The Institute’s Leading Edge Podcast
209 - The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severein
Descripción
209 - The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severein June 24th, 2026 - 01:00:41 Show Summary: Andy Severein shares how Andrew's Auto grew from a single shop into a thriving multi shop operation through coaching leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement. Jennifer Hulbert explains how understanding financials improving repair order value and developing managers helped transform the business. They discuss building a strong culture creating opportunities for employees and preparing the next generation of leadership. Their story shows that long term success comes from intentional growth consistent training and serving both customers and employees well. Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development [https://www.wearetheinstitute.com/about-us] Guest(s): Director of Programs & Owner of Service Plus Automotive [http://wearetheinstitute.com] Owner, Andrew’s Auto [http://andrews-auto.com] Show Highlights: [00:02:29] – Jennifer shares her journey from shop owner to Institute program director. [00:06:11] – Andy explains why he purchased a struggling repair shop. [00:09:00] – Coaching revealed the business metrics Andy never knew existed. [00:11:54] – Average repair order nearly doubled through better processes and training. [00:16:00] – Profit sharing and community support became the business mission. [00:20:10] – Learning financial statements changed every business decision. [00:27:00] – Teamwide coaching fueled one million dollars in sales growth. [00:34:00] – Intentional leadership strengthened culture and employee development. [00:38:02] – A newly acquired second shop quickly doubled its repair order. [00:48:00] – Andy encourages owners to embrace coaching before opportunities disappear. In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode. 👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_3LVDHjy2G4 [https://youtu.be/_3LVDHjy2G4] Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this! Links & Resources: * Want to learn more? Click Here [https://www.wearetheinstitute.com/] * Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here [https://www.wearetheinstitute.com/business-assessment%7C] * See The Institute's events list: Click Here [https://www.wearetheinstitute.com/upcoming-events] * Want access to our online classes? Click Here [https://www.gearforshops.com/pages/course-library] ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com [marketing@wearetheinstitute.com]. Episode Transcript: The Real Story of Growing an Independent Auto Repair Shop with Andy Severin 06242026 Jimmy Lea: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or good night, depending on when and where you're joining us from today. It is a gorgeous day outside. I hope you are able to go outside and breathe in some beautiful fresh air. Hey, today is awesome. Today is going to be amazing. We've got a great conversation gonna happen with a phenomenal shop owner, with a phenomenal coach and trainer from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. But before we get into that, let's talk about you and where you're at, and what's going on in your life. This is going to be an interactive webinar. Interactive how? In the comments section, in the questions, in the comments, put in there where you're joining us from today. Love to give you a shout-out here as we are on the live webinar. We're streaming through many different, multiple streams. Multiple live streams are going out on Facebook, and on YouTube, and on StreamYard. So we've got all these avenues that we're reaching out to the industry to, to, for us to connect, for us to come together. So drop in the comments where you're joining us from, city, state, and your shop name. Love to give you a shout-out so we can recognize everybody who is here for this live event. And it seems that everybody is shy today. Which is awesome. That's great. You know where the comment button is. When you find it, put in there your information, and we'd love to give you a shout-out here as we're on our live event. Streaming on Facebook, and on LinkedIn, and on YouTube, and on StreamYard. Oh my gosh, this is so awesome. This is so awesome. All right, for our conversation today Jennifer Holbert is here from the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. She is a shop owner. She is a a coach, an industry coach, an industry facilitator with the GEAR Performance Group, and most recently moved into the position of director of programs with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence. Thank you so much, Jennifer, for being here. Good morning, good afternoon. Jennifer Hulbert: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Excited to be here. Jimmy Lea: Yes. We're gonna have an awesome conversation. I'm in the good morning part, and you're in the good afternoon part. Jennifer Hulbert: I am. Jimmy Lea: 'Cause you're in New York, right? Jennifer Hulbert: I am. Northern New York. Jimmy Lea: Northern New York, awesome. How long have you been in the industry, Jennifer? Jennifer Hulbert: Ooh 25 years? Yeah, 25 years. Jimmy Lea: So you started sweeping floors when you were, like, five, six years old then? Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah, you could say that. I started filing probably when I was in my teens, but officially joined the business in 2001 when we moved to our new building and started as service advising, accounting, marketing, and then now do it all. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, a- and you've had a long journey with the institute as well, joining as part of the GEAR Performance groups, and then moved into being an industry coach. Jennifer Hulbert: I did. Jimmy Lea: What did that... What's that short story look like for you? Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah. I was a group member in group two for about 19 years prior to the opportunity to become a facilitator with the institute. That was four years ago, and just was recently asked and accepted the director of programs position, so I'll be overseeing all of our coaching programs with our owners coaches, our service advisors, and our managers. So just in the infancy of that position right now, and we've got lots of good work to do and lots of exciting things to bring to the industry that I'm super excited to be part of. So yeah, it's been a journey. I, and I know all the things, all the positions, so as, first time coming to a meeting to being an integral part of a group process and looking at elevating our own internal groups and the members that we were talking to, including myself. So yeah, it's been quite the journey. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. And here comes a shout-out from Downshift with Tanika. "That's my coach, Jennifer." She is. Thank you, T- Jennifer Hulbert: But love Tanika ... Jimmy Lea: Tanika's with Brown's Automotive out of- Yeah ... North Carolina. Yeah. Chapel Hill. David Boy's also saying, "Hey. Yay, Jennifer." And David, are you joining from Minnesota today? Minneapolis? Are you joining from Florida today? Where is home? Where are your feet planted today? Jennifer Hulbert: He's all over the place. