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Confessions of a Shop Owner is hosted by Mike Allen, a third-generation shop owner, perpetual pot-stirrer, and brutally honest opinion sharer.  In this weekly podcast, Mike shares his missteps so you don’t have to repeat them. Along the way, he chats with other industry personalities who’ve messed up, too, pulling back the curtain on the realities of running an independent auto repair shop. But this podcast isn’t just about Mike’s journey. It’s about confronting the divisive and questionable tactics many shop owners and managers use. Mike is here to stir the pot and address the painful truths while offering a way forward. Together, we’ll tackle the frustrations, shake things up, and help create a better future for the auto repair industry.
Mike Allen [00:00:00]:
Oh, my God. Did you see Zeb called that guy out again about a 16 foot trailer the other day?
Bryan Pollock [00:00:04]:
No.
Mike Allen [00:00:05]:
Yes. On another comment thread he was like, I will. I've asked you this again before and I will ask you again publicly. You haven't responded to me. Have you yet obtained a 16 foot trailer?
Bryan Pollock [00:00:17]:
Oh, my gosh.
Mike Allen [00:00:20]:
The following program features a bunch of doofuses talking about the automotive aftermarket.
Bryan Pollock [00:00:25]:
The stuff we or our guests may.
Mike Allen [00:00:27]:
Say do not necessarily reflect the beliefs.
Bryan Pollock [00:00:30]:
Of our peers, our sponsors, or any.
Mike Allen [00:00:32]:
Other associations we may have. There may be some spicy language in this show, so if you get your feelings hurt easily, you should probably just move along. So without further ado, it's time for Confessions of a Shop Owner with your host, Mike Allen. What's up, man?
Brandon Dills [00:00:54]:
Hello.
Mike Allen [00:00:55]:
How's it going?
Brandon Dills [00:00:57]:
Good.
Mike Allen [00:00:57]:
You? Good. Happy birthday, America. We're recording this on the 5th of July 1st full day of freedom from the tyranny of those bastards over the Atlantic.
Bryan Pollock [00:01:09]:
Yep. Remember, it's not treason if you win.
Brandon Dills [00:01:11]:
That is very true.
Mike Allen [00:01:13]:
Not treason if you. Did everyone shoot fireworks, drink alcohol and yell obnoxiously yesterday?
Bryan Pollock [00:01:19]:
Yes.
Brandon Dills [00:01:20]:
Too much.
Mike Allen [00:01:21]:
A lot. I think. We were in a group chat yesterday and I was like, hey, do you guys just want to record tonight? I was a little bit lit and you said, well, I just shotgun about four beers, so maybe not. So. I mean, that's.
Brandon Dills [00:01:36]:
We were on the. We're on the lake and I. My nephew was out there, he just turned 21 and he was like, hey, Uncle Brandon, come shotgun a beer with us young guys. And so I went and did it. Showed their asses up. And then. Well, one thing led to another. The boat had to get back home so my wife had to drive.
Mike Allen [00:01:56]:
Happens to the best of us. Amanda and I went out today for a lunch date because we didn't get to take our. Our day yesterday with just the two of us and had a little bit. And Amanda, he ended up driving back to the house. So it happens, you know.
Bryan Pollock [00:02:12]:
Does she have to drive you back on the Miata?
Mike Allen [00:02:14]:
No, we did not take the Miata. Although it is at the house now. I bought a winky mod some module so that you can make the win. The.
Bryan Pollock [00:02:29]:
You can put eyelashes on them too.
Mike Allen [00:02:31]:
Damn right.
Bryan Pollock [00:02:32]:
You got to put eyelashes on them.
Mike Allen [00:02:34]:
The tongue that hangs out over the.
Bryan Pollock [00:02:35]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:02:38]:
Anyway. No, but it's at the house. I've been riding around with it with my kids. They're loving it. So anyway, Brandon, you just changed the name of your business. Dude, tell me about that.
Brandon Dills [00:02:49]:
Well, no, no, no, not the business, just social media stuff.
Mike Allen [00:02:53]:
Oh, okay. So I was just re.
Brandon Dills [00:02:56]:
I was just rebranding my social media stuff.
Mike Allen [00:02:58]:
Okay, so when you, like when you come to ASCA Expo and set up your booth, is it still going to be Jarhead Diagnostics or it's going to be Jarhead Garage?
Brandon Dills [00:03:07]:
No, Jarhead Diagnostics.
Mike Allen [00:03:09]:
All right, super. What led to the rebranding on social media?
Brandon Dills [00:03:17]:
To be honest with you? I mean, it kind of comes back to I, I've got a pretty decent following on YouTube and Instagram and all them, but I've kind of felt like I was stuck to the whole Jarhead diag. I can only do diag on any of my videos and all that stuff. And it was just. So I wanted to do a rebranding because I, I feel like I, I enjoy doing a lot of other stuff than just here's my diagnostic tools. Come watch videos about my diagnostic tools.
Mike Allen [00:03:48]:
So I got you. Well, that makes sense. Reach a broader audience or at least widen the target at least. Right?
Brandon Dills [00:03:56]:
Yep.
Mike Allen [00:03:57]:
You also notice that in the background on, on Brian's side there, he's got our, Our friends have a little podcast that's been struggling to get off the ground. And so we just wanted to put their work. The name out there so that they can maybe get a little bit more coverage. So if you haven't heard of it, you should check out Changing the Industry podcast. It's. It's pretty amateur hour over there, but they have a good time and they mean, they, they mean the best. Right. Their intentions are good.
Mike Allen [00:04:23]:
So give them a like and a follow if you, if you get a chance.
Brandon Dills [00:04:28]:
Yeah, I mean, because like, I, I think on their podcast, like something like this might just. It's not acceptable. I don't think so.
Bryan Pollock [00:04:38]:
I, Yeah, I actually, I don't even know where that came from. I think I pulled it off a porta Potty. That sign.
Mike Allen [00:04:45]:
I, I think. There you go. There you go, my man. So it's good to have multiple hydration options available whenever you are out.
Brandon Dills [00:04:55]:
Podcast.
Mike Allen [00:04:56]:
Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:04:56]:
The high, the high energy sport of podcasting.
Mike Allen [00:04:59]:
Yeah. Well, I mean, you don't want to be thirsty, right? It could no.
Bryan Pollock [00:05:02]:
Intercept your voice be having that.
Mike Allen [00:05:04]:
My Instagram.
Brandon Dills [00:05:07]:
I, we. This was, I don't know, it was like four or five years ago.
Mike Allen [00:05:12]:
The.
Brandon Dills [00:05:15]:
Somebody's wanting to do all these mobile diag guys, let's get together and we're gonna do our own like live stream and stuff. I don't know what was in my mind before I started that, but I was like, I'm gonna have me some few beers out here. And then I wasn't paying attention. They were like high ABV beers. And by the end of it, like, I was completely did. Trying to do this live stream and be all proper for.
Mike Allen [00:05:40]:
Yeah, that's why. That's why Friday Night Shenanigans are not recorded because sometimes you just get house drunk and things that come out of your mouth need not be saved for posterity. There have been people I know for a fact that have been on Friday Night Shenanigans and have been recording discreetly. Yeah, some of those peeps, man.
Bryan Pollock [00:06:05]:
I'm checking all my pockets to find one single f. To give that they've done that. I just checked all my pockets. Can't. Can't find a single.
Brandon Dills [00:06:13]:
Oh, well, I. I lost all mine. So, you know.
Mike Allen [00:06:16]:
Yeah, there you go. So give me a little bit about. Just for those who don't know you, we just have a tendency to just jump right in and just start chatting like old friends. Give me a little bit about who you are and what your business is and what you do and. And we can go from there.
Brandon Dills [00:06:33]:
Brandon deals. I'm a professional loser, so I got that going for me. Nice, Brandon. Jarhead Diagnostics. Hey, Jarhead Diagnostics manufacturer diagnostic equipment sell for a few different companies as well. We've been in business since 2019. Yeah, that's about it.
Mike Allen [00:06:59]:
How many? You said you manufacture equipment, you sell for a few different companies. Can you say which ones?
