The Institute’s Leading Edge Podcast

institutesleadingedgepodcast

The Institute’s Leading Edge Podcast is where forward-thinking Automotive Service and Repair Shop Owners come to sharpen their skills, expand their knowledge, and gain an edge in today’s competitive market. Hosted by The Institute’s team of seasoned consultants and leaders with decades of real-world experience, you’ll get direct, actionable advice tailored to the unique challenges of running and growing an auto repair business. Each episode feels like a one-on-one coaching session. Whether it’s improving profitability, building stronger leadership skills, mastering marketing, developing your team, or planning for long-term success, you’ll find strategies you can implement right away. Have a question about your shop? Send it in, and we’ll answer it on the show.

  1. 195 - Ask Me Anything: The Questions Every Auto Repair Shop Owner Should Be Asking

    MAR 13

    195 - Ask Me Anything: The Questions Every Auto Repair Shop Owner Should Be Asking

    195 - The Questions Every Auto Repair Shop Owner Should Be Asking March 13, 2026 - 00:53:14 Show Summary: Entrepreneurial drive can turn destructive when shop owners chase ideas without discipline. Impulsive spending and constant pivots create stress at home and in the business. Stability comes from personal responsibility and honest self reflection. Counseling and trusted advisors help owners slow decisions and see problems clearly. Strong routines and clear boundaries create healthier leadership. Long term success requires better communication and the courage to address hard truths.   Host(s): Lucas Underwood, Shop Owner of L&N Performance Auto Repair and Changing the Industry Podcast Cecil Bullard, Founder of The Institute   Show Highlights: [00:00:36]  – The episode opens with a tough question about destructive cycles in shop ownership. [00:01:40] – Repeated impulsive decisions and constant pivots are framed as warning signs. [00:03:15] – Counseling is presented as a strength, not a weakness. [00:05:27] – Serious debt becomes a key marker of unhealthy behavior. [00:07:31] – Big purchases need structure, delay, and outside accountability. [00:10:00] – Routines and systems can reduce stress and prevent bad decisions. [00:15:12] – Personal responsibility is essential for change and long term stability. [00:18:12] – Boundaries and better responses can shift unhealthy relationship patterns. [00:28:12] – Avoiding hard conversations allows damage to keep growing. [00:38:10] – Calm, fact based conversations build trust and create a path forward.   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_vTLf1P2xbM   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript: Lucas Underwood: Welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you everybody for being here today. I am here with Cecil Bullard. Cecil, how are you buddy? Cecil Bullard: I'm doing fantastic. Lucas. You know, it's, uh, it's not Friday, but it's, uh, but we're almost there. Lucas Underwood: Close up, right? We're getting there. Uh, Cecil. Hey, listen, so I got a message last night. Okay. And it was a little concerning. It was from a dear friend of mine, um, and it was, it was actually from his wife. And, and they're going through some struggles right now. You've been doing this a long time. They're shop owners, and I just want, I've, I've summarized the message. I'm not gonna, uh, expose who they are or anything like that, but I've summarized the message, I've brought it way down. I have a couple questions that I wanna start with in this episode. We're gonna dive off the deep end in this. Is that okay with you? Cecil Bullard: Absolutely. I'm ready to go with you. Lucas Underwood: Okay. In the shop owner world, how do you distinguish between normal entrepreneurial stress and behavior that might signal a deeper mental health issue? I know of a shop owner who goes through repeated cycles of extreme enthusiasm and big decisions, buying equipment or vehicles, talking about expanding to multiple locations, launching new services like towing or obsessing over competitors. Then shortly after they regret the decision, get discouraged, withdraw, or pivot to something completely different. Now, Cecil, this is not just once we've seen this cycle. This, this is, we're, we're 10, 15 times deep at this point. The pattern also shows up financially, large, impulsive purchases or debt in leadership difficulty with sticking with a plan. And they, they, they'll say, Hey, we're gonna do this. And they'll, they even have a coach and they'll say, Hey, I'm gonna do this. We're gonna make this happen. Then it all falls apart and in constantly chasing the next big idea, instead of stabilizing what they're already doing. Right. Like they, they have it together. All they have to do is be there and lead and guide their team and take 'em to the next level. So the first question is, how common is this cycle in the industry? Cecil Bullard: Well, I, I would tell you, you know, after, I don't know, 27 years or whatever it is of doing this, that, that the cycle's very common. Um, and I don't know. I don't know that it's an industry challenge as opposed to a human being challenge. I used to think there was a normal, like, Hey, maybe I'm normal or I'd like to be normal. Yeah. And um, the older I get, the more experience I have, the less I think there's a normal. Okay. Lucas Underwood: Yeah. And so hundred percent. Cecil Bullard: And so number one, right? Um, entrepreneurial spirit means, uh. I want to do something. I want to do something special. Certainly I've had that entrepreneurial spirit. I'm also, um, a little bit obsessive compulsive and a little bit manic depressive myself, and a lot of the people in my family have these traits. My mother was way manic depressive. Yeah. Cecil Bullard: Um. Even bordering on what, what most people today would call mentally ill. Right. And so, you know, learning to, to deal with that, learning to deal with it in your own self. Lucas Underwood: Mm-hmm. Cecil Bullard: And, uh, you know, I would say unfortunately, most of us are kind of blind to it ourselves. Yeah. 'cause when we're in the, if I'm in the moment, like this new thing that's so exciting and everything Lucas Underwood: Right. Cecil Bullard: Everything else goes away. Right. Lucas Underwood: Yeah. Cecil Bullard: Um, I could be, I could be called, I mean, my wife could have called you and. Maybe he told you the same thing. Uh, Lucas Underwood: yeah. Cecil Bullard: Pattern over years and years and years. I'm so excited about this new shop and, and I'm gonna do that. And then, and then it gets a little hard and I get distracted. And now I'm over here doing this other new project and this other new project, even the institute, um, if it weren't for other people here that could stay focused on one thing, um, we couldn't be where we are or who we are. If it was just up to me, 'cause I would be moving around too much. Lucas Underwood: I resemble that remark. I really do. Yeah. And here's the thing is, you know, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and went and spoke with somebody and, and I got really lucky because I found a therapist who I really connected with and, and first of all, I just wanna say like. I know we're supposed to be big, strong, tough men. There's nothing wrong with going and talking to a therapist. As a matter of fact, I think if you want to be your best version of yourself, that you should do it even if you're perfectly healthy and you don't have any concerns whatsoever. I, Cecil Bullard: I think that, uh, I don't know, 35 years ago I was, um, the guy that said counseling, no way. Never for me, not gonna happen. Yeah. You know, blah, blah, blah. Had a problem. My wife, um, was ready to divorce me. Uh, we went to see a counselor. I, I would tell you that is some of the best money I've ever spent in my entire life. Lucas Underwood: Yes. Cecil Bullard: Yeah. Uh, learning, learning, learning skills that you don't have. It's like, it's almost like getting a coach, um, you know, for your, for your business. Okay? You have a coach telling you, Hey, you should raise your labor rate, or you should fix your parts margins, or, here's how you manage people, create process, you know, all of that. In a, in a, um, a situation where I might see someone, a counselor, um, that counselor is probably helping me create strategies for me to deal with the world, right? Yeah. Because again, I don't, I don't think there's a normal, my mom, Lucas Underwood: amen. Cecil Bullard: Was very abusive. My dad was a, a wonderful guy, but not home. He was obsessed with work. And part of that, I think as I've grown older was that I think he didn't want to be home because there was a crazy woman that lived there with his kids and Lucas Underwood: Yeah. Cecil Bullard: And uh, what, and back then you didn't divorce. I mean, you know, that was no way. And, um, yeah. And so you have, I don't know, you said something I think's important is, you know, when is it? Normal or, or up to what point. And then when, yeah, and I think, I think if you're getting yourself in serious financial debt. Yeah. So, you know, and then, Hey Cecil, what's serious finance of debt? Oh, I don't know. A million. Eh, Lucas Underwood: it's not that much. Well put this way, Cecil Bullard: but serious. If Lucas Underwood: it's this way, if it's, we went and bought $140,000 truck. Yeah. We financed it at a very high interest rate, and now we wanna refinance the house. Cecil Bullard: Yeah. Lucas Underwood: Because we've also stuck some other financing in that truck too. Cecil Bullard: Well, and the problem is that you, you, you, you work all your life to. Like pay off the house and all of a sudden you're financing the house because you've gone out and spent money in places that you shouldn't have done. Yeah. Right. And I have people in my life that have spent lots of money,

