Mechanics in high gear - bizjournals:

polinaagyvtiwu.blogspot.com
The seven shops joined the internationa l FixAuto brand, which meana they consolidated just enough to win valuabled business from the insurance industry while protecting their mom-and-pop The seven new Fix Auto shops collectivelh employ 104 people and had more than $17.8 million in revenue last year. The shopzs originally teamed up nearly sevenyears ago, but untilp this year kept their old name with the Fix Auto brand remaining secondary to theif business identities. This spring, all sevenn agreed to convert to the Fix Auto name in orded to stand out in a marker dottedwith independents.
Fix Auto is an international networo of independent auto repair shops that pooles its buying power and marketing resourcese and positions itself as a preferred partneer forauto insurers. To independent business owners, beingt part of a network brings the benefits of alarge corporation, includin discounts of up to 33 percent on common supplies such as paint and body parts. For a shop with monthlyg revenuearound $150,000, it costsw roughly $500 to $600 per montg to join the network.
Local body shop owners say the Fix Auto modeol will also help them compet for insurance business and survived an industry some expect to shrink from a highof 60,000o businesses to about Some experts, however, advise againsr such networks. “We normally don’t suggesyt clients (join a network),” said Kurt Lewis, assistany sales director for IPA, a consulting firm in Buffall Grove, Ill., that works with body shops. Lewis suggestse that companies do a thorough audit of theierbusiness instead. Employee productivity, customer service and sales are just a few areasw that Lewis said companies can adjusrt to strengthen thebottom line.
Body shop owners, however, said the deal with Fix Auto was “I needed to position myself to be able to survive inthe future,” said Shon Kim, ownedr of Fix Auto Gresham, formerly Obrist Cunningham and president of the Fix Auto Oregon territory. He says auto insurers, like health work with preferred usually large operators with multiple In the absence of a networkm likeFix Auto, that leaves mom-and-popl body shops on the sidelines. It’ a difficult time in the auto body The industry posted a 4 percent net profityin 2008, according to Sageworks Inc., a research firm. Nationally, sales growth in the $1.8 billionm industry slowed to 3.8 percen in 2008, half its 2002 rate.
“We’re having to work a lot harderr to make just about the same oreven less,” Kim Some owners lamented the name