Brandon Dills [00:07:05]:
Oh, yeah. Pico, ats Top. Don Warwick Test Solutions. There's another one that just went out of my head. Ipa, which is not a beer, it's. They have a lot of, like, bigger stuff, so.
Mike Allen [00:07:22]:
Nice. And. And you had shop also for a while, but the diagnostic business grew so much and was saying so much for your time that you decided to focus on just that. Is that right?
Brandon Dills [00:07:35]:
Well, we had the shop. Yeah, we had the shop for about three or four years, but I just. I was getting very jaded, I guess you could say. And it was just kind of. I. I got. I got done with. With running the shop, so I.
Brandon Dills [00:07:48]:
I shut it down because that was the worst.
Mike Allen [00:07:51]:
The worst part about owning a shop. Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:07:56]:
No, I mean, I. I'll be honest, like, I enjoyed it, but I felt like I was letting too many people get in my head on how I should run the shop versus how I wanted to run the shop. So then I tried doing it how everybody thinks the shop should be ran and it was not pleasurable for me at all. Yeah, no, so, no, that's, that's, that's why, like, you know, I feel that.
Bryan Pollock [00:08:19]:
Deep down in my soul.
Mike Allen [00:08:20]:
Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:08:21]:
Right now I think that I'd be pushing shopping carts if we had to run how somebody thought we should be running.
Brandon Dills [00:08:27]:
Yeah. And, like, now, don't get me wrong, like, it's not like anybody was behind the scenes. You have to do this, you have to do that. But it's like keeping up with the Joneses type feeling or where you try and say, like, I want to do this, my business. And they're like, I wouldn't. I would do xyz. And then you're like, well, should I be doing XYZ versus what I want to do?
Mike Allen [00:08:49]:
So. Well, and the circles that you run in, going to all the training events and shows with the diagnostic business you're around, all of the coaches and all of the theories of operation and all of them think that their way is the only way. Right. Yeah. So it can be tricky. That's.
Bryan Pollock [00:09:06]:
Yeah, it can be tricky.
Brandon Dills [00:09:08]:
Which, I mean, because I, I guess, like, for me, the. I. I've been turning wrenches for many, many, many, many moons. And that's. I enjoy that. And I'm not trying to say that I want to be that shop owner that's going to be greasy, nasty in the shop all the time or anything like that, but I enjoy that. And I, I felt like I was getting kind of pointed to. Well, no, you need to get out of the shop and you don't need to do that.
Brandon Dills [00:09:32]:
You need to do this. You need to have a thousand technicians doing a thousand different things and, and, and big. This. You got to get this big shop and all you care about is your car count. And I, I don't. My finances are kind of set up. I don't need to worry about all that. So I don't think I'm going to this time.
Mike Allen [00:09:50]:
Good. Yeah, it. If you don't have to run that rat race, why would you. Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:09:54]:
Let's be serious. Your, Your tool businesses, I mean, you make a lot of things that, you know, like, only you're making.
Mike Allen [00:10:02]:
Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:10:02]:
Right. It's very, very simple. You've got the market cornered on a couple things, so.
Mike Allen [00:10:08]:
Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:10:09]:
And that's. I mean, we, we enjoy it. I mean, there's, there's animosity and some stuff that goes along with that, all that stuff, but sure, it don't matter where you go, you're gonna have something.
Mike Allen [00:10:20]:
So there's animosity in every type of business in the world. I Mean, even, even in our little corner of the world, there are, there's backbiting amongst trainers, there's backbiting amongst coaches, there's backbiting amongst trade shows and organizations and you know, just like there are shops that can't cooperate, you know, it's, there's more cars than I can fix on. I got. Yeah, yeah. But I will say that every year at the expo, your booth is one of the most popular booths, especially amongst the technicians. Right, the owners turn. The technicians turned owners. Yep.
Mike Allen [00:11:03]:
I go by your booth and I'm like, hey, what's up man? How's it going? I don't have a clue what any of this does, so. But that's okay. My guys do and they all like it, so.
Brandon Dills [00:11:13]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:11:15]:
What, what like type of. Do you have any like growth plans or goals or you just kind of kind of chug along the same route? Route that you're on or.
Brandon Dills [00:11:25]:
No, I mean we. So I opened back up the shop. Monday was the first, first day on that. But like I said, I'm, I'm gonna, I, I felt like with the tools and everything without having to shop, it was hard to kind of even try and showcase stuff because it's like, what am I supposed to do? Check out what I'm making and everybody's like, cool how to use it? I don't, I can't tell you. I don't have a car to show you on. So at least you know, having the shop would allow me to kind of start tinkering again and you know, be able to showcase products and stuff.
Mike Allen [00:11:56]:
So, so the show for social media and.
Brandon Dills [00:12:01]:
Yeah, yeah, it's, Yeah, I mean, I, I'll be. I, my, my plans for this go around is, is going to be. I, I'm taking some plays out of Chris and Wright's playbook about how he runs things and kind of how he goes about his, his day to day life with his shop. I mean I probably won't ever get to where he's at just because, I mean he's, he's got a pretty sweet gig how he's got everything going, but that's kind of what I want. Just a couple cars a day and, and do some social media, make good money and move about my day.
Mike Allen [00:12:40]:
So copy make some money and move about my day. That's something. That's some ESO type, you know. Yeah. So can I ask you the usual hot button questions? How many days a week are you open.
Brandon Dills [00:12:59]:
For the shop? It's going to be Monday through Thursday and Then for Jarhead, I mean, it's just right now we're backed up, so we're working quite a bit for that. So. But for the shop, it's just going to be Monday through Thursday and then we're open up at 9, closing at 5.
Bryan Pollock [00:13:16]:
Jarhead. Jarhead's pretty magical. I did message Brandon about something that didn't exist one time at like 10am on a Thursday morning. And that piece that didn't exist was 3D printed and the FedEx person handed it to me at like 9am on Friday. So less than 24 hours. That's amazing to get something that I couldn't move. Now, obviously if he's backed up, that's not going to be reality for a lot of people. But that was super helpful.
Bryan Pollock [00:13:48]:
That was unbelievably helpful.
Mike Allen [00:13:50]:
How often do you get a customer calling saying, hey, I need this. Can you make that happen?
Brandon Dills [00:13:58]:
More often than not, we do. Some stuff doesn't really align with us for what they want and then some stuff does. So, like if we, if we can make it happen and it aligns with us, then we do.
Bryan Pollock [00:14:12]:
But this is a variation of something you were already making. You just didn't make this exact fitment of that.
Mike Allen [00:14:18]:
Correct?
Brandon Dills [00:14:19]:
Yeah. Like I've had some people say, well, how, you know, you should make this product? And they want to go way into depth on this product. And it's like it doesn't really align like with us or even if it does, but whenever you start looking at the, the cost of it, like it might only be that one person that wants it or two people if you know that you're only going to sell one or two. But I've got 20 hours in designing it and fitment and all that other stuff. I mean, that cost has to be dispersed back out. So they think, well, this is a cool product. You know, it might be like we'll just say 50 bucks, but if they're the only person going to be buying it, no, it's going to be like, you know, four or five hundred dollars by the time you get, you know, all said and done with it.
Mike Allen [00:15:01]:
So. So most of your stuff is 3D printed, right?
Brandon Dills [00:15:08]:
Yeah, it's either like some of our stuff is just strictly 3D printed. Like that's all that it is, is a 3D printed piece. But then we have other stuff where the 3D printed aspect is just like a portion of it. Like our. We make a 5 volt box or all it does just it sends out 5 volts for testing and all that sort of stuff. So the box for that is 3D printed, but everything else is, you know, electrical components and wiring and all that stuff.
Mike Allen [00:15:35]:
So, so your manufacturing space, I remember back in the day it was like in a room in your house and then it was in the entire garage and then it was just like it kept growing. How many printers do you have running on a typical day of production right now?
Brandon Dills [00:15:54]:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Like nine on average. It used to be a lot more. It used to be almost 20, but then we, we went to a different manufacturer of a 3D printer and we could get the same quality but the print time was like half the time. And so we were able to take needing 20 printers and then drop it down to, let's say seven or eight and get, you know, the same amount of production out and just, you know, because whenever you have something where you've got 20 of one item running all the time, then they start breaking down. Then you're, you're repairing 20 things versus repairing like seven or eight.
