What do the most successful bodyshop owners have in common? They make time to learn and network. Do you want to be ahead of the pack? If you are a manager, owner or understudy to these roles and you are under 40ish then you should drop everything and make your way to the VACC, Melbourne on Friday 22 November for the Next Generation seminar. You can buy your ticket here.
Why should you be there? Consolidation and challenging work provider relationships ring any bells? Wouldn't it help to connect with others who are going through the same thing and compare notes? The number one outcome of the day is to connect with your peers. You don't compete with each other so get connected and see if you can help each other out in the future. We'll be setting up a closed facebook group for all of the repairers who attend so that you have an easy platform to communicate with each other.
What will you get out of it? Apart from meeting others in a 'old school-free' environment and networking, the morning session will feature Sarah-Beth Cleaves a business coach telling you how you can grow your business in 90 days. We'll hear from James Frape of sponsor Compass Claims who has a great overview of the industry and has also lived the family business lifestyle.
Ray Iversen of Highland Smash and Trend Smash Repairs in Queensland runs a tight ship with these highly productive shops. Iversen will talk about leadership and how to handle difficult staff. He also mentors Chris Gosney of Mark McHugh Body Works who will disucss the merits of having a mentor.
Steve Lozenkovski from NSW group Bears Auto Hospital will share his transition experiences taking over the business from dad and growing the group and reinvigorating the Bears brand.
Harry Krass from the Family Business Rescource Centre will be talking about the problems and solutions that other family businesses have encountered during succession and encourage the room to talk about their issues and what solutions for those might be.
We'll have a repairer from each state talking about business conditions and challenges - it's always interesting to see the differences and the similarities.We'll finish off with a panel talk discussing the issues which have been raised during the morning before having lunch.
Can I learn from other shops? Yes you can and we've picked two excellent Melbourne shops for the optional shop tour after lunch. Flagstaff Autobody in Kensington is a stunning shop which specialises in fleet work and Direct One in Thomastown takes lean to a new level to produce an impressive turn around and levels of customer satisfaction.
Bonding over a beer? If you aren't jetting back we'll be heading off for a drink after the shop tours finish around the Crown Casino area and we'll shout you a drink.
Who's going? Repairers from every state and territory barring NT. We've five set of siblings, sons, daughters, 'adoptive' sons - everyone is facing similar issues and challenges and this is a great forum to see how other's have overcome difficulties and forged successful business strategies.