Shop of the Month

Little Wolf Automotive
Scott Bickley, Owner
Manawa, WI

I grew up on my family farm in Wisconsin where I learned the basics of wrenching by tinkering with farm equipment. I guess I would say this is where I found my love for fixing things. I started with little motors and such, to working on tractors and the family cars.

Out of High School I went to Tech School for a year to get some formal training under my belt. I was then able to land a job running a maintenance shop for a school in Illinois. I worked on the schools buses, cars etc.

My next job was a technician at a Toyota and Lexus dealership where I learned a lot about how big business and warranty repair was done. I worked there about 2 years.

During this time I was reacquainted with an old friend from High School. We started dating, ended up getting married and moved back to Wisconsin. There I got a job at a Lexus dealership in Appleton. I really enjoyed working at this dealership, made a decent paycheck and learned a lot. It was during this time that I found I wanted to work for myself and open my own shop.

I decided that I should try my hand in an independent repair shop first. I knew how the dealers worked and was curious what the independent business was like—definitely not all of the warranty work I was used to! This was a completely different way to do business.

While working at this shop, I had been eyeing another shop in the area to buy and take over. I wanted to be up-front with the owner of the shop I was working for, so I let him know what I was thinking of doing. He turned around and made me an offer on his shop, so I took him up on the offer and bought the business and equipment.

The first thing I did was move the shop to an old farm equipment dealer located downtown, a much better location. Around this time my wife and I had our first child. She was working full time as an accountant and we couldn't afford for her to take time off. I was working 60-70 hours a week trying to get the business going and establish credit with my suppliers. We weren't making any money from the shop.

My first week was by far the worst week ever. By the second week things improved a bit. My service writer was running the shop and I was wrenching, only coming up front if there were any “owner” issues to take care of. I had no idea if the shop was making money and I was just working as hard as I could to keep customers happy and the shop open.

I had no control over my business, I didn't know how many cars were coming and going, I didn't know the costs and profits on each job. Jobs were getting lost between the front and the back. Customers were making appointments and showing up and we didn't have a record of it. We had to shove their car into the day's schedule to keep them happy.

After 2 years of the business running like this I asked my wife how much money we had in the bank. I hadn't been drawing a salary and she handled the books, so I had no idea. When she told me, my first thought was, “Why did I ever leave that dealership job? We were making a decent living then.” It was not what I had in mind when I opened the shop.

In August 2008 I got a call from Management Success out in California. I had heard of them in the repair shop community, but didn't know a whole lot about the company. They gave me the names of some other owners to ask them about their experiences. I spoke to them and decided to sign up for the Seminar in Lake Geneva—it would at least be a nice weekend getaway for the wife and I.

Bob, the speaker at the Seminar hit on all of the exact points I was struggling with at my shop. I couldn't believe that they understood all of the problems in my business. I was that little stick guy running around with his hair on fire in the presentation.

I knew there was more to running a business than what I was going through and at the Seminar I saw that I could have a future as an owner. I found the path to “Ideal Land”.

Today I am the Service Writer and Manager of the shop, we added another tech and I am no longer wrenching. I now have full control of everything that is going on in the shop. Our sales have increased steadily, likewise has our income. Each topic from the Seminar touched on an area of my shop that needed to be fixed—I just didn't know it then.

Man, things have gotten easier. My wife no longer has to work. I am down to just 45 hours a week in the shop. We just closed on a 2 ½ acre lakeside property. On top of that we are able to put away reserves each and every week.

I am a much happier, much, much more confident owner now that I know what I am suppose to be doing.

Thank you Management Success!

Scott Bickley
Owner, Little Wolf Automotive
Manawa, WI

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