Bryan Pollock [00:16:38]:
Right, right, right.
Mike Allen [00:16:40]:
So what you're saying is you're making choices based on productivity and efficiency. Yeah. And you're eliminating hard working machines because they weren't efficient enough.
Brandon Dills [00:16:52]:
Correct. That's also, that's, that's also why I like. So I, it's, it's just my wife and I who work here. But you know, in that same token, I, I took RFID paint and, and painted my bathroom in it as well. Just so that way I could, you know, stay on task.
Mike Allen [00:17:09]:
Ah.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:09]:
Yep.
Mike Allen [00:17:10]:
I was.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:11]:
She'd be in there watching them soap operas when she's supposed to be watching them printers. Yep.
Brandon Dills [00:17:17]:
I was talking to me. Scrolling TikTok.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:19]:
Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:17:21]:
Stand up. Your legs are asleep. You're like.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:22]:
Yeah. Me on Facebook Marketplace.
Mike Allen [00:17:26]:
Scrolling toolboxes.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:28]:
Scrolling toolboxes and old snap on diagnostic equipment.
Mike Allen [00:17:31]:
Yeah. I've been thinking about posting on Facebook Marketplace a picoscope in Brian's neighborhood just to troll him, but.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:39]:
Oh my gosh, don't do that to me. Any, any piece of interesting or not interesting, but priced right diagnostic equipment in a 50 mile radius. I'm buying every single time I've seen.
Mike Allen [00:17:53]:
You bid significantly higher than market value for a really old piece of diagnostic equipment.
Bryan Pollock [00:17:57]:
Recently I have, yes.
Mike Allen [00:18:02]:
That was at tools at a charity auction fundraiser for Scander Danner charities. Is it, Is it scanner?
Bryan Pollock [00:18:09]:
Keep bringing it up, Mike. I'm still. It is SD charities. And I'm still a little bit tender about not coming home with that.
Mike Allen [00:18:15]:
You. You lost who'd you lose? To say it out loud, Keith.
Bryan Pollock [00:18:21]:
Well, Keith Perkins won it. I lost to multiple people. Multiple people were willing to pay more than I was willing to pay for it.
Mike Allen [00:18:28]:
You know, the funny thing is, Tanika, kind of like me, was put putting bids on it just to drive the price up. Neither one of us could tell you at all what the that thing was or what it did. I didn't realize that it was 20 years old and way out of date and nobody would use it. I thought it was like a new tool.
Bryan Pollock [00:18:46]:
I would use that thing every day.
Brandon Dills [00:18:48]:
Was it like an old sun machine?
Bryan Pollock [00:18:50]:
No, it was an old Mac scope. So it was the OTC scope. OTC two channel scope. But it was mint new in box. Like never used. Like the, the protector was still on the screen, all the stuff was still on the packaging.
Brandon Dills [00:19:04]:
Nice.
Mike Allen [00:19:05]:
So even when it was new 20 years ago, it wasn't worth opening.
Bryan Pollock [00:19:10]:
Correct?
Mike Allen [00:19:11]:
Yeah, that's what I heard it sold for.
Bryan Pollock [00:19:15]:
Probably what they sold for. List price, brand new.
Mike Allen [00:19:20]:
I remember it was over a thousand dollars, wasn't it?
Bryan Pollock [00:19:22]:
It was like 1100 bucks. And I think they were about 11 or 1200 brand new. Which means you could probably buy one for 900 brand new back then.
Mike Allen [00:19:32]:
But you can probably get one right now if you find it for 75, 80 bucks.
Bryan Pollock [00:19:37]:
Well, you see, you can buy the blue ones, but the red ones are hard to find. You got it. If you're gonna be into this vintage tool game, you gotta learn the rules, right? It's like the, the red Snap on vantages are whatever they're out there. Now the gray ones, the do not for sale ones, those are tough to get, but they had a lot of them. Now the blue ones that were made for Volvo, those are like hen's teeth. You can't find them. I'd pay, I'd pay 1500 bucks for one of them.
Mike Allen [00:20:06]:
You heard it here first. If you have the otc.
Bryan Pollock [00:20:09]:
No, no, the Snap on Vantage Pro. Blue one that says Volvo on it. I got 1500 bucks for you if it's, if it's in working condition.
Brandon Dills [00:20:19]:
I was about to say, is the battery have to be working?
Bryan Pollock [00:20:22]:
Well, you see, Brandon, I bought a whole bunch of batteries for them things, so I'm all set.
Mike Allen [00:20:26]:
So I'm going to put up WTB post out on all the tech forums and I'll pay 500 for that tool you have in the bottom drawer in the back of the box that you haven't opened and make you sell it.
Bryan Pollock [00:20:41]:
To me for 600.
Brandon Dills [00:20:44]:
Whatever 100 to do nothing.
Mike Allen [00:20:48]:
Yeah, man, I'm just moving product around, baby. That's all I do. I'm gonna become a. I'm gonna become a vintage tool dealer.
Bryan Pollock [00:20:57]:
I would advise against that based on the lesson I just had to give you and by. Based on the fact that you didn't know, and I quote, what the I was even bidding on.
Mike Allen [00:21:08]:
I knew I wasn't gonna win it. That was the important part.
Bryan Pollock [00:21:11]:
I think you might be out of your wheelhouse on this. He might be like me talking about vacation properties.
Brandon Dills [00:21:17]:
I was gonna say he's an mso. He can afford, you know, whatever. It don't matter if it was a good deal or not.
Bryan Pollock [00:21:23]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:21:24]:
Just because you have multiple shops doesn't mean you have multiple shops that make money.
Bryan Pollock [00:21:27]:
That's right.
Brandon Dills [00:21:28]:
I'm just curious. The lake. Do you own the entire lake?
Mike Allen [00:21:33]:
We just call that the pond.
Brandon Dills [00:21:35]:
Oh, okay.
Mike Allen [00:21:36]:
Yeah, this is city of Raleigh. Drinking water. No personal watercraft allowed. No gas burning watercraft allowed. You can rent from the city, John. Boats with electric trolling motors. That's the only thing you see out there. So lame.
Brandon Dills [00:21:54]:
So what you're saying is, can you fish right there and take a dump in the lake? And then you'll drink our dump?
Mike Allen [00:22:01]:
Well, the water treatment plant. So I'm only like. I'm 500 yards up from the dam. Oh, and water treatment plant is just on the other side of the dam.
Bryan Pollock [00:22:09]:
You see the color of that water? Human feces is the least of the problem over there. That thing's got an algae bloom that would freaking extinct an entire species if it wasn't for the water treatment plant.
Mike Allen [00:22:23]:
Yeah, I got in it Thursday night. And so at the.
Bryan Pollock [00:22:27]:
Had any rashes or anything so far?
Mike Allen [00:22:31]:
No. But I. I mean, look, rashes Other.
Bryan Pollock [00:22:33]:
Than the normal ones.
Mike Allen [00:22:34]:
Yeah, rashes are so common for me, and they have been for years. It's just. But the other end of the lake is. Is the city park where they do fireworks for the fourth every year. And they have the North Carolina Symphony out doing patriotic music and yada yada. So every year, one of my kids and I would hop in the canoe and we paddle up into the lake.
Bryan Pollock [00:22:53]:
Yeah, you sent me that picture. That was pretty cool.
Mike Allen [00:22:55]:
Watch fireworks. For six years, we've been the only people on the lake. And this year there were a couple kids out there in another canoe. So somebody's horning in on my game.
Bryan Pollock [00:23:05]:
This year down here. So I live near lake. But not like. Like you see how you can see across your lake? This isn't like that people go on our out on I like and die. Because it's like 30 miles across, like a real lake. Yeah, it's actually a great lake. But anyways, on the night they had the fireworks down there on the third at night, and there were people from the city came down with their kayaks and there was white caps. There's like, there's like three and four footers out there.
Bryan Pollock [00:23:36]:
I'm like, you're gonna die. You're gonna die. But they were, they were turning them.
Brandon Dills [00:23:39]:
Around at the harbor.
Bryan Pollock [00:23:39]:
They like, nah, you're not doing that.
