Confessions of a Shop Owner

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen catches up with James Hornak and Nathan Ward roughly a year after their first appearance on Confessions of a Shop Owner—and a lot has changed. Their shop now has three full-time technicians, has been running roughly 180 cars a month at around a $955 ARO, and is pacing toward approximately $1.5 million in its first full year. They explain the strategy behind their controversial $29 oil changes, what happened when their first $100K month convinced them they could change roles too quickly, why finding the right service advisor has been harder than expected and how coaching and involvement in the industry accelerated their growth. Mike also opens up about the management mistake that wrecked his own shop culture, they discuss building strong DVIs without trying to sell every discovered item immediately, and Nathan casually declares that the goal for next year is $3 million. Oh—and James and Nathan finally reveal that they were behind the mystery Mike Allen shirts that had him accusing half of ASTA Expo of conspiring against him.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Mike Discovers the Mystery Shirt
01:26 – Martini Bar at ASTA 😂
02:24 – Is the Mustang STILL Broken?
04:19 – One Year of Insane Shop Growth
06:01 – Hiring Three Technicians in Year One
09:24 – 180 Cars a Month & $955 ARO
10:42 – The $29 Oil Change Strategy
12:25 – Pacing $1.5 Million in Year One
16:50 – Mike’s Shop Culture Fell Apart
18:59 – $100K Month → $60K Month
20:38 – Mike’s Best Service Advisor Was a Bartender
21:48 – Why Coaching Changed Everything
23:44 – Should They Buy a $2.5M Shop?
27:54 – Paying Off Debt & Building the “F You Fund”
28:30 – WHO MADE THE MIKE SHIRTS?! 😂
38:04 – Profitable Enough to Spend Money on a Joke
53:28 – The Free Diag Debate Returns
55:59 – $5,300 in Discovered Work
58:58 – The $3 Million Goal
1:03:03 – From Startup to $1.5M Through Community & Coaching

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen and Bryan Pollock welcome Caleb McElmurry to talk about the realities of building a repair business when you’re still the technician, service advisor, estimator, parts department and owner all at once. Caleb started mobile, moved several hours away and essentially started over with a brick-and-mortar shop—and now he’s intentionally waiting until the business is consistently ready before hiring his first technician. They debate why hiring a cheap apprentice first can actually make a solo owner less productive, how many billable hours might signal that it’s time to hire, what types of jobs a startup shop should avoid and why some European cars can eat a new shop alive. Caleb also explains why his first major training event is focused almost entirely on business and service-advisor skills instead of technical classes, and the conversation turns into ASE certifications, technician licensing, customer communication, $1,000 AROs and why owners shouldn’t go home from training and try to change their entire business Monday morning. The bigger lesson: being great at fixing cars gets you started—but learning how to run the business is what determines what happens next.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Why Startup Shops Should Be Careful With European Cars
05:13 – Meet Caleb McElmurry
06:01 – From Mobile Mechanic to Brick-and-Mortar
07:09 – When Should Caleb Hire His First Technician?
09:22 – Why Your First Hire Shouldn’t Be Cheap Labor
10:05 – How Busy Should a Solo Shop Be?
13:00 – Tow Trucks, Winter & Small-Town Shop Life
16:00 – Stop Giving Jobs the “Go Away” Price
20:29 – First Training Event: Don’t Implement Everything
23:00 – Why Caleb Isn’t Taking Technical Classes
25:00 – Should Automotive Technicians Be Licensed?
30:00 – ASE, Apprenticeships & Industry Standards
33:00 – Just Get 1% Better
34:00 – Caleb’s Service Advisor Process
36:42 – Do Customers Need Prices Explained First?
38:00 – A $1,000 ARO in a One-Man Shop
39:00 – Caleb’s Plan for His First Technician
41:12 – The Difficulty of Turning the Business Off
43:13 – Late Nights at ASTA

Keep shop management, payments, marketing (all the things) all in one place with Tekmetric. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Click HERE

