Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

While Ted the Slugger may have been a baseball example, it has a lot to do with shop management. Change baseball to Ted the auto repair shop owner, change not hitting to low profits/sales and change slump to excuse for not succeeding.

Ted, doing the same thing he has always done experiences a major reduction in business. Fear grips him and he starts to question what could be wrong. He fails to realize his environment is changing and it has been coming for a long time. He needs to step back and take a look at his strategy. Has getting to this point really been good management, or being in the right place at the right time? Now times have changed.

This is a very scary thought. Maybe I am not a great manager? Maybe I have been in a seller’s market? I will have to learn why I was wrong and then learn what is more appropriate. That’s going to take a great deal of time and effort. Quickly a plan is formulated, the media says it’s a recession, that must be it. Now the fear is less, it’s not me, it’s the recession.

Ted reasons in a recession no one has money, so I must convince people I have lower prices. He comes up with a low price oil change and several loss leaders hoping for up-sells, and business does not get much better. He reasons this recession must be worse than he thought, and proceeds come up with other loss leaders and come-ons. He now is sending the message he is a discount shop and attracts clients looking for cheap repair. They all agree with him the economy is horrible. They all agree, it’s no fault of theirs. More and more he hears this view, and only this view, so it must be correct.

After three years things are no better, but Ted has too much “emotional investment” in his concept. He can’t admit it’s wrong, because he has told everyone it’s right. He looks for any evidence that supports his position and ignores any evidence that does not. Shown examples of shops doing well, he dismisses it as luck or the area the shop is in, they just don’t understand.

Ted can back up and start over at any time but will not. That to him would be like admitting defeat. He is now trapped in a downward spiral, of his own making. Ted is in denial, despite the facts, despite evidence to the contrary, he will not change. Rather he will continue to look to gimmicks and quick-fixes rather than embracing a long-term solution.

It seems many shop owners are in denial. They work long hours, for low pay, do not grow and eventually end up with very little to show. When asked, everything is okay, they just need a few more quick-fixes. It is said, there is nothing as infinite as the human mind’s ability to deceive itself. Working very hard at something that is not enjoyable and for little profit IS NOT NORMAL. It is a failure to manage properly. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

Part I
Part III

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA