If you’ve poured vast time and energy into getting your garage business up and running, then you might welcome the prospect of growth. You’ve established a good reputation with your customers, and they’re rewarding you. Things are looking great.
Except, there are a few hidden dangers to consider here. There’s a right and a wrong way to grow a business, and the mistakes you make might be difficult to correct once the business has swelled. You might find it difficult to manage a garage with more customers and more staff. You might even suffer from so-called ‘diseconomies’ of scale – these being the things that stop even the largest businesses from expanding beyond a certain size. But how can you ensure that your growth is sustainable?
Hire strategically
No one wants to have to get rid of employees once you’ve gone to the trouble of inducting them and offering them a stable job. Therefore, hiring strategically and not reactively is always the best way to go. Think about the team of mechanics, administrative staff and other employees that your business needs to achieve its objectives and support sustainable growth, and then devise your recruitment strategy accordingly.
Upskill
If you’re going to get the best from your team, then you’ll need to provide them with opportunities to train and develop – otherwise known as upskilling. This way, you’ll have a diversified collective skillset, which means greater flexibility and more ability to delegate mechanical or customer-facing tasks. Try to avoid reliance on one person’s skills because if they leave or fall ill – you could be struggling to service cars and customers consistently and to the standard that you need to.
Invest in the right equipment
Equipment costs add up to a sizeable expenditure for many businesses and garages need a lot of them, particularly as they scale. It’s usually better to buy once than it is to continually replace cheaper products, so consider this when investing in equipment. Opting for reputable brands like Milwaukee tools is more likely to be a better investment for the long term. Not only that, but you can benefit from superior productivity and results.
Make use of online business tools
The tools you use aren’t only physical. Business software allows you to keep track of your garage business and administration. The most common types are payroll and accounting software, but some businesses also need CRM software. These tools can support the growth of your business and save you lots of time which can be invested elsewhere.
Remember to maintain the customer experience
If your customer experience begins to suffer, then so too will your garage. For many growing businesses, it can become increasingly difficult for those at the top to keep track of the demands and attitudes of customers. It’s therefore critical that you make efforts to continuously monitor what your customers are looking for, and how satisfied they are with the level of service that they’re currently getting.
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