    53 min

  2. FEB 26

    194 - The Strategy in Succession: The Story of Oswald Service & Repair

    194 - The Strategy in Succession: The Story of Oswald Service & Repair February 25, 2026 - 00:57:04 Show Summary: This episode shares how Oswald Service and Repair grew from a 1939 service station into a multi location shop in Idaho Falls. It breaks down the realities of family succession and the damage caused by unclear roles and rushed promotions. The conversation highlights why outside experience can strengthen a returning successor. It also explains how professionalism and stronger HR practices reshaped shop culture. The Oswald Way is presented as the values framework guiding hiring, discipline, and hard ethical decisions. The episode reinforces the need for coaching, clear timelines, and a focus on building long term business value.   Host(s): Michael Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at The Institute   Guest(s): Kevin & Renae Oswald, Owners, Oswald Service & Repair   Show Highlights: [00:01:48] – The business began in 1939 as a classic full service station. [00:03:10] – A hard truth: the shop could only support one family. [00:04:00] – Leaving the family business built skills and perspective. [00:06:10] – Early roles blended selling, wrenching, and managing daily work. [00:10:20] – A nursing career provided stability during ownership transition. [00:12:10] – Imposter syndrome hit when stepping into community leadership. [00:15:35] – Raising professionalism standards changed shop culture and HR. [00:23:40] – Family succession failed without structure, clarity, and mentoring. [00:34:05] – A clear exit timeline prevents resentment and legal conflict. [00:41:55] – The Oswald Way guides ethics, decisions, and team alignment.   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LbptEoPXC44   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript:   Michael Smith: Hi everybody. Thank you for joining us today. It's good to have y'all on board. I'm Michael Smith, chief Strategy Officer here at the Institute. I also have the privilege of running what we call the Legacy Program, and I am pleased to introduce to you today two of my dear friends clients, but friends more than anything who are in the legacy program. And the topic today that we're gonna talk about is succession. Succession has many terms to it, which I'll describe in a minute. But I wanna welcome Kevin and Renee Oswald again. Two dear friends that I have the privilege of walking beside. Welcome and thank you both for agreeing to come and to share your story with us. It's a fabulous story. Kevin Oswald: You're welcome. Michael Smith: Lots of Kevin Oswald: it. Michael Smith: Yeah. It's good to see you both. Thank you. So yeah, we're gonna talk about succession today and we're gonna talk about family businesses and you know, in our industry there were a lot of family rollovers in the business. And I don't know, maybe in the last decade or two that's lightened up a little bit. I, you have a long, deep, rich history. As a company and as a family, and you are a succession story unfolding. And so we just thought it would be great to just sit and visit a little bit. I said to the Oswalds before we started a family succession can be tender in terms of some hot topics, and they're welcome to tell me. That's a good question. We're not answering it and we're all good with that too. So we'll just dig in and chat a little bit. Kevin, can you tell us a little bit, because I love the story of you in the industry. But give us the background. What, tell us about your family. How'd you get into it? When, where'd you come from? How, how did you become a part of this? Kevin Oswald: Absolutely. So my grandfather started this business in 1939. It was the quintessential old service station where they came out with the bow, tie, the hat, and the bell rang and you ran. And went out there. You pumped the gas, you checked the tires, you, you checked the oil, you washed the windshield. And that's the type of business that we had. In fact, that service station model served our family up through three generations after my grandfather retired. My. Father took over the business. My father was in the business with my grandfather for about five years. Took over the business from my grandfather. And I can remember working at the service station when I was in high school. Washing those windshields were kind of the way that I built my biceps. And you know, my father, if you left one bug on that windshield, he made you go back out and do it again. So, you know, the, the service in Oswald's service is something that was instilled in me at a young age. In 2004, I purchased the business from my father, but there's, there's kind of a backstory to that too. Just shortly after I graduated high school, me and my father were talking and he said, Kevin. This business will only support one family. If you wanna stay, that's fine. I can afford to pay you $8 an hour, but I would recommend you go to school and you do something else for a living. Kind of my father's nice way of saying I don't want you to be in this industry and get out. So I, I did go to school for a little while. I ended up going to work for 14 years at other independent shops, and at that point in time when my father was ready to talk, retire. I came back into the business, but God, what valuable lessons that I learned. You know, not staying in the mainstream and doing things my father's way, but able to get out and look at how other shops operate and you know what they do, and bring that knowledge back into the business was something that was just really invaluable to the business. Michael Smith: Did the three was the third generation business that you bought in the same building? That your grandpa's was in, or had you guys moved around a little bit. Same building even, right? Kevin Oswald: No, same exact building. Yep, same building. So it was long about, I believe 2000 I took over in 2004. 2011 is when I built the new shop and we moved from the service station just a block to the north to where our. Present shop in Idaho Falls sits. And so we got out of the service station model of it. We had some elderly people that especially some elderly ladies that came in and said, Kevin, I've never pumped my gas before and you guys are closing this service station. What do I do? And so they would come in every week to the shop. I would take them out, I would pump the gas for 'em. And of course I'd probably get a plate of cookies for the effort. And you know, it it, it, it was a good thing. It really was. So, and now we've got a son that is involved in the business. We've got a fourth generation going. I have two locations right now with a third one under construction. Michael Smith: Oh, beautiful, beautiful. That's a great story. And, and I, I am always intrigued by the story about your father saying, this can only support one family. And so with respect, it's my family. I'm gonna continue to feed and son, please go do something else. Right? And I, I love the integrity in that. I also love the. In some ways cutting you loose to the world, right? Just like you, I'm not gonna, you're not gonna be under my wing. We can't afford it, he thought, right? But also, you know, you gotta go out and make your own way, which is a beautiful catalyst to have to get up, get out, go try other things. So, Renee, I want to come to you in a second, but I want to finish an aspect of the story. Not so much where Kevin, but the independence that you worked in, you started as a technician. Right? Kevin Oswald: Yes. Michael Smith: And then were you selling at the other independents? Were you store manager somewhere along the way? How, what did you do? How far did you go before you jumped back in as the succeeding owner? For your dad's business. Okay. Kevin Oswald: So I first left and went to a a tire store and I kind of ran the alignment and brake shop at this tire store. And so, yeah, I was direct involvement with sales, with the public speaking with customers. And then once the sale was done, I'd, run over to the toolbox, put the car up in the air and take care of the work and get things taken care of. So that was about seven years at this tire shop. And, you know, the, the tire store this is where I was first introduced to a career path and I, I remember the owner of the tire shop saying, you know. If you do me a good job, I promise I will build you a store and you can manage it. So that was always the thought is I was going to climb up the ladder, I was gonna become a manager in this organization and manage a store. It came to the point where we started having kids and decided we don't wanna leave Idaho Falls. We love it here and the world is a cold, scary place, so we wanna stay here. And so I ended up leaving there and went to another independent alignment and brake shop in town and ended up managing that for seven years. Okay, so, and again, the person who owned this alignment shop also owned a

