End Of Year Best Practices For Auto Shop Owners

By mid to late October, most auto shop owners will know, with a high degree of accuracy, how the year will end up in gross sales and net profit. However, when it comes to end-of-year best practices, projected year-end sales and profits are only the tip of the iceberg. Performing an extensive review and analysis of the current year helps you to establish new goals and objectives for the new year and beyond. It also provides critical feedback on strategies that didn’t work, the successful ones, and reasons to celebrate accomplishments.  

In this blog, I will outline four essential end-of-year best practices that will help you build a stronger foundation for growing your business: including tips on goal setting, team building, financial health, and long-term organizational planning.  

 

Schedule a Meeting with Your Accountant – Tax Planning

Many shop owners wait until tax season to begin planning and thinking about their tax returns. This is a big mistake, especially if you expect you will owe taxes. The best time to prepare for your tax return is before the year ends. As I mentioned earlier, by the start of the fourth quarter, you will know approximately what your gross sales will be and have a pretty good idea of what your net profit will be. Net profit is a key factor in determining if or how much taxes you will pay.  

 If it looks like you will owe a substantial amount of taxes, your accountant will give you tax-saving advice, but it’s far better to plan before the year ends. And please, do not take tax advice from the tool or equipment salesperson. They often visit shop owners in November or December with great deals on shop equipment with claim that buying shop equipment is a great way to save on paying taxes. Buying equipment is a tax deduction, but it is a decision that is best made by you with help from your accountant. Also, buying equipment for the sole purpose of saving on taxes is not a wise move. It’s often better to pay some taxes and maintain your cash reserve. Again, this is why scheduling a meeting with your accountant before the year ends is so important.  

 

Review Your Business, Marketing, Succession, and Continuity Plans

Every auto shop owner must set aside time and plan for the future. Your business plan outlines your company’s direction, how you will grow your auto repair shop company, and includes details on what you and your team will need to accomplish to meet the future needs of your company.   

A well-written marketing plan is a component of your overall business plan. To achieve future growth requires the right marketing and advertising strategies. This plan, as with all plans, is not written once. Business plans are fluid and need constant course corrections. Your marketing plan supports your customer growth initiatives, as well as your customer retention objectives.  

Succession and continuity planning are not talked about enough. Succession planning involves identifying future leaders and putting these leaders in positions where they can eventually help you run your repair shop, and possibly take over or buy your company. I know many of you are saying, “I’m a little young for that.” Well, life can throw you a curve ball at any age, and who will step in if a crisis does occur? You are never too young to start planning for the future, a crisis event, and your eventual exit from the business.  

Continuity planning is a component of your succession plan. It prepares you for a crisis event, such as a natural disaster, an unexpected health issue, or a severe economic downturn. If any of these events happen, are you prepared to weather the storm? Let’s face it, many small businesses would have gone bankrupt during COVID if it were not for the SBA loan money and the Payroll Protection Program.  

Before the year’s end, review your business, marketing, succession, and continuity plans. If you have been delinquent and have not completed these plans, then set aside time, and work on them. This is an area where having a business coach is extremely helpful.  

 

Review Your Goals, Establish New Goals

We all know how important it is to have established and written goals. However, all too often we are not as diligent as we should be in reviewing our goals or even creating them. As with business plans, goals are not created once. Goals need continuous review and course corrections.  

Before the year’s end, set aside time to review your current goals. Determine where you are in completing these goals and make the necessary adjustments. For goals that have been completed, celebrate those accomplishments with your team.  

Another responsibility is to establish new goals for the coming year. In addition, you need to have multiple-year goals that will stretch you, your team, and your company for the next decade and longer.  

Goal setting is another area where a business coach can make this process a lot easier and much more effective. Rely on your coach for help with goal setting, and also hold you accountable to stay on track to completing your goals. 

One word of advice, there are times when you will not achieve your goals. For example, let’s say you miss your sales goal by $50,000. This does not mean you failed. There are many reasons for not attaining a set goal. The main thing to keep in mind is that setbacks will occur. Use setbacks not as obstacles in your pathway, but as stepping stones. Learning from adversity is crucial for attaining success. Trust me, not having goals will hold you and your company back from realizing your potential and the potential of your business.  

 

Year End Company-wide Meetings and One-On-Ones With Employees

Shop owners are the leaders of their companies. And leaders must communicate strength, vision, and purpose. Everyone in your company must know where the company is headed, and how everyone is included in this journey. This builds confidence, and morale and sends a message that you, the shop owner, are committed to the long-term success of the company. The Gallup Organization and Harvard Business have done studies that have shown that many employees become disenchanted with where they work and many eventually leave because they feel that the leader does not have a clear vision for the future. They feel stuck in their role and lose hope. 

Schedule a company-wide meeting and communicate your vision for the future. Let everyone know how important they are to the company’s future, and how you are committed to their future and continued development. It’s important to be upbeat at this meeting, even if things aren’t as rosy as you would like them to be. If possible, make this meeting a significant year-end event, like a company dinner. The event could be held at a restaurant or another venue, and even in your shop. The point is, make it big and make it a celebration.   

Lastly, on this topic, let everyone know that you will meet with them individually to discuss and align their personal goals with the goals of the company. This is perhaps one of the best strategies for creating a strong and healthy work environment.  

 

Conclusion

Operating and growing a successful auto repair shop takes dedication, commitment, and a lot of hard work. At Elite Worldwide, we understand what shop owners go through daily. We also know how to make your job and repair shop more effective and successful. Elite has a vast library of business tools that can help your company go right to the top. We also have one-on-one coaches who will help you build a plan that is specific to your company, never a cookie-cutter approach. 

Elite also has Service Advisor Training, Peer Groups, and other developmental training programs for your employees that help create the right work environment. And everything we do at Elite is based on ethics and integrity. It’s why one of our most important company core values is, “We will never put money ahead of people.”