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Welcome to The Gear Box Podcast—the ultimate pit stop for those looking to break into the auto repair business, grow their shop, and navigate the daily grind of the industry.
Thinking about opening a shop? Struggling to increase profitability? Wondering what it really takes to thrive in a competitive market? We tackle the tough questions, break down real-world challenges, and share insider tips from industry experts, seasoned shop owners, and those turning wrenches every day.
From leadership strategies to game-changing innovations, we’re here to help you shift gears and stay ahead of the curve. Buckle up—it’s going to be a ride! 🚗🔧 #AutoRepair #ShopSuccess #TheGearboxPodcast
00:00.00
Matt DiFrancesco
as long as your typical okay that's fine just so i know hey i can go man i i could talk 200 words a minute with gus up to 400 baby so i can go yeah
00:01.58
Jimmy Purdy
ah we'll go We'll go about 45 minutes to an hour. Yeah, don't know. Until we run out of steam.
00:10.35
Jimmy Purdy
Oh, man.
00:14.89
Jimmy Purdy
I've done two hours. Two hours is pretty long. After that, it's like i definitely feel it. like it's like the three like Three o'clock during the day is like minutes and a podcast for me.
00:26.34
Jimmy Purdy
So like when i get to the 40 minute mark, it feels like three o'clock in the day where it's like, you're not like tired, but you can definitely feel it a little bit.
00:26.81
Matt DiFrancesco
okay
00:32.18
Jimmy Purdy
Like you're kind of like settled in now, you know?
00:34.09
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:36.42
Jimmy Purdy
I don't know. it's It's interesting because every time, and I've tried to do it without a timer and it's like 40, 45 minutes. And it's like, I can just feel, I'm like, feel like ah a little dip in energy, just a little bit, just kind of like that three o'clock lull, you know, after lunch.
00:48.57
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, yeah. That's why you need to stand.
00:51.48
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, that's a good idea. see um'm ah I learn something new every day, man. It's crazy.
00:55.65
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right. That's what it's all about, man.
00:56.53
Jimmy Purdy
Well, Mr. Matt DeFrancisco. DeFrancisco.
01:00.93
Matt DiFrancesco
DeFrancesco.
01:02.27
Jimmy Purdy
See, knew I was going to screw that up. I shouldn't even try it out.
01:04.44
Matt DiFrancesco
That's ah it's the, you wouldn't be the first.
01:07.21
Jimmy Purdy
Won't be the last either.
01:08.66
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
01:09.58
Jimmy Purdy
Financial advisor and a certified exit planner. ah Helps collision shop owners transition their businesses and build multi-generational wealth. 20 years of experience and you specialize in guiding family owned shops through exit strategies that protect their legacy and create a clear path for what's next. Matt is also the host of Your Business, Your Life, which is a podcast with over 100 episodes.
01:33.44
Jimmy Purdy
ah Focus on aligning aligning business success with personal fulfillment.
01:39.04
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
01:39.59
Jimmy Purdy
I like that.
01:40.75
Matt DiFrancesco
You like that?
01:40.96
Jimmy Purdy
lot of stuff to unpack there for sure.
01:41.25
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. There really is. There really is.
01:44.26
Jimmy Purdy
i think we got, we got, we definitely got an hour worth stuff talk about here because that's all
01:47.25
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh yeah. There's no doubt.
01:48.10
Jimmy Purdy
This is all great stuff, man.
01:48.57
Matt DiFrancesco
There's no doubt.
01:49.38
Jimmy Purdy
This is This is...
01:50.07
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh yeah. Yeah. As a matter of fact, it was fun. I'm actually in the process of getting clients. I'm going to do podcasts with them, just having them talk about their experience working through because, theyll you know, there is a lot to unpack and, you know, people are kind of going, what do actually need to do? So I'm utilizing their examples to be able to do that.
02:07.51
Jimmy Purdy
That's awesome. This is, you know, powerful stuff because... It's just something you don't think about. And I mean, even for me, i'm I'm getting into the realm now where, you know, you kind of wish you started it earlier, right?
02:18.59
Jimmy Purdy
And it's hard to make, it's hard to make any investment, right?
02:19.44
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
02:20.79
Jimmy Purdy
Because it costs money. You got, it takes money to make money.
02:22.29
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct. Yep.
02:23.44
Jimmy Purdy
And you're just in survival mode for so long, you hold on every dollar and you're so concerned with where that money's going. And when it leaves and then you don't see it back for like a year or two years.
02:34.97
Jimmy Purdy
Right. Like that two years is scary the first time. But then the second time around, oh, man, two years, I'll make my money back.
02:38.01
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
02:40.30
Jimmy Purdy
Like I'm in. Right. Like you're just in the second time you invest.
02:42.75
Matt DiFrancesco
Right.
02:43.77
Jimmy Purdy
It's so it's like 300 times easier. Right.
02:47.55
Matt DiFrancesco
that's That's exactly right. that's You know, it's funny you mention that because i'm actually just writing an article for Body Shop Business on that particular thing.
02:55.07
Jimmy Purdy
Interesting.
02:56.44
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
02:56.51
Jimmy Purdy
and and that cover And that covers in the investment into the shop or what's what's the ah story there?
03:00.12
Matt DiFrancesco
Investment in the shop, investment into yourself, all of that stuff.
03:04.67
Jimmy Purdy
That's cool. Yeah, it's it's a big deal because you get stuck in the trap, you know?
03:05.60
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
03:09.66
Jimmy Purdy
And I refer to as the entrepreneurial trap, right?
03:10.12
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
03:13.25
Jimmy Purdy
Because you you think you're going to open a business and you're going be free and you're going to like all this money coming in. You're going to get to choose your own hours and all this kind of stuff.
03:19.61
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah
03:19.68
Jimmy Purdy
And it's like, And then before you know you're working 24 hours a day basically, right? So 10, 12 hours a day and waking up early in the next day to try to get ahead of the curve.
03:23.86
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Uh-huh.
