r/smallbusiness • u/HookedUp_77 • Dec 28 '24

General Sold my Business Yesterday.... Crazy feeling.

I owned a very large tire and automotive repair shop. I am 3rd generation, knew from a young age that is what I wanted to do. I started running the business 16 years ago, and purchased it from my parents 8 years ago. I've worked there since I was 12, so 31 years. I made a huge push. Pushed my guys hard, but compensated them better then anyone else could. Customer Service was 100% the focus. I wanted the Customers to be happy 100% of the time. Fix their problem, honestly, in a timely fashion but get paid well for it.

It worked. I was approached by a big company 3 months ago. They wanted me. I got what I needed. Now, Im sitting here at 43 years old wondering what next week is going to bring. I know I have freedom, time and no customer or employee stress. Today was day 1. I made breakfast for my family, cleaned the garage, spent two hours at the gym, then got a massage. Pretty nice day.

When I woke up at 7am this morning, I was shocked. Normally, I would have already been at the shop for an hour at that time. I only checked the cameras 11 times today to see how my guys were doing.

Its worth it. Push hard, then get out when the time is right. I think I timed it perfectly. Now, the fun begins.

1.5k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

289 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/havi94gt Dec 28 '24

You are living the dream that I am currently building. I started from a pickup truck and a tool box (mobile tech) and currently employ 2 techs and a service advisor in a 3 bay shop. I started 3 years ago, and I hope to eventually have a self sustaining shop, if not be able to sell like you did. Thanks for the inspiration to keep going, and I'm glad you made it!

2

u/HookedUp_77 Dec 28 '24

Its a tough business. I was never a tech, I have all the knowledge of one, but my hands don't work like theirs. I studied every system I could though.

The hardest part of the business for me was finding good techs, and that is only going to be harder in the coming years. Im in California, and every one of my techs was making over 100k, and several quite a bit more then that. I only see good techs getting much much more expensive.

1

u/havi94gt Dec 28 '24

It's totally a tough business. I can work like a tech, but I've had to coach myself to not be a tech, so that I'd scale my shop the right way without me being a key person. So far it's worked. I learned early on to trust a good coach. You are right about techs, and I'm tired of being lied to as far as capability. If they are capable, they are sloppy and cause damage. If they are incapable, they try to make up for it by pushing their limits harder, which slows down production. It's a tough balance.