    57 min

  3. FEB 19

    193 - Ask Me Anything: Why Most Shops Aren't as Profitable as They Think

    193 - Ask Me Anything: Why Most Shops Aren't as Profitable as They Think February 18, 2026 - 00:58:05 Show Summary: If your shop shows strong net profit but your bank account feels empty this episode explains why. It defines the gap between paper profit and real cash flow and outlines debt service coverage current ratio and two turnkey rates that reveal true break even. The conversation exposes hidden profit drains such as inaccurate labor costing excess overhead unused subscriptions credit card fees insurance costs and parts leakage. It also examines marketing ROI customer acquisition cost lifetime value and technician utilization. You will leave with a clear plan to protect cash strengthen reserves and make confident financial   Host(s): Kent Bullard, COO of The Institute   Guest(s): Eric Joern, CPA, CM&AA, AAM, KAIZEN CPAs + Advisors Show Highlights: [00:02:29] – Why profit on your P and L does not mean cash in the bank [00:05:54] – How debt service coverage reveals true financial strength [00:08:26] – Current ratio and short term liabilities explained simply [00:11:00] – Sales tax mismanagement and the tax squeeze trap [00:13:45] – Inaccurate labor costing distorts gross profit [00:16:30] – The two turnkey rates every shop must calculate [00:20:10] – Marketing ROI customer acquisition cost and lifetime value [00:33:10] – Subscription creep and IT spending that drains profit [00:51:00] – Parts leakage and missed charges costing thousands [00:54:45] – Simple expense audits that uncover hidden cash   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/MfSztSEzZag   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript:   Kent Bullard: Hello everybody and welcome to today's Ask Me Anything. Uh, I'm joined with Eric Jorn from Kaizen CPA. Um, I said that right? Correct. Kaizen, Eric Joern: you, you, you guys got it down. Kent Bullard: Nailed Eric Joern: it. I appreciate that. Love it. Love it. Kent Bullard: To today, we're gonna be talking about why you're not as profitable as you, you think. It. Um, this isn't a MA so as you guys are asking questions in the comments, me and Eric are gonna be paying attention to that and making sure that we get those questions answered. Kent Bullard: Okay. Um, a few things I want to just touch base on and we'll, we'll re revisit this again, but we have a few things that we've got coming up that we're doing in partnership with Kaizen. Which is we have a financial intensive, which is gonna be going over all of your finances, getting everything set up correctly. Kent Bullard: Um, here at Institute Headquarters in April on the 23rd through the 20. Fourth, I think it's a two day. Um, you guys can find that on our website at we are the institute.com/events or upcoming events. Um, and check that out. It's gonna be fantastic. Eric, do you wanna speak a little bit to that? Eric Joern: Yeah, yeah, I'd love to. Eric Joern: We're we're excited. We have, uh, our whole entire partner group will be there. So you are getting the whole roster of heavy hitters and it, and it is gonna cover finance from A to Z meaning. How does this interpret financials? Your basic p and l and balance sheet, and what information to clean from that? Eric Joern: All the way to I've exited my business and how do I manage that new wealth that I created through the process and obviously the steps on how to get from A to Z to. That, uh, that wealth creation stage. Kent Bullard: We've had a lot of people, especially through our, our round tables and through through the institute work that have asked for, you know, something like this and we, we spent a lot of time going through all the items that need to be included in that us as well as, uh, oh, I guess I'm Cecil today. Eric Joern: Love that. Kent Bullard: But, uh, to really just define exactly what you guys need in an intensive. So if you, if you're really scrambling with your finances, this is a, this is the intensive. You should, you should attend. Um, and the last thing, and maybe I'll say that for later, let's, let's just jump into some content. Kent Bullard: Okay? So Eric, I'm gonna ask you why. In your experience with the shops that you worked with, why do you feel that they're not as profitable as they think they are? Eric Joern: Wow. Do we not only work with around 200 shops ourselves as current clients, we probably talk to another 200 shops every year that, that are not clients. Eric Joern: So when we're talk, when we're going through the financials, right, that actually one of the biggest questions we get is, I made money on paper, but I have no cash. Right, and profit can be an interesting thing to to think about, right? You can just say, Hey, this is what is on my p and l, and I'm good and happy with it. Eric Joern: All, but what we don't know is we were hyper leveraged. Meaning we, we used a bunch of loans to buy everything that we needed, or, hey, we're early, you know, we're early on year one, two, or three. We had to go out to the bank, get loans to buy all the equipment to maybe we bought the shop and now we're paying the TE service. Eric Joern: Well, that, that's not accounted for on the bottom line on your p and l No, that comes out of your profit. So that might be one of the, um, supernatural reasons why you, uh, you might not feel like, Hey, I'm as profitable as the, as the p and l my accountant gave me. Or even worse, the tax return said. Kent Bullard: I mean, there's a lot of things, there's a lot of things you can look into. Kent Bullard: You know, I, I've, uh, had a client in the past where, I mean, they were doing about 27% net profit. And so we went through the numbers. We looked at their, their gp, we looked at their parts, we looked at their labor, we looked at their expense controls and everything, and they were a 27%, uh, net operating profit. Kent Bullard: But like you just said, they were over leveraged. They took a lot of loans. They, they overextended and so their debt repayments every month was like $13,000. So it was eating all of their profits up, let alone being able to set anything aside for taxes or for, you know, being able to, uh, you know. Have, have a, have a cushion, right? Kent Bullard: I mean, how many shops out there have you worked with that don't have that? You know, three to six months of operating capital. Eric Joern: Yeah. Build a reserve, right? Pay down debt. Eradicate debt. Build a reserve. Oh, and you gotta pay taxes too, right? So maybe you hit $300,000 of profit on paper and you could be. That profitable performance wise. Eric Joern: But now we're paying a third Don, uncle Sam. The third goes to debt service and the third is sitting in our savings account. 'cause we had no emergency savings. Kent Bullard: That's right. And think about that. So if you've, if you've, if you're showing net profitability on paper and you don't have any money, what's gonna happen come tax season? Eric Joern: Yep. You're gonna, you're gonna get squeezed. I call it a, the tax squeeze. Kent Bullard: It hurts, it punches you in the face. Eric Joern: It's uh, it's something that we dealt with a lot. Uh, you know, we've worked with businesses outside of the automotive repair industry. Um, our construction contractor, contracting friends. Right. You guys see 'em in your shops, right? Eric Joern: They get new trucks pretty, pretty frequently 'cause they don't want to pay tax. Right? So they're buying trucks every year, but they buy 'em on loan and eventually we run out of deductions 'cause we're accelerating. We're super aggressive 'cause we don't wanna pay tax. And now we gotta pay loan payments. But I run out of deductions. Eric Joern: Next thing you know, I have no cash 'cause I'm using it to pay my my trucks off, but I don't have the tax deduction 'cause I used it or maybe even wasted it in prior years. Now all of a sudden, I don't know where I'm gonna get the cash to pay my taxes. And we see 'em on installment plans for taxes all the time. Kent Bullard: So, you know, we might be, there might be somebody out there right now who's like, well, I'm not profitable. Yeah. I, you know, so I'm not even showing profit on paper. How do I, uh, and in fact, I'd love to just talk to you about this, about cash flow strategies. How do I know if I'm in a healthy position or not? Eric Joern: Yeah. We, um, couple things, right? So a, we can put on our banker's lens and a banker's going to look for one and a half to two times what's called debt service coverage ratio. Meaning I'm making enough. Profit and cash flow from my operations to cover my debt. At least one and a half. My debt payments at least one and a half to two times throughout the year. Eric Joern: So meaning if say, so Kent Bullard: what's the, Eric, what, what would be the formula for that? How would I know what my ratio is and whether or not I'm, I'm one and a half to two over. Eric Joern: Yep. So what is, what