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No, that's awesome. That's awesome. Th- thank you for being a coach. Thank you for being in the industry. You are an inspiration f- to many. You have influenced many, and one of those people you have influenced is Andy Severin with Andrew's Auto. Andy, how the heck are you, brother? Andy Severein: Doing wonderful, Jimmy. Good to be here. Jimmy Lea: Good. Bro, you gotta sit up or something. You look... I got out... We Andy Severein: all these people back. Jimmy Lea: There we Jennifer Hulbert: go Jimmy Lea: I'm so excited to talk to you about this conversation a- as we talk about you and your shop and your business. How long have you been in the business, Andy? What does that look like for you? Andy Severein: I started in this business when I was in high school. I swept floors in a shop when I was 14, 15 years old, and got a job working there right out of... I went to Vo-Tech when I was a senior in high school and and their work work experience program puts you out in a shop halfway through senior year. So I started working there yeah, when I was 17, 18 years old, and was in that shop for, probably till I was about 25, I believe. Wow. Left the industry for a little bit, did some different things with trucks, and was learned a lot about life skills and running a business by owning big trucks. That teaches you a lot quickly. And when I got out of that, I got into the used car side of the business in inventory management, which I had my fingers in the repair side of our inventory. I was... I'd say I was a part of this industry at that part p- that point, that time, that 10 years of my life, but in a little different aspect. Yeah, most of my life I've had my hands getting dirty somewhere. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. Isn't it funny we all start by sweeping floors? Yep. We got a shout-out coming in from David Boyd. Y- you need... You're sitting low for a tall guy. Reach up there, grab your camera, p- point it down just a little bit 'cause it looks like you're sitting on the floor. Andy Severein: It's down as far as it can go. I'm sorry. Jimmy Lea: Oh, really? That's funny. All right, Da- David, you just gotta get over it, man. Don't worry about it. Hey, so you got out, you went into trucking, you came back into into a shop. Did you go directly into owning another shop, or did you get back into turning a wrench first? Andy Severein: I went into the dealership world and- Yeah ... and purchasing and inventory management. The shop that we 10 years ago we started Andrew's Auto. There was a shop that had been in business for 50 years. It's I could see it from my house. We were that close, and it was a mess. Oh, I bet. I knew the owner. I had a relationship with the owner for years, and I planted that seed at one point. If you're, when you're interested in, in, in getting out that I'd be interested in talking. And I at that point, I don't know if my interest more was in cleaning the property up because I could see it from my house and it's that bad- ... or actually being in the auto repair business. But really my experience, the relationships I had had people coming to me constantly with advice, and had people- Yeah coming to me with looking at... They were looking for advice on their cars, and they were sharing experiences with me, experiences that they had at shops. A lot of them bad experiences. So it really it really it really Made me realize that there was a need in our area for a good, honest repair shop. Yeah. So that was my drive behind it, not having any idea what I was getting into at that point. I just knew how to work on cars. That w- that was really it. But thankfully through my life I've worked for some really good people, and looking back through, all the way back to when I was sweeping floors, what I learned from each one of those employers and even my years in, in being in trucking, what I've learned from each thing really prepared me for where I am today. Jimmy Lea: Oh, Jennifer Hulbert: yeah. For Jimmy Lea: sure. Jennifer Hulbert: In a previous conversation, Andy, you said you- you've always put yourself in front of the right people. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And I think right from an early age, that was just inherent in your personality to put you- ... in the right place at the right time, in front of the right person, to give you some of these opportunities. Andy Severein: Yep. Yep. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love that you're learning along the way. At what point as the business grew, at what point did you realize that your role had to change from being involved in everything to truly being leading the business? Andy Severein: Definitely the institute had a, big part in that. I- Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Jennifer, why are you laughing? Jennifer Hulbert: Because we've had this conversation multiple times. Andy Severein: Yes, we have. Yes, we have. So we, I worked from, it was right in December of 2016 is when we started and things went well. We were busy from day one. We grew, we added people constantly. We did our first major addition renovation to our building in the end of 2019. The the, things were going very well, but there was just so many things I didn't know. And when I I was at the Napa Expo in 2022 in Vegas and and was in one of Cecil's classes, and it just it made me realize there was just a lot that I didn't know, and things I needed to know. And w- what he said really resonated with where we were at that point in time. I had no idea. Like I said, I knew how to fix cars. I didn't know what an average repair order was. We were using Mitchell at that point, and I really paid no attention to the reports. I didn't even know what that stuff was, right? We were just using Mitchell so we had a platform to give people invoices. So it taught me right away some of the, key indicators to, to look at, and I thought, "Whoa. We have a long way to go here." Jimmy Lea: Wow, and by that time you had already been six years in the business. Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And- Yep wow, there comes an eye-opening experience. Interesting. That's awesome. What, what- So from that point, you decided, "Oh my gosh, we've gotta change, we've gotta grow, we've gotta develop." What, at what point did you decide, "Hey, you know what? I need to really look at this coaching and training business. I really need to hire me a coach." What did that look like for you? Andy Severein: What drove that and what's still driving me today, I know I'm getting into the future there, but this business, I started it with my son on day one, and the intention of him taking this business over, I hadn't really put a timeframe on when that would happen, but it I think I realized that I need to make this a well-functioning successful business before I hand it over to him. So that, that was really what, resonated to me at that point. "Hey, we have a long way to go." So that that was, why we made some significant changes there right away and adapting to those changes is hard. I tell people that all the time. Being told, "Hey, your ARO should be this," and you think, "Oh my goodness, how are we ever gonna get from $350 to..." I believe our first goal was $550- ... if I'm not mistaken. And, we were inching- And I- ... inching to 500 