay areas have adequate clearance.  
• Waiting rooms: Design an appealing space so your customers have a clean, well-lit, and comfortable place to wait. 
• Administrative offices: Make sure your employees have all the tools they need to keep the business running efficiently.  

Effective space management also plays a big part in keeping an auto shop safe. 

The automotive shop industry has grown tremendously between 2018 and 2023. It reached $59.1 billion in revenue, the result of a compound annual growth rate of .5%. Vehicle ownership drives a considerable amount of this growth, and it will increase through 2028.

This exciting, growing field offers tremendous potential for new auto repair shop owners. However, competition is fierce. Nurturing successful business growth comes down to running it optimally. In this guide, you’ll discover what you need to know about building an auto shop and how to thrive in this industry. 

How Do You Run an Auto Repair Shop?

Running a profitable auto repair shop long-term revolves around establishing solid relationships with your customers. Over 60% of customers say that they like to get their work done at the same shop, and 96% go to three or fewer locations when they need to get work done on their car. Gaining customer satisfaction through expertise and communication plays an important role in keeping your customers happy so that they return.

Proper auto shop management and best practices, such as improving productivity and rewarding loyal customers, keep your business competitive. Many strategies that strengthen your business will also incentivize customers and encourage them to return. Since customers do not want to go to numerous auto repair businesses, proving that your business is one they can rely on encourages this loyalty which strengthens your ROI.

To build a quality business, a business plan that emphasizes customer service and retention will take you far. You can incorporate a few central strategies into your plan to keep your customers happy.

G2 is a peer-to-peer review site that scores different platforms and tools just like Tekmetric based on reviews from users, just like you.

Leveraging all the data, reviews and input they collect throughout the year, G2 analyses the results and announces the clear software leaders in a number of categories.

And Tekmetric was named a leader in not one, not two, but FIVE categories for Auto Repair Software, and has been awarded five new badges from G2 for their 2023 Summer Spotlight!

That means its.. TIME FOR SOME BURNOUTS! LETS GO!

Those five categories include:

1. Auto Repair Software Momentum Leader 
2. Auto Repair Software Small Business Leader
3. Summer 2023 Auto Repair Software Leader
4. Best Relationship With Users
5. Easiest To Do Business With

Sorry for the humble brag, but honestly, this is all because of you, the users of Tekmetric!

Shop owner's, service manager's and technician's love for how easy Tekmetric makes it to run your shop is the star of the show here.

“Receipts.” We all know the literal meaning of this term—those pieces of paper or emails/texts a retailer sends you as proof of purchase, in case you want to exchange or return an item down the road.

In a casual sense, “receipts” also mean “proof” in the event of a dispute. For example, if your dog could talk and claimed he definitely did not steal the pizza from the picnic table, you could show him “receipts,” which could be a photo your astonished friend snapped of him while he was dragging the pizza away. Busted!

Ok, but in all seriousness, as a business owner, you interact with receipts in two ways:

1. You give receipts to your customers once their repair work is finished
2. You get receipts when you purchase items for your shop (like parts)
   

Even though receipts exist in practically every industry, there’s a huge difference between the receipts customers get from an auto repair shop versus the receipts they’d get from a restaurant or clothing store.

Look at it this way: you don’t go to a restaurant and get an estimate for how much your food will cost. You see the prices on the menu, order, and then pay at the end. But in the auto repair world, we have to scope out the work with an inspection and estimate. That’s where the shop and the customer come to an understanding of the repair work that will occur, and get a preview of the cost, before any work gets done.

Without a solid inspection and estimate process, there can be a higher risk of misunderstandings and miscommunications, which can diminish customer loyalty and lead to credit card chargebacks. For example, a customer could misunderstand the severity of the need for a repair and decline it when they get their estimate, and leave a negative online review that their car still has issues. Or, a customer could say they don’t want a particular repair, but a service advisor misunderstands them. The repair happens, and the customer is upset when they get the final bill because they’d communicated that they didn’t want the repair.

That’s why estimates and receipts are extra important in our industry—they protect shops and customers. They give your customers peace of mind; they have a record of what repair work they got done on which day, and how much they paid. And in the event of a customer claiming a certain repair didn’t happen on a particular day, you could pull up your copy of the estimate and the receipt and set the record straight. You won’t have to deal with a frustrating back-and-forth process that can stretch out for days.

But beyond literal receipts, there are other elements of safeguarding your business. After all, protecting your business isn’t just about protecting it from financial and legal standpoints, although those are two important areas. You also have to think about things like your team’s productivity, employee management, healthy margins, and more. Auto shop management software is a great core tool that can help you safeguard your shop from multiple angles.

Auto repair shops might bulk order carbon copies, or you might find a template online and print as many copies as your shop needs. Or, if your shop uses digital templates, you might have to deal with time-consuming digital file management.

Filling out the forms over and over, be it by handwriting or typing, can become tedious. And both options are less than ideal for record-keeping.

Paper can get lost, and digital files can become overwritten or corrupted. Both approaches are inconvenient and ultimately slow things down at your shop. And the impression you give during the payment process can determine whether those customers return or not.

Here are four reasons why a shop management system is better than an auto repair invoice template approach for your business.

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