    58 min
  4. 191 - Ask Me Anything: How to Set a Labor Rate That Actually Reflects Your Value

    FEB 12

    191 - Ask Me Anything: How to Set a Labor Rate That Actually Reflects Your Value

    191 - Ask Me Anything: How to Set a Labor Rate That Actually Reflects Your Value February 11, 2026 - 01:05:37 Show Summary: This AMA explains how to price labor fairly and profitably. Lucas and Cecil break down why book time often misses real world steps and shop friction. They argue shops should charge for full value, not fear being the highest priced option. The episode covers building confident service advisors through financial literacy and clear scripting. They outline how to defend diagnostic fees by separating testing from code scanning. They warn against routine discounts and show how underpricing destroys reserves and stability. The conversation closes with practical math for labor rates, technician pay, and productivity.   Host(s): Lucas Underwood, Shop Owner of L&N Performance Auto Repair and Changing the Industry Podcast   Guest(s): Cecil Bullard, Founder of The Institute   Show Highlights: [00:01:00] – Book time versus rate changes debate [00:02:10] – Why book time ignores real work [00:04:00] – Customers pay for all inefficiencies [00:05:30] – Stop selling transparency and time talk [00:10:40] – Advisor confidence starts with numbers [00:14:15] – Sell diagnostics as cost saving testing [00:22:00] – Labor rates lag inflation and reality [00:36:55] – Discounts can bankrupt your shop fast [00:42:30] – Slow times need calls and scheduling [00:58:10] – Pay plans must reward productivity   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O0tKJR3Lxv8   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript: Lucas Underwood: Oh, we wanna thank you for being here, everybody. I hope y'all are doing fantastic. I am so excited to be here. My name is Lucas Underwood with Changing the Industry podcast, and Ellen, in performance here in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. I am joined by the one, the only Cecil Bullard, and we're gonna be talking about labor rates today. Lucas Underwood: Cecil, buddy, how you doing? Cecil Bullard: I'm doing great. Yeah, I'm doing great. Luke Lucas Underwood: Cecil, man, I'm telling you what, I'm so excited for this because this morning a question came up about exactly this. It was like to the t some of the stuff that Yeah, absolutely. Some of the stuff we've been talking about, some of the things we were saying, Hey, we need to cover this in today's webinar, a MA. Lucas Underwood: And so my buddy Dan asked a question, and Dan, for those of you who don't know him, he is probably one of the most solid shop owners you could ever meet. Absolute standup guy. And he threw out a question that stirred up a lot of emotion, right? And there's a lot of perspectives on this and Dan shared his perspective. Lucas Underwood: I don't think there's anything wrong with Dan's perspective, Cecil, but I wanna talk about it and I wanna break this down because I have a different perspective than Dan does. So is it okay if I read you this post real quick? Cecil Bullard: Oh please. Lucas Underwood: Alright, sounds good. Dan says, if we're using the manufacturer, labor guide is the baseline, but then automatically adding 20 to 25%. Lucas Underwood: To every job because the guide is wrong, aren't we? Basically saying we don't trust the system we claim to follow. If you need 25% more revenue, why not just raise your labor rate, 200 to two 50? Same money, way cleaner, way more transparent. The guide should set time. Your rate should set value. And I'm not saying every job is the same. Lucas Underwood: Older vehicle, rust belt stuff, diesel trucks, specialty work, those absolutely justify different labor rates or categories. Charge more for harder work all day long. That makes sense. But changing the rate is honest. Changing the time feels like we're gaming the book. If we all say we use a standard, then we should actually use the standard. Lucas Underwood: Otherwise, it undermines our credibility as an industry. Seems simpler. Just to price your hour correctly and leave the book time alone. Now Cecil, I wanna share my perspective first. As a shop owner, right? I've, I have worked with a number of manufacturers and folks from the manufacturers over the years, and I understand how book hour is calculated and from what I have gathered and I've not seen the process. Lucas Underwood: I'm not saying this is a hundred percent accurate, but from what I've seen of the process, they take a vehicle that is a new vehicle, they put it into a shop and they lay out the tools required for the job. They lay the part out in front of the technician and he changes that part three times. And after the third time it's changed. Lucas Underwood: They average that time out between each one. He gets a coffee break, gets to sit down for a few minutes rest, and then go back and do the job again. They average that time out. That doesn't count for pulling the car in. It doesn't count for test driving the car when you get done. It doesn't count for riding up the ticket and putting the documentation in. Lucas Underwood: And so I believe in my shop, if I'm gonna pay my guys based on some type of production based pay system, that depends on hours. It's only fair to add time for those things because the book doesn't account for that. And so that's what I shared with him. And I also personally believe that those labor rates, we should have variables based on the skill level associated with each one. Lucas Underwood: So I think he's right about that. See someone, when you hear that post, what do you think? Make Cecil Bullard: a couple of things. First of all, when Labor, eight times the way that you described it were decided and how they're decided even today, they don't account for all the things that the technician does. I call those things brown bananas. Cecil Bullard: Okay. I tell the banana story, people have heard it, but my grocery store's gonna buy 5,000 bananas today. Yeah. And this week. And they're gonna sell, they're not gonna sell 5,000. Some of those bananas are gonna get eaten. If you wa, if you've ever been through your grocery store and you see a banana peel up in the milk section in the back, somebody ate a banana as they were walking around. Cecil Bullard: And they basically ripped the grocery store off for a banana. And then some of the bananas are gonna go, they're gonna get brown. And people don't like brown bananas, so they don't buy 'em, and they end up getting thrown away or used in banana nut bread or whatever. But you have to pay for the brown bananas. Cecil Bullard: And it's something I don't think we understand in this industry is that it doesn't matter the inefficiencies in my business, the customer has to pay for all inefficiencies, all brown bananas, everything. So number one. It, the book was done a very specific way. And by the way, the manufacturers have always multiplied the book time by 1.5 to two. Cecil Bullard: Yeah. And we're now getting to about three, right? 1.3. And is that honest or dishonest? Let me cover that. Number one, I'm gonna do what it takes. That's legal, moral, and ethical to put 20% net in the bottom of my business. All right? And some of the things I'm gonna do, I'm not gonna be transparent. Cecil Bullard: This whole idea of transparency, are you gotta be shitting me, right? I'm sorry, I just said a word. I probably shouldn't, but, okay. Lucas Underwood: Sorry, Ken's not watching. It'll be fine. Cecil Bullard: Do you wanna be, do you want to go into a restaurant that has transparency? No, I've worked Lucas Underwood: on the other side of that. Cecil Bullard: Okay. And so let's just stop talking about transparency. Like we have to tell the customer everything and be just upfront about everything, number one, I don't want to I don't know. I think I'm a very moral, very I have a real good sense of morality and all of that. Even my company has like a three and a half page statement about all that, just to be clear that we don't make mistakes in that area. Cecil Bullard: But I'm sorry, I'm not gonna be completely a hundred percent transparent with you. Lucas, I'm sorry. I can't do that, right? Yeah, because I don't iage Lucas Underwood: want you to there know there's how many sausage is Cecil Bullard: made that occasionally there's rats in the back or cockroaches or, that I trimmed the green parts of the meat off and only kept the good parts of the meat so that you could have it right. Cecil Bullard: Whatever. I don't want you to know that. Okay. And number two, why would I ever talk to a client about the time on a job? Lucas Underwood: Yeah. I, Cecil Bullard: other than I'm gonna need the car for two, two days. Lucas Underwood: Yeah. Lucas Underwood: Now are there some states that mandate it or are there some states that require Cecil Bullard: it? No, not that I know of at this point. Cecil Bullard: It doesn't matter. In California and certainly Utah I believe New York Washington State, these are not Utah, but the others are ve

