Rich Gregg, owner of Essential Auto Service, has been in business for over 20 years and runs a 5-star shop known for its top quality and reliable work. The shop is always clean, well-organized, and, most importantly, busy. With a full staff of six, the business has consistently grown since opening in 1999.
Nestled in the fast-growing city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Essential Auto Service is surrounded by a fast-paced environment. With two large universities and a population of 600,000, Waterloo is often deemed the Silicon Valley of the North. Gregg says he likes to keep the shop up to date on the latest technology. "And this is a great community that accepts the digital and streamlined communication and services we offer,” he said. When Gregg is not in the shop, he can often be found restoring various vehicles in different stages of repair. Or, he might be outdoors hiking and kayaking. He even enjoys stock-trading as a hobby and form of passive income.
The shop opened, Gregg said, because he was tired of working for other people and felt underappreciated and overworked. Now, he is in control of his work and life. What is he the most proud of? The fact he’s taken the chances he wanted to. He invested his time, money, and energy into the business and it’s paid off, he’s not only successful but operational as well. He says, “I have achieved my goals from dream to reality.”
Luck isn’t how he got this far; it was only after hard work that he has been able to achieve this level of success. He’s implemented digital inspections and CRM (customer relations management) to create transparency and trust, with both the equipment and technicians, so his team can perform to the highest standards. This has gained them a great reputation. Essential Auto has a large returning client base that knows the shop will take care of their vehicle.
Their work is high quality and high value. Marketing is an important part of attracting potential customers to your shop, and Gregg takes advantage of this knowledge. He has a weekly marketing budget of $800.
With this he uses Google AdWords to drive customers to his website, from there customers can easily book an appointment. They also have consistent branding across social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. It’s consistent and continuous.
Gregg used to fulfill every position in the business except owner.
“I focused so much on trimming expenses, but I wore all the hats and it became too much to handle," he said. "I often worked late or on weekends to stay caught up.” Once he became a DRIVE client, he says, that started to change. He says, “DRIVE has taught me a lot about running a business and being able to grow it successfully.”
He learned how to work on the business instead of in it. He credits DRIVE with helping him to have the courage to make some of the more difficult business decisions. Now, he has more than enough time and energy to oversee the KPI’s and delegate to the shop’s manager. Between January and May, Gregg didn’t step foot in the shop because it was fully operational without him.
This past August, Gregg attended the DRIVE EXPO, where he was awarded the Master Shop Owner Award. To get this, shop owners must:
- Improve their management skills
- Increase profit each year
- Collect and analyze KPIs weekly
- Establish a workflow that is used by the front and back
- Create an incentive program that rewards production
- Consistently market their shop
- Create a shop playbook
- Reduce debt
Before he started his journey to earning his Master title, he would talk to the Master Shop owners at EXPOs and wonder how they were so relaxed. This networking allowed for him to hear about their policies and procedures, leaving him with new things to implement when her returned to his own shop. Now, Rich is the relaxed one, giving advice to new DRIVE clients and he’s looking forward to doing just that at DRIVE EXPO 2023. His advice to other shop owners? Create a long-term plan. Rich says, “Know where you want to be, then work backwards. Break your long-range plane from years into the next year then the next quarter, then the next month and finally the next week. You must have a detailed plan and the discipline to follow it, then your goals will always become a reality. I feel if I were to open another location, I would be able to have it operational withing a year instead of multiple years because I now have a solid plan and I know what to expect.”
