Working Smarter: Takes Hard Work to Achieve
Just like professional anglers, auto shop owners believe in the value of hard work. A professional angler doesn’t just cast their line randomly; they work with knowledge, skill, and strategy to catch the best fish. Developing new skills and empowering your team is like preparing for a successful fishing trip – it requires patience, dedication, and consistent effort. Leadership is the hard work that turns your business into a successful catch.
The Professional
Imagine your business as a fishing expedition. As the angler, you know that simply casting your line into the water isn’t enough to guarantee a great catch. It takes knowledge of the waters, careful planning, and strategic fishing techniques to land the best fish. In the same way, running a successful auto shop isn’t just about working hard – it’s about working smart.
- Learning New Skills: Just as a professional angler learns about different fish species, water conditions, and techniques to improve their catch, you must invest time in learning new business skills. This might mean understanding financials better, adopting new technologies, or refining your leadership approach. It’s hard work, but each new skill is a tool in your tackle box, enabling you to catch bigger and better results in your business.
- Empowering Your Team: An angler often enlists the help of a crew to manage the boat and assist with the catch. Teaching and empowering your team is like training your fishing crew. It requires patience and dedication, but as they grow more skilled, the workload becomes more manageable, and the overall catch improves. Your team becomes an extension of your expertise, multiplying your efforts and ensuring every aspect of the business is well-handled.
- Leadership: Just as the angler plans the fishing trip, chooses the best spots, and sets the strategy for the day, your leadership shapes your business. Effective leadership means making tough decisions, inspiring your team, and setting a vision for the future. It’s the hardest work of all, but it’s also the most rewarding. Strong leadership transforms a simple fishing trip into a successful expedition.
The Transformation
Working smarter doesn’t mean slacking off; it means putting in the effort where it counts. Like the professional angler, your hard work in learning new skills, empowering your team, and leading effectively will pay off. The result or return on effort is a business that not only runs smoothly with or without you, but also allows you to enjoy the rewards of your labor. A business that is manageable and sellable. In the end, the effort you put into working smarter is what ensures you make the best catch. A profitable, sustainable and enjoyable business.
A coach or mentor can guide you through the steps needed to make the transformation. Auto shop owners are some of the most giving and dedicated people I know. It takes hard work to change your thinking and your approach to being a business owner. So, hold on to that grit and drive, but funnel it to the right activities to succeed.
Responsibility of a Pro
Pros go beyond the four walls of their business. They think positively when others get stuck in negativity, complaining and telling their tales of woe. Pros realize opportunities that average thinking owners don’t see. They execute ideas and plans. A feeling or sense of responsibility to better the industry for their customers, community, team, family and the next generation of men and women coming into the auto industry, fuels them.
Maryann Croce, a certified partner of Todd Herman’s 90 Day Year™, is a coach/speaker and creator of ‘3-Day Weekends’ System. Her company Small Biz Vantage specialized in performance and leadership for automotive and skilled trade business owners. She has been an auto shop owner since 1999.
You can reach Maryann at (203) 913-7741 or maryann@SmallBizVantage.com Maryann speaks on strategies to achieve work-life fulfillment SmallBizVantage.com