    1h 6m

  5. FEB 10

    192 - Standing at the Crossroads featuring Brian Bates, EAS Tire and Auto

    192 - Standing at the Crossroads featuring Brian Bates, EAS Tire and Auto February 9, 2025 - 01:42:25   Show Summary: Service, leadership, and purpose sit at the center of Brian Bates’ journey. A military veteran and president of EAS Tire and Auto in Denver, Brian shares how his path from technician to multi-location owner was shaped by mentorship, values-based leadership, and a deep belief that business exists to serve people first. This episode of Leading Edge: Standing at the Crossroads explores what it takes to scale without losing your soul. Brian reflects on building culture before growth, hiring for character, creating opportunity for others, and why fixing cars was never the end goal, only the entry point. From nearly running out of cash to leading a rapidly growing organization, he breaks down the leadership shifts required to move from survival, to success, to significance. At its core, this conversation is about legacy. Not store count, revenue, or titles, but the lasting impact a leader leaves on people, families, teams, and communities through principled decisions and servant leadership. Thinking about the legacy you are building as a shop owner or leader? Meet with Michael Smith to start a leadership and legacy strategy conversation: https://theinstitute.zohobookings.com/#/Executive-Owner-Strategy-Session   Host(s): Kent Bullard, COO of The Institute Michael Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at The Institute   Guest(s): Brian Bates, owenr of EAS Tire and Auto   Show Highlights: [00:02:54] - Brian Bates shares how the auto industry started as a practical move to provide for his family, then became something bigger. [00:05:38] - A strong mentor helped turn leadership theory into real-world skill through daily application. [00:11:34] - Brian Bates says fixing cars was “a ticket to the dance,” but the real work is serving people. [00:12:21] - The shift from “building my lifestyle” to “removing obstacles for others” became Brian Bates’ definition of leadership. [00:16:10] - The turning point came when the question changed from “how much more can I take?” to “how far can I take this?” [00:23:00] - Culture stopped being chaos once purpose and values were defined clearly enough to attract the right people. [00:29:18] - Big growth goals felt outrageous at first, then got outpaced by momentum and opportunity. [00:49:15] - Values-based accountability replaces rules with ownership, and misfits often choose to exit on their own. [01:23:37] - Brian Bates breaks down success as survival, success, and significance, then explains what it looks like to leave without the business collapsing.   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_n_jyKDI-Rc   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript: Kent Bullard: Hello everybody and welcome to the Institute's Leading Edge Crossroads podcast where we examine the decisions that professionals make that define careers that shape industries that inspire thought leadership and ultimately build lasting legacies. I'm Kent Bullard and I'm joined here with my esteemed colleague, Michael Hertzberg Smith. Kent Bullard: And today we're privileged to be speaking with Brian Bates of EAS Tire and Auto. You're the president there out of Denver. Today's guest, Brian Bates is a proud fourth generation Colorado native and an accomplished entrepreneur with a rich history of service and dedication. After graduating from Golden High School in 1991, Brian followed his family's tradition of military service joining the army and serving honorably until 1996. Kent Bullard: During this time in Germany, he and his wife Rondi welcome their son, the first of two children who would become your greatest pride. Right. Right. Brian transitioned into the automotive industry balancing work as a technician at Planet Honda and earning a degree in business management from Metro State University of Denver in 2000. Kent Bullard: With an A SCL one Master Technician Certification and an a M designation, he quickly rose to prominence in the field. In 2004, he took the leap to entrepreneurship opening his first shop in Columbine Hills. Today he is the owner of 12 Thriving Shops and a founding partner of Straightaway Tire and Auto. Kent Bullard: Formed in 2023 with Michael Smith's help, and alongside four of your closest friends. Recognize for your excellence. Brian's shops were awarded the number one Napa auto Care Center in the nation in 2018. Beyond his professional success, he treasures his roles as a family man recently celebrating the birth of his first grandchild, Tatum Duke, in October, 2024. Kent Bullard: When not working, Brian enjoys snow skiing, boating, wake boarding, and four-wheeling, inviting the adventurous spirit of his Colorado roots. We're thrilled to have Brian Bates share his remarkable journey and insights with us today on the Institute's leading Edge Crossroads podcast. Welcome, Brian. Brian Bates: All right. Brian Bates: Thank you. Thanks for having me on, Ken. Good seeing you again, Michael. You too, my friend. Kent Bullard: I love it. Listeners as we go through the topics today, the shared experience from Brian, if you have any questions or comments about this content, please go down in the comments and ask your questions. That's the whole point of this podcast. Kent Bullard: We also ask if you do enjoy what you hear, please like and share so that others can benefit from this conversation as well. And of course, you can find more information about the institute at We are the institute.com. So Brian, I wanna start off, you know, what originally drew you into the industry and what inspired you to commit to it? Brian Bates: Well, you know, the first thing that drew me to the industry was the ability, the opportunity to provide for my family after getting outta the military and while I was going to pursue my degree at Metro State. The, the idea that I could make decent money and work during the day was very inviting at the time. Brian Bates: I, you know, most of my options were in the restaurant industry or some, you know, retail industry that, you know, would be odd hours, odd days, that sort of thing. So that was the original draw. And then after being in it for a few years, I was just really drawn by the people, you know, the customers the ownership of the dealership, the store manager, my colleagues that I was working with on a day-to-day basis. Brian Bates: And just really had a good time working and in the trenches and just doing all the rolling up the sleeves, getting dirty and filling. At the end of the day, like I'd really accomplished something and watching my pay increase as my knowledge increased, being able to invest in myself with technical expertise, with experience, the challenge of. Brian Bates: Figuring out what's going on with a car or beating flat rate time and making, you know, more money as a result. So, and again, working with other people and as I grew in the dealership, I became a mentor and had several apprentices working for me throughout the years. And that was also rewarding and exciting to see them grow and to be able to share my knowledge with them and help them experience the same sort of success that I was able to, and the same opportunities that I was able to, I got into the industry. Brian Bates: So that, that was my initial draw to the industry and then it just kind of took off from there. Michael Smith: Well, you had a positive mentor relationship at the dealership, if I remember the original stories. Could you tell us a little bit about that positive mentor in your life and how it kind of got you started and kind of a thought process about how to be in this industry? Brian Bates: Yeah. So it, it really was an unintentional situation, but I just can't think of a better luck of the draw or a better situation just by, you know, happenstance for me or anybody in any industry really. I I was going to, to school, getting my degree going to night school mostly. I had some day classes, but most of them were night. Brian Bates: And so as I moved up in the ranks, I was able to really utilize a lot of that knowledge that I was learning at the dealer or at school. At the dealership as I was working on it, especially since I was getting a degree in management, which is mainly people once I realized that my a degree in management wasn't all about accounting and spreadsheets and you know, crunching numbers and whatnot and I realized that it was all about leadership and organizational behavior, you know, motivating people and all those fun things that we kinda talk about on a daily basis. Brian Bates: That's what really. Gave me a passion for getting a degree in management. And so I was fortunate to have the dealership, the service manager at the dealership who ended up being the fixed operation manager, as the dealership grew. He was very passionate about leadership and just about the ind

    1h 42m

  6. FEB 4

    190 - Ask Me Anything: What Your P&L Is Really Telling You: Reading Your P&L Without the BS

