[FTE217]

Got to say despite the cliche sign of the times alot comes down to business acumen/management.
Franco knows just as myself being in the Aftermarket the biggest achilles heal for any/every Owner Mechanic/Beater/Performance house all came from the passion side aspect which is a great start but many sadly don't understand book keeping and banking the money to cover thier monthly costs.
I've seen it countless times and wonder how does this bloke have so much yet we're there chasing him up because he's 2mths in arears and some I see more when I used to work for another large company as a sales rep.
I awlays wondered why don;t many of these guys do a business course after hors, yes I know time constraints come into it/family obligations etcetc but understanding how to manage your growing business needs extra time invested how to manage it.
Look at people like Herrod/Harrop I could name a few smaller to mid house's who are doing fine despite the huge internal running costs.
Another is my regular local mechanic who's main line is general servicing but he always wanted to make sure and today having the right diagnostic tools keeping up with the times so he could keep working on the later cars of today within reason.
He can rebuild box's etcetc......
Over the years I've seen this guy own his own building, buy a mega property with acreage, have some collectables and buy investment properties off the equity - this is a smart general mechanic operator.
Crawled before you walk to later run.
Customers complain re price I have discussions with him BUT what else or where else can they go - they have to get their cars repaired.

I don't see the game dieing for lets face it the need is there for quite some years yet before its all electirc And might I add many companies are looking ahead re servicing these battery vehicles, there will be many new lines/products and ways ahead believe me.

Franco, you know OE Trade account discounts are piffle, always has been, 10% off RRP for as long as I've known.

Re Labour, yer people complain for $150 - $120 is becoming the norm but they are willing to spend $1k+ on a new smart tv without question having 2/3 in the house lol......
People think fixing their car is 2bob still, more like its a neccesary evil they have to put money into that they can't see where the money goes compared to a tv etcetc.....
By the way re parts pricing, I used to sell general parts back in the 80's on and the pricing today in many case's is cheaper than those days due to the many brand offerings and volumes.
Our market used to be run by just a few brands back then and the rip off was way more than todays market pricing..