03:27.71
Jimmy Purdy
And the next day you're getting up little bit earlier to get ahead of the curve. And before you know there is no and getting ahead of it. And and you're just and you're in a trap.
03:32.51
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
03:33.79
Jimmy Purdy
you know Now it's like now your hours, instead of getting there at eight, you get there at six. And now that's your new normal, right? And instead of leaving at five, you're leaving at six.
03:38.62
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
03:39.63
Jimmy Purdy
Now you're leaving at seven. It's like, it's crazy, man. And you have to invest in all that other stuff make work.
03:42.78
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah i always say i always say you're the first one there, first one to come in, last one to leave, and last one to get paid.
03:49.41
Jimmy Purdy
That's very true.
03:50.96
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
03:50.97
Jimmy Purdy
That's very true.
03:52.34
Matt DiFrancesco
Yep.
03:52.36
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah. And then, then it's to the point, right? Then that small amount of money that you get, you're like, I'm not letting this leave my sight.
04:00.51
Matt DiFrancesco
and That's right.
04:01.04
Jimmy Purdy
not investing in anything, but then, then what's the end game, right?
04:01.46
Matt DiFrancesco
I know. i know. It's tough, man.
04:05.50
Jimmy Purdy
And it's like, then you you just struggle and it's like, you've never set anything up to exit.
04:06.26
Matt DiFrancesco
Yep.
04:09.19
Jimmy Purdy
Right.
04:10.12
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
04:10.08
Jimmy Purdy
And even for me, I mean, that's so far and the I'm like, I'm still building. Right. So i've I've had, I've had conversations like this with other, you know,
04:15.00
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
04:18.74
Jimmy Purdy
Similar people in your position have similar companies. And it's just I think about that personally and I'm like, wow, I'm so far from that. And I just ignore it. Right. I'm like, I don't I don't need to worry about that.
04:29.52
Jimmy Purdy
Right. And it's like I realize it's that's a mistake.
04:30.25
Matt DiFrancesco
That's.
04:33.25
Matt DiFrancesco
hmm. Yo, you're exactly right. You're exactly right. It's.
04:36.32
Jimmy Purdy
Is that a conversation you have a lot with like new clients?
04:36.94
Matt DiFrancesco
and even
04:39.83
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. it's It's amazing. And it's a lot of my messaging now. So I kind of got when I first like really started diving in with collision shops, I found, you know, the guys that were coming to me were like, I'm 65 years old. I'm burned out. i don't have any kids. I don't know. And they were like they were stuck.
04:58.18
Matt DiFrancesco
I mean, and we had no chance to build value in the business. You know, you know, I'd go i so be like, what kind of lifestyle do you want to live? well, what I'm living now. And then you'd start looking at their, you know, their personal assets, run the financial plan, look at um what their business value was on a sale. What are we going to net out of that?
05:15.44
Matt DiFrancesco
And it didn't line up, but we had no time to be able to build value in the business to help them achieve the lifestyle. So, Then I got really aggressive in marketing to younger owners and started saying, look, you need to be, you five years, five years and and earlier, you know, is really when you need to start planning.
05:32.88
Matt DiFrancesco
And really, ideally, when you open your shop.
05:36.69
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, you're just, yeah, it's so it's a that's a weird thing to think about, you know.
05:41.90
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, it really is.
05:42.57
Jimmy Purdy
ah it I mean, well, there's two different business owners, right? You have like, and we talked about this before we before we jumped on, right? You have like the business owners and then you have a business owner, right? So you have like a a business owner that like becomes a business owner, but never really becomes a business owner, right?
05:55.98
Jimmy Purdy
Because they're still working in the business and they never take a step back and and work, you know, in it instead of on it.
05:57.73
Matt DiFrancesco
Right. Yep.
06:00.76
Jimmy Purdy
Or they're always working in it, not on it. And so you have those two. And some people can grab a shop and they open it and they have a system in place and they just boom boom, boom, boom, all the layers go into place. And immediately they're already planning on, OK, how do I get my EBITDA? How do I how do I get this thing ready to sell in the next 15 years? Right. And that's like year one. They're already setting that up.
06:20.01
Jimmy Purdy
Right.
06:20.22
Matt DiFrancesco
You're right.
06:20.24
Jimmy Purdy
Where the rest, where like most of us, the majority is like, you just step in the shoes of ah of, being an owner and you're just like, how do I make enough money to be comfortable this year? And like the last thing I'm thinking about is like selling this place.
06:33.14
Matt DiFrancesco
Right. It's exactly right. But you got to begin with the end in mind, as Stephen Covey always says.
06:35.53
Jimmy Purdy
It's crazy.
06:38.70
Jimmy Purdy
Hmm.
06:39.49
Matt DiFrancesco
And that's where I start. I get these guys starting to think, OK, we're going to back. I said doing this stuff, I've been doing this for 20 years. For me, it's just putting a puzzle together. I know the pieces that fit together.
06:51.22
Matt DiFrancesco
The problem is, is if I don't see the picture on the box, I don't know the best way to put the puzzle together. Okay. And so we start with getting the, you making, creating the picture on the box.
06:58.13
Jimmy Purdy
want
07:03.00
Matt DiFrancesco
What do you want your life and business to look like? What do you want for your family? What's this vision? What's your lifestyle going to look like? Okay. And then we work in reverse. We kind of figure out, okay, so what kind of income, and we'll look at today's dollars. All right.
07:17.01
Matt DiFrancesco
um And what that's going to be. So it's like, it's, it's like you're going on a trip. And so the first thing we're going to put in your GPS is,
07:26.09
Jimmy Purdy
where you want to go
07:27.37
Matt DiFrancesco
Exactly. Okay? You got to know where you want to go.
07:30.07
Jimmy Purdy
Realistically, realistically, though, right?
07:30.27
Matt DiFrancesco
right?
07:32.03
Jimmy Purdy
I'm sure you have a lot of the realistic conversation you're have, right?
07:34.53
Matt DiFrancesco
Not necessarily. Sometimes i want I want to know their bucket lists.