Brandon Dills [00:23:42]:
Yeah, we, we went on lakes. I live on a lake here, and it's yesterday. It was pretty, pretty wild out there. A lot of boats.
Mike Allen [00:23:52]:
Three times a year total. And what the they're doing.
Brandon Dills [00:23:55]:
Yeah, we. I, I yelled at one yesterday. So one of our buddies, they stopped doing fireworks on the lake. But one of our buddies, he, he'll. He'll go to South Carolina and Spanish about 5 to $10,000 on fireworks, and they'll come back to his house and fire them off.
Bryan Pollock [00:24:12]:
And talking about, they put it up.
Brandon Dills [00:24:13]:
Like, you know, hey, we're doing fireworks every year. And so we got there. I mean, there's priority, like 30 or 40 boats anchored up ready to watch whenever it's this. It's time for the fireworks. There's anywhere from like 100 to 200 boats out there watching. This dude is doing like 30 miles an hour zigzagging around, all the boats anchored, and it's already like halfway dark. I screamed out like, hey, slow down. Well, I didn't say it like that, but he looks at me, he's like, what? I was like, dude, all these people.
Brandon Dills [00:24:45]:
And he was, he was maybe 10ft off my bow. Whenever he came hauling past me, and whenever the fireworks are over, he, like, was like barely idling past me. I was, I was like, it's about time you slow down. Not in those choice words. And he was like, oh, my bad, man.
Bryan Pollock [00:25:05]:
My bad.
Mike Allen [00:25:06]:
Well, at least he admitted he realized that he was in the wrong and. Yeah, so usually. But that time at the lake, there's a whole lot of liquid courage going around.
Bryan Pollock [00:25:16]:
And people buy these old boats and they go out there and they go to the big boy lake and they drive a mile offshore, and then they realize that one of the freaking exhaust boots is leaking. And when your boat's sinking a miles a long way.
Brandon Dills [00:25:33]:
Yeah, my lake's not that big.
Bryan Pollock [00:25:35]:
Oh, yeah, you can. I mean, I think, I think if you go to the center of Lake Ontario, I think you're 15 miles each way from shore. I think it's about 31 miles across to Canada right here. So.
Mike Allen [00:25:48]:
So are you allowed to boat across the lake or is that an illegal water crossing?
Bryan Pollock [00:25:53]:
You have to check in at customs when you get to the other side. Well, so I haven't done that in many, many, many, many, many years. So it used to be you checked in at customs. Now I think you have to call ahead. Used to be able to just show up and go to. They would have it like the little harbors over there. Just like they have at our harbor here in Olcott. They have a customs video phone.
Bryan Pollock [00:26:19]:
You used to be able to just show up, go to the video phone, check, check in, say, hey, I'm here. This is what I'm doing. Blah, blah, blah. It was. She's easy. Now I think you have to call ahead. You have to like, schedule an appointment or something. But.
Mike Allen [00:26:32]:
One thing that I do know that it's entertaining and I've never been a big boating guy, but my brother lives on a lake with big water. Not Lake Ontario big, but very popular holiday weekends is going to the public boat ramp on holiday weekends.
Bryan Pollock [00:26:49]:
Heck yeah, brother.
Mike Allen [00:26:50]:
Watching people back in and get out, it's amazing.
Bryan Pollock [00:26:55]:
Yeah, I used to have a boat and a slip down there and I used to sit in the, you know, get there early in the morning and just sit in the boat because, you know, mine was docked so I didn't have to put it in or take it out for 4th of July, all that stuff. Oh, my gosh. Watching people, oh my gosh.
Mike Allen [00:27:09]:
It's so fun. Funny.
Brandon Dills [00:27:10]:
Yeah, we. The couple of them at. On our lake, every once in a while you can go out there and there'll actually be a dude sitting there with like a sign, we'll back down boat to save marriage.
Mike Allen [00:27:20]:
Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:27:23]:
Dude. They scream at each other. I just, like, it must be so stressful. I'm like, no wonder nobody likes going to do this. They're always screaming at each other. Kids are crying.
Mike Allen [00:27:32]:
People are screaming at each other about boat ramp shenanigans. I mean, I think there are probably channels dedicated to it.
Brandon Dills [00:27:40]:
Oh, yeah, there is now. Like, so I. I'm privileged. We have a. We have a ramp at the house so I don't have to go to a public one. But whenever I used to go to a public one, it, it was. It's always so annoying because people don't understand the etiquette because there is an etiquette to a boat ramp.
Bryan Pollock [00:27:55]:
Oh, yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:27:56]:
You get Everything set up on your boat to put it in the water, you back down, you get your dang boat off the trailer, and then you pull the vehicle directly out of the way.
Bryan Pollock [00:28:04]:
Go park, pull the boat to the end of the dock.
Brandon Dills [00:28:06]:
Yep. And you get out of the way. You got people that don't have their boat set up, they'll back it down right before they put in the water.
Bryan Pollock [00:28:12]:
Just freaking by the water, putting the plug in, putting ropes on.
Mike Allen [00:28:16]:
Yep.
Brandon Dills [00:28:16]:
Let me go ahead and start untie my boat.
Mike Allen [00:28:18]:
Now.
Brandon Dills [00:28:18]:
It's like, nope, your boat should have already been ready. And then they'll drop it in and then they'll pull forward and wait for a couple minutes. It's like, nope, get out of the way. But people don't understand, there's etiquette, understand bolt ramp etiquette makes you want to.
Bryan Pollock [00:28:32]:
Slap somebody and then they get in a hurry and that's when they make mistakes, right? Yep. Like there was a guy a couple of years ago, I think he watched like if you've, if you've had boats all your life and stuff, you know, there's a difference in how you can launch a bunk trailer versus a roller trailer, so on and so forth. And there was a guy that I think got a little bit of a hurry and he was watching all the bunk trailer guys, you know, unhook the strap up top and then back in the water. Yeah, this guy had a roller trailer and he unhooked the strap up top and he, he was coming down the boat, left the trailer, but it wasn't.
Mike Allen [00:29:02]:
Over unloaded the boat on the end of the boat water.
Bryan Pollock [00:29:06]:
Yeah, he wasn't even to the concrete. He was still on the asphalt.
Brandon Dills [00:29:08]:
I mean, like living on the lake. Living on the lake. You see some pretty funny stuff too. Like it was like so bad two or three years ago. So like it's my house and then my parents house is right next to me, and I was down talking to my dad and a dude on a jet ski. We just happened to look up and he was like cutting circles between our peers. And you know, your pier goes out, we'll just say 50 to 60ft. And he was like, cut.
Brandon Dills [00:29:35]:
He was just cutting circles in the pier in between both of ours. And we go out there and we're like, hey, what are you doing? Because it's etiquette again. Don't just be like riding circles in between a couple of piers and the dude like freaks out and then beaches his jet ski onto our boat ramp. Like the concrete boat ramp slams up on It. And we're like, what the heck are you doing? He's like, I don't know what we're doing. And my dad was like, I'm sorry. And he just pushes jet ski back.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:01]:
Jet skis. Jet skis don't have brakes, and they don't turn unless you're hitting the gas. And a lot of people that don't ride them a lot struggle with that.
Brandon Dills [00:30:08]:
But, yeah, it was funny. My dad just, like, kicked the jet ski back out. He's like, man, I can't help you here.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:15]:
I've seen a lot of people run into a lot of things because your natural reaction is to take, you know, to get off the gas and turn.
Mike Allen [00:30:21]:
Yeah.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:21]:
And that's how you run straight into whatever you're aimed at is by taking your finger off the gas and turning. It won't. It won't turn. Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:30:30]:
So I did not know that. So. Yep.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:33]:
Yeah, they won't.
Mike Allen [00:30:34]:
If.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:34]:
If you're going 50 miles an hour and you are. You're 300ft away from something and you let off the gas and you turn the bars all the way, you will hit whatever you were aimed at. When you let off the gas, you will not turn.
Brandon Dills [00:30:50]:
If you ever do get a jet Ski, if you want to turn really fast, you do let off the gas, turn the handlebars, and then punch it.
Bryan Pollock [00:30:56]:
Yeah. It'll really whip you around. Yeah. You won't still be on it.