Turnkey Marketing has made my life SOOO much simpler, AND they've helped keep the phone ringing. Do you need these two things too? Learn more HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Trey and Sasha Holley, owners of a 10-bay repair shop in Thomaston, Georgia, for a conversation about growth, technician development, working with your spouse and building a business that can eventually survive without you. Trey and Sasha share how losing Sasha’s father suddenly forced them into the business side of automotive before they were ready—and why watching him work himself relentlessly shaped the kind of shop they want to build today. They also explain why struggling to find an experienced A-tech completely changed their hiring philosophy after they took a chance on a high-school student, bought him a toolbox and developed him into a productive young technician now learning diagnostics. The conversation gets into their 400-hour backlog, whether becoming a multi-shop operation is actually something they want, succession planning for their son and the uncomfortable question of what happens to your business if you die tomorrow. And in true Confessions fashion, Trey eventually admits that one of his shop’s biggest historical problems wasn’t employees, technicians or customers—it was his own attitude.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Do You Really Need an A-Tech?
01:29 – Meet Trey & Sasha Holley
03:59 – From Two Bays to a 10-Bay Shop
05:38 – Being Thrown Into Business Overnight
06:15 – Losing Sasha’s Dad at 51
08:57 – Starting Their Own Shop
11:02 – Running a Business With Your Spouse
13:03 – When Employees Play Husband vs. Wife
16:40 – Moving a Technician Into the Front Office
18:17 – 400 Hours of Approved Work
19:27 – Stop Looking for A-Techs—Build Them
20:50 – Teaching a Young Technician Diagnostics
22:49 – The Never-Ending Growth Problem
23:56 – How Much Growth Is Enough?
25:39 – Building a Shop Their Son Can Inherit
26:08 – What Happens If the Owners Die Tomorrow?
28:36 – Mike’s “Oh Shit, I’m Dead” Book
35:08 – What Happened to Sasha’s Dad’s Shop?
38:04 – Their First ASTA Expo
47:03 – Stop Making Excuses and Show Up
51:09 – Trey’s Confession: “The Problem Was Me”
52:44 – “I’ve Only Had Two Leave in Tears” 😂

Tekmetric opened my eyes to just how much a good SMS will do for a shop. Their software is top of the line, and with them, so is my shop. Try them for yourself HERE

My marketing before and after signing up with Turnkey Marketing is pretty scary. In a good way. Get your marketing right today HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Make your techs happier with Detect Auto. They'll stop getting "check noise" or "check vibration" from advisors with the customer concern tool. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Book a demo HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Carry-Lynn Rodenberg of Turnkey Marketing for Marketing Call #2, and this time they dig into what happens after your marketing actually works. Mike shares the numbers from his shops—including nearly 2,700 inbound callers in September, roughly 550 unanswered calls and a call-to-car conversion rate of only about 33%—and they talk about how much revenue can disappear when advisors accidentally repel customers. They also discuss handling negative Google reviews, why customer retention may be more important than buying more leads, ways to fill an empty schedule, and why overwhelming customers with massive estimates can sometimes hurt long-term relationships. Carry-Lynn also explains how Google and other AI tools are changing local search, why shops need to be prepared for AI-generated phone calls and why lazy AI use may eventually make every business sound exactly the same. The big question throughout the episode: Do you actually need more marketing—or do you need to stop wasting the customers you already have?

Timestamps:
00:00 – How Advisors Accidentally Push Customers Away
01:08 – Mistakes Happen—Your Response Matters
09:34 – Google Reviews & Rebuilding Reputation
11:48 – How to Respond to a Bad Review
13:37 – What Mike Learned From His Negative Reviews
15:46 – You Paid to Make the Phone Ring—Now Convert It
18:44 – Measuring Call-to-Car Conversion
20:48 – Mike Missed 550 Calls in One Month
23:46 – Google’s AI Is Calling Repair Shops
28:46 – “Be Nice to the Robot” 😂
30:42 – Could AI Capture 100 More Cars a Month?
32:50 – Is a Huge ARO Destroying Customer Retention?
34:49 – Only 24% of New Customers Came Back
39:59 – How to Win Back Lost Customers
43:16 – What to Do When Next Week’s Schedule Is Empty
48:01 – Easy Customers Already Sitting in Your Database
49:35 – Marketing Priorities for a Smaller Shop
53:34 – The Most Alarming Thing About AI Marketing
57:10 – Bad Marketing Decisions & AI Slop