07:38.99
Jimmy Purdy
Hmm.
07:39.95
Matt DiFrancesco
That's really because the stuff that's going to drive them, two things that are going to drive them is not just not being realistic. It's going to be dreams. Boy, I'd like to be able to travel to Europe once a year. Oh, I'd like to be able to...
07:54.80
Matt DiFrancesco
um you know, ah golf five days a week. Oh, I'd like to be able to, you know, climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Okay. Whatever those things are. And the other thing is pain.
08:07.95
Matt DiFrancesco
So if you, if I get them thinking about big dreams and big goals and then say, okay, well, what, how would, how would you feel if you didn't achieve these things? And all of a sudden now I'm getting them emotionally involved in the process.
08:22.69
Matt DiFrancesco
And, It's painful. It's painful. But we, you know, we have to, people will react to pain quicker than pleasure. So yeah my my the one ah my assistant who works with me on on plan, she kind of sits second chair. She does a lot of the yeah project management and um and business development.
08:42.81
Matt DiFrancesco
I was telling her this because she's a, you know you know, she's a devout Christian and she doesn't want to hurt people's feelings. And I said, sometimes you got to create some pain, but you're doing it for their benefit, because that will be a lot of times the only way that they start moving forward.
08:54.96
Jimmy Purdy
Right.
08:59.91
Matt DiFrancesco
So that's what we do is create this great picture.
08:59.85
Jimmy Purdy
It's true.
09:02.43
Matt DiFrancesco
Then we analyze the second thing in the GPS. It asks you where you're coming from, right?
09:07.02
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
09:10.96
Matt DiFrancesco
And so we've got to look at where they are now.
09:10.91
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah. yeah
09:13.79
Matt DiFrancesco
And then what do they need to do to get to this end point? Now I can start creating the strategies to do that.
09:22.27
Jimmy Purdy
Interesting. So, I mean, with that mind, it does make sense to start earlier, right?
09:28.49
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, yeah.
09:28.58
Jimmy Purdy
ah The sooner the better. i mean, day one, right? Because you want to know.
09:34.49
Jimmy Purdy
It's hard to detach yourself from the daily grind. You know, like when once you get involved and you're doing what you have to do every day you forget that there's another life that you could be, that you will be having, hopefully.
09:38.51
Matt DiFrancesco
Yes.
09:47.28
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
09:48.02
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct.
09:48.28
Jimmy Purdy
Hopefully you get to retire. Hopefully you get to sell your, what you've built your whole life and and do something fun. What does that look like? What do you want? But when you're 10 years in, I could imagine that's, that's, that's very difficult to say. I don't know. I'm just and but probably a lot of guys that retire and they just end up opening another shop or they just hang around the shop. There's like, i don't know what else I'm supposed to do. i don't know. or I don't even know what I like anymore.
10:06.61
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
10:07.22
Matt DiFrancesco
Well, right, right. And then, you know, it's like they they they die in their seat, you know, and, um you know, who wants to do that?
10:11.89
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
10:14.31
Matt DiFrancesco
You know, and the other thing is, i think, again, they don't understand what the possibilities are. And if they start planning ahead, you There's a lot of different possibilities. So I'll give you an example. I've got a client who um he's up in Massachusetts and he came to me, told me, look, I don't have any, um'm I'm 60. I think he's 63 years old.
10:36.03
Matt DiFrancesco
um Just he had a bout of cancer. He's going, you know, I need to start looking at what life looks like afterwards. I don't have any kids. My employees aren't interested in taking it over.
10:47.04
Matt DiFrancesco
And so we started going through this process of designing his life. And then, know, we so really started talking about like, okay, so you you sell the business. So you sell it to a consolidator. You see Gerber or or caliber that's or vibe or whoever it is.
11:00.69
Matt DiFrancesco
You see that sign on your, uh, on your shop. said, how would that make you feel? And he, all of a sudden he looked, he kind of pauses and he goes, you know, I live a mile away from my shop. I i would drive by it every day because I don't think that would make me feel that good. and And I'm like, oh, okay.
11:15.95
Matt DiFrancesco
So then we started talking about his employees and he really like liked his employees and he wants to take care of them. So we started putting in a plan in place. I said, yeah he's like, you know, if I only had to come in like 20 hours a week, just come in in the morning, maybe do a team meeting and then I could go out and do whatever I wanted.
11:32.58
Matt DiFrancesco
He goes, that would be great. And I could take care of my employees. That'd be great. So we started working and I call that incidental ownership. So in an incidental owner, you were the the business doesn't run you. You run the business, okay?
11:46.53
Matt DiFrancesco
As an essential owner, the business runs you, okay? You have to be there. It's completely dependent on you, all right? And having a shop like that not only doesn't give you freedom, but it also drives the value of the business down.
12:00.13
Matt DiFrancesco
So when you look at business value, one of the key things is how dependent is the is the shop on the owner being there, okay? Well, we have a shot now that does isn't dependent on him being there all the time.
12:13.98
Matt DiFrancesco
All of a sudden, he's raised the value of his business. So if he does decide to sell, it becomes a much more marketable entity or asset for him.
12:22.99
Jimmy Purdy
well kind of walk me through that process a little bit how and and I love that analogy i love the because you have the absentee owner right and you have all these different I like i like how how you worded it that's that sounds politically correct yeah
12:33.98
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
12:37.28
Matt DiFrancesco
Thank you. Thank you.
12:38.20
Jimmy Purdy
but But how do you, so do you strategize with like hiring of a manager or like, do you have private equity come in and put someone in place or how how does that work if if say someone was interested in that kind of position so they didn't have to completely leave the business, but they get to have, because in my my mind, owning a business is that, right?
12:56.71
Jimmy Purdy
Not necessarily being an absentee owner, but like, yeah, you come in, you motivate the people and then you go do the rest of your day, right?
12:57.10
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct.
