Building a Better Shop: Shop Owner Roundtable (DC25 Edition)

How do you end a fantastic conference on a high note?

By dropping the hottest Shop Owner Roundtable since…um…well, since Shop Owner Roundtables debuted back in 2021. And livestreaming it.

Yes, folks, we did that. A Twitch channel can’t be far off.

The Roundtable followed the usual model: four experts joined two moderators on stage and answered audience questions while engaging in lively discussion. The general topic for this roundtable was, as you might have figured out, “Building a Better Shop.” 

Much knowledge was dropped. Opinions were heard. And Dick Bascom’s one-liners deserve a hype video of their own. 

Alas, we cannot reproduce the entire seminar for you in this blog…but we can link you to the video. And we can, as always, highlight some of the points we found most interesting. But first, let’s introduce the knights of this Roundtable:

• Dick Bascom of Bascom Truck & Auto
• Mandy McWilliams of Bascom Truck & Auto
• Mike Bascom of Bascom Truck & Auto
• Keith McMaster of Fireweed Heavy Truck & Equipment Repair
• Brandon Staley of TransWest Mobile and Naumann/Hobbs

The fantastic five were joined by moderators Peter Cooper of Ascend Consulting and John Whitett of Fullbay. 

Now, let’s see what they had to say.

GIVE MECHANICAL APTITUDE TESTS A WHIRL

If it feels like we highlight the hiring discussions from every shop owner roundtable we post…well, it’s probably because we have. Hiring technicians remains a massive concern for almost every shop out there, even if they don’t need to hire one right this minute…and sometimes hiring a skilled and experienced technician is just not in the cards. 

In the last couple of years, Bascom Truck & Auto has implemented mechanical aptitude tests for its new employees. These tests, Mandy stressed, are not so much about fixing things as to how you approach problems. “We’re not hiring for what you know — we’re hiring for what you think,” she said. 

Mechanical aptitude tests (and to an extent their step-sibling, behavioral tests) are not intended to be “Gotchas!” or automatic disqualifiers. They uncover how you process and solve problems — like broken-down machinery — and while they’re not perfect, they are generally a good barometer for whether or not a person is, as they say, mechanically inclined. They can be particularly useful if you’re hiring younger or inexperienced people in the hopes of turning them into Super Techs.

If mechanical tests in particular sound interesting to you, Mandy suggested taking them yourself and “testing” them on those you know, whether it be children, spouses, or existing employees. We do not suggest this so you can torment your loved ones; rather, seeing what results the tests give to known entities allow you to set a baseline for how correct they might be.

Also, comparing behavioral test results can be a pretty entertaining date night activity, according to Peter.

(Fullbay will not be answering any angry emails we receive from people who try this.)

COMMUNICATION IS RETENTION

Someone can score perfectly on a mechanical aptitude test and overhaul a Cummins with their eyes closed, but superb skills don’t necessarily mean a person is going to be a good fit. They don’t just have to get along with you and the trucks — they have to get along with your crew.

So ask them questions around subjects that matter to you. For example, integrity is extremely important to the Bascom team; in every interview, Mike says, they ask, “What does integrity mean to you?” The answers they receive tell them a lot about the applicant. The correct answer, by the way, is “Doing the right thing every time, whether anyone will know it or not.” 

Remember, the interview process is about getting to know a person. Asking the right questions will go a long way in showing you who this person is and how (or if) they will fit in with the rest of your team. 

Once a person has officially joined your crew, it’s on you to make them want to stay. Brandon emphasized the importance of spending time with your people and showing that you care. Take an interest in their lives. Peter spoke about creating an environment where it’s okay not to know the answer to a question and where it is okay to ask for help instead of trying something and, y’know, ruining an axle. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROCESSES

At its most basic level, a process is the manner by which you complete a task. Changing brake pads? There’s a process for that. Ringing up a customer? There’s a process for that, too. Ideally, you have a documented process for everything in your shop.

Why? 

For one, training someone — whether they’re an absolute greenhorn or just someone who needs to learn how your shop does things — is a lot easier with established processes. On top of that, if you want to expand your shop to new locations, having processes in place that duplicate what you do in “The Mothershop” is going to make maintaining quality a heck of a lot easier.

HOW TO DOCUMENT YOUR SHOP PROCESSES

Not sure where to start on documenting your processes? Brandon suggested AI. “Record your conversation, plug it into ChatGPT, and all of the sudden you have a process,” he said. “It’s a very easy way to do it without feeling cumbersome.” 

(Brief writer intrusion: AI is great for tasks like this, but it’s also prone to “hallucinations,” or making things up. If you go this route, make sure you’re reviewing everything it generates. You do not want it dreaming up incorrect ways to replace a wheel seal.) 

As a side note, if you’ve got a guy with 50+ years of experience in the field, sit him down now and start getting what he knows out of his head and onto paper or a hard drive. We’ve talked a few times about the old guys retiring and taking their knowledge with them; recording and transcribing conversations at least starts the knowledge transfer even if you don’t have any young rookies to pass it off to yet.