and all of a sudden it was like maybe we ought to look at things a little different." Now at 600, I'm thinking, "Oh, my goodness." Jennifer Hulbert: I can remember one of those early conversations of, Jen, everyone's talking about this 850, $900 average repair order but you don't understand, my, my customers are different." Andy Severein: "My Jennifer Hulbert: customers aren't going to accept that because I live in an area of the country where we're completely different." And it wasn't until we started to break it down and Andy, you took a really a hard look at understanding the KPIs. We had a lot of discussions on what they meant, what the formulas were, how they're impacted, and that I think opened your eyes to say, "Okay we can do this with a better and a more thorough DVI, and some sales training for our advisors, and a different marketing strategy and conversations with our customers." So I, I was joking with Jimmy before we started this that's typically the first conversation that we as coaches get is, "Oh, wait a minute, you don't understand, my customers are different." And what we've found is what most people realize is no, they're not. They're, they're- ... Jennifer Hulbert: They will respond to the presentations and the information that you're going to give them. And I have some statistics in front of me. In 2022, your average repair order was $367. End of last year it's 732, and I think this year we're knocking the $800 range. So again- ... with some systems, process changes, ideology changes, training, this is exactly what's possible. Andy Severein: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Absolutely. So I have a coaching question for you, Jennifer. How often- are shops coming to you as a coach or you as a facilitator and singing the exact same song that Andy was singing? Jennifer Hulbert: Often. I would say probably 90% of the time. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And it's because we're fed, there, there's a lot of noise out there. There, there's a ton of noise of what the industry should be. There, there's news articles there's all kinds of news report of what our industry's reputation is, and it's not positive. So we look at this differently. We wanna educate our customers on what's best for you and your vehicle. Nowhere in our sales process that we teach at the institute or that we coach is a hard sales process. We're gonna look at your situation, your vehicle. We're gonna be open and honest about everything that we see, and then work a plan that's gonna work for you. Andy Severein: I Jennifer Hulbert: love that. So when you address it with honesty and true humility, it, it becomes a different conversation than one of a hard press sales, and I'm gonna sell you services that you don't need. It... That, that's not what we do. That's not the integrity of the institute, that's not the integrity of the coaches, and that's not the integrity of the shops that we work with. So a lot of times it's you don't know what you don't know. True. So you don't understand the power of a DVI process. You don't understand the power of an actual structured sales process. And that's exactly what Andy started to realize, and then really took a deep dive in, is, "Okay, I see things differently now, and I can see where we're benefiting our customers from doing this." "So I'm gonna put all the effort into training staff and making sure that we're starting to work towards those different key performance indicators." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Andy, did you feel called out, just Tanika? She's wondering if this is a setup. She feels like she's being called out right now. Did you feel like you were being called out, Andy? Andy Severein: No. I would say not. No? No Jimmy Lea: When you were first starting, you didn't feel like you were being called out, you didn't feel like you were being spotlighted. And you know what? Now let me tell c- build up a little bit more, clarify a little bit more. I enjoy the process that we have at the institute where we're here to meet you where you are as a business and as a shop owner- Yeah and we're going to start from there. What does it take to run your business? What kind of business do you want to have? 100%. Now- Okay. If that's- Yeah, I do ... the kind of business you wanna have, these are the steps we need to take to get to that business that you wanna run. As opposed to a rubber stamp that says, "Follow this process, procedure, and you'll be successful." Okay you don't understand my clients or my customers Jennifer's laughing 'cause yeah we're gonna meet you where you are. What, how do you wanna run your business? What do you, what does success look like for you? 'Cause Andy, your definition of success might be different than Jennifer's, might be different than mine Andy Severein: Sorry, I dropped out with just a moment there. It was just about a five-second window where I had s- Jimmy Lea: For just the most important Andy Severein: point ... in the meat of that, I lost you. Jennifer Hulbert: He- he was saying what success is to you is not the success to someone else. And I'll use something that's very important to you, and that is compensating your staff very well with your profit sharing plan- and your community involvement and sponsorships. So Andy and I have had the conversation of the effects of that on his, to overall net profit- ... but that's his why. He wants to give the best financial outcome to all of his staff based on their efforts towards their success with a profit sharing plan. And then be a very good leader financially in the community to, to support those organizations that are supporting him. And that's much different than my why, and that's gonna be much different than Tanika's why as well. So we've looked at what's important to you in creating that profitability level so you can carry out that why. Andy Severein: Yeah. Absolutely. That why is something that we've figured out over time. We didn't realize going into it what our true why was. I just wanted to build a race car. I thought, "Hey, I have a shop. I can deduct all these parts and, it'll be great." And it took a few years of doing this until we figured out what our true why is, why we're here, and it's awesome. I love that. I'll back up just a minute, though, Jimmy, to your question, if I felt called out, and maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but I'd probably share with the people that are listening that are thinking about coaching no. I went in there new to everything that was happening, and I never felt called out, put on the spot "Look at this guy." The group has been awesome from the first time I was there with helping me to feel comfortable and share their, their struggles and successes. I never felt called out in a way that I was uncomfortable. And I'm not sure if that's what you meant, but hindsight, that's what I was thinking. