Getting your auto repair business up and running takes hard work and continues to occupy your time and energy, but now that you have an established shop, it’s time to take it into the next level. Very much like a car, a strategy for growth has a lot of parts and you’ll need specialized tools to work in them.
To get there, you can apply to Camino Financial’s small business financing, the idea is that the money you get, will serve as an investment in growth, from better equipment to the digitalization of part of your operation.
Play to your strengths but also explore and discover new ways of making your business grow with these ideas.
- Focus on clients’ needs, not yours
Easier said than done but this is why you have a lot of channels to figure out the best way to actually serve your customer. Use your current client data base or start building one and create polls to get a good temperature of satisfaction among your visitor. Set up social media accounts and take a hard look at messages or comments that could help you understand their needs better and adjust your operation to fulfill their needs.
- Have a strong presence online
Building a web page can be exhausting but it will pay off in the medium run. Use images that reflect on what you do, make sure that they are properly shot or, if they’ll come from a catalog, that you have a license to use them. Distribute the information in the proper hierarchy and make sure you communicate what you do. A specialized blog will help you build a better digital footprint that will position your company in the search engines. For this you’ll need to hire a few professionals: a web developer, a web designer and a writer. Make sure that they know and understand about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so you’ll appear at the top of the results when people look for your service.
- Optimize your operation
A good digital platform can help you manage tasks, time schedules and even payroll. It will also help you to remain in touch with your clients, have your company’s assets organized and improve your team’s productivity. You can hire a task management license or have a web developer set up a whole new one with all the requirements of your daily needs.
- Create a community
You can have strategic alliances with local shop owners to refer clients to one another and you can also build a digital community where people will get information, support each other and fall in love with your business. Short videos and content will be the heart and soul of your community. You can start with paid campaigns on social media and Search Engine Marketing. Offer good deals with a promo code for watching and turn the walk-ins into loyal customers with good reviews from all the happy people you’ll ask to leave a comment.
- Have a value offer that astound the competition
An outstanding client service, the quality of your team’s work or the great deals you give. Find what makes your business special and amplify it. Sell that and then yell it to the entire world. But a warning: always deliver what you promise, never lie. A good review can turn into a bad one (and a loss of clients) in a heartbeat if you don’t follow through with your value offer.
You don’t have to be the first one doing something, but you have to be the best at it. And then you’ll have to let people know. Remember that you can also branch out of your core business with other peripheral ones that have something to do with your company like e-commerce or car accessories.
And even though all of this will take money, you can try for small business financing to tap into that new world. Remember that everything you buy with borrowed money has to have a return of investment, even if it’s not tangible. What would you do with the money?
