Unscripted with Andy Bizub and Lucas Underwood [RR 553]

Andy Bizub from Midwest Performance Cars in Chicago is also a native of Chicago. His first career was 25 years as a commodity trader. He entered the professional auto industry in 2014 by acquiring a failing shop in downtown Chicago that he was a customer of and started a turnaround. Andy now has two locations. He bought his first car at age 19, a 1972 Triumph Spitfire, which was the start of his gas, oil, and automobile obsession.

Look for Andy’s previous episodes HERE.

Lucas Underwood is an Automotive diagnostic specialist, shop owner, and foreman. He owns L & N Performance Auto Repair, Blowing Rock, NC  was Founded In 2008 As A Diesel Performance Shop – Over The Past 10 Years, The Facility Has Transformed Into A Full-Service Automotive Repair Facility. Offering Repairs On All Makes & Models, Gas And Diesel. Lucas was honored by ASTE as the member of the year 2018.

Look for Lucas’ other episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points:

• Complaints from shop owners about their customer
• It is Andy’s contention that we program our shops to get the customers we serve and attract
• ASOG Facebook Group was started to help owners  
• It took Andy some time to realize that he didn’t want every customer that travled in front of his shop to become customers
• Lucas’s shop coach says that some business owners are in love with their problems and not their solutions
• Some shops need a nudge in the right directions and it helps out the entire industry
• Many shop owners should be doing better and when they do it helps out the entire industry
• Andy and Lucas both have a coach
• There is no excuse to hold onto fundamental problems in your business
•  Lucas started to change his business with the low hanging fruitHe wasn’t charging appropriately. Not his labor rate but the time charged on the ticket. It hurt his business and people
• When you start to figure it out, you don’t want every customer
• His customers are interested in value and what he brings to the table
• Owner on the counter gives time away
• He was taught fundamentals and his coach wanted them to become muscle memory so he can react and fix new problems
• You need to learn the concept behind why you are fixing segments of your business
• Andy- When you get the numbers right he doesn’t worry that he can’t pay the tech X on the high slide, but pay the tech X on the low side. He wants his techs to earn a great living, pay their mortgage and put food on the table. He doesn’t worry about paying his people to little
• When the business is financially managed you can make the decisions on what to pay and what to charge
• You can motivate yourself to grow if you don’t see your numbers  
• Lucas’s coach says: “Perfection is a lie told by the devil to steal the dreams of men”Lucas was told to get out of the bays and start running the business because he was slowing the business down
• You need to manage yourself out of the business so you can be away from the business without you there
• What gets in the way of running a great business:Arrogance
• Pride
• Ego
• Ignorance. You don’t know what you don’t know
• There are people willing to teach you, but you have to be willing to listen 
• Why would you invest in your business and make only 5% net profit, when you can make that with a smart investment. Too many shop owners are happy with a minimal profit and when they get ready to sell that will hurt their valuation
• Read Mitch Scheider’s book Misfire. Find it on the Books page on the website. Get it HERE
• Owners need to think about where they bring the most value to their businessMany believe it is under the hood. Then hire someone to run the business
• Many don’t believe they can be the visionary and a great marketer, but that is a critically important role
• Too much is being in hero mode. Trying to be perfect in all ways and just spinning into a hole
• It’s OK if things don’t go rightWe quickly blame the customer for what went wrong
• We take zero ownership for what went wrong
• When you look at other ships you see the highlight reel of only what is right
• You will have things that go south and you need to recover and learn from it
• You aren’t the only one with problems
• You can get a filtered perspective of what your customer needs from you and what they expect. You get hardened and you need to do an often reset on your thinking

Resources:

• Thanks to Andy Bizub and Lucas Underwood for their contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Link to the ‘BOOKS‘ page highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
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