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen sits down with Andrew Klement of Finley River Auto and Diesel to talk about what happens when a technician becomes a shop owner—but actually plans for it first. Andrew explains why he hired a coach and CPA before opening, started with a service advisor from day one, invested in systems immediately and surrounded himself with people who had already made the mistakes he wanted to avoid. The result? A greenfield startup with no existing customers that projected roughly $350,000–$360,000 in first-year revenue had already crossed $600,000 with three months left in the year. They also get into Andrew’s first employee quitting, why shop owners fail at training, how to sell repairs without high-pressure tactics, what a healthy shop culture can do for a technician’s career and the time 18-year-old Andrew invented a completely fictional “starter break-in noise” to cover up a mistake. And because it’s Confessions, Mike also gets to explain why releasing an $18,000 repair while still being owed $7,500 is probably a terrible business strategy.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Sell by Educating, Not Pressuring
00:45 – Mike & Andrew Live From ASTA
09:15 – Andrew Tried Free Diagnostics
10:03 – Finley River Auto & Diesel
15:38 – Andrew’s Technician Background
17:25 – Building a Shop the Smart Way
19:09 – $350K Projection → $600K+ Revenue
20:27 – Is the Startup Actually Profitable?
23:20 – Almost Leaving the Automotive Industry
25:15 – What a Great Shop Taught Andrew
29:44 – Can the Customer, Tech AND Shop All Win?
32:16 – Andrew’s First Employee Quit
34:07 – Selling Without High-Pressure Tactics
35:39 – “You Hired Him. It’s Your Responsibility.”
39:06 – The Infamous “Starter Break-In Noise” 😂
41:42 – A Local Podcast as Shop Marketing
44:20 – Andrew’s First ASTA Experience
45:33 – Don’t Try to Implement Everything
46:21 – The $18,000 Ticket He Still Hasn’t Collected
47:06 – Mike: “Don’t Do That Shit.”

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen, Bryan Pollock, Jim Cokonis and Justin Allen sit down on the ASTA Expo floor for a conversation about one of the biggest problems in automotive repair: technicians and service advisors often don’t know what they don’t know. They dig into how bad information gets passed from technician to technician, why years of experience don’t automatically mean someone is doing the job correctly, and why training has to teach people how to think instead of simply memorize answers. The conversation covers tire sales, diagnostic strategy, technician education, young tech development, alignment and ADAS calibration, repair standards and some of the unbelievable things trainers still see happening inside real shops. They also debate whether shops are wasting technologically savvy young technicians by sticking them on oil changes for years instead of identifying their natural strengths early. And somewhere along the way, Mike takes a technical quiz, Bryan explains why someone can be wrong for 25 straight years, and everybody gets distracted by chicken wings.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Tire Sales Should Be This Simple
01:17 – Live From ASTA: How Good Are Shops, Really?
05:30 – How Bad Information Gets Passed Down
09:50 – Teaching Technicians How to Think
15:10 – Mike Takes the Technical Quiz
21:18 – Why Aftermarket Training Matters
28:05 – What Service Advisors Need to Know
29:41 – Stop Overcomplicating Tire Sales
34:14 – What Trainers Actually See Inside Shops
40:32 – “You’ve Been Doing It Wrong for 25 Years”
42:21 – Why Aren’t Technicians Training?
46:11 – Are We Wasting Young Technicians?
50:00 – Meet Justin Allen from Hunter
52:00 – Every Shop Needs an ADAS Strategy
57:38 – When a Customer Refuses Required Work
1:00:08 – How Do We Raise the Industry Standard?
1:03:40 – Can Five Minutes of Training Actually Work?
1:10:11 – Training the Next Generation of Trainers

Keep shop management, payments, marketing (all the things) all in one place with Tekmetric. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Click HERE

Turnkey Marketing has made my life SOOO much simpler, AND they've helped keep the phone ringing. Do you need these two things too? Learn more HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Stacia Aeschbach of Aeschbach Automotive and the Driven for More podcast to talk about leadership, growing a repair shop, raising five kids, women in automotive, and how her shop turned social media into a massive part of its brand. Stacia breaks down how Aeschbach Automotive grew an audience of tens of thousands of followers, generated nearly 100 million Meta views in a year, and started hearing from customers who discovered the shop through TikTok and other social platforms. They talk about why generic stock photos and boring repair content don’t work, how controversial content drives engagement, what shops should actually post, and why becoming more human may matter even more as AI-generated content becomes everywhere. Mike also realizes that an auto repair shop is basically a reality show full of misfit toys—which might actually be the best marketing opportunity in the industry.

