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Our business transformation couple had a solid first quarter with MaxyMyProfit business coach Ben Fewtrell pleased with their progress. Cara and Mark have been working flat out, including weekends, to meet all their targets, including giving their already tidy workshop a thorough clean over Easter for the professional photoshoot they had commissioned to have images for their new website and their company brochure. 
Part of their 90 day plan is to have more time for themselves outside of the business. All of the time invested in training online with the MaxMyProfit business hub to understand how to streamline business processes, to understand and forecast their cashflow and learning to use iBodsyhop is likely to help them achieve this goal.

iBodyshop eye-opener
The pair started to use iBodyshop fully on 1 April. It’s been a steep learning curve but they are incredibly impressed with its scope.
Cara said: “We’re still learning how to use it, but the guys at iBodyshop have given us great support and will do screen sharing to show us how to do things we either haven’t been able to work out ourselves or didn’t remember from the initial training. 
Apart from speeding up the estimating process the number of time saving benefits are mind blowing and I’m sure there are so many features we haven’t even discovered yet.
“On the parts ordering side we’ve had Parts Check integrated into iBodyshop and it’s made the whole process unbelievably quicker and easier both for ordering and the estimate as it prefills the list price for the parts you need.
“Another benefit for me has been a huge reduction in the paper mountain on my desk, which I always dread tackling. Instead of using paper now I use a tablet and take pictures of the accident damage and existing damage while I’m with the customer which makes more everything transparent. It feels much more professional as well, doing it this way with the customer.”
Having everything in one system also makes invoicing faster and much less daunting. “Marc and I have been teaming up, showing each other features we’ve learnt which will mean that we can help each other out if needs be.
“We quoting better now which means we're making more money.”
The team haven’t started logging on and off jobs yet, although everyone has been set up in the system. The plan is to start using this feature in June after taking a couple of months to become more familiar with the program.
“Ibodyshop is everything you want in a business management system, they’ve thought of everything,” Cara said.

Capricorn and cashflow
Using Capricorn has been another revelation for ECPP in saving time and helping with cashflow forcasting. It streamlines the majority of their suppliers with just one invoice and 60 days to pay.


Expo value
The couple also extracted a lot of value from attending the Collision Repair Expo. “Mark wanted to get his eyes on the equipment and technologies and see it first hand and talk to the experts from the companies.” 
In order to grow the business ECPP needs benches and a measuring system so that it can expand the scope of repairs and be able to carry out small chassis adjustments. SAPE was running a great deal where two Jollift benches only cost $1000 more than one, and having seen them on the show stand they ordered them and the benches are now installed. They’ll be used as benches only until a measuring system is acquired, probably a Car-O-Liner Point X. All of their equipment purchases have been paid for by the business without having to use any credit.
The couple also benefited from networking at the show. They have been invited to join Car Craft and enjoyed the networking drinks after the Expo on Friday night, impressed with how friendly and open to sharing information and help members are. Then it was off to the Valspar dinner. “It was so great to talk to other people who totally understand what you experience everyday,” Cara says. 
They also enjoyed a couple of the many seminars on offer and dropped by the I-CAR stand to discuss a training program for the business.


Repair cost rising
As ECPP's reputation for quality and great customer service has grown so has the scope of the repairs they are being asked to undertake. The average repair cost has risen and is likely to rise again once the measuring system is in place.
It's also allowed the couple to be more picky about the work they undertake. “We're not interested in customers looking for the cheapest repair possible anymore, we're looking to grow our profitability.”
They also turn away insurance work when the assessor has cut quotes to a level where they feel they can't undertake the repair. “We're not prepared to cut corners, if we can't do a quality job for the money then we won't do it at all.”

Making progress
It's easy to be self-critical and Cara says that they really didn't credit themselves for keeping the business running smoothly despite the many challenges they have taken on.
“We haven't dropped the ball in the day to day running of the business and we've still maintained our focus on keeping our customers happy.
“Now we have everything in place to to be approaching new fleet customers to increase our customer base.
“While it's been a tiring and stressful time, we're in a great place where we fully understand our financials and the direction we want to take the business and expect to have a smooth start to the new financial year.”

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