13:02.07
Jimmy Purdy
You check, you come in the end of the week and you make sure the numbers are lining up, make sure that they're, you know, The money in the bank smashes what, you know, you you do your checks and your balances, right? Coming in the morning, get everyone prepped up and then you start your day and you go, that's what my vision of like business ownership looks like.
13:10.94
Matt DiFrancesco
Right.
13:16.86
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct.
13:17.20
Jimmy Purdy
So that's why you kind of hit a head of button for me. So in those kinds of situations, how do you transition the owner into that role?
13:19.96
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
13:25.18
Matt DiFrancesco
Well, I think the first thing you've got to do again, and it all comes down to that personal vision and really what they want what they what they want out of life and what they want for not only their their their themselves, but their families.
13:37.07
Matt DiFrancesco
right.
13:37.16
Jimmy Purdy
Sure.
13:37.27
Matt DiFrancesco
how And then how the business fits in. Now, um there's a lot of different ways you could do this. You could one, you could bring in some private equity investor to influx some cash, um which, you know, but then a lot of times you become beholden because now you have an investor in the business.
13:53.42
Jimmy Purdy
Sure.
13:53.51
Matt DiFrancesco
Now you become beholden to them. So now you kind of get your back in square one with kind of a job because they're, you know, again, they're investing in it to make sure that it's some you know that they're getting good cash flow and they're getting a return on their investment.
14:07.14
Jimmy Purdy
Sure.
14:07.21
Matt DiFrancesco
So i don't know I don't usually recommend that sort of thing. There's a couple different things that we'll do. One thing is we'll look at what I call a management succession worksheet. So I'll go through with the with with the owner and we'll look at all the different roles that are out there. okay And then who's responsible for each role.
14:27.10
Matt DiFrancesco
And it really starts with the first thing I make them i want to make them aware of is, How owner dependent is your business? And so I'll have them do a survey on these things. And it's amazing. I mean, some of times, you know, they'll be like 75, 80 percent dependent.
14:42.03
Matt DiFrancesco
And I'm like, you know, you're not in a good position if there are anything, you if there anything above 50 percent, you're you're got a very owner dependent business. So now what we're looking is saying, okay, look at all these roles and these things that you do.
14:54.65
Matt DiFrancesco
Who would be your successor if something happened to you? If you could not do this or who would you want to pass this on to? So we'll look at some of the key employees. We'll take all the key employees and who could be the successor. And then how capable are they?
15:08.32
Matt DiFrancesco
All right. Could they take over the job right now? They get a one. All right. Could they do they need a little bit of training to this? Then they get a two. They need to be completely trained on. They get a three. So now we've all of a sudden we've taken every role.
15:20.49
Matt DiFrancesco
We found out who's who's in charge.
15:20.66
Jimmy Purdy
all
15:22.69
Matt DiFrancesco
You know, who's the one responsible for that? Who would be a natural successor and how capable? So then what I have them do, I said, OK, let's start with a low hanging fruit. So all the things that you do that you have a natural successor that can take over right now, I need you to delegate that stuff now.
15:40.18
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
15:40.78
Jimmy Purdy
appreciate
15:41.27
Matt DiFrancesco
then Then we start looking at the next tier, and the ones that um you need a little bit of training. Okay. Now we're going to invest time and let's get them trained up so they can start taking these things off your plate.
15:52.30
Matt DiFrancesco
And so you start you you start breaking it down into bite-sized pieces. Okay. Right. It's about eating an elephant, not eat an elephant one bite at a time. So we're going to do it one bite at a time. And that's how we start to create less owner dependency and allow him to be more of an incidental owner.
16:08.37
Matt DiFrancesco
I think the other thing, too, and this is a really important thing. And i don't know if you've ever read the book. um 10x is easier than two x by ah Dan Sullivan and and and Dr. Benjamin Hardy.
16:18.43
Jimmy Purdy
I haven't, but I'm going to check that one up.
16:18.84
Matt DiFrancesco
And the whole premise of this, oh, it's a great book. It's fantastic. As a matter of fact, if you're going I would start with the gap and the gain and then read who, not how, and then read 10X.
16:30.40
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. Because what they talk about in 10X is, 10X is not 10 times saying the size of your business.
16:30.83
Jimmy Purdy
Okay.
16:36.99
Matt DiFrancesco
10X is creating a vision that just kind of blows your mind. All right. That's like, you know, doubling your business is just like, okay, I'll put twice as much at work on it. When you're looking at 10 X, it's going to be like, I got to start thinking in a completely different way.
16:51.41
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
16:51.65
Matt DiFrancesco
So lot of this is really kind of doing an evaluation of everything that you do and figuring what's my what's my unique ability. and Okay. So like even I've done this in my business.
17:03.95
Matt DiFrancesco
So I had things that, you know, like um just admin work, you know, making travel arrangements, responding to emails, all this, you know, booking my schedule, handling my calendar. This was all stuff that I hate doing that doesn't earn me money.
17:18.12
Matt DiFrancesco
So what I had to do was I had to first go and I delegated all that stuff. So I hired ah and personal assistant to handle my calendar, to book my travel arrangements. I hired a ah service team to basically do all my admin work.
17:31.37
Matt DiFrancesco
So I got that stuff off my plate. The second area was the stuff that earns me money, but I don't particularly like doing. So like returning calls, making proposals, um you know um ah you know data entry or CRMs, those type of things.
17:47.22
Matt DiFrancesco
So then I started to delegate that stuff up because what I found, my unique ability was basically being chief strategist, sitting with the clients and being the chief guy to be able to coordinate the plans, get to the root causes, deal with the emotional aspects of this because there's that's a huge component of all this is managing the client's emotions throughout the process, especially when their family transfers, and okay?
18:13.75
Jimmy Purdy
Right? oh yeah.
18:14.42
Matt DiFrancesco
And then then the things that don't make me any money, but I love doing, that's like you know playing tennis and pickleball and traveling and and personal development, all that stuff. Now I'm free to do that stuff. But you see, I found out what my unique genius was, found the who's, not the how to get these done, but the who's that could get that done.