ADOPT PROCESSES, BUT STAY FLEXIBLE

But do processes have a hidden drawback? Keith acknowledged their usefulness, but was concerned about how they might impact a tech’s ability to adapt to a situation. When a process is written down, people can find it difficult to deviate from it — even when they should. When that happens, “You no longer have a guy that can think on [his] feet. You got a guy that can read [a process] and wait for somebody to show up.”

He cautioned shop owners to build some leeway into processes and not to think of them as set in stone. Yes, they’re how the shop does things now, but if someone discovers a better way to do something, processes can be amended. 

ON GROWING YOUR SHOP

So…how did these guys end up growing their businesses, and what advice do they have for smaller shops that want to follow in their footsteps?

BUILD UP YOUR CAPITAL

First, determine your priority and your capital.

Do you have unlimited capital? Dude, you’re lucky. Because that means you can get a building and hire some qualified folks. 

If you don’t have unlimited capital — this is pretty much all of us — then you’ve got to figure out where that money will be best spent. Your best bet may be another truck and another tech, and maybe you aren’t doing transmissions and overhauling engines because you’re mobile-only.

Fear not, friends. As Dick said, “There’s money to be made in mobile.” And that money can often be turned into enough capital to establish a brick-and-mortar location (that’s what Brandon’s business did: once they had four techs, they rented a small space). And you can increase revenue in other ways — through new services or types of vehicles serviced, for example. 

LEARN HOW TO DELEGATE (AND SAY NO)

You can grow by saying yes to work…but sometimes the right thing to do is say no. “It costs a lot to flounder and even more depending on how wrong you get it,” Mike told us. 

Keith’s advice was to hire people. “I’m a good mechanic. I’m not the greatest at being a business manager, so I brought on people who could do that for me,” he said. He spent six years as a lone wolf before he hired on another tech with a truck; the moment the ink dried on that contract, he wasn’t just Keith the Mechanic anymore. “I became a service writer/parts manager/parts runner … and I wasn’t pulling wrenches as much as I was during the day. And then he’d finish and go home at night and I’d work all night long pulling wrenches.”

“I had to hire somebody that could come in and help out with that stuff. Get somebody smarter than you are,” he added.

JOIN THE ROUNDTABLE

We are, in fact, at the tail end of this recap, as covering the entire shop owner roundtable would probably take 10,000 words and more patience than you presently possess. But fear not! You can watch the entire thing at your leisure. 

Other topics the group touched on include: 

• Selecting the right people to manage other locations.
• How participants used Fullbay to gauge technician skill (and other good stuff Fullbay does).
• Perils of growing too fast.
• Having hard conversations with customers.

The roundtable ended on a high note, with Dick expressing his belief that anyone in the audience could have participated in the session and delivered equally valid and interesting information. 

And he’s right. The beauty of the roundtable is that you can hear how others have done it, but you’ve also got your own path to forge in building a better shop. 

“You know what to do,” he said in closing. “But it’s fun to talk it through.” 

BONUS: DICK BASCOM’S GUIDE TO DETERMINING (AND RAISING) YOUR RATES

We’ve got a special bonus section for those of you who (like us) have become major Dick Bascom fans. 

When it comes to setting shop rates, he doesn’t care what Joe down the road is charging. Dick’s got his own formula, and like most things he shares, it’s simple, sharp, and totally on point. And why wouldn’t it be? He’s  seen more repair orders, balance sheets, and busted rigs than most of us will in a lifetime — and he’s got the one-liners to prove it. In honor of those one-liners, we’ve got a slice of labor rate wisdom straight from the man himself.

In classic Bascom fashion, he broke down how to determine what you should charge…and how to confidently raise those rates without flinching. It’s practical. It’s unapologetic. And if you’re serious about running a profitable shop, it’s something you’ll want to tape to your office wall.

***

I think part of the problem is how we determine what our rate should be.

Many of us determine what our rate should be by seeing what “Joe” charges, and what “Harry” charges, and what the Kenworth dealership charges. Okay. [You think] [If] that’s what they’re charging, I think we can charge this.

That’s the wrong question. The question should be, What are my expenses and what’s my investment?

I should get a certain return on my investment. If I have two million dollars invested, then I should be able to get five percent for that because I could get that someplace else with that two million. 

So what are my expenses? I gotta cover those.

What’s the return on my investment that I think is reasonable? I should get that. And then how much profit do I think I should be able to bring in annually? When I know those three numbers, then all I gotta do is figure out how many hours I’m going to sell.

Okay. I know how many hours I’m going to sell full, but you can get that from Fullbay. And then I can just do the quick math. Okay, this is what I need per hour to be successful. And it’s not helpful to you or to your customers for you not to be successful.

And so they should want you to be successful also. So now I know what my rate is. Now I can look at Joe and Harry and the Kenworth dealership and see if I’m in the ballpark or not.

If I discover that I’m way over [their rates] then I’m gonna have to adjust something, because I’m not competing. What am I going to adjust? 

Well, I might be able to trim my expenses.

Maybe I’ll accept a little less profit.

Whatever you do is up to you, but the point is you need to know how to set your rates in the first place. And then as your expenses change or your things change, then you change your rates too. But you need to do it annually, not every five [years], because people are gonna fuss when you say, yeah, I need to raise my rates by $30 an hour.

If you think a three percent price increase is bad, try to pitch a 20% price increase.