What in the world?

money_pit_yj · Feb 9, 2015

I'm sitting here helping one of my tire shop managers set some things up and his new hire came in. Dude is 35, no drivers license, rides a lawn mower everywhere and his mom brought him to the "interview". I'm all for folks working and trying to better them self and understand that I am not going to get the cream of the crop with what this guy pays his help, but am I being overbearing thinking this is going to be a train wreck? If you have $25/hour to spend for payroll, how would you do it? My manager wants to hire three guys and scrape the bottom of the barrel. I told him to hire one really good guy and train him to run the shop for $12 and get a good tire guy for $10 til we get some revenue then hire another guy down the road. What do you do? Hire three scrubs or 2 decent ones?

matth_85 · Feb 9, 2015

Two good guys. But your not gonna get two real good guys for $12.50/hr IMO.

onepieceatatime · Feb 9, 2015

Re:

Quality > quantity

kushKrawlin · Feb 9, 2015

Sad to even type this.. But dammit here it goes...

MEXICAN .. Or 2.
By the time u weed out all the sorry asses u could find a Mexican or 2 and more than likely have good employees. I'm not saying they're all good, and I will definitely say that they work harder than us crackers. As bad as I hate to say that. Hell anyone that works really hard and has half a brain won't stay long at 10 or so buks an hour.

money_pit_yj · Feb 9, 2015

matth_85 said:
Two good guys. But your not gonna get two real good guys for $12.50/hr IMO.

For this area that is about the best paying job like this. We aren't talking fab work, just busting tires and changing oil. We have one mechanic but he is so old and slow we just bill half his time. I also offer retirement, paid time off, etc. but these guys will go down the road for an extra nickel :dunno:

lowbudgetjunk · Feb 9, 2015

Spend the coin on one good guy.....worth their weight in gold. One of my guys pulls twice his weight, but gets paid accordingly. He can work all three positions efficiently enough by himself, when need be.

onepieceatatime · Feb 9, 2015

Re: Re: Re: What in the world?

lowbudgetjunk said:
Spend the coin on one good guy.....worth their weight in gold. One of my guys pulls twice his weight, but gets paid accordingly. He can work all three positions efficiently enough by himself, when need be.

I was going to say one really good guy but I'd be afraid to but all my eggs in one basket. I've been that guy and had to leave jobs because I had employers that took advantage of it and just never got me any help so I ended up burnt out and left. Always nice to have some good backup.

Lil ugly · Feb 9, 2015

Quality guys if you can get them. I try to hire good quality people and train them for the position that we need them, then cross train to be back ups. It is a slow process and has some drawbacks but in the long run it pays big dividends.

lowbudgetjunk · Feb 9, 2015

Re: Re: Re: What in the world?

onepieceatatime said:
I was going to say one really good guy but I'd be afraid to but all my eggs in one basket. I've been that guy and had to leave jobs because I had employers that took advantage of it and just never got me any help so I ended up burnt out and left. Always nice to have some good backup.

This is true. Pulled one 16 shift Friday and 11+ Saturday. He had military duties and we had two out with the flu. It hurt and I had to work hard, but the other 24 or so work days, he straight gets it done. And X2 on cross training. I have regressed greatly at work when one of my important cogs gets better work.

grcthird · Feb 9, 2015

I'll make this easy for you. Do you want to babysit all day or walk away to tend to other things knowing the place is in good hands? The lower paid techs, mechanics, whatever, find other ways to get compensated in this business and you end up paying for it in the end. Stolen parts, merchandise, using your equipment to make them money on side jobs, all that adds up quick. Usually the upper to mid grade level techs make the shop the most money, lower level oil change and tire guys are in that 10-12 range, but in my experience, need to be watched more to make sure stuff gets done right. Finding a good, motivated tech can be difficult.

wap13 · Feb 9, 2015

Quality > quantity

snoball · Feb 10, 2015

Quality for the win! Spend time finding better ways to make money instead of worrying about losing it.

money_pit_yj · Feb 10, 2015

snoball said:
Quality for the win! Spend time finding better ways to make money instead of worrying about losing it.

