Just ONE Thing
ENDURE: The Framework for Handling Problems in Your Shop
Episode 247
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to those of you that have never been here before. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just ONE Thing. We're a training and coaching company for the independent auto and truck repair shop owners.
So what are we gonna talk about today? What I want to talk about is how people deal with situations in their shop. I think this is really, really important. The word of this Just One Thing is “ENDURE.”
I'll start talking to a shop owner and I hear business sucks. This is horrible. I hate this. I wish I never did it. All these different things, all this negativity. But here's the thing. I'm gonna argue that when we get right down to it, they love being in business.
They love different parts of it. It might be getting the cars fixed or working with the people you know, customers. It might be growing your team. There's gonna be different parts of the business that light you up, and that's amazing.
So what happens is when we have a problem, problems do three things.
The first thing a problem does is it feels like it's gonna be permanent.
And what I mean by that is it's gonna be there forever. So what I want to talk about here though is you think this is gonna be there forever. The problem's gonna be permanent, but here's the other issue you have.
When you have a problem, you see it permeates. In other words, instead of the problem being right here, it spreads. And it's the feeling of the problem that spreads. So instead of being able to understand what this is, it becomes this.
So what I want you to understand is they permeate, and that's what I really want to talk about today, is that permeation.
Because in reality, when I get people, shop owners, to step back and say, okay, what's the real issue? I typically find it's in one of four areas.
Number one, it's car count, like not enough, right?
The second is in hiring and managing the team.
The third is finances.
And then the fourth is running a business with a technician mindset.
So those are typically the four issues that I see.
What happens is that those problems, they start to permeate, and now all of a sudden there isn't any good part of the business. But that's not true.
So what I want you to do is I want you to be able to endure because you don't want the problem taking over everything. So here's ENDURE. It's a framework.
Write it down.
E in ENDURE. The first “E” is for expose. Expose what's really going on. Expose the area that you really don't like. That's where you've gotta get real.
Don't allow what you don't enjoy or are having a problem with. You don't want it to infect everything else that you enjoy doing.
So what I want you to be able to do is expose what's real.
I want you to notice the story that you're telling yourself about it. Because here's the problem with the story. We go from, I have a problem hiring somebody. I need help, to business sucks, to this sucks. I hate it. I don't want to come to work.
But if we can just isolate what's real and see the story you're saying about it, that is pretty cool.
Now once we understand what's real, the “D” is decide. You've gotta decide whether this is a skill that you need to grow or is it something you need to delegate, whether internally with a team member or outsource to a third party.
Either one is fine, but you've gotta decide.
But here's the “U.” Do U is you've gotta upgrade. What do I mean by that? You gotta upgrade your skills, okay?
That is what I need you to hear. You gotta upgrade your skills. I want you to understand that when you are having a problem in your shop, the problem is pointing you to a spot that you just need to grow.
I can remember when I had my shop and we were struggling with card count and I realized I really sucked at marketing for the shop.
And so what I did was I just said, okay, I'm going to just consume everything I possibly can. I'm then going to apply and I'm gonna fine tune and finesse and come up with some stuff that really worked. And it worked. Then I didn't have a problem anymore with marketing. It wasn't an issue anymore for me.
So I want you to understand, you gotta upgrade now.
But you're gonna say to yourself, but Rick, I'm just gonna get a third party going here. You gotta grow even if you're gonna delegate.
Because so many shop owners, they delegate to or outsource to a third party, and then they abdicate. They don't realize you still have responsibility. You still gotta know what those measurements gotta be. You still gotta know that you're getting what you're paying for.
Remember, you don't hire people—and this includes vendors. You do not hire people to do things. You hire people to get things.
So if you're gonna hire somebody to do your marketing, then you need to be very, very clear about what the expectation is, and then be able to communicate that expectation so that it creates a ruler.
So you've gotta be able to upgrade.
Okay. The problem does start and stop with you, right? But this is the awesome part, because when you realize you are the cause, you realize you're the cure.
The only person you can one hundred percent control is yourself.
So when you recognize that you are the problem, it's always right. You've gotta upgrade.
And then what I want you to do is reduce.
What I mean by that is I want you to make the problem smaller. I want you to make it so that it's realistic. I want you to make the problem so it's overcomeable. I don't know if that's a real word, but I'm making it up. It's overcomeable.
You have the ability to overcome it. It's bigger than you are, but when I can reduce it and then make it what it really is, now I can overcome it.
Then the last thing you gotta do is get back to enjoy.
Because I promise you, when you started your business, if you step back and really think about the day you slid the key in the door the first time, I am willing to bet you were all kinds of excited.
Scared, but excited.
Get that excitement, get that enjoyment back because that's what business is all about today.
So enjoy it today.
I'm gonna ask you to share this video. I promise you somebody needs to hear this.
So I need you to expose the issue, the real issue.
I want you to notice the story you're telling yourself.
I want you to decide whether it's a skill you gotta get better at, or if it's gonna be something you delegate.
Then I want you to upgrade your skill or your knowledge in that area, regardless of what you decide to do.
Then I want you to reduce the problem to something that you're able to deal with.
I want you to enjoy.
All right, everybody, have a great week. Go make some money. We'll see you next week. Bye-bye.