    190 -Ask Me Anything: What Your P&L Is Really Telling You: Reading Your P&L Without the BS February 04, 2026 - 01:02:24   Show Summary: Cecil Bullard and Eric Joern break down why most shop P&Ls are confusing unreliable and overloaded with noise. They explain how inconsistent accounting practices distort margins and decision making, and why clean consistent structure matters more than perfect numbers. The discussion covers matching income to costs using accrual principles reducing unnecessary detail and using trends to spot real problems. This episode gives shop owners a clearer way to read their financials with confidence and control.   Host(s): Cecil Bullard, Founder of The Institute   Guest: Eric Joern, CPA, CM&AA, AAM, KAIZEN CPAs + Advisors Show Highlights: [00:00:02] – Why profit and loss statements matter for shop owners [00:01:02] – Accurate P&Ls are rare and usually misunderstood [00:02:22] – Accounting opinions create confusion and inconsistent reporting [00:05:33] – Frankenstein P&Ls make performance comparisons impossible [00:06:49] – Structure income and costs to clearly see gross profit [00:10:33] – Long P&Ls cause decision fatigue and hide key issues [00:14:15] – Misclassified wages distort margins and financial reality [00:19:30] – Inventory purchases should not destroy monthly profitability [00:26:19] – Every part and car needs accountability to prevent losses [00:45:54] – Clean current financials matter more than fixing the past   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/J-qbi8HoMLE Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript:   00:00:02:02 - 00:00:13:11 Cecil Bullard Welcome to ask Me Anything. Today I have, with me, Eric Joern. If I, if I mispronounced it. Eric, just correct me. 00:00:13:14 - 00:00:14:12 Eric Joern You got it. 00:00:14:14 - 00:00:42:25 Cecil Bullard From Kaizen, CPA. They do. Accounting. And, you have an awful lot of our clients. Yep. Which many of those we have recommended because accounting is so bad out there. So. So you guys do a good job. Yeah. So today we're going to we're going to start out kind of by talking about profit loss, profit loss statements and why they might be important. 00:00:42:25 - 00:01:02:05 Cecil Bullard And, of course, if you're out there, and you would like to ask a question or if you have any kind of a question at all, you want to do that, please put it in the comments. Rawley will be taking care of that for us. And, making sure we get those questions so we can get him answer. 00:01:02:07 - 00:01:26:20 Cecil Bullard Let me let me start out here, Eric. I always make this kind of comment I have seen, I don't know, 10,000 pals in my life. And, and, I can count on one hand the number of pals that I've seen that are actually accurate. Well done. And give us the information we need, at least in the beginning. 00:01:26:22 - 00:01:39:26 Cecil Bullard Yeah. What? Why? Why is it so? I don't know, why is it so bad out there where there's so much inaccuracy and so much confusion around the profit and loss statement? 00:01:39:28 - 00:02:01:10 Eric Joern Yeah. You know, sometimes sometimes we have that we have that same question. But when we think about it right, there's a lot of moving pieces to generate a good financial statement. So first you have to have the right systems and processes set up. Then you have to have a you have the owner side or whoever's getting the data, collecting the data, doing the things right. 00:02:01:10 - 00:02:21:29 Eric Joern So is my shop management system accurate? How am I paying my bills? How am I running payroll? Am I using the right payroll software? Are those things happening correctly? When I'm collecting things right, do I or how often do I go to the bank and deposit cash and checks and do things like that? There's all these input factors that go into an accounting hub. 00:02:22:01 - 00:02:48:18 Eric Joern And then across that there are all sorts of different theories on accounting, right. Accounting really isn't black and white, right. Our job is to show economic reality for that business. So we need to show what actually is happening. Well that's opinionated right. And that's why, you know, the institute has a specific way that they like to look at a PNL versus maybe, you know, Joe Schmo, CPA on the street. 00:02:48:19 - 00:02:55:08 Eric Joern Right. And and probably their goal is what's the easiest way for me to file tax return? And, you know. 00:02:55:08 - 00:03:19:01 Cecil Bullard You know that. Oh go ahead. I think that that. So first of all, you're making it seem like it's very complicated, very hard. I don't I don't see it that way myself. So that that might be somewhere where I disagree with you. My my accountant. You know, we have a CFO in the company. And, you know, if we had an outside of B, you guys. 00:03:19:03 - 00:03:55:26 Cecil Bullard But, they are tied into our bank accounts. So they see payments coming and going. They're tied into our credit cards, so they see payments coming and going. So all deposits are kind of recorded through the bank account. All, all outgoing moneys go through one account or another. And as well as credit. And then once we, once we determine what the PNL needs to be set up like, and we create, what we chart of accounts for that. 00:03:55:28 - 00:04:17:08 Cecil Bullard Exactly. Then it it seems to be like it's not overly complicated at that point. Right? And I would agree with you that I don't think I would disagree in the, in the fact that the numbers are going to say what the numbers say. I don't I don't think that we can like say, okay, well, that that number is not what I want. 00:04:17:08 - 00:04:46:12 Cecil Bullard So I'm going to go see if I can find another number. But, but certainly the institute likes to look at the finances differently than maybe, some of it's running, I don't know, a shoe store would look at their finances. And so that is probably challenging for you guys in the fact that you have, you know, different types of companies you work with that, you know, might look a little different than they might be for automotive. 00:04:46:15 - 00:05:05:29 Eric Joern Yeah. And there's a lot of noise, right? So, so if you go out, you know, you go out into the Facebook groups and say, how should I have my pal there going to somebody's going to give them one direction and then they're going to go to their accountant, they're going to get a different direction, and then they're going to go to the institute or their coaching company, and they're going to get a different direction. 00:05:06:01 - 00:05:16:26 Eric Joern And all that noise makes it really hard for them to, you know, what do I exactly do? Right. I, I need services or cost of goods. 00:05:16:28 - 00:05:18:00 Cecil Bullard At the. 00:05:18:02 - 00:05:19:19 Eric Joern Road. My wage. 00:05:19:21 - 00:05:20:22 Cecil Bullard Is. 00:05:20:24 - 00:05:26:20 Eric Joern Right. So I need to set up like this or that. We see. 00:05:26:20 - 00:05:33:00 Cecil Bullard A lot of that noise that is causing issues. And so we actually see sometimes, when their financial statements. 00:05:33:04 - 00:05:56:01 Eric Joern Almost Frankenstein, I'd say, meaning they brought in areas from different, different avenues and they put it all together. They said, oh, I like this idea. I'm going to implement this. I like this idea. I'm going to implement it this way. And then half of it's right here and half of it's here. And one of the things that we always say is, I'd rather have a financial statement that's consistently wrong than sometimes right. 00:05:56:03 - 00:06:14:16 Eric Joern And I know that's a weird comment to make, but think about it. We're always measuring performance based on relativity, right? Did I improve from this from this prior measurement point? Well, if I'm constantly changing how I measure, I'm never going to have a relative measurement. 00:06:14:19 - 00:06:49:04 Cecil Bullard But that's also probably one of the more difficult things for you guys is that, you know, whenever we we've changed accounting a couple of times in our business, you know, in the unknown, 15 years or so we've been in business, we've gone through, I think we're on our third different accounting. And every time it's like, well, we want to use QuickBooks and I want to use sage, and, and so we, we want to reset up and, and so if I'm not set up correctly in the first place, then I come in and I go, okay, I want to get set up this way. 00:06:49:06 - 00:07:23:29 Cecil Bullard I might be getting different numbers are looking at different numbers than I had previously. Which got a good challenge, right? Absolutely. At the Institute for automotive, the way that I learned it was I want to have, as my income, any income source that I have that's over, say, 2% of what I do in business. So if I'm if I'm selling, if 10% of my business is tires, I want to have a tire income separa

