Bob-Owner of Import Specialist

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.