Trust me, I know! It is a crazy situation all around. I got handed the shops and told to make them profitable. First thing I did was spend a bunch of money getting things right, then explained to everyone we were not saving our way into profit. The good thing is that we have 50 plus fleet vehicles that all require maintenance and repair so there is a good bit of revenue there, I just had to have a conversation with the accountant to see things my way! That gives me my reasoning behind hiring a "technician" rather than a tire buster. Now I have to drum up business and try to get my revenue per car up so we can turn a profit.

Blue31 · Feb 10, 2015

You run a tire shop? How much for those sticky tires? That'll drum you up some profit.

jeepmedic · Feb 10, 2015

2 decent ones

TheViking · Feb 10, 2015

Two decent ones because the three bottom of the barrel will likely rob you blind, all three get messed up together(hopefully not on your dime), not show up together, poor shoddy work is a liability on your end. When I ran quick lubes I had this trouble.....

I won't say go Mexican I have worked with ten of them and only one took pride in his work and did not cut corners putting him, myself, or the client at risk but he grew up legally in Cali.

I will say this skin color doesn't matter it's work ethic and character. I will pray for you on God sending the right guys your way.

money_pit_yj · Apr 2, 2015

I fired a guy a few weeks ago for stealing a bunch of money (I can't prove without a doubt so I cant convict) and have been at the counter of one of my shops; and I finally figured out why in the crap this shop cant sell tires. The manager at this shop is a kind hearted soul who feels bad about taking peoples money for anything, so he offers them a cheaper alternative than buying new tires. The past two weeks we have sold more tires than we did the previous month because I have been asking every single person that walks through the door to buy tires. I have talked 5 or 6 folks into buying tires instead of plugging them and I have not yet sold someone a tire that didn't need it and have not sold anyone a tire that was way more tire than they needed. I am just persistent with folks who need tires and borderline pushy. Well this week I have seen this manager start doing the same thing, and dude is like an animal now! He talked a woman who came in to buy fuel into tires that she needed and got a taste of what it feels like to close a sale you earned, and he has taken off like a bullet out of a gun! The dude is trying to sell me tires for my company truck!!! It is exciting to me, to see someone excel and build confidence in themselves! I still have a laundry list of issues at both locations, this was just a bright spot!

TheViking · Apr 2, 2015

Wow back from the dead thread.
Glad to see progress in your situation with one employee sorry that one shop lost mone by dishonesty from another employee.

muddinmetal · Apr 2, 2015

money_pit_yj said:
I fired a guy a few weeks ago for stealing a bunch of money (I can't prove without a doubt so I cant convict) and have been at the counter of one of my shops; and I finally figured out why in the crap this shop cant sell tires. The manager at this shop is a kind hearted soul who feels bad about taking peoples money for anything, so he offers them a cheaper alternative than buying new tires. The past two weeks we have sold more tires than we did the previous month because I have been asking every single person that walks through the door to buy tires. I have talked 5 or 6 folks into buying tires instead of plugging them and I have not yet sold someone a tire that didn't need it and have not sold anyone a tire that was way more tire than they needed. I am just persistent with folks who need tires and borderline pushy. Well this week I have seen this manager start doing the same thing, and dude is like an animal now! He talked a woman who came in to buy fuel into tires that she needed and got a taste of what it feels like to close a sale you earned, and he has taken off like a bullet out of a gun! The dude is trying to sell me tires for my company truck!!! It is exciting to me, to see someone excel and build confidence in themselves! I still have a laundry list of issues at both locations, this was just a bright spot!

I'd tell you both to suck a **** and that when I was ready to buy tires I'd let you know... but then again people are gonna end up buying tires somewhere, so I guess y'all might as well be the ones to sell them, just not to me...

poolman · Apr 2, 2015

muddinmetal said:
I'd tell you both to suck a **** and that when I was ready to buy tires I'd let you know... but then again people are gonna end up buying tires somewhere, so I guess y'all might as well be the ones to sell them, just not to me...

We don't push anything on any customers at our store, there's a ton of products we could sell that people really don't need, I'm assuming every type of business has these. A customer walks in I sell them just the necessities. Could I make more money being pushy ya, but I generally keep a customer for life.

To answer your question two decent guys. You put all your money in one guys and he quits or is even off a day your SOL.