    1h 2m

  7. JAN 27

    189 - Standing at the Crossroads featuring Jason Brennan, Fine Tune Auto

    189 - Standing at the Crossroads featuring Jason Brennan, Fine Tune Auto January 27, 2025 - 01:19:04   Show Summary: Curiosity turned into craftsmanship, and craftsmanship turned into leadership. Jason Brennan, owner of Fine Tune Automotive with three locations across Illinois and Northwest Indiana, shares how a lifelong habit of taking things apart evolved into building a scalable, people-centered auto repair business. This episode of Leading Edge: Standing at the Crossroads dives into the realities of growing from one shop to multiple locations, including the financial discipline, people challenges, leadership mistakes, and mindset shifts required to scale without losing trust or culture. Jason opens up about learning business management the hard way, letting go of day-to-day control, and making pivotal leadership decisions that reshaped his team and company. From earning trust with technicians, navigating acquisitions, and redefining success beyond store count, this conversation offers honest insight into what it takes to build a business that develops people and leaves a lasting legacy in the automotive repair industry. Thinking about growth, leadership, or the legacy you are building as a shop owner? Meet with Michael Smith for a leadership and legacy strategy conversation: https://theinstitute.zohobookings.com/#/Executive-Owner-Strategy-Session   Host(s): Kent Bullard, COO of The Institute Michael Smith, Chief Strategy Officer at The Institute   Guest(s): Jason Brennan, owner of Fine Tune Auto   Show Highlights: [00:01:49] - Jason Brennan says his lifelong habit of taking things apart shaped everything that followed. [00:03:37] - Jason realized the real reward wasn’t fixing cars, but watching his employees succeed. [00:05:30] - Jason admits his biggest mistake was assuming technical skill meant business readiness. [00:06:07] - Jason explains the non-technical skills that changed the trajectory of his company. [00:08:18] - After 18 years in one shop, Jason shares what finally made expansion feel possible. [00:13:54] - Jason planned for worst-case scenarios before opening the second location. [00:19:28] - Jason recounts the day a key manager never showed up, forcing him to step in. [00:25:46] - A tense shop meeting became the turning point that rebuilt trust and culture. [00:39:10] - Jason compares acquiring a running shop to changing an airplane engine mid-flight. [01:15:21] - Jason defines success by the people who grow alongside him.   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xJ4MYecafck   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript: Kent Bullard: Welcome to the Institute's Leading Edge Crossroads podcast, where we examine the decisions, the crucial decisions that professionals make as they shape industries, drive careers, inspire thought leadership, and ultimately build lasting legacies. I'm Kent Bullard and I'm joined with my esteemed colleague Michael Smith. Kent Bullard: And today we have a wonderful guest, Jason Brennan. Michael Smith: Hi Jason. Jason Brennan: Good morning. Kent Bullard: Jason, would you please introduce yourself? Jason Brennan: I'm Jason Brennan, owner of Fine Tune Auto. We've got three locations in Northwest Indiana, in Chicago, and I'm happy to be here with you guys. Kent Bullard: We're very happy to have you. We've got an, I know, a phenomenal discussion ahead of us. Kent Bullard: Those of you who are listening to this, either on the podcast or if you're looking at our website, if you have questions, I mean, it's very important to us that this is an open dialogue, that we're able to communicate what we talk about in this podcast with a greater audience. So if you have questions, if you have comments, we'd love to see those in the comment section down below. Kent Bullard: If you do enjoy the content that we cover today, please like and share. 'cause it helps the algorithm and it also helps spread these valuable lessons to a greater audience. Again, we're all about helping the industry and raising the bar for everyone and we thank you for doing that. So let's jump right into the questions then. Kent Bullard: Let's start with number one. What originally brought you to this industry and what inspired you to commit to this industry? Jason Brennan: That's a really good question. The things that brought me to the industry were, you know, I came from a background a technician background, and I cannot. Right. I thought about this on the way in this morning because I knew you were gonna ask me a question like that. Jason Brennan: So I thought, okay what really? Why did I do this? And Michael Smith: what the heck was I thinking? Right? Jason Brennan: I cannot remember a time when I wasn't taking something apart, repairing it, or trying to figure out how it worked in my whole entire life. So from a technical perspective or, you know, from a technical background, I think that's where it came from. Jason Brennan: Just the curiosity about how things worked. I had to know how they worked. I took my toys apart when I was a kid. I think that's a similar story. You probably hear from a lot of a lot of people who started in the industry as technicians. So that was fun to me. It was more fun to take things apart and figure out how they worked than it was to play with them to me. Jason Brennan: So, so, so that led to. Led me into a career where I could get paid to do that. Only I had to. I was responsible for making sure they worked when I was done at that point. So, you know, and so that's what inspired me to get into the industry was just I wanted a good career and doing something I loved and I knew that I could do that. Jason Brennan: Fixing cars. And the other part of your question, I think was what caused me to want to stay. What's causing me to stay committed? Why am I committed? You know? I just ended up really loving it. You know, I ended up becoming a shop owner. I ended up starting to shop and you know, it, it, at first it was technical stuff, you know, I was really interested in the cars, doing a lot of diagnostics, building transmissions, whatever, you know, all the technical stuff. Jason Brennan: And then I evolved into a, I. Into a service advisor and learned how to, you know, learn sales and learn how to communicate well with customers. And I'm still learning how to communicate with people the best that I can. 'Cause that's a, that's almost an art form, I think. But and then I became an owner and I and that's when I really, when one of my commitment really locked in, at first I was just like, man, what did I get myself into here? Jason Brennan: But then the more I learned, the more I liked it. And what keeps me committed is is being able to be part of and facilitating the success of my employees. That's really the, it's the thing I like the most about it. There's other things that keep me committed, like the, you know, good service we provide to customers. Jason Brennan: And the fact that I enjoy the actual the. What am I trying to say? The business that we're in I like all the, I like all the aspects of it, you know, the technical aspect and the customer service aspect. It's all fun to me. But the biggest thing is, the biggest thing that keeps me committed is that I can go to work and witness employees succeeding and becoming their best, the best they can be. Kent Bullard: I, I'm curious 'cause I want to dive a little deeper, you know, to this I took things apart to see how they worked and I had to put 'em back together. You took that approach with toys and then vehicles. Did you bring that same mentality when it came to your business? Jason Brennan: Oh, that's a real good question. Not at first because I didn't realize I needed to, and that was part of the reason why I struggled for years. Jason Brennan: I didn't realize I underestimated the maybe even dismissed the, the fact that I needed to have business management knowledge in order successfully run an auto repair shop. I thought I had already learned enough as a technician that I could, well, I could fix cars so I can, I could just run a business automatically. Jason Brennan: And that wasn't true. So Michael Smith: what Jason Brennan: were your, Michael Smith: what were your biggest surprises? What were your biggest discoveries? Ooh, I don't know enough about that. What were the, what were a handful of topics you discovered? Jason Brennan: The biggest one I'm still learning the most about, I think is what makes people tick. What do they want and how can I give it to 'em? Jason Brennan: And how can we communicate that to each other so that we can make that happen? And that, that's something that, that I'm always working. I don't think I'll ever be done working on that, but you know, financial management. Forecasting, budgeting, how to read a p and l and a balance sheet. How to set key performance indicators and monitor them how to and how to affect th

    1h 19m
  8. 188 - How Your Auto Repair Shop Can Use AI to Turbo Charge Your Business

