The automotive repair industry is definitely not an easy industry to make money in, but it is indeed a sector that can generate income. Nowadays, many repair shops have emerged. However, statistics show that currently, less than 40% of auto repair shops nationwide are profitable, around 30% are on the edge of profitability, and the rest, well, you can imagine.
A considerable number of people get the idea of opening a repair shop after their cars have been repaired a few times. They believe that simply relying on some connections and having a certain social network is enough to make money. In reality, it is far from that simple, as many years of experience in the repair shop can prove.
1. Effective Ways for Auto Repair Businesses to Make Money: Excellent Technicians and Staff
1. The most lacking resource in auto repair businesses is technicians with high skills and good ethics.
The most difficult factor for automotive repair businesses to solve:
It is not funding—this can be resolved through loans or partnerships, and the capital needed to start a repair shop is not very high; having a piece of land can also be used as capital;
It is not the source of vehicles—now the growth rate of car ownership will definitely exceed the growth rate of repair shops, and vehicles can be attracted through various connections and promotions;
It is not parts—there are now various domestic and foreign parts distributors, and there are large auto parts markets as a backup, plus online information, so the parts issue is very easy to solve;
The only difficult factor is—technicians with high skills and good ethics. The technicians referred to here are not just ordinary repair workers who pass certification exams.
2. The Current Situation of the Automotive Repair Industry in Our Country
1. Polarization of Personnel Structure
Most of the workers over 40 years old have a middle school education, and most belong to the continuation of traditional handicrafts, a product of the master-apprentice model; under 40 years old, nearly half regard automotive repair as a profession to escape from agricultural labor, while some have received education in automotive or other professional fields.
2. Vehicle Conditions
There is a wide variety of vehicles, almost all brands produced by major companies can be seen, with complex technical levels; the age of the vehicles is long, and their conditions vary; the transition period for new technologies entering the automotive sector is short; for example, the transition from carburetors to fuel injection, which took over 30 years in major automotive countries, has taken only over 10 years in our country, so as soon as repair personnel get familiar with carburetors, they immediately have to deal with new technologies like fuel injection.
3. Serious Imbalance Between Repair Personnel and Vehicle Ownership
Although there is an oversupply of repair personnel, there is a serious shortage of skilled technicians, and many cars are often damaged by improper repairs.
3. Prerequisites for Cultivating Talent in the Automotive Repair Industry
1. What kind of person can be a good boss in automotive repair?
Many people with certain economic strength have invested heavily in opening repair shops, but the business results are often not satisfactory, including those who have very effective management methods. They all share a common characteristic: they know too little about repair technology.
Automotive repair is different from other industries; there are too many human factors involved, and the decisive factor is people. The thoughts and behaviors of people are difficult to grasp. As a boss of a repair business, one must not only understand operations and management but also possess a considerable understanding of automotive repair technology. Only in this way can the repair business operate well.
2. What kind of enterprise can cultivate more automotive repair talents?
Internally, the enterprise should create a working atmosphere that is both serious and lively, without putting too much psychological pressure on employees outside of work. Many people now realize that working comfortably is more important than earning an extra hundred or two. Talents should be regarded as the masters of the enterprise, as members of a big family, allowing employees to see the enterprise as their home, a base for learning, working, living, and growing. Various measures and methods should be taken to train employees’ sense of belonging and enhance the cohesion of the enterprise. Talents should be boldly utilized, without excessive restrictions or suspicion.
3. What is the relationship between employees and bosses?
Repair shops need to seek efficiency through management, but the core task of management is to unite employees. If a management style of being self-important is adopted, it is easy to cause employees to “jump ship” or develop a resistance mentality, leading to a lack of effort in their work. Thus, the relationship between the boss and employees, especially technical employees, is particularly important. It is easy to manage an employee, but it is not so easy to manage them well, and managing a good employee is even harder.
4. Basic Requirements for Good Automotive Repair Talent
1. Interest in Knowledge and Books
Interest in knowledge and books determines whether one can achieve a high technical level. Good automotive repair talents are not just those who blindly follow their masters; they must also have their own ideas and thoughts, and a personal database of technical information. If you carefully observe every employee around you, you will find that employees with good repair skills have a lot of technical information; they often do not hesitate to spend money on it.
2. “1/3 of cars repaired at night”
Those who follow the saying “1/3 of cars are repaired at night” can be cultivated. Due to the special nature of the automotive repair industry, many problems are left unsolved during the day, and some complex issues cannot be resolved immediately, requiring careful analysis of faults. However, because users have high demands for their vehicles and sometimes require urgent timelines, repair personnel must pay more attention to faulty vehicles. This extra attention can only be given at night, during their own time. Years of experience have shown that at least 1/3 of vehicle faults need to be analyzed at night.