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. No. That's exactly it. You weren't called out in an embarrassment point of view, but you were- No ... enlightened into, "Oh, wow, these are some things that I can do. These are the steps I can take and need to take so I can run the business the way I want to." I love that. That's awesome. Now, question for you here about pricing and parts and parts GP and labor rates. This can be very emotional for shop owners. This is an emotional subject. What helped you move from being emotional about these topics and these subjects to becoming more logical in those areas? Jennifer Hulbert: Besides peer pressure. Jimmy Lea: Peer pressure is positive. It can be. Andy Severein: Definitely that emotional attachment that, that, as shop owners you have that. When you're working in the shop, you're, you're turning the wrenches you're hands-on with the vehicles, you're talking to the people at the customer. You're talking to the customers at the counter, and there's people you've known forever, and you know their, their families and their financial situations. There's a huge emotional attachment to that, and it's not bad. Yeah. But it definitely it, it definitely is a hindrance to the growth and success of a business, and I... It took me a while to, to learn and understand that. And it's still why I stay away from the the counter, and the, the service advisor role is so important, and I realize that. I'm so blessed to have the people we have now that are really good at what they do, and they get it. They understand. They're coaching with the APT programs, and I keep putting plugs in for you, but it's been very powerful for us. But overall the growth of the business is dependent on that, so we... I've learned to just stay away Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. Andy Severein: I, of course. Jimmy Lea: You know your strengths and your weaknesses. Go ahead, Jennifer. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: I think you also had an understanding of the overall effect o- of what a labor rate increase will do. So that impacts labor gross profit, which impacts your total GP, which impacts your overall net profit. So- ... when we first started to talk about what is your why, and that you wanted it to input this profit sharing and your community involvement we need- those net profit dollars to be able to do that. And we get those through parts and labor GP. So no, it's not just a 10 or a 15% or 10 or $15 labor rate increase, it's going to overall impact that labor GP, which will help the net profit, which is gonna allow you to do what you want to do. Andy Severein: Absolutely. Yeah, that's so true. Absolutely. Yeah, being in the upstairs your knowledge teaching me initially how to read my P&L. I'd never looked at a P&L. When I started to enroll, I didn't even know how much money we had in the bank. I didn't care. Yeah. Bills were being paid, it was great. But now the composite reporting, which was really hard for me, and you remember that, it was super hard for me in the beginning. And now I'm I'm not gonna say I enjoy doing it, but I see the I see the... I do enjoy doing it. I enjoy the results of it. But the the understanding of how we're getting to net profit and why that net profit is so expensive is so important, Yeah that- It's critical ... that's not being downstairs, but w- my offices are upstairs staying up there and keeping an eye on that is is, it's been my the key to, to, to the growth here. Absolutely. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And let's break this down for those that are watching that don't understand what a P&L is. They hear the word all the time. They hear P&L. This is your profit and loss, pro- P&L, profit and loss. Most shop owners will look at their P&L, they really don't understand it. They're looking for that last number. Is it red or is it black? If it's black we know we're good, we know we're making money. If it's red We're losing money, and that's what the understanding of most shop owners are. At the institute, we also have a financial intensive that helps you as a shop owner to understand how to read the entire P&L, how to get it set up properly with your accountant so that you are getting the right and correct information when you need it most. And a P&L should not take months and months for your accountant to put together and g- and- No ... deliver to you. W- what's the average? How long should it take, Jennifer? Jennifer Hulbert: To, for, to start to make changes? Jimmy Lea: Oh, no. J- In order- Hey, Mr. Accountant or Mrs. Accountant, I would like my P&L. Jennifer Hulbert: You should get that once a month. M- minimally, I would say, our require- our reporting requirement is by the 20th of the month. So you should be getting that by the 15th or the 18th from, for the previous month from your- ... accountant or your bookkeeper. Jimmy Lea: So if you're only getting a P&L once a year, you may wanna either ask for more and get a better understanding, or m- perhaps you need a different- accountant. So if you need a different accountant, we know a guy. Come talk to us. We know a guy. Jennifer Hulbert: We do. Yeah. We do. A- Yeah ... and it, knowing where you're at from a profitability standpoint tells a tenth of the story. So where do we need to put our focus? Yeah. Is it in gross profits for parts? Is it in gross profit for labor? Is it in expense control? Because, so many times- ... we have a lot of members who have really good gross profit percentages, but they're not controlling their expenses and they eat away, their profitability that way. Yeah. We break down our expenses into, what, 30 categories probably, 35 categories individually, and have benchmarks for individual expenses. So th- that's what our owner coaching and our group process does, is we- ... we focus on not only systems and processes within your shop, but the understanding of your financials, so you know- ... which specific areas to target and to make some improvements on. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: And Andy, that's where I credit you because th- we had some, many meetings where he's "Jen, make me understand this. I really need to understand how all this works together," and we probably worked for six months- ... u- until you had that understanding and now you do, and, your profitability is, has increased ex- ... quite a Andy Severein: bit. Jimmy Lea: That's awesome. Yeah, and I think there's a lot of shop owners that are out there that are just like you, Andy, that are in that same position that says, "I don't know what I don't know, and this is definitely one area that I need to know more. Help me understand it." And you dig into it, and you dig into it, and you dig into it and the more you learn, the better you are. Our last financial intensive, I think we had 40 plus people here at, in Ogden at the financial intensive. So next April, if you're wanting to understand your income statement and your profit and loss and your balance sheet, come here to the institute. We've got a phenomenal program for you. You definitely want it. Whoa, that was cool. Now, oh, Raleigh. Props, dude. That was your dr- that was mic drop. Scan the QR code. Get in on our next financial intensive. Yes, that is going to be awesome. We'd love to have you here, y- and you will learn tremendous amount. I want to go back to another acronym you dropped out on, on everybody here. You mentioned the APG. N- our industry is full of acronyms. APG stands for the Advisor Performance Group, and that's with the institute. So Andy, you have your advisors in the program right now? Andy Severein: We do. Jimmy Lea: What have you seen with your advisors? What's the change