THA 029: Are We Too Dependent on Being Independent?

Talking Points:

• We need to get together and become inter-dependent.
• Out of Many One: E pluribus Unum (Quote of Dollar Bill)
• We think along the lines why being independent is a good thing, because we’ve always considered the ‘aftermarket’ as independent vs the dealership.
• It’s a pride thing, a self-motivation thing, and an unshaken inner self-awareness that their that damned good. . . and most of them are.
• It seems to breed us not working together to lift our image, improve labor rates, access to information, share tools and equipment, etc.
• Fragmented space in automotive for tools, processes, “I need my own solution”, “Every shop is different”, “just add an option for me”.
  • 125 point of sale systems.
  • The learning curve for SA is steep, tools can’t be used to their fullest.
• Associations are great that help to bring lobbying and benefits, but they lack in membership. Why because we choose not to care because we are ‘independent’. Should we go it alone. We’ve come to learn that twenty-groups bring strength to their individual members. Associations create networking opportunities and bridges the gap of being ‘alone’.
• Other “most” important thing is the inner drive to succeed with or without anyone’s help.  To be independent also means that your method of working doesn’t revolve around a set time structure such as punching a time clock.  In other words, you do what needs to be done, and work at it until it is done.
• Why do car dealers seem to be united when they are independent business people. No one calls Peps boys independent yet they do the same thing ‘independents do’.
• Independency is a good thing. . . to some degree. If being independent means you can’t finish a repair without having help…such as the dealership with their direct contact with the manufacturer, or their latest software and protocols in regard to scanning and or flashing. Then your independence becomes your downfall.
• How do we become un-independent? Individuality and entrepreneurialism is powerful but being interdependent on each other can become a good thing.
• Being independent is a liberation and challenge and opens many doors of finding solutions, sometimes very unorthodox
• We are not apart from each other, we are a part of one another. This industry has had its fair share of self-imposed drama because hard-working automotive technicians underestimated the value of a smart-working business education. There is a way out of this hole.
• Being independent can be taken to the extreme and be anarchy, lone wolf existence, which can be a hindrance in being successful and effective.
• Figuring out solutions 100% by oneself can be tiring and doesn’t leverage others having gone through the process themselves.
• As a true independent, lawsuits with OEM car makers seem unattainable.
  • “Right of repair” topics hard to lobby.
• Fragmented space in automotive for tools, processes, “I need my own solution”, “Every shop is different”, “just add an option for me”.
• Software tool vendors hesitant to enter the market, prefer other industries.
  • Outdated technology solutions dominate.
  • Silo solutions dominate.
  • If the software tools and shop process don’t follow and leverage that trend, the independents run the risk to leave the education to somebody else and get commoditized.

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