    JAN 22

    188 - How Your Auto Repair Shop Can Use AI to Turbo Charge Your Business

    188 - How Your Auto Repair Shop Can Use AI to Turbo Charge Your Business January 21, 2026 - 00:59:31 Show Summary: Brand strategist Ernie Harker shows auto repair shop owners how AI can quickly produce professional marketing content without expensive designers or long turnaround times. He explains how large language models and image generation work, then demonstrates building a custom GPT trained to match a shop’s brand voice and customer tone. The session also covers AI video avatars that turn photos or short recordings into usable on camera style videos for social posts, FAQs, and internal updates. He stresses responsible use with human review, transparency, and avoiding fabricated testimonials. The main message is that consistent content creation is now faster and easier, giving early adopters a competitive edge.   Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development   Guest(s): Ernie Harker, Branding & Keynote Speaker Show Highlights: [00:02:00] – Audience self rates AI experience from beginner to advanced [00:03:00] – AI speeds up marketing collateral without relying on designers [00:05:00] – Creative professionals feel threatened but shops can benefit immediately [00:08:00] – AI makes high quality visuals possible without creative skill [00:10:00] – Clear explanation of how GPT uses context and probability to write [00:12:00] – Quick demo turning a sketch into a usable logo concept [00:14:00] – Photo to video avatars create spokesperson content in minutes [00:18:00] – The hamburger method prompt AI then review and polish [00:24:00] – Live walkthrough building a custom GPT for a shop brand voice [00:40:00] – Avatar workflow in HeyGen upload photo choose voice paste script generate video In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at info@wearetheinstitute.com, and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   👉 Unlock the full experience - watch the full webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-9vqJmoF7lU Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at marketing@wearetheinstitute.com.   Episode Transcript: Jimmy Lea: Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, or goodnight depending on when and where you are joining us from today. It is a gorgeous day. Thank you for being here, my friend. I am so excited for this conversation that we are gonna have. My guest today is Ernie Harker. Ernie is er Burn. He is the voice and the power behind the brands that you know and love the brand that we know and love as Maverick. Jimmy Lea: Maverick is my favorite convenience store. Ernie, thank you for all you've done to make the adventure starts here. Ernie is also a member of the north not the Northwest NSA National Speakers Association. We are members together in the Utah chapter called the Mountain West Chapter. And from the first day of meeting Ernie, man, we've been tight, good friends. Jimmy Lea: So excited to have you here with us, Ernie, as we're talking about artificial intelligence, and not only artificial intelligence, but what can a shop owner do in their shop that utilizes artificial intelligence? We're gonna talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jimmy Lea: This is, these are things that you can do. Jimmy Lea: These are things that you should do, and this is probably something you might wanna hire somebody to help you to do. Jimmy Lea: And so with that also, those of you who are listening, Ernie has written a book. The book is. Your brand sucks straight and to the point. Ernie, thank you for doing Ernie Harker: this. It's not accusation, it's a probability. Jimmy Lea: Chances are your brand sucks. The beauty of this book is it goes into all the things that you can do to change your brand so that your brand becomes that recognizable source of truth that everybody wants to participate with. Oh. One more shout out right before we get started. My good friend, my good brother, my good friend Sean Tipton, St. Jimmy Lea: Augustine, Florida. Sean, it is good to see you, brother. I'm gonna call you when the webinar's done. It's been a long time. We need to talk. All right. With that, Ernie, I'm gonna turn it over to you. Let's talk about those things that shop owners can use Jimmy Lea: AI in their business. What can we do? Ernie Harker: Absolutely. Let me first start, I wanna get a sense of like, how many of you have some experience with AI chat, GBT, grok, whatever it is. So in the chat, I want you to rate your current familiarity, how you'd rate yourself in in AI kind of savvy. Zero is, I totally suck. 10 is I totally rock. Ernie Harker: Don't even know why I'm listening to this guy. And five, as I've used it, gimme like a range from zero to 10. I just wanna get a sense from like where you are. Let's see. Jimmy Lea: Jimmy's at a seven. Tyler's a 7.5. Evan is at a five. Heather's a five. Mike is a zero curb is a six, a five, a 7.5. Sean thinks he's better than me. Ernie Harker: We've got some familiarity and we've got a handful of people who are like, gosh, you know what, I'm starting from scratch. Let me kinda show you some real quick things that I think are pretty interesting. So last time I'm going, okay, how quickly can I create some marketing materials for the industry that, that look pretty professional? Ernie Harker: 'cause one of the challenges we face as small business owners is. We depend on creative people. I'm gonna say creative people, marketing people to produce the marketing content that we need. Oftentimes that is either expensive or it's time consuming or it's frustrating. I've dealt with creative people my whole life and I know that creative people can tend to be a little bit fickle. Ernie Harker: They want to be, they wanna do things that are cute and pretty and not necessarily driving the bottom line. So what I wanna do is show you I wanna explain to you first, y you can actually create agents level, industry leading marketing collateral just in a flash with ai. And here's some things one of the things I did real quickly is I created like for a Valentine's Day thing, some of us love our cars. Let's talk about like how much we love our cars. Let's give our cars a gift for Valentine's Day. So I quickly created this item. I wanted to convert that to a Instagram post. I wanted to create a billboard. Look at that, skip the flowers, skip the chocolates, give me something that lasts and I created my own company. Ernie Harker: Earnings Automotive. I also wanna could I create a TD commercial? Let's see if I can take, create a TD commercial. Here's the image I created. And I actually made it come alive, Jimmy Lea: Ernie. That is an amazing commercial where we can see her mouth moving. We don't hear anything coming through at the moment. Ernie Harker: Oh, man, it's too bad because man, she's toxin such a sultry voice. I want to buy her shocks that I know that's what she needs and wants Jimmy Lea: right. Ernie Harker: Let's see if I can, I wanna make sure I can like my audio. Ernie Harker: Can you guys hear my audio okay? My Jimmy Lea: voice right? Yeah. Yeah. Your audio's coming through nine by nine. Okay. I think it's just this video. You might need to optimize it for the video setting or something like that. Ernie Harker: Okay. Okay. Lemme give you a little bit of background. Why would you even listen to me? Ernie Harker: When I was 11 years old, my parents got rid of the tv. They carried out their threat. We're gonna get rid of that stupid idiot box my mom called it. So I spent my free time drawing. I got. Pretty good. Now. I still suck when I was a teenager, that Sweet Dragon and Ninja, but I got better and better. Ernie Harker: This was a painting I did for a wedding gift that is not hanging anywhere. It's atrocious. Just to show you, I did suck bad, but my teachers told me to focus on drawing heads and hands and bodies because if I could draw those really well, then I could pretty much draw anything. So I spent a tremendous amount of time instead of watching tv. Ernie Harker: Drawing faces and hands and heads from magazines. My first job out of college was working for an ad agency where I was doing storyboards like this. I would do hundreds of these frames outta my head to represent a scenario in a TV commercial or doing mockups like this that would represent a photograph that the photographer would then use as a reference to make a real photo. Ernie Harker: So this is the kind of stuff I did, and this is for fun. I'm like, I'm gonna do pinups. This is using Adobe Illustrator. I learned how to use Photoshop, Conti, cran watercolors, acrylic paints. Gosh, every freaking medium. I had to learn anatomy. I had to learn composition and textures and all the vocabulary that comes with art. Ernie Harker: So I spent a tremendous amount of time getting really good. These are three of I did portraits of my daughters when they were younger and what's really sad is I spent 30 years drawing and learning to draw and getting really good at drawing. These were some of the I was in, I was at a podcast one time and the host asked me, like my background. Ernie Harker: I told him I was an illustrator. Then he asked if I was any good, so I sketched a picture of him aft

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About

The Institute’s Leading Edge Podcast is where forward-thinking Automotive Service and Repair Shop Owners come to sharpen their skills, expand their knowledge, and gain an edge in today’s competitive market. Hosted by The Institute’s team of seasoned consultants and leaders with decades of real-world experience, you’ll get direct, actionable advice tailored to the unique challenges of running and growing an auto repair business. Each episode feels like a one-on-one coaching session. Whether it’s improving profitability, building stronger leadership skills, mastering marketing, developing your team, or planning for long-term success, you’ll find strategies you can implement right away. Have a question about your shop? Send it in, and we’ll answer it on the show.

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