that they've gone through? Andy Severein: Probably the biggest thing I've ... The biggest thing I appreciate that I that I'm getting directly is, their understanding of the numbers that they're achieving and ... But also, the way the program's put together, allowing them to see the big picture of what the business looks like, what it should look like, what it could look like, whatever your circumstance is. But doing that from a different perspective than myself talking to them, I think allows them to grow. And it's one thing for me, for an owner, for somebody to say something to somebody, but when they're hearing from an actual coach, it's like, "Hey, that guy's not just full of hot air. He knows what he's talking about." Now that's been powerful, but aligning all of our people, Yeah ... through those different programs has been really powerful for us. And that growth that we've really seen in the last, what, year or so I can directly attribute to, and I'll drop another acronym, the MPG program, as well as the APG program. Jimmy Lea: So what's the MPG? Andy Severein: The Manager Performance Group. Yep. We have two managers here now, Nate and Brian. My son, Nate, one of them. They just got back from Utah. We've been so busy, we haven't ... We've done some quick debriefs, but we haven't had time to really sit down and put everything together that that I brought back from the group five meeting last week, or the week before last, and then they came back from Utah with their normal plane delays. ... Oh, no. Jennifer Hulbert: Dang. Andy Severein: But they made it. Jennifer Hulbert: And let's talk about what that growth looks like. So in 2023, you ended the year at 2.1 million. 2025, you ended a million dollars up at 3.1. And you- you've entered the managers and the advisors into the program along with working in the owners of- Yep your performance group program. But like you said, you've aligned your entire staff in the direction that you want to take it- ... with training and opportunities and information of to align to that direction. So just you talking to your staff and coming back from one of the GPG meetings, Gear Performance Group meetings- A- and it's like them trying to absorb what your understanding of the training is- Versus now I'm getting it from a coach who is aligned with that ideology, and now we're gonna move everyone in the same direction. So I think for you, Andy, that's been the biggest change. Now, has it cost you some money? Yes. Coaching is not free. Sometimes, people say, "I want cheap coaching." You get what you pay for. That's what you get. And you're gonna get the results that you pay for. A 30%, 32% increase in two years in sales is the... you could attribute that directly to the coaching. And again I know this sounds like a sales presentation for the institute. It, it's not meant to be that way. I just know that Andy and I have had these discussions over the past three years of how, what can I do to improve? And because- ... you have dedicated the time and the energy to some coaching programs, you've got some very good results. Now, you've set some of that standard. I expect X out of you, service advisor, from a gross profit and an average repair order- ... and an effective labor rate standpoint 'cause you've held those standards high- ... and communicated those expectations, which is also very important for results. But y- you've done a very good job at communicating what the expectation is, and then your team has followed up with those results. Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: I love it. Y- there's, the saying is you were talking about the expense of training. Training is so expensive. What what if I train my guys and they leave? What if you don't train them and they stay? Andy Severein: Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Andy, have you ever had a situation where you've trained someone and they left? Andy Severein: I have not. We have very little turnover So that's Jimmy Lea: the benefit of training today, is your people will stay. Andy Severein: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. No, we have very little turnover of people. In fact, I think there was only one advisor I had that was, he was here for a short period of time and he had come from managing an entire operation and had another opportunity to go back to what he had been doing. So I don't fault him at all. So he's the only person that I had in training and I hope that the things that he learned, he can take into his future. So- Jimmy Lea: Yeah ... Andy Severein: great guy. Yeah. He's a great guy. Oh, Jimmy Lea: I Jennifer Hulbert: totally agree. And let's talk about why your staff stays. What makes you different from some other shops that have some high turnover? And, and- Yeah ... we've talked about this. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Well- What are you Andy Severein: doing, Andy? Jimmy Lea: Is it pizza on Friday? Andy Severein: Wednesdays. Wednesdays. And we try not to do pizza too much. That really gets old, right? We have a big old grill here. I like to make food and do different things. But we really try to take care of our people in many different ways, not just, in their, problems that are going on in their life. We try to speak into their lives as, as much as we can and just be there for them. And, they're our family. We s- we spend more time with the people that work for us than anybody else. I'm careful who I allow into that family. And I feel we've done very well. In fact, we had somebody start here just recently, and his comments are just like every person I've heard in the past. Everybody here just gets along. Everybody helps each other. It's it's, it makes me... i'm really happy of that, and I'm really happy about that, because that's what I want. I wanna treat our guys really well. I want them to be excited about what they do, try to keep them motivated and and try to... My goal has always been to try to have a place that the word on the street is, "Hey, you wanna work for this guy, because they'll really take care of you in every way, not just pay." So it's extending a lot of grace regularly, that's that's part of it. Managing that grace can be tough. But but we... it's a blessing overall. It really is. We have a great staff of people here. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. I love it. And what those people are talking about is the company culture, the culture that you have created in your company. They're j- it's, they're just so impressed by it, that this is a great company culture. So I... That doesn't happen by accident What are you doing today as a leader that is different than what you were doing three years ago, four years ago, five years ago? What are you doing different Andy Severein: I can't- honestly don't know if I'm really doing anything different. I hope I'm not, actually. I've always tried to connect with everybody regularly and just, listen to their needs and keep an open atmosphere that they can come to us with whatever's going on, if it's a problem at home or just, bumped into another car in the parking lot, don't be afraid to come to us with anything. And I... so to answer that, yeah, I don't feel like I'm doing anything really differently. I have the help of my wife now. She's a huge part of it. She was here in the beginning for the first five years, and she was working the front desk and it wasn't quite five years. It might've been three or four years and she just couldn't do it anymore. It was way over her head. She's a people person. And she had an opportunity to go work in a restaurant for some friends, which she took, and that opened the door for my, my, my front desk guy, Jimmy, to come in here. Jimmy's just an awesome person. He's just a light. He's always smiling. He's a lot like you, Jimmy. He- Jimmy Lea: It goes with the name. That's, Andy Severein: that's- You're both Jimmy. But yeah, Lori came back here in the beginning of '24, I believe. Nice. And she's been here a little over two years now. I convinced her that her skills, while she was much appreciated at the restaurant, the effort that she was putting in there would be would be very beneficial to us and our staff as we grow here. So she is a huge part of it. Plays Jimmy Lea: defense. Yeah. Jennifer, what are you seeing that Andy does different today? And by the way, Andy, you're constantly improving, so to say you're not doing anything different, it's not exactly true, because that constant improvement- ... is changing and you are becoming better. Andy Severein: True. Jimmy Lea: That's true. So as Coach, what are you seeing different that Andy does today that he didn't do when you first met? Jennifer Hulbert: I would agree with him. I think, hi- his heart i- is in the right place in wanting to do- Totally agree ... what's best for his staff. So that's just who, Andy, you are. I think today you're a little more intentional with that I- in some of the conversations and, interactions with the staff from discussions that we've had. I'll give you a recent example that they've just acquired their second shop months ago. Andy Severein: A couple weeks, three, four weeks ago. Yeah, beginning of May we started. Yep. Jennifer Hulbert: And the advisor there, they're looking to, w- we're gonna look to bring her to the service advisor intensive that's happening right now. She's never- Yeah ... flown before, so Lori says I'll go with you." I will join you on the plane. I will go to Utah with you. I will, get you all set up, make sure that you're completely just at peace with this. But that's who Andy and Lori are. So to say- Love it ... that they've done a lot different I would agree with you, Andy. I don't think you have. I just think you're a little more intentional- Yeah ... w- with it today than you may were three or four years ago. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Andy Severein: Yeah. More clarity. Jimmy Lea: See, Andy Severein: and Jimmy Lea: That's to the core of who you are. That's to your heart. Your heart has always been in that right place. And that constant improvement are things that you're doing, the things that happen, you don't, probably don't see that you're doing it. But a coach, someone on the outside looking in would say, "You know what, Andy? You are becoming much more intentional. You are having these great conversations. Your heart has always been there," and it's something that you don't see because it's second nature to you, Andy. But a coach is gonna go, "Hey, you know what? This is unique. This is s- this is special. This is awesome that you do this." That's pretty cool. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: That's pretty good. So what is the future? You just added a second shop. Does that mean that there's a third one, or is it too soon to ask? Andy Severein: I've planted the seeds for the third one. I did that a while ago. That might have been the second one, but this one just kinda flew in there quickly. But it's in a neighboring shop. I can see it. It's just one, two- Two buildings over? ... two buildings away. So they were our closest- Wow ... competition. Jimmy Lea: Wow. Andy Severein: Interesting. So we had the opportunity to buy that. The owner was was wanting to retire, and hap- wanted to make it happen quickly, so he we were able to work a deal out there. I acquired all of his employees and and, it's been a, it's been really good so far. We- I'm really excited about where that is and I've said this to Jennifer to take a business that has not been run well for years and apply, what we've learned we- we've learned and applied it here slowly to try to apply it to a business like that is, it's a pretty exciting challenge. And, seeing that ARO, it was 200-some dollars when we started it and I think we're substantially over that. We haven't advertised it yet. The building needs a lot of work, and we- we're looking forward to doing that work over the coming weeks and months. So we're really excited of what the possibilities are there. We really just needed some overflow, honestly. We're almost at capacity here where we are, and having a little bit of of option for more base space to send some work over there, customers we can't help in our time, in their timeframe with our busy schedule to be able to capture them is high on my priority list of what to do, love it. Always kinda looking for ways to, looking ahead to, what is our next, next, way to grow. To have... If there's more shops I don't know if that's- If that happens, fine. I'm, I've no problem with that. I'm not focused on that. I wanna... I still see a tremendous amount of improvement we could do where we are, and we'll try to, we'll try to continue to focus on that. But our pattern's been about every three years we do, what's the next step? 2023 we did a pretty large addition to be able to handle heavier pickup trucks and the dually trucks, construction pickup trucks. We were doing a lot of that stuff, so we put an addition on there. So here we are three years later, buying another shop. That's our that's- this is the next step and, what's the next in three more years? That's been our pattern. We've got some ideas, Jimmy Lea: Oh, I love it. It- What's gonna come in 2029? That's, you Andy Severein: got to be sweating. Jimmy Lea: Exactly. Andy Severein: Exactly. Oh, that's awesome. Got some pre- got some pretty cool ideas. We'll keep focused keep focused on what could happen there and work towards that goal. Jimmy Lea: Yeah, for sure. I- is it too soon, or can I ask this? You only bought this other shop at the beginning of May, so we're looking at six, seven weeks, eight weeks now that you've- owned the s- the second shop. $200 average repair order. Where are you now? In a very short time period, has it increased significantly, or are you still hovering in that 2 to $300 range? Andy Severein: No it's climbed. I think we're in the $400 range right now. I'm sorry, I haven't looked at that lately. I just realized- Yeah ... as you're asking me that question. So we've about- Yeah ... doubled that. Jimmy Lea: Doubled it in less than six weeks. Andy Severein: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Implementing proper process, procedures. You intro- did you introduce a DVI program to them? Andy Severein: We did. Yep, introduced that. So that's been good. That's a... W- we're trying to... We have-- There's so many customers there that were the customers that that you don't want, that, we're trying to get rid of 'em. They, you tell 'em what their car needs, they take it home and fix it, and then bring it back and get an inspection sticker. We