Mike Allen [00:31:00]:
So how do you. I mean, how do you slow down? You just have to coast to a stop.
Bryan Pollock [00:31:04]:
Yeah, well, they stop fast because they're in water.
Brandon Dills [00:31:08]:
Yeah. Once it drops. Once it drops off a plane, then.
Bryan Pollock [00:31:11]:
Yeah, they really slow down.
Mike Allen [00:31:14]:
So we're starting, like, we're 30 minutes into this, and I don't know that we've had any productive conversation that might bring value or help or add anything to anyone's.
Bryan Pollock [00:31:23]:
Probably just saved somebody's life. Somebody's probably going to hit a concrete pier after they watch this. And they'll hit the gas on the jet Ski and it'll turn. And the jet ski will be fine because it'll turn, but they'll still fly into the concrete pier.
Mike Allen [00:31:34]:
Well, I mean, at least the jet Ski is good. And then you can get it on Facebook Marketplace, for a steal, because, you know, that's what I'm talking about. No.
Bryan Pollock [00:31:45]:
Are we supposed to have productive conversation?
Mike Allen [00:31:47]:
I mean, I feel guilty because I get the hate mail where it's like, you guys will never talk about shit that makes it. You guys always. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I mean, we could be worse. We could be talking about barbecue constantly, like, you know, people over your shoulder there, Brian. I don't know. I. You're coming. Okay, so things that I want to talk about.
Mike Allen [00:32:14]:
You're only open four days a week. That's a mistake. You have to do it seven days a week. Oh, I got a text from a friend yesterday, and it said having your shop Open on the 4th of July is simultaneous, simultaneously, the most and the least American thing ever.
Bryan Pollock [00:32:31]:
Right?
Brandon Dills [00:32:33]:
Your statement?
Bryan Pollock [00:32:34]:
Yeah, yeah, super. That is hyper capitalism.
Mike Allen [00:32:38]:
Because we know who's open, who was open yesterday, right?
Bryan Pollock [00:32:42]:
No.
Mike Allen [00:32:43]:
Yeah. Christmas and Thanksgiving only. Only two days he closes, so.
Bryan Pollock [00:32:48]:
Oh, my gosh.
Mike Allen [00:32:51]:
Adam's Automotive and now Auto and Pleasant, the Todd Hayes group. They're open 363 days a year. Man, they rock and roll. It doesn't matter.
Brandon Dills [00:33:02]:
So now don't get me wrong, I mean, if you're making money and that's all you're about, you know, hey, do your thing.
Bryan Pollock [00:33:07]:
But it's all about different life goals. Yeah, that's fine. That's what he wants to do.
Brandon Dills [00:33:14]:
I already own my boat, so I don't have to worry about working 19 days a week and 25 hours a day. So I'm good.
Mike Allen [00:33:21]:
Well, that is, I think, why it's so important to understand, like I used to always say, and I've stopped saying it so much now because I think Brian made the point that I say it too much, but is that there's a hundred ways to skin this cat, man. Just because can make money that way doesn't mean you have. That's the only way you can make money fixing cars. You know, I spend an obnoxious amount of money on marketing and advertising, and I've got three shops that are pretty damn busy, and Brian doesn't spend any money at all. And he's got three shops that are pretty busy, very different markets.
Bryan Pollock [00:33:55]:
We actually, we're on the list for best of 716. So we do zero marketing, zero social media campaigning, and we're in the like the final five for Best of Buffalo.
Brandon Dills [00:34:04]:
Somehow, yeah, I. I kind of lucked out, like with, with this shop. Like, open it back up. I went back on Google and I was able to reopen my Google, which already had a bunch of good reviews and all that other stuff. So they've already started getting phone calls again just based off of how I place in Google once I opened everything back up.
Mike Allen [00:34:25]:
So do you want to Google my business hack that might be helpful for you.
Brandon Dills [00:34:32]:
Sure.
Mike Allen [00:34:34]:
So are you Familiar with the term keyword stuffing. So. And it sounds dirty, but.
Bryan Pollock [00:34:42]:
No, I seen this at the beginning of a movie one time. Are there going to be feet?
Mike Allen [00:34:47]:
Mike, you remember? No. I mean, I guess you could. Depends on what kind of keywords you want us. But it's when you would have like, like old timey web pages, you'd have all the content that you want. And then you could keep scrolling down. It was just white screen, and if you highlighted, they had a bunch of text in white that was invisible unless you highlighted it. Yeah, it was all just terms that they had there to try to help the page rank better because it was getting crawled. And this is 10, 11, 12 years ago.
Mike Allen [00:35:16]:
Right. Algorithms were much less sophisticated at the time. Well, keyword stuffing now can get you in trouble unless it's, you know, is. Is viable content. But what you can do is you can go to your state, your local state, and file a DBA for your business. And it's like, car fix is the name of my business, but I have a DBA for Carfix Auto Repair and Tires, Raleigh, North Carolina. Right. And so that is an official name of my business to the government.
Mike Allen [00:35:52]:
And so now my Google, my business page can be Carfix Auto Repair and Tires. And so it helps. It rank better when people are looking for auto repair or tires close. And that could get you really blacklisted if you are not filing those documents. But. And look, maybe I'm behind the times, and that's a terrible idea, and that's horrible advice. And if that's the case, I'm sure a lot of people will message me and tell me, but it has worked well for us. So.
Bryan Pollock [00:36:25]:
Do all the other car fixes know about that?
Mike Allen [00:36:29]:
Probably will now. I mean, everybody listens, right?
Brandon Dills [00:36:33]:
So now your rankings going down.
Bryan Pollock [00:36:37]:
Oh, man, what are you gonna do?
Brandon Dills [00:36:38]:
Maybe Google listen just now too.
Bryan Pollock [00:36:40]:
I didn't even know. I didn't know reviews were that important. Like, not that long ago, I was like, what's this deal with reviews? Oh, my gosh. We had a Google review last week where I was like, this guy needs medical attention. He was talking about how convenient the parking was, which it wasn't. He had to park at the freaking library. And he was talking about how clean and organized the shop was, which it wasn't.
Mike Allen [00:37:03]:
Was he at your shop?
Bryan Pollock [00:37:05]:
So then I was like, this guy didn't come to our shop. This guy's confused. And I said his name. And William goes, oh, no, he was here two days ago. Like, oh, my gosh, I'm like somebody needs to call 911. Somebody needs to do a welfare check on this guy. He's stroking out.
Mike Allen [00:37:22]:
Did he see the bathroom?
Bryan Pollock [00:37:24]:
No. And that is at the shop. With the bathroom. Yeah, with the bathroom door. We are going to win. We're actually going to start working towards this Best of 716 marketing campaign. We're actually going to do some social media for it. And we are going to win best auto repair facility of 716 with a bathroom door that's held together with tire stickers.
Bryan Pollock [00:37:43]:
I will do.
Mike Allen [00:37:44]:
So here's the deal. So the best of contests are a revenue driver for the magazine.
Bryan Pollock [00:37:51]:
I know. For the newspaper. I know.
Mike Allen [00:37:53]:
But you know what? It works for marketing purposes. Especially if you win like five, six, seven years in a row and you have the plaque up for each year in the lobby.
Bryan Pollock [00:38:00]:
Oh yeah.
Mike Allen [00:38:01]:
But they're going to want to sell you a full page ad and they're going to want to sell you a framed copy of the magazine.
Bryan Pollock [00:38:07]:
And they'll get the same thing that every single marketing outfit gets from us, which is if we can take an ad out talking about how no more people are allowed to come here, then we'll do something.
Mike Allen [00:38:18]:
Apply to be a customer today. We'll review your application in three to six weeks.
Bryan Pollock [00:38:23]:
The members only. The members only idea is a topic of conversation that is had. Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:38:29]:
Are they going to get a members only jacket?
Bryan Pollock [00:38:31]:
We talked about that. We talked about charging a yearly subscription. Like Sam's Club. Like you can't buy any of our unless you pay us 200 a year.
Mike Allen [00:38:40]:
How about by referral only? You have to be referred to us by one of our existing customers in good standing.
Bryan Pollock [00:38:46]:
We have some referral only. And the referrals got to be of. From somebody we like.
