If you have survived the decision-making processes in Parts I and II, welcome to the magic moment of actually starting to get it done.
Collision repairers are what psychologists call multi-taskers or "poly-phasers" of necessity-they mentally process and manage many tasks and issues simultaneously. Freeze-frame the mind of a typical owner-operator at any moment in his day and have a look: In addition to what is actually being done right now, you'll find at least a dozen other items in active analysis and prioritization, most of them due for action in the next few hours, many in the next few minutes. It goes with the job. But executing that second location is complex on a vastly different scale, spread out throughout the better part of a year. At any moment in the process, there may be 50 separate issues to be juggled, sorted, revised, scheduled and acted on. It needs a plan. Here, with the considerable assistance of Gojmeric and Greenwald, are a few ideas on organizing the implementation of the second location.
At this early point, where the project can seem particularly daunting in its detail, I have found that just the act of getting the elements named and collected together in organized form is very reassuring.
There are many styles of organization. Some people run their lives on tiny scraps of paper stuffed in their pockets; others create flow charts, bar graphs and minute-by-minute, color-coded schedules for the simplest of operations. But most of us just need a few organizational tools to keep track of what we want to get done. If you don't have some proven alternative method, I suggest nothing more complicated than a big, fat three-ring binder. Go out and buy a 4-in. or 5-in. heavy-duty, three-ring binder, a sturdy three-hole punch and good stapler. At the same time, buy several sets of heavy separator sheets with colored tabs to lay out the different sections of the binder, the kind where you can insert printed paper titles in the transparent colored plastic tabs. Get five colors, such as green, blue, yellow, white and red; 10 each of three of the colors, double up on the other two. That's it. No batteries required.
Your binder doesn't need dozens of sections. I suggest labeling them into these five: "MASTER," "CONTSTRUCTION," "EQUIPMENT," "VENDORS/SERVICES," and "STAFFING." Recommendations for what each section should contain are listed on this page. It's not necessary to make a tab if you don't think you'll need to keep track of it. Add whatever other tabs you need that occur to you.
There are no disadvantages to pausing here to acquire the binder and other materials, and then put them together. Since you've been thinking seriously about this for a while, you probably already have more than a few critical pieces of paper to punch and put in some of the sections. So, go ahead. The remainder of the article will wait patiently for you. Or, read on. Your call.
Of course, a comprehensive step-by-step manual for the project is far beyond the scope of this article, but here are some key points and suggestions, corresponding roughly to the five binder sections.
Master section
PERSONAL DATA: You are going to fill out more forms in the next few months than you ever knew existed. Make a master list of the personal data about you and your partner(s) that you'll need to provide again and again: Telephone numbers, birthdates, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, previous addresses, business references and their phone numbers. Along with this you may wish to keep handy copies of personal financial documents, tax returns, business licenses and their numbers and effective dates.PROPERTY DATA: All the documents that describe the property: Maps, drawings, elevations, title and assessor's certificates. Eventually, copies of the escrow and closing statements.
ZONING: All application materials. Incidentally, this is "Book One, Chapter One" of the project. This comes first. Don't commit to anything until you know you can build and operate a collision repair center where you are planning. Get your plans and renderings in attractive form, and make your application in person if you can. Note: If your architect shows 20 pretty bushes along the front of the store, remember that cities have employees whose job it is to be unpleasant when the final project has only six.
LICENSES and PERMITS: Another one to start early, almost immediately, and make no assumptions. In some states licensing a repair location can take three months.
BUSINESS PLAN/PROJECTIONS: There is nothing more complicated than (a) what you expect to spend, (b) how much of it you need to borrow and for how long, (c) how you expect the investment to behave, and (d) why. The bad news is that this step really can't be rushed. You have to think it through. The good news is that it isn't all that hard. Organize it into a few simple sections, perhaps like a through d above, and fill each of them with common sense. Look at your existing operation for guidelines on operating ratios, but be realistic in allowing for start-up glitches. You may be pleasantly surprised at how grateful your banker will be just for the straightforward treatment, compared to what he or she normally sees.
FINANCING: My advisers stress the necessity of lining up your financing before anything else. They also emphasize allowing for surprises. That means don't underestimate what you'll need by trying to make the loan look smaller and easier to make. Your banker doesn't want to hear that you need another $100,000 for something you forgot about.