18:32.83
Matt DiFrancesco
And that's how you start to move from that essential owner to that incidental owner.
18:38.54
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, that's um yeah super valuable. because I mean, people, it is, but like people can use that in their business too because they get so, they don't get stay in their lane, right?
18:41.74
Matt DiFrancesco
It's a lot to digest.
18:47.52
Jimmy Purdy
And I know we're talking kind of collision, but auto repair, it's businesses business is business is business, right?
18:48.92
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
18:52.63
Jimmy Purdy
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, right? Like, yeah, we have all our nuances, but blue collar is blue collar and we're all we're all doing the, the GP needs to stay the same, the net about needs to stay the same.
18:55.56
Matt DiFrancesco
Yep.
19:02.88
Jimmy Purdy
I mean, that's always better when it's more,
19:06.60
Jimmy Purdy
You know, the it's like the numbers, the numbers always line up to be the same.
19:07.66
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Well, of course, of course.
19:09.48
Jimmy Purdy
The tech, the technicians usually get paid about the same. It's like, it should be the same across the board.
19:13.66
Matt DiFrancesco
Uh oh.
19:14.38
Jimmy Purdy
And, and in every every industry, the fluctuations go up and down.
19:17.72
Matt DiFrancesco
What happened there?
19:17.97
Jimmy Purdy
So, I mean, that that's just what it is. But like, what I was getting at was like some, some auto repair businesses, they don't stay in their lane. And then they end up doing these jobs that don't give them, well, I lost you for a second.
19:31.65
Matt DiFrancesco
You there, Jimmy?
19:33.60
Jimmy Purdy
Oh,
19:35.61
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, I know. i don't know what happened.
19:37.13
Jimmy Purdy
Are we back? I think we're back. That's the internet.
19:40.42
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Is that on my end?
19:43.72
Jimmy Purdy
No, I think it was me for some reason. That's the first time it happened.
19:46.49
Matt DiFrancesco
I'm wired in, so.
19:48.54
Jimmy Purdy
um i'm not sure where I'm not sure where you left out.
19:49.68
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
19:50.22
Jimmy Purdy
The recording kept going, so i not sure I'm not sure where you left me.
19:54.35
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
19:55.32
Jimmy Purdy
We were at GP, right? Talking GP and...
19:56.75
Matt DiFrancesco
I kind of left you. we We were talking GP and all that. Yeah.
20:00.97
Jimmy Purdy
Okay, okay so yeah so ah so the collision and the auto repair industry is very similar, It's the same as like most other blue collars.
20:02.10
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Right.
20:07.01
Jimmy Purdy
What I was saying is like... most shops don't stay in their lane. Like they, they don't, they start taking on repairs that they shouldn't be taking on because they, they, they don't know how to stay in their lane.
20:14.72
Matt DiFrancesco
right
20:18.06
Jimmy Purdy
And so they get these non-profitable low GP jobs. Right. But like, that's a great business strategy. Like stay in your lane, do what you're good at and then hire out where you're not like, how many business owners do you know that do their own taxes and their own accounting?
20:30.76
Jimmy Purdy
Are you a freaking CPA man? Hire a CPA. What are you doing?
20:34.14
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
20:34.10
Jimmy Purdy
Like,
20:35.05
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, boy. I keep losing you here.
20:36.57
Jimmy Purdy
and And some of them have wives that are CPAs, but for the most part, it's like, i think we lost you for a second again.
20:39.75
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
20:42.27
Matt DiFrancesco
see I get you back here.
20:48.17
Jimmy Purdy
Having some ah technical difficulties here. think we're back though.
20:53.11
Matt DiFrancesco
I'm just... um I'll check... Yeah.
20:55.10
Jimmy Purdy
Are you back?
20:57.29
Matt DiFrancesco
I'm running speed test here just to make sure. Yeah, can you hear me?
21:00.35
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, here we're back. Technical difficulties happened.
21:03.36
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
21:04.66
Jimmy Purdy
But I think we're good.
21:05.45
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah that's true.
21:05.92
Jimmy Purdy
it It kept recording on my side. So hopefully you got the just what I was saying is like is is using that for your ah your own personal growth to like stand in your lane, doing what you're good at and hiring out, you know, what you should be.
21:10.09
Matt DiFrancesco
That's a good thing.
21:18.41
Jimmy Purdy
And just like you said, with like a personal assistant, you know, I mean, you should hire a CPA, you should hire a tax accountant, like
21:19.66
Matt DiFrancesco
Right, right.
21:23.64
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh my gosh.
21:27.65
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Well, and and again, I think, you know, even with the CPA, you want to hire a good tax planning CPA. Yeah. All right. And that's one of the things that I do. So I, how I work, I'm kind of the quarterback in all of this with, with the clients.
21:41.53
Matt DiFrancesco
So, you know, I'm helping them to develop the plans. We put, you know, we put the plan in place and then I'm bringing in a lot of times the team to either work with their people or to do the actual work for them. All right. To make sure that it's done properly. Because again, anytime you're doing, whether it's exit strategies or value building or building value in the business, you're All right. You need to have proper tax planning strategies. You need to have a business attorney. So we make sure that the business and their, so their, their personal estate planning is done properly.
22:12.77
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. um You know, if, if it gets into, we need to clean up their financials or a mess. All right. Or we need to identify where, you know, You know, where where are they missing out? Why their gross profits at 6%? Why?
22:26.58
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. Maybe they have leakage in their paint booth. Maybe, um you know, maybe they're not negotiating, ah you know, proper prices, ah parts, um ah you know, proper pricing for their parts. I mean, could be a number of different things. So I might bring in somebody from the, like a consultant that can analyze their books and say, oh, look, I mean, I have one client we did that with and and the consultant came in. He's like, you got 58% leakage in your paint booth.
23:32.47
Matt DiFrancesco
You're back.
23:33.17
Jimmy Purdy
We're back. It happens. No, that's that's a great point too. You know, like having a looking for, I
23:37.42
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. I was just, I mean, I'm checking my, my, what's that?