Mike Allen [00:38:52]:
Yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:38:56]:
So makes sense because like whenever I reopen the shop, I, I cherry picked, I went through, I still had my active Shopware account. I went back on shopware and I.
Mike Allen [00:39:06]:
Have solution for that problem. What?
Brandon Dills [00:39:08]:
Tech metric.
Mike Allen [00:39:09]:
You damn right.
Brandon Dills [00:39:13]:
I went back through all my customers and I was like, I want this customer back. I want this one back. I want that one back. And I sent them all messages. I was like, I do not want this customer back. And so like my Google names changed and so they, you know, the likelihood of them realizing I'm open back up again is, is very slim.
Bryan Pollock [00:39:36]:
I can only hope now we'll take, we'll take any customer that calls us. Like people that cold call us. We'll just send them to our lockport Shop that doesn't have as high of a car count as Sanborn location, that's all.
Mike Allen [00:39:47]:
So you're not trying to do exclusivity at all three shops. It's just that the one that's badly ever booked.
Bryan Pollock [00:39:52]:
Yeah, yeah, we will say, you know what, you can't come here for that. However, at our facility in Lockport, not only can you go there, but you can probably go there today.
Brandon Dills [00:40:05]:
What's, what's the distance though?
Bryan Pollock [00:40:08]:
It's. I don't know, miles. Because we're weird up here, so we don't talk about miles. It's. If I run it pretty hard in my truck, it's 12 minutes. Yeah.
Mike Allen [00:40:19]:
So what's the difference between the two shops that causes one to be over busy and one to have a media availability?
Bryan Pollock [00:40:28]:
Definitely, definitely business density in the areas. If you're over In Lockport, there's 80 shops you can go to. Not 80, that's an exaggeration. I would say an honest 50. There's 50 shops you can go to if you're in Sanborn, New York, headed up towards the lake. As long as you don't need it fixed, there's like two other shops you can go to. But if the car's actually got to get fixed, you're kind of stuck with us. So what you're saying, those guys are bad guys, they just, you know, they've hung brakes and wheel bearings for years and that's what they're going to finish out doing, you know what I mean?
Mike Allen [00:41:12]:
Is that base space available for you to scoop up to expand your capacity?
Bryan Pollock [00:41:18]:
Well, they're far up north, they're further away than. It gets real rural real fast, you know what I mean? So you are rural here? Yeah. I don't know if we'd be interested in those other places. I mean the last.
Mike Allen [00:41:36]:
Coming through and it just blew the, the light over and.
Bryan Pollock [00:41:42]:
The last shop that we looked at that we were interested in doing that with, we ended up buying. So there you go.
Mike Allen [00:41:51]:
So I have a tin roof. I don't know if it's picking up or not, but it's about to get real loud in here. So you're welcome.
Brandon Dills [00:41:58]:
Yeah, I can hear it. Are you a part owner of yours, Brian?
Bryan Pollock [00:42:05]:
I have a little skin in the game. Yep.
Mike Allen [00:42:11]:
He's a minority evil shop owner.
Bryan Pollock [00:42:15]:
I am Micro Mini.
Mike Allen [00:42:17]:
Mini. Evil shop owner.
Bryan Pollock [00:42:19]:
Mini.
Mike Allen [00:42:20]:
I think what you're being too humble to say is that the reason that the shop and Sanborn is so busy is because that's the one where you spend Most of your time.
Brandon Dills [00:42:31]:
They just go there to see the bathroom door.
Bryan Pollock [00:42:33]:
And I think there's a combination of things that make that busier. And it's definitely involves Jim and I being there for sure, 100%.
Mike Allen [00:42:43]:
And so there are only two of you who runs the third shop or do y' all just do it?
Bryan Pollock [00:42:51]:
So we had, we had a guy that was running it that came, that came from the restaurant business, which, you know how that goes when it comes to managing people, they don't necessarily have to be automotive people. That was enough to keep it afloat. After we bought that. We bought that in 2014. Lockport. Yeah, Lockport was 2014, late 2014, like October. He ran it for a little while and then he decided that wasn't working out for him. So we did what.
Bryan Pollock [00:43:25]:
We did what any, any country shop would do. We took the GS that knew how to talk to people and we said, here you go, here's a whole shop and here's three people that are older than you and ain't gonna like you. Figure it out. Golly, did he ever. Yeah, he grew it. He grew it. He grew it past, you know, he grew it into the black. It wasn't.
Bryan Pollock [00:43:51]:
It wasn't losing money anymore and he got it going pretty good. And then there's a guy that worked for Goodyear Retail, worked for Goodyear Gemini Service for years. I think Jeff worked for Goodyear for 30. I think it was 36 years. And something happened there and they were letting Jeff go and we knew Jeff really well, like, no problemo. And Jeff kind of connected the dots, took what Justin was able to do with growing a customer base and then make that, make that a little bit more profitable.
Mike Allen [00:44:33]:
Oh my God. Did you see Zeb called that guy out again about a 16 foot trailer the other day?
Bryan Pollock [00:44:38]:
No.
Mike Allen [00:44:39]:
Yes. On another comment thread he was like, I will. I've asked you this again before and I will ask you again publicly. You haven't responded to me. Have you yet obtained a 16 foot trailer? Oh my gosh.
Bryan Pollock [00:44:55]:
Oh my gosh. Somebody replied to him in some comment thread not too long ago and I don't know what the beef was before. And Zeb's like, mfer, I told you never to talk to me ever again. What the F are you doing here? Lets him have it.
Brandon Dills [00:45:11]:
Mike Allen, do you have a 16 foot trailer?
Mike Allen [00:45:15]:
I do, actually. Okay. I have enclosed and open. Thank you very much. Much. I need one that I can get toolboxes on comfortably and easily, but I don't have one yet, so.
Bryan Pollock [00:45:23]:
We've talked about at the shop. We've talked about these, the trailers. You ever see the ones where like the, the axles, like the whole deck raises flat? Yeah, I mean, they just. I don't know if they're handier. They have to be handier, I would imagine. And they look cool, so.
Mike Allen [00:45:40]:
Yeah. Yeah. And more important than all that, they got winch and everything. I mean, that's. Those things are badass.
Bryan Pollock [00:45:46]:
But imagine how many toolboxes. Imagine how many toolboxes you can get in the door, how fast with one of them things.
Mike Allen [00:45:52]:
Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:45:53]:
I mean, you're Mike Allen. Just get you a tow truck, like a flatbed tow truck, and then you don't have to worry about it.
Mike Allen [00:46:01]:
Man, if I wanted to throw an enormous amount of money away on something that needed constant maintenance, I would get a boat, not a tow truck. Thanks very much. Or an airplane. I mean, Jesus, I didn't know anymore.
Bryan Pollock [00:46:16]:
Right. If you. Boats are like, you're behind the curve. If you're buying a boat now, if you're not buying an airplane, you ain't.
Mike Allen [00:46:22]:
If you're a baller shop owner now, you need to have. You need to have an airplane.
Bryan Pollock [00:46:26]:
And the more, the more engines, the better. Right? They're light boats. The more engines you have, the better they are.
Mike Allen [00:46:33]:
I think it was Zeb did send me a picture of a Learjet with Mike Allen across the fuselage. Was. It was either Zepp or you, Brian. I can't remember. It was a conversation we were having, so.
Bryan Pollock [00:46:46]:
Actually I might have contracted Z to make that.
Brandon Dills [00:46:49]:
Mike Allen needs a helicopter, so that way he can quickly go between all three of his shops and just land at the shop.
Mike Allen [00:46:55]:
Land on the roof of each one.
Brandon Dills [00:46:57]:
Yes.
Bryan Pollock [00:46:57]:
Get that dock and put you a floating helipad out in the lake back there.
Mike Allen [00:47:01]:
Like an old surplus McDonald's play place. Spiral slide to get down from the roof to the shop.
Bryan Pollock [00:47:07]:
Yes, yes, yes.
Brandon Dills [00:47:11]:
I just want a video of you trying to climb back up it, though.
Mike Allen [00:47:15]:
I was just thinking, how do I get up? I'm gonna have to have an elevator because ladders make me tired.