CONTRACTORS: Names, addresses, cell phone numbers and license numbers of the general contractor and subs all go in the MASTER section as well. This is where careful homework is absolutely critical. Disaster lurks with a bad or hasty choice here. You must personally speak with at least two recent customers of the contractor for whom he has done a major commercial project. Be suspicious of an unusually low bid compared to others.
Should (could) you be your own general contractor? I argue no. Here's why: The general knows the subs. You don't. More importantly, the contractor doesn't know you and in all likelihood will never have to please you again. Incidentally, I see no difference in the amount of your personal time required at the site between having a general and being your own. You will have to be there almost every day. The hundreds of decisions that come up will be made whether you're there or not. There are many you won't like if they're made without your real-time input, and more than a few that are maddeningly expensive to do over.
Other sections
VENDORS: Talk to your key vendors for parts, paint and materials. If they like to talk about being part of your success, this is the time to find out what that means. If you are growing, that means you are going to be instruments in their selling more to you. Tell them about your plan and ask what role they expect to play, but also give them time to answer. Contact the phone company and utilities early, with plenty of notice-about 60 to 90 days. Hazardous waste service, cardboard removal and the post office can come a little later.EQUIPMENT and FURNISHINGS: Locate a computer wherever there's a telephone, or vice versa. Keep the telephone system simple, with a well-established, reputable supplier. Resist extra features with no obvious or immediate benefit. Phones in the metal and paint areas should be incoming only, no dial out. Paint booth(s) prep stations and mixing, should be integrated and from a supplier with great references. At least one of these references should be from a more recent customer with whom you and your painter have visited and interviewed. Take the lead times seriously. There's seldom a pleasant surprise in the schedule. Use smaller desks for space conservation and less horizontal surface to collect piles of paper, be generous with file cabinets, but stingy on drawers that will collect junk or unclosed files. In most markets there are huge inventories of handsome nearly-new or remanufactured office furniture and reception chairs. Sit in every chair before you buy it. If you don't love it, neither will anyone else.
The lifeblood of the shop is its air system. Don't skimp on it; buy quality. Run copper, not PVC, and seriously consider a screw compressor for longevity and efficiency. Seriously consider good spot welders for quality repair processes, on their own isolated three-phase circuit, and get enough of them so that your guys aren't wasting their time and yours standing around waiting to use only one. Rather than the neatest thing you saw at NACE, put in frame and measuring equipment (including upper body and three-dimensional) that your guys believe in and will use. Again, build enough equipment into the budget that waiting around to use it is minimized. Solvent recovery isn't cheap, but can save you hundreds of dollars a month. Consider a central vacuum system so that your guys can clean up the car while they're working, e.g., under the back seat before it's reinstalled. Try to get away from conventional fluorescent lighting, where dust can build up on the tubes, reducing candlepower. Consider the newer, energy-efficient sealed lamps drawing 2.3 amps, if available, rather than 4 amps. Your lighting supplier should have some software to locate the lighting for optimum efficiency. Don't use the breaker box for switching lights off and on. Remember, before you sit down to do the electrical plan with the contractor, you'll need to know the electrical requirements of all your equipment. Put your signage where the most people can read it while driving by, that is, at 90 degrees to their path, rather than across the front of your building, where you like to look at it.
PEOPLE: When you put a particularly advanced piece of equipment in the new shop, consider doing it at both locations. Otherwise there's a risk that the people at the "mother ship" who have been struggling with the ancient version for years may feel shortchanged, a kind of demotion for those left behind. Start running your ads several months before you plan to open. Hire your new work force at least a month before you open, and put them into training at the existing location.
Finally, hang in there. Remember to spend plenty of time with others who have done this, and their advice is worth many times the cost of a plane ticket. If you don't know who to ask, I'll suggest someone nearby. Is this going to be lengthy and often frustrating? Of course. But it's also going to be tremendously stimulating and rewarding. And you can do it.
For this installment I wish to acknowledge the insights and suggestions of two outstanding operators: Dan Greenwald of Greenwald's Auto Body and Frameworks in San Diego, and Nick Gojmeric of Collision Plus in southern Illinois, both multi-location operators nationally known both for their individual accomplishments and industry contributions.
