Self-motivation keeps Nebraska shop owner passionate about repair business

"The publicity instantly helped our business. People realized that we were open," Dawson says of the shop that opened in April across the street from a large outdoor mall also bearing the Shadow Lake name.

One thing he does know, however, is that the love of car repairs runs in his blood. His father owned a truck shop in Des Moines. While growing up, the younger Dawson spent summers helping in the shop. Later, his dad sold the shop. Dawson's career path took a different route. He attended college for agriculture business.

"But as I began to think about things, I decided to do what I was ultimately good at – working on cars. I got a car repair job in Maryville, Mo., paying $6 an hour in 1993. And now – 15 years later – I own two shops."

A critical element driving the success of the two shops are 18 highly regarded employees, all of whom have access to I-CAR training and ASE opportunities. Painters also are trained through PPG. In fact, one painter, Jeff Shoemaker, was the PPG Painter of the Year in 2006, a distinguished honor for his shop. As Shadow Lake grows, Dawson plans to hire more. Even though his employees are more than capable of keeping the shops running smoothly, Dawson still loves to be involved with the daily nitty gritty. However, he says he's near ready to relinquish the 12-hour days he's been working.

As part of his equipment investment Dawson has asserted his green commitment by choosing USI Italia waterborne compatible paints.

"Use of waterborne paint is the reason I define my shop as a green shop," Dawson explains. "The main reason I went to water is that I wanted to have the paints running now – not switch later. And I wanted to market that I'm a green shop.

"In a suburbia location such as where we are, people notice these subtle differences," he adds. "Ultimately, being green is icing on the cake. Having someone care about the environment can help promote your business."

Being green means as much to Dawson as staying on target with marketing, enough that he hired a full-time marketing person. Dawson is no stranger to newspaper ads, especially for the new shop, as well as television ads, along with community-related promotions.

"For a new facility you have to let people know you're open. Not to mention, because my landscaping wasn't done, many were convinced the shop was not completed," he says. Of course, now that the landscaping is done and the open house has passed, I'm going too fast," Dawson says half jokingly.

The revenues bear that out. In June, the new shop brought in $130,000 in just its third month of business. Dawson predicts $1.5 million in the first year, compared with the 2007 figure of $1.8 million for the AA Collision Repair Shop. "But Shadow Lake is easily a $4-million location," he notes. Currently, AA Collision Repair has some well-established DRPs driving the business. Shadow Lake is not as entrenched in that end of the business.

The "real" million dollar question may be: Will Dawson's twin boys have a passion for the business like he does? At the tender age of 7, it's much too early to predict, but so far, he says they love the shop.

Their pending involvement is one of the reasons Dawson didn't keep the AA name for his latest shop. "That way, if one son is interested, and one son isn't, we can always sell one shop off," he says. "I want them to know if they want a piece of it, it's there."

"Another reason not to name Shadow Lake after AA – I want this shop to be a name they remember," he says. As for AA's name, he said it was the goal of previous ownership to have a name that would ensure the shop was listed at the top of the phone book listings.

Business names aside, the customer remains Dawson's top priority. The shop is even open on Saturdays.

"It's convenient for people to pick up a car on Saturdays. From our perspective, if you can land one extra job on Saturday – that's $100,000 in sales a year," he says.

What sets the shops apart is the cycle time and the little extras such as cleaning every car. "But what I feel really sets me apart is the work on the inside of the vehicle," he says. "When you open that hood and see matched work, brush-touched bolts and undetected repair, that's what sets me apart."

He tries to steer clear of folks who speak poorly of the industry. "There's a lot of opportunity in this business, but only if you want to work hard. I'm pretty self-motivated. If I get something in my mind I see if I can do it. Once I accomplish that, I move on," he says.

As for online presence, Shadow Lake's site is still being ironed out. In the meantime, Dawson receives his share of feedback from the AA shop site (www.aacollision.com), which was recently rebuilt. "It's now easier for people to find us, which has paid off," he says.