Timestamps:
00:00 – How Social Media Keeps Your Shop Top of Mind
00:56 – Meet Stacia Aeschbach
03:15 – Leadership & Your “Emotional Wake”
07:39 – How Aeschbach Automotive Got Started
09:11 – From Tinder to a $3 Million Repair Shop
12:24 – Five Kids, Shop Ownership & No Excuses
14:48 – Women in the Automotive Industry
19:43 – Building a Massive Shop Social Media Following
23:18 – Nearly 100 Million Social Media Views
24:13 – Making Money From Shop Content
26:40 – How Often Should a Repair Shop Post?
31:38 – Does Social Media Actually Bring in Customers?
34:21 – Why Your Shop’s Social Media May Be Hurting Trust
36:52 – Controversy, Engagement Bait & Going Viral
39:15 – How Shops Can Start Creating Content
41:22 – Humanizing the People Behind Your Business
42:51 – Why AI Makes Being Human More Valuable
44:56 – Which Automotive Podcast Is the Worst? 😂

Tekmetric opened my eyes to just how much a good SMS will do for a shop. Their software is top of the line, and with them, so is my shop. Try them for yourself HERE

My marketing before and after signing up with Turnkey Marketing is pretty scary. In a good way. Get your marketing right today HERE

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Make your techs happier with Detect Auto. They'll stop getting "check noise" or "check vibration" from advisors with the customer concern tool. It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Book a demo HERE

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

Mike Allen sits down with Matt Lofton at ASTA 2026 for another Carfix coaching call—and this time they finally have data from Mike’s decision to start charging for diagnostic work at one location. They break down what happened to car count, gross profit, effective labor rate and average repair order before diving into the much bigger debate around flat rate, hourly pay, technician trust and whether pay plans actually motivate employees. Matt explains why incentive programs often create a short-term bump without changing long-term behavior, why writing an SOP is not the same thing as training, and why repetition and accountability matter more than another complicated compensation plan. Mike also admits that sometimes the recurring employee problem might actually be an owner problem. It’s a conversation about diagnostics, technician pay, leadership, training and what it really takes to build a team that consistently executes.

Timestamps:
00:00 – The Technician vs. Shop Owner Problem
00:56 – Live From ASTA 2026
01:30 – The Free Diag T-Shirt Conspiracy
04:25 – Mike Defends Free Diagnostics
08:44 – We Started Charging for Diag: Here’s What Happened
12:09 – Should You Quote Diagnostic Fees Over the Phone?
18:25 – The Complimentary Consultation Strategy
20:15 – How to Sell the Value of Diagnostic Testing
25:57 – Should a Faster Technician Cost Less?
28:03 – Flat Rate Isn’t the Problem
33:46 – Changing a Technician’s Pay Plan Without Losing Trust
36:06 – Does Money Actually Motivate Technicians?
39:01 – The Cobra Effect: When Incentives Backfire
40:49 – What Actually Motivates Employees?
43:49 – Are Shop Processes Becoming Too Complicated?
44:49 – Writing an SOP Is NOT Training
47:29 – Why Great Shops Execute Better
51:33 – Mike’s 72-Page Parts Manual 😂
52:36 – “I’ve Told Him 22 Times!”
53:10 – Mike Admits He’s Been the Problem
54:40 – Matt Has Screwed Up Just About Everything
56:57 – Why Small Shops Struggle to Train
58:12 – Scale Gives You Time to Train
1:00:11 – What Mike Needs to Fix Next

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

Turnkey Marketing takes the stress of doing something I'm not good at off my plate. And gives it to someone who is. Click HERE for more.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen and Bryan Pollock sit down with Avern Collins to find out what it actually takes to build a legitimate, profitable mobile mechanic business instead of becoming another guy fixing cars out of the back of a truck. Avern breaks down why he charges nearly $250 upfront for diagnostics, how professional branding and communication help him avoid competing on price, what a productive mobile technician can generate in revenue, and why knowing which jobs to turn down is just as important as knowing how to fix cars. The conversation also gets into $250–$300 labor rates, technician hiring, customer expectations, mobile-mechanic stereotypes, and why shop owners need to stop letting ego turn every nightmare vehicle into a personal challenge.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Aftermarket Parts Aren’t What They Used to Be
00:57 – Bald Heads, Hairlines & Pollock’s Hair Polish
05:24 – Meet Avern Collins: Building a Mobile Repair Business
06:56 – Why So Many Mobile Mechanics Fail
08:15 – Why Avern Never Wanted a Brick-and-Mortar Shop
10:05 – Escaping the “Cheap Mobile Mechanic” Reputation
11:29 – Why Avern Refuses to Do Free Diagnostics
12:28 – $250 Before the Mechanic Even Shows Up
17:18 – Customer Communication Like Amazon and DoorDash
27:42 – Teaching Mobile Mechanics to Run a Real Business
34:21 – Why Professionalism Changes What Customers Will Pay
36:58 – $250–$300 an Hour for Mobile Auto Repair
38:00 – Why Great Mobile Technicians Are So Hard to Find
43:14 – When Should Kids Get Their First Phone?
49:49 – How Much Revenue Can One Mobile Mechanic Produce?
50:30 – Stop Saying Yes to Every Repair
51:27 – Stop Trying to Be the Hero Shop
54:06 – Why Nightmare Cars Should Cost More to Diagnose
54:46 – Why Avern Won’t Work Behind Other Mechanics
57:13 – Sometimes the Best Business Decision Is Saying No

