Shop of the Month

Knockout Collision
Kareem Abouzeid (Aboo-zade), Owner
Chico, CA

My story started way back when I was just a runt. I would take apart everything I could get my hands on. Sometimes I'd even put the stuff back together! My Grandpa Pete was a jack of all trades and I spent lots of time at his house, and he always had lots of good projects that I could work on.

I "fixed up" and wrecked lots of bicycles. Then I took apart a few seized two-stroke moped engines and rebuilt them with a piece of emery cloth and a can of carburetor cleaner. I would then ride them around the neighborhood. This progressed to go-carts and motorcycles and then my first car, which I am currently restoring now, 19 years later: a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle. I always asked lots of questions and received lots of coaching from Grandpa and my older brothers.

When I was 18 I decided I wanted to make a career for myself in auto repair, so I consulted my oldest brother, Mark, who was my idol and a master mechanic with his own successful European auto repair shop. I told him I needed to know how to get my foot in the door so I could show somebody how good I was at fixing stuff. He suggested I try a body shop because people always need dents fixed and insurance companies' checks do not bounce. (He must have had a few "special" customers that week who had trouble with their bill!)

He advised me to go to the best shop in town and tell the manager, "I will sweep the floors and take out the garbage if you will teach me to work on cars." So that is what I did. About 8 shops and 80 side-jobs later, I realized working for someone else was not what I wanted to do.

The shops I worked for had no idea how to treat people. I knew I could do a much better job even if I made less money. I'd had it with people telling me to "just do what I was told" when I did not think it was right. I thought you should be able to do the right thing for the customers and treat your employees well. So I opened my own shop and got what I asked for and then some! I worked every day and most nights while my wife raised our two small children. I worked very hard to please my customers and provide good quality repairs.

I worked for several years out of my garage then finally moved into a small shop, where I continued to struggle to pay my bills even though I worked day and night, 6 or 7 days a week. I figured I'd better get some help before I worked myself to death! I hired a helper but things still were not good and he was not much help! At about this time the opportunity came up to move into a 6000 square foot building with a paint booth. Well my home built paint booth did not have a permit and I live in California. I was scared to death because I was barely making it and this would be a huge jump in overhead. My older brother who was also my landlord at the time told me I better go for it, that this was my chance to go big.

I sold a car I had to fund the first and last month's lease payment and borrowed $5000 for the used paint booth and I was finally the owner of a real legitimate body shop that could actually hang a sign up out front instead of painting at night when no one was around to see.

I worked harder than ever to make the business grow and it did. I even made a little money but I was working all the time. This went on for a couple years and we started to get a reputation for high quality repairs and great customer service. This was all great for my ego but I was still working all the time, and sometimes for less money than my techs were making. I almost had what I wanted. I had a successful shop with a great reputation, happy customers, and happy employees. The problem was: many weeks when payroll came around the employees got their paychecks and my wife and I were left with nothing but a stomach ache.

The stress of this roller coaster ride was wearing me out. I just tried to work harder hoping things would smooth out. Then one day someone from Management Success called me and asked if I had received any of their mailers with the pictures of the shop owners on the beach. I said I had but I was too busy and broke for a seminar. Besides, auto shop owners do not get to hang out on the beach unless they hit the lottery.

She asked me how things were going and complimented me on the things I was doing right. Then she asked me what I planned to do to change the situation I was in. I was stumped. She got me to realize that I needed some training in business management to really get my shop stabilized. I agreed to go to the seminar in Lake Tahoe and it absolutely changed my life.

I learned some things that weekend that really opened my eyes. I was doing a lot of things right at my shop, but the things I was doing wrong were costing me thousands of dollars each month. Since applying the tools I've learned through Management Success, my shop's volume has doubled while I now work less than 40 hours a week. This year I even spent a week in Waikiki, and this 34 year old body shop owner spent at least a day with my family laying on the beach, while my shop continued to run without me.

Management Success is without a doubt the best investment I have ever made. I encourage every shop owner I talk to who is not achieving their goals and does not have the life they deserve to attend the Management Success seminar and start realizing their potential!

Kareem Abouzeid
Owner, Knockout Collision

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