blog

Some of the minds behind Tekmetric have been exactly where you are: running a shop and trying to maintain that fine balance between success for your team, success for your customers, and success for your business.

And we know there's always that extra .001 millimeter room for improvement, which is why we set out to help shops find and make those improvements. Everything about Tekmetric is about making your shop better!

But we also know that you spend a lot of time running your shop, and that’s why we’re happy to do that heavy lifting. Part of the natural byproduct of helping great shops get better is we have a lot of data and a lot of insight into how shops can, and maybe even should, operate. 

That's the beauty of modern cloud-based shop management systems, they provide businesses like yours with a strong foundation of organization, simplicity, and functionality to run your shop, with the flexibility and freedom to run it in whatever way works best for you.

‍

‍

Looking specifically at the first half of 2023, we set out to gather a high-level view of the entire independent auto repair industry alongside unique Tekmetric shop data to understand how shops like yours can save time, improve operations, and bolster your profit margins.

The goal behind our latest industry index report was simple: we wanted to make it as easy as possible for shops like yours to take advantage of all that amazing data and industry expertise we've gathered along the way.

Keep cars on the road, customers happy, and your team supported for a successful business.

With just the right tools for the job, every repair can be so much easier. There's a reason some car manufacturers produce their own unique tools, and while they might seem unnecessary, they can turn hours into seconds.

Even so much as a proprietary socket with a unique angle to remove an oil drain plug tucked right up against the subframe, as silly as it may seem, is worth the extra little investment. The adage still rings true, that ultimately time is money -- saving time keeps your shop running like a well-oiled, rear-midengined dry-sump V8.

Running an independent auto shop requires the right tools, and not just the right impact wrenches or the right alignment rack. 

The right shop management system can revolutionize the way your shop runs, from the moment customers call or walk in, to receiving payments and getting vehicles back on the road.

Learn why Tekmetric is the right tool for the job for shop management from some of the brilliant minds behind the revolution:

The Biggest Benefits of The Right Shop Management System

Enhanced Customer Experience: Put your customers first with a suite of features that allows you to easily communicate to build the trust needed to run a successful repair shop. Simplified operations in your shop naturally lead to improved customer service.

Higher Efficiency: Save time on manual tasks with a set of features that allows you to run your shop the way you see fit with easy-to-build automation, custom RO labels, and templates across the shop. Focus on the customer, and not a computer screen.

Building a startup takes time, effort, and a lot of determination. You and your team have invested in a great idea, and everyone works diligently to bring new team members, investors, and customers on board. However, the process doesn’t end once the product or service has taken off and gained popularity.

A startup can operate on a lean team, with people wearing multiple hats and taking on extra responsibilities. But as the company grows, it will be time to hire more employees and scale the company to meet demand.

How to scale the business is an enormous question that causes hesitation for many leaders. How do you expand your business offerings and your team without losing the heart and inspiration that helped the startup succeed in the first place?

In my own business, Tekmetric, which offers shop management software for auto repair businesses, I have relied on a few tactics that enabled me—and our whole team—to scale sustainably. Here are four of the most vital.

Investing in an cloud-based auto repair shop management system is one of the best ways to refine your shop’s processes and get things under control. However, the decision to invest in a shop management system is a big one.

Before you begin researching different options on the market, you should ask yourself two key questions:

• Am I at the stage where I need a new shop management system?
• What do I want from a shop management system?

As you search for a suitable shop management system through automotive repair shop software reviews, it’s important that you diligently research any system you’re considering.

Repair shop management has many moving parts that require a collaborative environment. There's a lot of information to share, whether that's service advisors getting information from customers or providing updates to them, or even technicians and service advisors discussing the repair process of that customer's vehicle.

Without clear communication, you'll be playing a game of telephone, with details changing or getting lost, causing repairs to fall short, or forcing service advisors to pick up the phone and bug customers throughout the day. None of that is ideal.

That's why clear and effective communication is the key to providing great service in pretty much every industry, especially auto repair. 

The better your team can communicate with your guests, the more at ease your guests will feel about their repairs, and the more likely they are to walk out of your shop happy and willing to come back to your shop the next time they need a repair.

In turn, your team will feel even more energized and incentivized to provide great customer service. Win-win!

Auto repair shops generally calculate the cost of their repairs with numerous factors that contribute to the entire process. 

This includes the cost of parts and any necessary upcharges for the shop to generate a profit, as well as the cost of labor.

In this guide, we will help your independent auto repair shop learn how to maximize your profit margin specifically on your shop's labor rate.

Want to learn more? Check out our latest Auto Repair Industry Index! We cover everything from overall industry health to unique shop settings for Tekmetric users to get the most value out of the work they already do!