Tekmetric transformed my shop. Plain and simple. Want that for yours? Touch HERE

If you're like me and aren't good at marketing, don't do it on your own. Let the experts handle it. Touch HERE for more on Turnkey Marketing.

47 Consultants brings your shop’s story to life on social media, helping Carfix engage 60,000 people in Raleigh in just a few weeks. See what 47 Consultants can do for your shop, and tell them Big Daddy Mike sent you!

Elite Worldwide's Ignite 2027 is coming up in February and NOW is the time to sign up. It's happening in Vegas February 4-6 and it will be the best 3 days of your shops year when you attend. Save $100 when you use code CONFESSIONS HERE

When I used the maintenance tool for the fist time with Detect Auto, my mind was blown. My advisors had the same reaction - and then SO MUCH MORE TIME. Learn more about Detect Auto and book a free demo now!

Mike Allen sits down with Eric Joern of Kaizen CPAs & Advisors and host of Under the Hood CPA to talk about the financial side of shop ownership that most technicians never signed up to learn. They get into disastrous QuickBooks files, surprise tax bills, R&D credits, ERC abuse, sales and payroll tax mistakes, buying versus selling business assets, tax strategy when selling a shop, and why your CPA needs to hear about major decisions before you make them. Eric also brings his background as a dealership service advisor into the conversation, leading to some extremely questionable water-pump sales advice from Mike. If you own a repair shop and have ever looked at QuickBooks and immediately closed the tab, this episode is probably for you.

Timestamps:
00:00 Brown Water and Being Confidently Incorrect
00:56 ASTA, STX & the Confessions Hospitality Suite
03:24 Meet Eric Joern of Kaizen CPAs
04:08 Tax Deadlines and Mike’s Financial Responsibility
05:43 How Bad Are Most New Clients’ Books?
07:36 Mike Confesses His Podcast Books Are Terrible
09:08 Paying Taxes Means You Made Money… Right?
09:40 How Aggressive Should Your Tax Strategy Be?
10:37 Is the R&D Tax Credit Worth Exploring?
13:04 The Tax Credit Eric Saw Abused the Most
15:34 Does Cheaper Mean More Trustworthy?
16:12 Eric’s Life as a Dealership Service Advisor
17:22 Mike’s Terrible Water-Pump Sales Advice
18:49 Don’t Solve a $3,000 Problem With a $50,000 Solution
19:05 Toyota Warranty Work and the 300% Rule
21:10 Why Does QuickBooks Online Suck?
23:20 Are There Any Real QuickBooks Alternatives?
24:45 Shops Still Running Everything Through QuickBooks
26:18 Is Saving $300 Worth Wasting Your Nights?
26:47 “My Wife Does the Books and She Loves It”
27:25 Why Eric Started Under the Hood CPA
30:11 Shop Owners vs. Other Small-Business Clients
31:18 “I Don’t Know What I Spent $50,000 On”
32:14 The $50,000 Amazon Bill
34:17 Shop-Owner Bookkeeping Horror Stories
35:07 The $60K–$80K Sales Tax Mistake
35:54 Mike’s Payroll-Tax Acquisition Nightmare
38:32 Buying Assets vs. Buying the Business
39:09 How Deal Structure Can Save Millions
41:06 Could Your Shop Eventually Be Sold Tax-Free?
44:28 Which Coaching Group Has the Hardest Financial Reporting?
45:50 Why Shop Owners Need Their Numbers Faster
46:08 What Is Live Bookkeeping?
47:33 The One Thing Your CPA Wishes You’d Do
48:03 Talk to Your CPA BEFORE the Big Decision
49:33 Mike’s Idea for a Personal Board of Advisors
50:44 Getting Your CPA, Advisor and Attorney on the Same Page
52:10 Every Financial Meeting Needs an Agenda
53:11 How to Find Kaizen CPAs
54:04 Free Financial Tools for Shop Owners
55:23 The Biggest Profit Leak in Mike’s Shop