Brandon Dills [00:47:18]:
Oh, you gotta climb. You gotta climb back up the. The thing, the slide you got.
Mike Allen [00:47:22]:
Oh, my God. I, I look in the hot.
Brandon Dills [00:47:26]:
In the hot North Carolina sun. He gets to the top, he's just drenched.
Bryan Pollock [00:47:33]:
Drenched in sweat, slips on it, falls back down the slide.
Brandon Dills [00:47:36]:
What, what's, what's the. God dang it. Ace Ventura, pet detective. Whenever he comes out the back of the rhino, that's what he's gonna look like.
Mike Allen [00:47:46]:
Oh my God. I. I worked out today for the first time in like 46 years.
Bryan Pollock [00:47:56]:
Oh, gosh, that sounds terrible.
Mike Allen [00:47:59]:
I don't know.
Brandon Dills [00:48:00]:
Why did you wipe after?
Mike Allen [00:48:02]:
It sucks. It. It hurts. I'm sore. You know, it was definitely a highlight to how fat, out of shape and weak I am. Like, at least be like husky and like strong, right? No, no, I'm just fat and weak.
Bryan Pollock [00:48:20]:
I got the whole like you weren't like power lifting ash tree logs like I was yesterday. I worked out for the first time in probably a couple months yesterday morning and I cut a whole ass tree down in the afternoon and burnt it in a barrel like a good redneck.
Mike Allen [00:48:35]:
And you did it with an ax and a saw and none of it took gas, right?
Bryan Pollock [00:48:40]:
I did it. I did it.
Brandon Dills [00:48:41]:
No, he did it with his teeth.
Mike Allen [00:48:42]:
He just chewed it down. I chewed that shit beaver that ditch.
Bryan Pollock [00:48:46]:
Yep, just like the Jasper boys.
Brandon Dills [00:48:51]:
I'm in that boat. I need to start working out again. I got about another three weeks physical therapy and then I'll. I'll be back at it.
Mike Allen [00:48:58]:
Well, I took a month off of the Summer Olympics because I was starting to have poop mouth.
Bryan Pollock [00:49:03]:
Had fart mouth really bad.
Mike Allen [00:49:05]:
Yeah, yeah, it was terrible. It was not good. So I started back on it at a quarter of the dose that I had before. And instead of doing the full dose once a week, I'm going to do every other day.
Bryan Pollock [00:49:18]:
You'd make a good tech. Tighten the bolt down till it strips out and then back it off a quarter turn you did with your summer Oz epics.
Mike Allen [00:49:25]:
Well, so far.
Bryan Pollock [00:49:26]:
Go ahead and increase your dosage until you can't digest anything at all anymore. And then back it off a quarter turn.
Mike Allen [00:49:32]:
Perfect.
Brandon Dills [00:49:32]:
You've never went righty Lucy before. I mean, it happens to the best of us.
Mike Allen [00:49:36]:
Yeah, well, we'll see. Once I start having more sulfur burps, I'll stop again. But yeah, I gotta. I gotta. I gotta get to my. My hot body for asda. Man, I'm looking forward to.
Bryan Pollock [00:49:52]:
Yeah, you're running late for hot girl summer. It's already July 5th.
Mike Allen [00:49:55]:
I didn't specify which summer, so.
Brandon Dills [00:49:59]:
Summer 2029.
Mike Allen [00:50:00]:
Yeah, there you go. Just need to pick up a little cocaine habit. I hear that's really good for losing weight.
Brandon Dills [00:50:06]:
I heard it smelled really good.
Mike Allen [00:50:09]:
Smells better than sulfur burps.
Bryan Pollock [00:50:13]:
Have you seen the. Have you seen that TikTok video where the girl's playing guitar about how she lost weight without drugs and exerc exercise and blah blah, blah. She plays this whole song and at the end and she's like, listen. All the exercises. And at the end she's like. And meth Jim showed it to me the other day. I was crying, I was laughing. He's like, you gotta watch this.
Bryan Pollock [00:50:36]:
All production stops at Wilco Auto. Care to watch? Tick tocks and YouTube videos?
Mike Allen [00:50:42]:
So many of my group chats have devolved into just shared videos. Back and forth, forth, minimal conversation, just shared videos. Like even Dutch is that way now. Most of my interaction with, with you, Dutch and cous is shared videos. And they're like Facebook reels that are just.
Bryan Pollock [00:51:05]:
I don't know, I usually. I would say that I usually pop in there to say something just to piss Dutch off. And then I run away really fast.
Mike Allen [00:51:11]:
I love it.
Brandon Dills [00:51:12]:
Is this, is this Dutch with or without a beard?
Bryan Pollock [00:51:15]:
He's without now. He does not look like the Gordon's fisherman right now.
Mike Allen [00:51:20]:
Beard Free Dutch.
Brandon Dills [00:51:22]:
The moment he sold his shop, he's like, okay, I'm gonna grow my out now.
Mike Allen [00:51:26]:
I mean, he looked like a good classic Jewish guy there for a hot minute, you know? Yeah. Then he killed it all. So what are you gonna do? Tonight's review of Woodford Reserve Masters collection. And finished in Madeira casks. Tastes like it's not. Not to my speed. So if you want an opened bottle of whiskey that was really expensive that I'm not going to drink any more of, let me know. And.
Bryan Pollock [00:51:55]:
I had a very high end drink. I had a Jimmy Palmer.
Mike Allen [00:51:58]:
This is called Yes, I have some Four Roses.
Bryan Pollock [00:52:02]:
It's 10 ounces of Jim Beam and then 10 ounces of Coca Cola and then I filled it up with icy. It's a. It's like a 40 ounce cup. So I couldn't truly go half and half.
Mike Allen [00:52:12]:
Did you really wipe roses from the bottle?
Brandon Dills [00:52:14]:
I sure did.
Mike Allen [00:52:16]:
That's some marine right there.
Brandon Dills [00:52:17]:
Are you jealous?
Mike Allen [00:52:19]:
A little bit. I mean, I'm not gonna drink that from the bottle. Instead of buying this, I should have bought six bottles of that.
Brandon Dills [00:52:26]:
So about the same price, Right?
Bryan Pollock [00:52:29]:
Lesson learn, Mike.
Mike Allen [00:52:31]:
Hey, man. Hey. You can take that rate people.
Bryan Pollock [00:52:34]:
You know what people want? The automotive tidbit. You can take that right into your business. Just because you're expensive doesn't mean you're better.
Mike Allen [00:52:43]:
I feel attacked.
Bryan Pollock [00:52:44]:
I'm just saying.
Brandon Dills [00:52:46]:
So can we. Can we have some controversy in your podcast?
Bryan Pollock [00:52:49]:
Yeah.
Brandon Dills [00:52:50]:
All right. Sell me on why tech metric is better than shopware.
Bryan Pollock [00:52:56]:
So a, the local's cooler.
Mike Allen [00:53:00]:
Do you want like my. My snarky answer or do you want like real reasons?
Brandon Dills [00:53:04]:
No, I'm being Serious. Like, I. I've had Shopware for several years. I mean, it's. There is some stuff that I wish I had that I didn't because I had Shop Monkey before. I didn't like that at all. But Shop Monkey had some pretty cool, like, things inside of it that Shopware doesn't. And I was told Tech Metric kind of has some stuff.
Brandon Dills [00:53:24]:
So.
Mike Allen [00:53:26]:
So the thing that I like most about what techmetric is doing right now, like, they've been like, Shopware and techmetric have been kind of on a similar trajectory for a few years now. And. And in my opinion, they're probably the two big dogs in the industry. Right. So I don't know enough about Shopware to say anything bad about them. It's just obviously I'm a fan of techmetric. But what the team at techmetric is doing is they're trying to become not just a point of sale software, they're trying to become a full platform for shop management.
Bryan Pollock [00:53:56]:
So credit card processing.
Mike Allen [00:53:58]:
Yeah, the credit card processing with the financing options built in to the software. So you're texting your customer the invoice for approval and it's got the links for all the different, you know, rapid financing options that are there. And it's not just one, it's not just great credit. Right. They've got kind of waterfall options. That's a great benefit they've got. Right now they have Shop Genie, but they're rolling out Tech Metric Marketing, which is essentially Shop Genie with steroids. Right.