3. Combining Education and Practice
Simply having passion is not enough; one must also consider basic qualities. However, for future talent, it is not acceptable to rely solely on degrees because the automotive repair industry requires strong hands-on skills, and a perfect combination of mental and physical labor is necessary to complete the repair of a vehicle. Therefore, for newly hired employees, one must be pragmatic.
4. Interest as the Foundation of Success
Anyone who is not interested in cars will find it very difficult to learn automotive repair, and this interest cannot just be spoken; it must be observed with the eyes, liking to disassemble and assemble everything, and with a certain level of professional knowledge and patience, it is very likely to learn automotive repair well.
5. What kind of person can be a master?
This question seems easy to answer: of course, it should be someone with high skills. The following types of people cannot be good masters: those who always say to deal with complex issues tomorrow; this type of person is not dedicated; those who only know how to let their apprentices disassemble and repair without understanding how to analyze using repair manuals or professional knowledge; this type of person is not professional; those who do not dare to let apprentices analyze problems and solve them on their own; those who have never purchased professional materials.
5. Methods for Cultivating Modern Automotive Repair Workers
1. Basic Theoretical Knowledge + Interest
Under the condition of having a certain level of theoretical knowledge, cultivate interest, allowing employees to fully experience the joy of repair, user recognition, and affirmation of their abilities. At the same time, important tasks should be assigned to promising employees, making them aware of their roles.
2. Insist on Writing Repair Diaries
Requiring repair personnel to write work diaries can strengthen memory, provide materials for the future, and during the diary writing process, they can engage in a “theory → practice → theory” reflection and learning cycle about what they have repaired.
3. Specialization Based on a Broad Foundation
On a broad foundation, cultivate expertise in a specific vehicle model or technology, so that repair personnel can collect and organize materials and quickly improve their technical level. The requirements for a repair worker should not be too diverse; practical repair skills can be improved through a point-to-surface approach.
4. Proactive and Innovative
Repair businesses should pay attention to developing the capabilities of excellent employees, utilizing those who are good at introducing and developing new technologies and equipment, and developing useful tools that can increase efficiency several times over. Actively turning employees’ ideas into reality, collecting and organizing employees’ creative thoughts, and promoting content with practical significance, while providing necessary rewards to relevant personnel.
6. Content of Training for Contemporary Automotive Repair Workers
1. Strong Logical Reasoning Ability
Repair workers should possess a special logical analysis ability regarding automotive faults. This requirement is partly due to the actual situation of the automotive repair industry in our country. Up to now, our detection methods, equipment usage status, and fault occurrence locations have not reached the level where only simple replacement of parts is needed. Currently, the main task of the repair industry is still “diagnosis”, as the saying goes, “70% diagnosis, 30% repair”. What truly reflects a repair worker’s level is the accuracy of their diagnosis. During the diagnosis process, it is required that the diagnostician “understands principles, can analyze, can reason, and can diagnose cleverly”. Eliminating a complex fault can sometimes be like a good detective novel, except that the protagonist of the novel is the various systems of the car. Therefore, anyone who cannot reason or logically analyze is unlikely to become a good repair worker.
2. Certain Basic English Skills
The development of automotive technology has made it no longer a matter for just one country; international cooperation is needed. A considerable portion of the vehicles we repair are imported, so having a certain level of English is particularly important. In work, one not only needs to consult some relevant model’s English materials but can also easily understand the latest automotive technologies, repair manuals, and diagnostic methods from abroad.
3. Organic Integration of Mechanics, Electronics, and Fluids
The traditional concept in our automotive repair industry is that mechanics and electronics are separate, and they are two independent trades. However, with the rapid development of automotive technology, this division has become very unrealistic, and there is a strong need to combine mechanics, electronics, and hydraulic technology, so that the three can work together effectively to cultivate ideal automotive repair talents.
4. Master Certain Computer Knowledge
Modern automobiles require repair personnel to possess certain computer knowledge, not only to understand the correct use of computers but also to grasp the basic principles and control principles of vehicle-mounted computers; otherwise, many fault phenomena may be incomprehensible.
5. Know How to Select, Use, and Extend the Use of Equipment
The ability of repair personnel largely depends on their application of equipment. If you observe carefully, you will find that in many repair shops, there are many pieces of equipment just for show, and some equipment has not even been unwrapped, bought only because it is required by the authorities, such as the most basic exhaust gas analyzer that cannot even make inferences based on data. Therefore, a true automotive repair talent must know how to develop and utilize automotive diagnostic equipment.
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