Import Specialist draws in
a loyal customer base to its St. Peters, MO location. The men that
work on the car repairs know the cars and their owners. They know
how much mileage, wear and tear that you put on your vehicle and they
give you the “heads up” when an important part might be ready for
replacement due to the usage and stress. Good customer relations
pays off when there are only a few parking spots available in the
parking lot.
I asked the owner, Bob
Routzahn, whether he had pictured himself as the owner of an
automotive repair shop and he replied “I knew that I was going
to do something with cars. Car repair was my fall back job.”
When
you were thinking about careers, did you ever picture yourself as an
entrepreneur?
No. I thought I would
work for somebody in the automotive industry.
Why
did you become an entrepreneur?
Too many people were in
control over my life and happiness.
When
did you go in business for yourself?
1985. Me and Mike
French started this business back in the day.
What
happened when you first started up?
I was really cautious,
very conservative starting out. I had a lot of people suggest to me
to build big, get a loan, think big!!! I thought about what would
happen to my family if I were to get sick, injured or have a major
loss and overextending myself financially was not an option.
What
was the biggest obstacle that you faced as a business owner?
Money. I thought with
the shop and the money I was bringing in that eventually there would
be a huge surplus of money. I thought “I can work on X amount of
cars per day that will bring in around X amount. I have guys working
for me that will increase the number.”
The reality of it
is...you have so much money in labor per day, in heating costs, in
electric and that varies depending on the season of the year. We pay
our bills. We make money, but there is never a huge surplus.
Then Bob told me about the
time his shop was in real financial problems even though he had been
conservative and practical about growing his business.
20 years ago, we were
based in Harvestowne Idustrial. I was ready to give up. Business
was slow, I was laying off people and worried about money. I
couldn't sleep because I was so worried about the business, money and
about my family. I walked into the empty shop and addressed God.
“That's it! If I'm supposed to do this. It's yours!!! I'm not
losing any more sleep over it. And if I am supposed to do something
different send somebody that needs my skills, so that I can take care
of my family.”
The next day, the phone
rang off the wall...and I have been working, working, working.
I have also had key
people come into this business and that is
very important for a business to thrive.
As I mentioned earlier, the mechanics know the customers and their relationship with the shop; and they are a compliment to Bob's established rapport. So
besides hiring quality people that help your business thrive what
other suggestions would you give to a person looking to start up a
business?
Do honest work! Big
corporations look at the bottom line, focus on making as much money
as they can to the point of exploitation of their costumers. Why
screw everyone?
I know a mechanic, who
left his job because the service writer was going to have an old lady
pay for brake pads, new brakes, the hose to the brakes costing around
$700-$900. The old lady told him that she couldn't afford all of
that. The mechanic, who had inspected the car said “All she needs
is new brake pads that would be around $100-$150. The manager got
involved in the discussion and told the mechanic “We are in the
business to make money.” That was when the mechanic picked up his
things and left.
I am in business and
have customer loyalty because I do honest work. Customers appreciate
that and they remain loyal and refer family and friends too.