23:43.73
Jimmy Purdy
i was saying with what you're saying, they had 58% leakage in the booth.
23:50.61
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
23:53.73
Jimmy Purdy
The internet's running a little slow.
23:53.88
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. I mean, that's, that's, that's a huge number.
23:54.96
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
23:56.66
Matt DiFrancesco
That's just,
23:56.92
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
23:58.91
Matt DiFrancesco
On your end? Yeah. um my my My upload's at 20.9, so um that's pretty good. and
24:07.73
Jimmy Purdy
Now we're making it happen.
24:09.26
Matt DiFrancesco
It's little low, but...
24:11.38
Jimmy Purdy
Well, it sounds like most of it, what you you you kind of come in as like a business consultant and kind of like a business coach more than just like an exit strategy.
24:13.04
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay.
24:19.23
Jimmy Purdy
Right. And just, but you're really looking for like the most important things to make their business worth the most amount of money.
24:24.25
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, that's pretty much... It's it's really more coaching.
24:32.10
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct. Correct. And... to get them to make themselves. So I will also look at it from the personal side. Okay. Because that's really when my core business comes in is again, it's not just about, it's not just about how much you make, it's about how much you keep. but Okay.
24:48.36
Matt DiFrancesco
So again, i can help them to implement certain tax strategies. Now I'll do this in conjunction with a qualified CPA. I'm not licensed to do that, but I can say, look, I think, you know, what we need to do is we need to put a 401k profit sharing plan that's That's going to allow you to put $70,000 personally plus contributions to your employees, which you're going to be doing deferring taxes on all that.
25:13.46
Matt DiFrancesco
and So you get a hundred grand a year into into it into a properly structured retirement plan. All right. um You're going to in
25:25.77
Matt DiFrancesco
depending on your structure
25:29.66
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, really really just focusing on the business side, you know, and a lot of coaching companies that i've I've been with or heard about, you know, they they think auto repair is so it's ah ah specific specific, right? and they And they focus so much on the auto repair aspect, instead of taking a step back and saying, well, what makes the business worth money?
25:50.58
Jimmy Purdy
Right. And it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily matter if it's like collision or auto repair, like I said, right. It's just like, cause you could, what you're saying now is you could just, that goes across anything.
25:57.61
Matt DiFrancesco
Right. Oh,
26:00.53
Jimmy Purdy
Like it's, it's just, it's kind of common sense when you hear it, it ah you know what I mean?
26:02.63
Matt DiFrancesco
however
26:11.60
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, it really is. It really is. the benefit The benefit of knowing a certain industry or being niched in an industry, like with collision on my part, is that um I know i know the the the problems that they face. you know The difference between mechanical repair repair and and and the collision industry is that the and mechanical player is all just out of pocket. that you know A customer comes in, they need their car fixed, car gets fixed, they write a check.
26:36.29
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay? Okay. In the collision industry, you've got these insurance these insurance companies and it's having to navigate those insurance companies. But, you know, one of the things that I see, and I think it crosses into both industries.
26:52.24
Jimmy Purdy
yeah
26:54.69
Matt DiFrancesco
Is that. um you can you know by by you can raise profitability by just niching in a certain area. So for example, in a lot of my shops, so what we're starting to talk about is, do we want to just, you know,
27:12.17
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah Do we want to go more narrow and focus and increase, not necessarily move more cars through to increase gross revenue, but move the same car or less cars with a higher level of profitability? Well, how do you do that?
27:25.33
Matt DiFrancesco
Well, it's OEM certifications. Maybe you get certified in just a number, just a couple, you know, get certified with a couple OEs. I think the second thing is that, you know, again, we do OEM, follow OEM procedures.
27:41.77
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. And the third thing is to learn.
28:00.61
Matt DiFrancesco
there, Jimmy?
28:06.49
Jimmy Purdy
There was her back.
28:07.42
Matt DiFrancesco
I see you're in there. You are.
28:08.83
Jimmy Purdy
How are we back?
28:10.54
Matt DiFrancesco
ah kept talking. I wasn't sure if you were still recording, if it was still recording or not.
28:13.72
Jimmy Purdy
No, I mean, we missed that part.
28:14.06
Matt DiFrancesco
So, yeah.
28:17.08
Jimmy Purdy
So,
28:17.29
Matt DiFrancesco
I kept talking because I wasn't sure if it was still recording, but then I got kind of got sidetracked.
28:22.36
Jimmy Purdy
um and was right up right right up when you said what the correlation between the two are.
28:24.65
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. ah Okay.
28:32.72
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, the yeah the basically and they're they're under similar constraints. I think the big difference is that the automotive repair business is it's cash driven. I mean, a customer, or their car breaks down, it comes into the shop, they repair it, customer writes a check, boom, walks out the door.
28:55.72
Matt DiFrancesco
In the collision industry, it's very insurance driven. So now now you've got collision shop owners that have to learn how to navigate the whole insurance world that's out there. So what I'm seeing, but I think the big parallel between the two is that I think, you know, again, it's not necessarily always about increasing revenue, but it's about increasing profitability.
29:18.81
Matt DiFrancesco
I think any business owner would say if they didn't have to, if they could do the same volume or less, but have a much higher level of profitability, they take that any day.
29:30.26
Matt DiFrancesco
Right?
29:31.25
Jimmy Purdy
Sure. Yeah.
29:31.63
Matt DiFrancesco
So, How do you do that? Well, one you know, one thing we've got a lot of our guys doing, look ah getting oh getting OE certifications. Okay.
29:42.07
Matt DiFrancesco
um I think the second thing, and not getting 15 out there, but maybe two or three in a very specialized market, like Euro luxury or, you know, EVs or, you know, whatever that may be.
29:55.97
Matt DiFrancesco
So you know being very narrow, this is what we do. we do We are oe OE certified. We are going to follow OE specs. And then educating the customers on not only their rights but but with the insurance company, but also this is what the cost of the repair is going to be to be done right. Because we want to do this according to how the manufacturers built this vehicle. And they built this vehicle for yours and your family's safety.
