Buried in Shop Problems? Your Next Opportunity Could Be Right There

You can work hard in your shop, make the right decision, and still get a result you don't want. You can do everything you know how to do and still fall short of what you were trying to accomplish. That is frustrating, especially when you believe the work you've put in should have earned you a certain outcome.

I've been telling my kids this their entire lives: the only thing you're entitled to is opportunity. No outcome is ever guaranteed, and every opportunity has an expiration date.

That leaves us with a question worth thinking through. If opportunity is what we get, how do we recognize it?

I don't think the problem is always that you don't have enough opportunities. You might not be recognizing the ones already in front of you, particularly when they show up as something difficult that you would rather not deal with.

Why opportunity can look like another shop problem

When you think about opportunity, you're probably picturing something good happening. The employee you've been looking for walks through the door. The customer you thought was going to say no says yes. Someone offers you a job, or a door opens that you've wanted to walk through.

Those opportunities are easy to recognize because they look like something you want.

But what if an opportunity shows up as a problem? What if taking advantage of it means learning something you don't know, doing something difficult, or making a sacrifice? What if it looks like a whole bunch of work?

You might walk right past it because it doesn't feel like an opportunity. You see the problem and what it would take to do something about it, but all you recognize is inconvenience, risk, learning, and work.

That's why I want you to have a way to look at what's in front of you. I look for three things: affinity, ability, and need. When all three point toward the same thing, there may be an opportunity worth your attention.

Affinity: Is there something about the work that draws you toward it?

Affinity means you enjoy the work, the people you serve, or the difference the work makes. You don't necessarily have to love the task itself to have an affinity for the work.

Maybe you love fixing cars. Maybe you love solving problems or teaching. That's part of it, but it isn't the only way to recognize affinity. You might be drawn to the people you get to serve, or you might care about the impact of what you're doing.

The question I want you to ask is this: Is there something about the work, the people, or the difference it makes that keeps you moving toward it?

That matters because something can be difficult and still be work you're drawn to. If you only ask whether you enjoy every task involved, you could miss the part that gives you a reason to do it.

Ability: Do you have, or can you get, what you need?

Ability is more than being smart enough or knowing how to do the work. It means having what you need to actually do it.

That could include skill, knowledge, training, tools, time, money, people, resources, or access to information. Knowing how to do something and being able to do it aren't always the same thing. You have to look at what the work requires.

But you don't necessarily need to have everything today. You need to ask whether you can get what you need.

There's a big difference between saying, “I can't do that,” and asking, “Do I have, or can I get, what I need to do that?” The first statement can stop you before you've looked at the possibility. The question gives you a chance to consider whether you can develop the ability or get the resources to move forward.

If you're drawn toward the work and you can do it, or get what you need to do it, you have affinity and ability. Now you need to look beyond yourself.

Need: Does somebody else need what you can provide?

You can love doing something and be incredibly good at it without it being an opportunity. There has to be a need for it.

Let's say I want to start working on EV vehicles, but there are only 10 EV vehicles in my county. No matter how much I love working on those vehicles or how good I am at it, the need isn't there to make it a business opportunity.

That's why I want you to ask: Is there a problem that needs solving, a gap that needs filling, or something people want or need that isn't being provided? If you're considering a business opportunity, you have to make sure there's enough need.

Affinity tells you something about you. Ability tells you what you can do. Need tells you whether doing it matters to somebody else. All three matter when you're trying to recognize an opportunity in your auto repair shop.

Look for where affinity, ability, and need overlap

When you're drawn toward something, can do something about it, and see a real need for it, pay attention. Those three things pointing toward the same place help you identify an opportunity.

They don't create the opportunity. It could have been there the whole time, and you've finally learned how to see it.

I say this all the time: life is a giant garden, and it only grows two things, problems and potential. Another word for potential is opportunity. Having a way to recognize it helps you see more than the work or the problem sitting in front of you.

But this is where the formula stops. Affinity, ability, and need help you see the opportunity. They don't make the decision for you, and they don't promise that taking it will produce the outcome you want.

Recognizing an opportunity doesn't obligate you to take it

Once you see an opportunity, you have a decision to make. Do you want to take advantage of it?

Opportunity isn't an obligation. You get to choose, and choosing not to take it is fine. But don't confuse that decision with believing the opportunity wasn't there. Those are different things.

You also have to remember that the clock is running. Every opportunity has an expiration date. Sometimes you know what it is, but most of the time you don't.

You might be talking to someone you want to hire, going back and forth about whether to make the decision. By the time you decide you're going to do it, they've taken a job somewhere else. The building you've been looking at gets sold, or someone else solves the problem you were considering working on.

That doesn't mean you should jump at every opportunity you see. It means you need to make a choice once you recognize one, because you can't assume it will still be there when you finally get around to deciding.

Don't let the work hide the opportunity

One of the reasons opportunities are easy to miss is that they're disguised as hard work. You can recognize the problem and understand what it would take, then walk away because it looks difficult.

But maybe the work isn't standing between you and the opportunity. Maybe the work is the opportunity.

This is the hard part: before you take it, you want to know whether it's going to work. I understand that, but nobody can promise you the outcome. Nothing guarantees success.

What opportunity gives you is the chance to do the work. You see what's in front of you, make your decision, and do your very best with it. Then you either win or you learn. The outcome is a byproduct of what happens after you take the opportunity, not something you're entitled to before you start.

Start with the opportunities already around you

Maybe this week you don't need to go looking for more opportunities. Maybe you need to get better at recognizing the ones already around you.

Look at what's in front of you and ask whether you have affinity for the work, whether you have or can get the ability to do it, and whether there's a real need. When those three things point toward the same place, give it your attention and make your decision.

It may look like a lot of hard work, and it won't be there forever. You're not guaranteed the outcome, but you have the chance to do something with the opportunity.