April 2019

S o it is April and the new tax year is upon us, which is fantastic. Back in January there I was, thinking about the progress of time, and days gone by. Now, just four months later, here I am again doing the same thing. The only difference is I am thinking about all the money that has passed through here since last Easter or thereabouts. If you look at it all written down, the sheer volume of money that goes through the business during the year is quite mind-blowing, and we are only a friendly neighbourhood garage. That said, all those MOT, services, repairs and diagnostics investigations really start to add up. Of course, along with the income come the expenses. The outgoings on a business like this can be surprisingly high. Then again, I know you’re not surprised. Think about it though. Heat, light, equipment, business rates, staff salaries for my team, and tea, coffee and biscuits. That is before we even open and start getting through parts, consumables and the need to occasionally buy-in data. Mrs P has always been very hot about the old in-and-out economic side of the business, or as she says – “that IS the business; the rest is just what you do to feed it!” It’s funny how Mrs P personifies the business as a ravenous beast that always needs to be fed money, but I am digressing like I often do. Anyway, on this basis, I am often thinking about adding to the plus pot, so the minus pot does not drop so low. I had a few ideas. For one, I asked the staff how they felt about working for free, but luckily it was at our company summer barbecue (ANOTHER COST) and as I had imbibed a jar or two (seven apparently, Mrs P keeps a very close eye on that sort of thing too), they all thought I was kidding. So that did not work. Another option, one with legs, or in our case, wheels, would be to try and drum up more work. There are a number of ways to approach this conundrum. Apart from actively marketing how amazing we are in the local area, and by that I don’t mean just talking louder than usual, I have always been very keen on adding additional services. Seasonal checks are a favourite of mine. We do quite well out of that. Not directly but it reminds people we are here to help, and if there are shortcomings or issues we catch them early. It helps keep the rapport with our existing customers, and does bring in some new ones too. We email and leaflet and Facebook and Tweet. Well I don’t, I’m too busy strategising, but I make sure somebody does it. The spinning sign helps too, although as we do have a degree of passing trade that kind of things is going to work for us. All in all it helps bring the incoming and outgoings a bit closer to being in some sort of balance. In the end, it is all about balance. Gosh I sound like a Kung Fu Master. The balance sheet is what I mean. TAXING THE BRAIN FOR NEW IDEAS 66 AFTERMARKET APRIL 2019 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net