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For the month of October, 2008, business at your shop was:
Up _____% from October 2007
Down _____% from October 2007
_____ The same as October 2007
AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com
tom@automotivemanagementnetwork.com
616-340-2380Down 16%
Started out very slow, then got better, then died badly at the end.
Tom Ham
Auto Centric
5355 Plainfield Ave. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
616-364-4001
www.AutoCentricRepair.com
Tom@AutoCentricRepair.comup 2% – first 3 days were very slow, middle of month was busy, last week slow.
We were down 48% Oct ’08 vs Oct ’07. I’ve laid off 2 techs and a service writer. It’s scarey out there!
October is up 32% but still have no cash flow. I’m still getting a loan for working capital. Years down 8%.
oct up 20% from sept we are up 28% from oct 2007 the cost of getting the added business was higher advertising expenses were about 4% higher than in 2007 .That makes our advertising budget 8% of or gross? We are going to think hard and long about our future way of doing business. Do you make sure you check every ones address and email address every time you talk to the person on the phone .
Down 8%, though we had an extraordinary month in 07. We are still up 11% YTD.
Good morning,
Sales up 37% over last year for Oct.
The rest of the year has been OK but not much better than last year.
October was a pretty good month, hoping the next two months have the same or better results.
Gary
25% Increase, even though in Atlanta we couldn’t get fuel for 10 days. I also went from 2 techs to 3.
Weird situation here, we are a three man shop, two techs and me. We worked for another shop, for years, but we left at the end of last year and opened our own shop (the crazy owner closed the doors upon finding our resignation letters).
With that said, we are no longer on a main road, we trimmed our customer list significantly, yet we are up a tad over 13% from last October. Also, we are having a decent, not great, but decent year. And, without that leach (former boss, who did nothing to generate revenue), sucking the place dry, we are in pretty good shape.
Up 12% this October from 07 – Up 2% for the year. We are blessed to have ANY increase in this economy!
October 2008 down 44 percent from a very good October 2007 and down 32% from the sixteen year average. The first two weeks the phone did not ring at all. The second two have improved back close to normal but it sure was scary for those first two. I let a man go for the last three weeks and have now hired one back again as things seem to be returning to normal. I have great hopes going forward, though, as I think people will be fixing rather than trading or buying new. At the current rate we will do all of what we did all of last month in just over two weeks. Rob
up 2.5% not enough
Down 6% from last year at this time. Overall down 3-4% YTD. Same marketing strategies, same sales strategies. Just getting alot of ‘Let’s do it next visit’ or ‘I’m getting rid of the car’.
I’m not sure about percentages but we are managing barely.
I keep getting the customers looking for cheap tires and I keep telling them that company has gone out of business and they say what company I say Cheap Tire company. Although it is nice when you get the customers that say I want this and here is my credit card take the numbers and call me when the merchandise is here!!!
Lugnutz Tire & Auto
Ed
Down 25% from last October. Last October wasn’t great.
We were spending a lot more on advertising efforts all year in 2008. April was our best month ever. October was about half of April.
I’m losing a ton of money.
I cut all of the ineffective marketing, and all of the marketing that I couldn’t prove was doing it’s fair share. Calling all vendors and looking for cuts. I’ve already shaved almost $600 a month without affecting anyones hours or wages.
Laying off SA this coming week. SA was fairly new, and learning. If I cannot get sales to profitability, I will need to cut the techs hours slightly.
A strong last few days helped, but were still down 38 % from last oct., hoping things pick up soon.
Last October was the worst month in 15 years of business. We’re down 38% compared to Oct 07 and down 16% for the year. We’re caught up in an overall lack of consumer spending. We have cut cost every where possible and intend to focus our advertising dollars on our current customer base and turning them into a sales force. If theres a ray of hope, remember the car is vitally important to the daily life of people and all cars eventually break. We should expect larger and more costly repairs due to neglect of maintennance. Also, I have found people are spending much more on older cars as home equity funds dry up and the willingness to take on new debt diminishes. For those who survive this, there should be a target (customer) rich environment our future.
Jeff Ruffing wrote:
> Down 25% from last October. Last October wasn’t great.
>
> We were spending a lot more on advertising efforts all year in 2008. April was our best month ever. October was about half of April.
>
> I’m losing a ton of money.
>
> I cut all of the ineffective marketing, and all of the marketing that I couldn’t prove was doing it’s fair share. Calling all vendors and looking for cuts. I’ve already shaved almost $600 a month without affecting anyones hours or wages.
>
> Laying off SA this coming week. SA was fairly new, and learning. If I cannot get sales to profitability, I will need to cut the techs hours slightly.
If cutting is needed, leave nothing off of the table for review.
We cut total expenses and payroll by 15% in 2007.
In 2000 we got hit real hard and cut 36% when we had to deal with a 30% drop in annual sales.
Add up your total expenses and payroll, multiply it by that 36% and you will likely come up with a staggering number.
The key today is adjustability. Some of us in Michigan have been dealing with this stuff for several years. Be prepared and open minded enough to make the changes needed to remain profitable regardless of the situation. It’s not the end of the world…it’s just a different world…usually a better one when all is said and done.
Tom Ham
Auto Centric
5355 Plainfield Ave. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
616-364-4001
www.AutoCentricRepair.com
Tom@AutoCentricRepair.comOctober was down about 17%, but YTD we are up about 10%.
Andy
Hockett & Olsen Automotive & Tire
We were up 2% from October of last year and currently up 8% for the year.
Things are slowing down with the cold weather because we work on a lot of seasonal vehicles. However, we did almost no marketing when I started here in May. I’ve put into place some marketing programs and stepped up the customer service. Hopefully our extra efforts can keep things rolling through these rough times.
Down about 6% from 07 Oct. Up a couple percent for the year.
I am double Oct 08 compared to Oct 07. But I moved into a better shop and doubled my overhead. That figured in I am even for the time. I do seem to be more stressed out with the news an economics being what they are. I am in Fl. also and hoping with the drop in gas prices we will have a better “season” this year.
jeff fitzgerald wrote:
> I am double Oct 08 compared to Oct 07. But I moved into a better shop and doubled my overhead. That figured in I am even for the time. I do seem to be more stressed out with the news an economics being what they are. I am in Fl. also and hoping with the drop in gas prices we will have a better “season” this year.
WOW!
I’d love to hear more details about the move and doubling your sales. Maybe compare the new location, shop, marketing, etc. to the old one. We may move in a few years and I’d love to double our sales!
Tom Ham
Auto Centric
5355 Plainfield Ave. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
616-364-4001
www.AutoCentricRepair.com
Tom@AutoCentricRepair.comWE ARE UP 12.5% FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER AND 10.7% UP THIS YEAR TO DATE OVER LAST YEAR. WE’VE HAD MONDAYS WHEN WE CAME IN AND THE SCHEDULE WAS BARE BUT BY THE END OF DAY THE WEEK WOULD BE SHAPING UP.
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