have state inspection here in Pennsylvania, an annual inspection, so that's a huge part of what we do and so yeah, that's been... working those customers out of our system is the goal here. Make way for good customers. And we've really seen a, an upturn just in the last few weeks of busyness. So it's it's exciting. Jimmy Lea: Oh, that is exciting. That's awesome. Congratulations. So a- as we, we look in towards the future here what leadership skills are you working on today To help you strengthen yourself, strengthen the business as you continue to grow, what are you working on yourself or the business in your leadership realm? Andy Severein: Oh, goodness. I'd love to say that I read a book a week or even a book a month, but that doesn't happen. I, and I could I, probably said it to Jennifer and I'll say it again. What we're doing in the GPG groups right now is so good. What we just did in the group five meeting in Indiana the other week our two main presentations are things that are so relevant to me right now, and that's, defining where in the business, where we need to be and what those roles are, and focusing on those things. That's, it, we're... i, it's funny I still struggle with basic things sometimes it feels even what my roles need to be, but that clarity is huge to me, and we're really, as a, we as our mana- myself and the managers really, working on that stuff. But, I'm, I personally, a- and I'll radiate where I started in, in this business, my goal almost from the start was to work my way out of this and create an opportunity for my son to move into which will probably at this point looks like it'll be my son and Brian together, the two managers. And presenting opportunities for them is exciting to me. They're both going to the to Michael Smith to the leadership- Leadership intensive ... in Washington, DC. Oh, yeah. There's another plug. You'll see the thing come across the bottom of the screen right now. Yeah. But Jimmy Lea: it's not- Leadership intensive in July in Washington, DC. Is that the one? That, oh! There it is. Look at that. There Andy Severein: it is. Oh, Mike Johnson. Jimmy Lea: There it is. Yeah, Raleigh, way to go, brother. He gave me a thumbs up. Andy Severein: But I did that course two years ago, I think it was in Ogden, and I really feel like I could do it again 'cause I'm at a I'm... I've learned so much in two years, but I'm really happy to be able to give those guys the opportunity to do that, to let them grow. Because I look at this now as "Hey this is gonna be for you to run." Yeah. And I want them to outperform anything I've ever done. I just wanna set the stage for them to be able to hit the ground running. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And attending another leadership intensive, you're gonna learn even more because you've had two- Andy Severein: Yeah Jimmy Lea: years of runway under your belt that you have learned and developed and grown. Now when you attend it again, you have such a solid foundation. Now you're ready to build that building. You're ready to build upon what you've already learnt, implemented, discovered, rewrote as your truth tapes. You know what those next steps are gonna be, and y- you'll go to leadership intensive. You, your brain will still melt, we'll still have to pour it back in your head because of the learning that will happen And now the development and growth you'll have for the next year as well will be just tremendous. So Andy- ... Jimmy Lea: Get to the DC, get to the leadership intensive. You need to be there Andy Severein: I'll consider that. Jimmy Lea: That's a good idea. Yeah, take that into consideration. Anybody that's watching this as well, and you see it go back to that QR code, get into that Leadership Intensive. It really will change... thank you. It really will change the way you think about yourself, about your business, about your life- Yeah about why you think the way you think, and then you can help to discover why other people think the way that they think. Andy Severein: Absolutely. Jimmy Lea: Oh, so powerful. So powerful. Jennifer Hulbert: And one, one of the things that I really wanna point out to the listeners is, typically when we have a new client coming into our individual coaching program is they see people like Andy, and they're intimidated. But hearing Andy's story, that he started off, fixing cars in a very small shop himself, building it to now a multi-shop owner, not having to be an integral part of the day-to-day of the business because he has put people in the right seats, grown the business to a level that you can have a mid-tier manager- it's totally doable. Now, does it require blood, sweat, and tears? Absolutely. I own a shop. I was a service advisor for two years full time. You don't get to this point without going through some of those steps, but it is doable. A- and- Yeah ... sitting saying I only have 500 or $600,000 in sales this year," that, that was Andy at one Andy Severein: point. Jennifer Hulbert: And, now we're in a completely different scenario because of the changes and the improvements and the attention you've put to these improvements and your leadership style. So I, I get a lot of new members and I was actually at a group two member, or group two meeting a couple weeks ago, and then had a meeting with a member, and, she said, "Jen, you don't understand what we come back to because you have two managers in your shop." And I said, "Hold on a minute. I was you 15 years ago." So i- it does take time, and it does take attention but it is totally doable, and we can take you from opening your own shop, I have two members who had, have started to work with us prior to even purchasing their shop, to now owning their shop, to becoming a multi-shop owner. So the, all of those steps and processes we have the ability and the knowledge and the training and coaching to fill all of those steps, but it is a process. Yeah. You're not gonna go, from Andy opening your shop to $3.1 million being pretty much a hands-off owner in two years. It- ... had taken 10 or 14 to do Jimmy Lea: that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. You... If you keep doing what you've always done, you're gonna keep getting what you've always got. You- Yep ... you've gotta do something to change. And so Jennifer, to this specific scenario, a shop owner that you would have worked with that they went from a bucket and a wrench and a computer to multi shop owner what did their timeline look like? So maybe others who are listening can go, "Oh you know what? In six years, I'm gonna be six years older. I'm either gonna be still with a bucket and a wrench, or I can invest in myself and improve." What's that look like? So Jennifer Hulbert: the timeframe differs be- because of this. So it's your ideology, it's your mentality, it's where do you want to go and how are you going to take the steps to get there? We can give you the information. Again, one of the reasons I've suggested Andy being on this podcast is because he's done a lot with the information to get to where he is today. So if you enact it if you take it home and you actually implement some of the things that we talk about, you're gonna move much faster than someone who is, "You don't understand, my customers are different." Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jennifer Hulbert: Two, two totally different types of shop owners. That's true. So I would say the timeframe is different for everyone, but five, six years to go from small to large, Maybe Yeah ... if I had to put a timeframe on it. Jimmy Lea: And I think you hit on the two elements that must be implemented in every situation. You talked about the attention. You've gotta give it attention. You've gotta give it the attention it needs because it doesn't happen by accident. It needs to be it needs your attention. And the second one is that you have to be intentional- Yes ... about what you're doing. Yes. If you don't know what you're doing, you could wander in the forest and be walking in circles because you don't have that compass. Compasses were created before time, before clocks. Why? Because we needed to know where we were going. So compasses are more important. You need a coach, you need a direction, you need some help to make sure you make- Jennifer Hulbert: And some accountability. That, that's what the premise of our whole GPG program is. Is it's not only the facilitator and the coach holding you accountable, you're being held accountable by a group of your peers. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Jennifer Hulbert: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: Yes. So if you're listening to this and you are the shop that's at that 500,000 or 600,000, let's start that journey together. We can do this. We can do it together and make it happen for you that in four, three, four, five, six years you're having the same conversation with somebody else who's doing a podcast to talk about your success story, and it's gonna be similar to what Andy has. Andy, final question from me and then Jennifer, a question from you for Andy if you want to pipe in here. And in fact, I might have two. My first question is gonna say what advice would you give another shop owner who is thinking that there's gotta be a next level? Andy Severein: There absolutely is, and I can say from experience to figure out what that level or what your goal is, what do you want to achieve and how can you achieve that? It, it-- That's true to anything in life, but it's having the understanding or the understanding of what tools you can use to, to get yourself to that point. Once again, in my case, it was I wanna work my way out of a job, what does that look like? And but certainly doable, with some input, some coach. People, most shop owners that I've found are pretty close-minded, don't wanna be told what to do. You know- ... they're doing it great, don't tell me. And that's why I was at an auction earlier today for a shop that closed down because, they just choose to just do the same thing they always did, and at the end of the day, they got nothing left. No business and just a bunch of tools to sell Jimmy Lea: Wow ... Andy Severein: doesn't have to be that way. Doesn't have Jennifer Hulbert: to be Andy Severein: that way at all. No way. Nope. Jimmy Lea: No. No. Yeah. They're getting pennies on the dollars for those tools and assets. Jennifer. Jennifer Hulbert: I don't think I have a question for you, Andy. I, and you're a pretty humble guy, and I want you to really hear this, so thank you for being an industry leader, and thank you for setting the tone and the example of what success can really look like. And, I hope you're an inspiration to those who are watching and listening to this because you've done exactly my why. My why is to help elevate individual shop owners, and because of your attention and intention to the information that we've been discussing you've climbed to that level. So I want you to really hear that you are an industry leader, and I thank you for being here, and thank you for being a part of the institute. Andy Severein: Yeah. Thank you. That means a lot to me. I certainly don't see myself that way. I I still hear Parker Branch telling me maybe two years ago, "With a few changes, you'll pass me." I'm like, "Yeah, whatever" Jennifer Hulbert: You're getting close Andy Severein: You are Jimmy Lea: getting close, yeah. Andy Severein: Yep. By the end of 2027 when shop number two kicks in, watch out, Parker. Jimmy Lea: You'll join him in that million dollar net club. Yeah. Andy Severein: That's the plan. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. That's the plan. Yep. Yep. All right. One final question coming from Tanika and then a final question from me. Did you get any pushback from your technicians, the technicians you acquired implementing a DVI program, changing their process, procedure, moving their cheese? Andy Severein: Honestly, if you're asking about the shop we just bought- No? ... not a whole lot because they knew that their leadership was terrible. They knew that there was better way to do things. They're a neighboring shop. They saw our parking lot full of cars all the time and their parking lot empty, right? So- Jimmy Lea: Ouch. Yeah ... Andy Severein: that was, for them to be shown How we do it. They understood right away that it worked. They knew that. So it's, it is it's been... Certainly has its challenges, but it hasn't been hard at all. Teaching them the processes has really been the hardest thing, but the understanding, the knowledge of it the knowledge of, the why we're doing it I don't wanna say it's one of the easier parts of taking over that business, but I think it has been. Jimmy Lea: It kinda sounds like it. It sounds like they were definitely primed and ready for you to step in there and take over. Andy Severein: They were all really hungry, yeah. They knew that our leadership was bad. I don't know why they didn't all quit and walk Jimmy Lea: out. Yeah. No, congrats, man. That's awesome. All right, last and final question. Years from now, years down the road, don't know what that number is w- what do you want people to say about your shop, about your team, and about the owner who built it all? Andy Severein: Boy, I, I hope it's, I hope it's what our goal's always been, and that's that we are just awesome people, trustworthy give back to the community, the same things we've always been. I I hope that can be our legacy here. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. For sure. I hope so as well 'cause you are awesome people. Andy Severein: Yeah. Thank you. Yes, Jimmy Lea: they are. Andy Severein: You guys are too, so that means a lot. Jimmy Lea: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for everybody who's listening. If any of this has sounded interesting or information that you wanna pursue even further, get out your cellphone 'cause as soon as we go to credits, there is a QR code. Let's meet. Let's talk. Let's sit down and review your business. What can we do to help you? Our goal, our core, is to help build a better business for you to... which results in a better life for you, which our intention is to build a better industry. So we are all about building a better business, a better life, and a better industry. With that, my name is Jimmy Lea. I'm with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence, and thank you. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you, Andy. Really appreciate you guys being here. Andy Severein: Yep. Thank you. Jennifer Hulbert: Thank you.
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