Maximum Octane

As a shop owner, you tackle big issues like bay efficiency, DVI compliance, marketing, and advertising spend. But what about phone calls and operational communications? While it may sound mundane, recording your calls...

Customer communication is essential for success. But what does that really mean? Too often, shop owners are relying on outdated software installed on day one. It’s not the best, but it works, right? Wrong. This episode...

Money can make or break your dream, but securing it isn’t always easy. SBA loans, KPIs, and retained earnings? It can all sound like gibberish to the untrained ear. Instead of sifting through the acronyms like parts at...

At some point, every shop owner questions the keys to success. Is it customer retention? Good leadership? Or maybe it’s having a strong digital footprint. The good news is you don’t go at it alone. Enter: KUKUI, the...

Human resources often gets a bad rap. It’s been stigmatized as the last resort for managing harassment claims and inner office conflicts. But the department and the people behind it do so much more. In this episode of...

Most collision shops have spent the last 50 years letting insurance companies bring them work and calling it a strategy. It worked for a long time. It's working a lot less now, and the shops that haven't built any...

Most shop owners who invest in shop management software are using maybe a third of what they're paying for. They swap the old manual process for a digital one, call it an upgrade, and move on. But that's not an upgrade...

Most shop owners say they want a great team. What they actually build, without realizing it, is a team of people they're too afraid to hold accountable. This episode is a candid, unscripted conversation with two veteran...

Most shop owners don't know what their business is worth until someone makes an offer, and by then it's too late to be strategic. Whether that unsolicited call catches you off guard or your retirement plan is quietly...

Most shop owners think about relationships as a soft skill; something you're either naturally good at or you're not. David Nour thinks that's exactly the kind of thinking that keeps small businesses stuck. Relationships...

Plenty of shop owners walk in with a big heart and walk out with a struggling business, convinced that charging fairly and taking care of people are opposites. This episode breaks that myth down piece by piece, showing...

Most shop owners complain about finding technicians but do nothing to fix it. They ask, "Do you have ten fingers?" Get a yes, and hire them tomorrow. No interview, no vetting, no onboarding. Just panic. Lisa Coyle heard...

<p>Ninety percent of third-generation businesses fail. It sounds like a doom-and-gloom stat, and it should. But Dan Garlock didn't treat it that way. When his dad said second-generation businesses fail at a super high...

<p>Your team reads your body language before they hear your words. A bad morning, a lost deal, traffic on the way to work. It takes one thing to set the tone for the entire day, and suddenly your frustration becomes...

<p>Shop owners know Q1 is slow. So they wait until December to panic and throw money at ads, which is the exact opposite of what works. While most shops treat marketing like an emergency room visit, the ones pulling...