30:24.52
Matt DiFrancesco
And we don't want to cut corners. And, you know, a lot of times it's about we, I actually, a lot of times I end up having them to teach a lot of these shop owners basic sales, basic sales skills, like pre-framing.
30:35.42
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. Now here's the repair plan. Now I'm going to tell you, Mr. Customer or Mrs. Customer, you know, we're going to send this into your insurance company, but they are going to push back on this and they're not going to be willing to pay all this.
30:47.40
Matt DiFrancesco
You have rights. I mean, you have two options. One is you could just write me a check and, and we'd be done. Second thing is you can go back to your insurance company. And if you have a right to appraisal or, um or, um,
30:59.27
Matt DiFrancesco
or whatever, you know, or, you know, even just going to them and saying, look, I'm this loyal customer of yours. I want my car fixed according to these standards. And if you want to keep my business, this is what you're going to do. So educating the customer.
31:11.21
Matt DiFrancesco
And by this, we can start getting paid for doing the repair right and every part of it, you know, storage, parts, every part that needs to be paid, no getting proper labor rates, all of those things.
31:25.37
Matt DiFrancesco
So, you know And I think the same thing happens even just the automotive repair um business is being very specific because we just can't be generalists anymore. i don't you know Because yeah we can only move so many cars through our shops. okay We only have so much space to do that.
31:44.84
Matt DiFrancesco
And so really the key is how do we increase the profitability with each car that comes in?
31:50.61
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah. and And having someone be able to oversee that and show you, and in in I guess in a sense, slap you on the back of your hand, right? Don't do that anymore. Don't like charge what you're supposed to be charging, right?
32:03.17
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct.
32:03.26
Jimmy Purdy
Quit discounting stuff, quit emotionally discounting stuff, quit, make sure your parts margins where they need to be quit taking customer supplied parts.
32:06.51
Matt DiFrancesco
Right.
32:09.96
Jimmy Purdy
Like they said, and a lot of that probably blurs over into the collision field, right? It's just like, And I know a lot of it's insurance, but there's still private people come in that want to get their cars fixed that aren't. and I mean, how many times people say, oh, i don't want to, don't want I don't want to do the claim because it's going to make my insurance rates go up.
32:22.76
Matt DiFrancesco
Exactly.
32:25.90
Jimmy Purdy
Right. So they're like, well, they still want the dent fixed. Right. So it's like, it's still there. Right. And then, and then they're still going to go on eBay and say, I found that fender on eBay for half price.
32:32.88
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
32:39.60
Matt DiFrancesco
That's exactly right. That's right.
32:40.95
Jimmy Purdy
And so,
32:41.16
Matt DiFrancesco
because That's exactly right. But, you know, again, that's where educating the customer is actually interesting. There's a program my coach does called Mastering the Art of People that we're we're actually working on.
32:52.08
Matt DiFrancesco
um He's working with me to license this program to be able to take it out to the rest of, you know, to the industry. Yeah.
33:21.46
Jimmy Purdy
Lost again.
33:25.27
Jimmy Purdy
Got you right right right where you you were talking about the book, The Art of People.
33:25.48
Matt DiFrancesco
Yep, I'm here.
33:33.13
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, no, no, it wasn't a book. It's actually a program. So, so yeah, my, my coach has this program called mastering the art of people, which, you know, he's produced, I've done it.
33:35.76
Jimmy Purdy
Program.
33:41.82
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Many times. And, um, I was actually talking to it with a bunch of, uh, uh, shop owners and, uh, they were really interested. I said, you know, i said, you know what your biggest problem is.
33:52.50
Matt DiFrancesco
And I, I, I, this is probably across, you know, whether it's collision or automotive repair. is because these guys do blue collar work, all right, they don't consider themselves professionals.
34:05.22
Matt DiFrancesco
Now think about a vehicle.
34:05.45
Jimmy Purdy
That's a great point.
34:07.02
Matt DiFrancesco
We're driving, we're driving computers on wheels. I mean, it's highly, highly, highly technical. And so, you know, you've got to start thinking and an owner's got to start thinking like, you know, like a professional, like a dentist or an attorney, you know, like how many times do we just, somebody shows up at the shop to bring their car in we drop everything and we're going to do this.
34:27.84
Matt DiFrancesco
No, why can't you work off appointments? OK, why can't you schedule so that you've got adequate flow coming in? OK, in the collision world, I mean, I got one guy where, you know, he makes customers and adjusters book appointments and he makes them book it at the same time.
34:45.19
Matt DiFrancesco
So when the adjusters coming, the customer's there and he's there and now they can have a kind of dialogue about. how this repair is going to be done and what the insurance company is going to pay for. Okay.
34:55.60
Matt DiFrancesco
Pretty ingenious, but it's about mastering the art of people. So I was actually telling them about this program and they were like, Oh, we want it. We'd love to do that. So I'm actually working right now with my coach to do a licensing deal with them that I can provide this out to shop owners so they can start learning how to just, how do we master the art of people? How do we learn to read people? How do we learn to communicate properly?
35:18.03
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. Because that's the bottom line. But again, it comes down to, we've got to start thinking of ourselves as business owners. You know, I mean, I got a client of mine.
35:26.91
Jimmy Purdy
Absolutely, man.
35:27.87
Matt DiFrancesco
They've got a, they got an auto. Yeah. They've got ah they've got a um automotive repair shop and dad just kind of transitioned to the sun and the sun is just, He looks at himself as a grease monkey and he doesn't want to do anything. And I'm watching the business just slowly go down, you know, and I keep trying to tell him, no, you're a business owner. You got to be a professional about this.
35:46.59
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. You can't just show up when you want to show up and you can't, you know, you know, clean yourself up a little bit. I know that I know you're working on cars, but you know, wait when you're going to see a customer wash your hands. Okay. ah so
35:59.80
Jimmy Purdy
Be presentable.
36:00.42
Matt DiFrancesco
Simple stuff like that. Yeah.