Mike Allen [00:54:27]:
It's my understanding, and if I'm missing this, I apologize, but. So Your CRM is 100% built in and integrated. And so, you know, right now I've got messages coming in from Repair Pal, from Shop Genie, from techmetric and a couple of other sources. Right. If you get full suite on board with techmetric, it's all one number. It's all coming into one number and you're texting out to your customers or communicating out to your customers all through one avenue, which is, I think pretty dynamic. Their DVI is. I mean, we're having great success with their dvi.
Bryan Pollock [00:55:04]:
I've been told the DVI is killer, even. It's absolutely killer. Because I love the dbi.
Brandon Dills [00:55:11]:
That was one thing, like whenever I had the shop and I want to go, I want to get back to having some CRM. I need to get car count back up before I try and really look into all that, because I don't want to, you know, go hand over fist out the door right away. But I had Is it Steer? What's the other name for steer?
Mike Allen [00:55:30]:
Whatever.
Bryan Pollock [00:55:31]:
Auto ops.
Brandon Dills [00:55:32]:
Yeah. And it was like, I liked the CRM that Steer offered, but my issue was, was the multiple phone numbers. And so like I, I felt like my customers would get a phone call from one phone number.
Mike Allen [00:55:53]:
That's right, that's right.
Bryan Pollock [00:55:55]:
On the coffee table next to me.
Brandon Dills [00:55:57]:
They'd get a phone call from one phone number, a text from one phone number, another text from another phone number. And it was just, I felt like it was at the end of the day my customers were getting too many phone numbers, you know, bombarded to them. And then they try and figure out which one they, they need to answer to.
Mike Allen [00:56:15]:
Anything you can do to declutter that experience for the customer and remove friction from the customer. So if it's all your main shop phone number that they can text, they can pay, they can receive financing options, they're going to get their dvi. All of that's going to be in one place. They've got online schedulers. An online scheduler now.
Bryan Pollock [00:56:37]:
Online scheduler works awesome. I know people that use it and I've just to demo it to me, they said, yeah, make an appointment, see how it works. And I made an appointment and I actually, you know, know, text your reminder this, that and the other. It's very, very smooth.
Brandon Dills [00:56:52]:
So on tech metric, then like my landline, they can set it up to where I can receive a text through text. Tech metric via my landline phone number.
Mike Allen [00:57:00]:
Yes, 100%. Well, assuming you're okay, I don't want to speak out of turn. I've been on voip for a long time, so I've always been able to. I don't know if they can do it with like old school analog landlines or not. Maybe they can, but, but you should be on so that you can record all of your calls and, and, and whatnot.
Brandon Dills [00:57:18]:
Mine, mine's through like spectrum or whatever and it comes in through my Internet and then it splits off from the Internet.
Bryan Pollock [00:57:25]:
Y.
Mike Allen [00:57:25]:
Okay.
Brandon Dills [00:57:26]:
Because. Yeah, same thing. If I could, if I could reduce it down to where they just. It's only one phone number because I, I feel like as a customer, if.
Bryan Pollock [00:57:35]:
I was bombarded with these random numbers coming in their inbox, they can't even save one because they would have to have Jar Head Garage one through nine or whatever. Yeah, right.
Brandon Dills [00:57:46]:
Yeah. If I could just get it to.
Mike Allen [00:57:47]:
Work down to one. So I, I think, I think they've also got some pretty badass stuff on the horizon. Right. One of the things that I'm looking for right now, and I'm trying out multiple different providers because there's a race right now on who can integrate AI seamlessly and effectively for managing customer experience and. And grading your call qualities and that kind of stuff. So the ability to listen in real time to every single inbound and outbound phone call and grade its success, and whether or not you have an unhappy customer or whether or not your advisor is following your process or, you know, freewheeling and get alerts to team leaders when there's an unhappy customer or whatever else in real time, that's pretty damn dynamic. And I'm trying to find the best provider of that right now. But, you know, I know that there are things like that in the pipe.
Mike Allen [00:58:53]:
I just don't know when that's going to happen. That might be years down the road. Who knows? So. But if you want, I can send you a tech Metric mug tomorrow. I'll just get it in the mail for you, and I can get you a demo. You're changing hat hats mid episode.
Bryan Pollock [00:59:12]:
Oh, man. Rex is gonna have to edit that part out.
Brandon Dills [00:59:17]:
Brian. Brian said that he wanted me to have fun, so he's gonna have to edit this out. But I've. This is, like, my third or fourth hat since the start of the episode.
Mike Allen [00:59:26]:
Just keep the bill just to see it. So we can't see it. It's good. Snap on, tools. Okay. All right. Snap on. I can get.
Bryan Pollock [00:59:34]:
Yeah, Mike, that's a. That's a company that makes tools that your techs use. Mike.
Mike Allen [00:59:37]:
I thought it was a shopware hat. So I was like, yeah, no, no, we'll just put a censored bar over it.
Brandon Dills [00:59:44]:
So this is Brian's favorite hat, though.
Bryan Pollock [00:59:46]:
Which ones that say nobody cares to work harder. Oh, no, the toaster. The bathing toaster.
Brandon Dills [00:59:51]:
And then this is the new one.
Bryan Pollock [00:59:52]:
That you need is that nobody cares. Work harder.
Brandon Dills [00:59:55]:
No, that's. That's.
Mike Allen [00:59:59]:
Don't run away from the mic. We can't hear you.
Brandon Dills [01:00:01]:
That's this one right here. I started in that one. No, this one is a. Yeah, I. I bought a laser. Laser engraver.
Bryan Pollock [01:00:10]:
He's got. He's got funny ones.
Brandon Dills [01:00:12]:
But this one is a blown fuse, and the wording on it says, I've caused more nightmares than your unstable X.
Mike Allen [01:00:21]:
So Brian and I have toyed with the idea of having snarky swag available at events. And I think there's a big market for T shirts that have the killdozer on it with different sayings.
Bryan Pollock [01:00:34]:
Say things like, say, flat rate. One more time.
Mike Allen [01:00:37]:
Yeah, tell me you'll get me on the next one. One more time.
Brandon Dills [01:00:42]:
Yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:44]:
Tell me on Saturdays one more time.
Brandon Dills [01:00:48]:
So.
Mike Allen [01:00:50]:
But hey man, this has been a good time. I really appreciate you taking the time to come out and visit with us on a holiday weekend.
Brandon Dills [01:00:55]:
Oh yeah.
Mike Allen [01:00:56]:
And so I will see you in a couple months at the expo. It's going to be a new space. Have you got your booth all set up? You know where you're going to be, place and all that kind of stuff yet?
Brandon Dills [01:01:08]:
No, I haven't done any of that yet, bro.
Mike Allen [01:01:11]:
Come on, we gotta get. We gotta get you in a primo spot like you've had in the years past.
Brandon Dills [01:01:15]:
But I don't. I. From what I've seen, I don't think there is any outdoor entire time spots. I could be wrong.
Mike Allen [01:01:24]:
Holler.
Brandon Dills [01:01:25]:
I am half retarded.
Mike Allen [01:01:27]:
Okay, talk to me offline. We'll see what we can do. So. Oh yeah, but I'm excited to see you there. Anywho, thanks, brother. Be good.
Brandon Dills [01:01:36]:
Yep.
Mike Allen [01:01:37]:
Happy birthday, America. Thanks for listening to Confessions of a Shop Owner where we lay it all out. The good, the bad, and sometimes the super messed up. I'm your host, Mike Allen, here to remind you that even the pros screw it up sometimes. So why not laugh a little bit, learn a little bit and maybe have another drink? You got a confession of your own or a topic you'd like me to cover? Or do you just want to let me know what an idiot I am? Email Mike Confessions of a shop owner.com or call and leave a message. The number 704 Confess. That's 704-266-3377. If you're enjoyed this episode, be sure to, like subscribe or follow.
Mike Allen [01:02:12]:
Join us on this crazy journey that is shop ownership. I'll see you on the next episode.
Bryan Pollock [01:02:35]:
I said, Jess.
Mike Allen [01:02:40]:
New.
Brandon Dills [01:02:45]:
You know, I said Jesse.