36:02.80
Jimmy Purdy
It's kind of, you have to, you have to take that salesman role kind of seriously. Like you, and and there's that negative connotation about being in quote unquote a salesman, right?
36:06.84
Matt DiFrancesco
Yes.
36:12.01
Jimmy Purdy
But that is the quintessential art of what you have to learn to do because you're selling yourself everywhere you go. Everybody you talk to, everything you present, everything you like, everything.
36:23.06
Jimmy Purdy
So it's, it's the the negative connotation is is, drives me crazy when it comes to that kind of stuff. Oh, I don't want to be a salesman. Well, then you probably shouldn't own a business.
36:33.05
Matt DiFrancesco
me a second. I'm sorry. No, that was me. at This time I... My phone's usually on do not disturb and, and, uh, and I, because it's after six, I forgot to put it back on there.
36:40.84
Jimmy Purdy
Oh, I didn't hear it.
36:43.90
Matt DiFrancesco
As soon as a phone call comes in, it's, it's, yeah, exactly.
36:46.87
Jimmy Purdy
Oh, it took over your headphones, huh?
36:49.34
Matt DiFrancesco
So sorry about that. What were we talking about? and thats he We'll get there one of these days.
36:51.55
Jimmy Purdy
That's all right. No, just just the fact of of taking that role as a business owner. I mean, you you have to take that sales role like you are a salesman, right? Like that's what you're in.
36:59.20
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Yeah.
37:00.51
Jimmy Purdy
But it's a negative connotation. was oh I'm not going to be a sleazy salesman. It's like there's nothing sleazy about it. It's it's it's what makes the world go around. Right. Like that's people people are buying or they're selling.
37:11.52
Jimmy Purdy
That's your whole life. That's what we do.
37:12.80
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah Are you married?
37:13.14
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
37:14.50
Matt DiFrancesco
you were so You had to sell your wife on marrying you, right? Okay. Do you have kids? You're selling them on your values and your principles.
37:20.37
Jimmy Purdy
she she so She sold your ass on getting those kids, i'll tell you that much right now.
37:20.75
Matt DiFrancesco
And yeah,
37:24.13
Matt DiFrancesco
that's, that's right. That's exactly right. So I mean, then it's, it's such, it blows my mind. I'm not a salesman. well but It must be because I say your wife and you definitely outkicked your competition.
37:37.27
Jimmy Purdy
you got it in you, bud. There's something in there. Get that out.
37:39.72
Matt DiFrancesco
That's exactly right.
37:39.89
Jimmy Purdy
And if you don't, then, then go work for somebody like that. You're not, you're not going to be, a you know, there's, there's, there's, and for me too, is it's ever learning, but the more you learn, the more you realize it is about how you present yourself.
37:51.25
Jimmy Purdy
It's about what you do for the community. It's about getting out there. It's never about fixing the car. Like that's just, you own it or, you know, body shop, auto repair, like that's, that's a given.
37:56.25
Matt DiFrancesco
Uh-uh.
38:00.77
Jimmy Purdy
You better fix the car. Like that's, That goes without saying, right?
38:03.75
Matt DiFrancesco
right
38:04.75
Jimmy Purdy
But like everything else beyond that is you presenting yourself as a salesman, making sure that you walk in, it's clean, it smells good, you look good, you smell good. Yeah.
38:14.25
Matt DiFrancesco
Right. Right. You know, and I'll tell you what, you know, and this is what's interesting with cars, you know, who are, who are, and this is both automotive and collision who are, you know, uh, who, who are their most frequent clients? It's women.
38:29.74
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
38:30.54
Matt DiFrancesco
And women don't want to walk in. Like my wife doesn't want to walk into a dirty shop and all that stuff. You know, she wants to be taken care of, you know, and if the shop will pick up her vehicle and take it back in, or if she has to go in, you know, do you have a nice waiting room? Do you have magazines that she wants to look at? Is it clean? You know, yeah you know, the other thing, and and I always find this, this crazy is what do you have like on the TV and your screen? You know sometimes, you know, the TV and your, you in the waiting room.
39:00.65
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah Do you have the news on? i mean, it's so negative. Like, with what message are you sending to your customers? Put the travel network on or, or you know, HGTV or something that's going to get people excited, you know?
39:13.99
Jimmy Purdy
something fun to watch yeah not what you want us not what you want to see you got the sport you got the end the sports game on like why do you have the game on turn that off like what are you doing yeah
39:15.66
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, exactly. Right, right.
39:22.30
Matt DiFrancesco
oh That's right. That's exactly right. I mean, it's just it's madness. at this but But we don't think this way. We don't think this way.
39:28.49
Jimmy Purdy
right
39:28.99
Matt DiFrancesco
And I think, you know, and in the automotive in automotive shops, again, I think it's just it's it's a per perception. I mean, one of my one of my very first clients, and this guy's got a really successful shop.
39:40.07
Matt DiFrancesco
He's he's doing over $6 million dollars a year. um man you can just eat off his floors. He's got the thing figured out. And I remember he and I were having lunch one day, and and he told me, he goes, I'm he he He when he was he was looking to get into collision repair, he's going to go to technical school to do collision repair.
39:58.71
Matt DiFrancesco
He's going back and forth between collision repair and HVAC. And he decided on collision repair because he just loved cars and he loved racing. And his parents, like his parents were just like, why do you want to be a grease monkey?
40:10.62
Matt DiFrancesco
And that stuck with him. And it took him, I mean, it took him decades to finally, you know, a lot of times it was when I first started working on him. I started telling him, boy, what a successful businessman you are. Look at what you've done here. And he was like, huh?
40:24.42
Matt DiFrancesco
But he never, I mean, you know, 30 years, he didn't have that perception of himself.
40:30.39
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, it's ah that's a real thing. The imposter syndrome, right?
40:32.99
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
40:36.59
Jimmy Purdy
you you start You start making making decisions as like a third person instead of making it as yourself.
40:37.16
Matt DiFrancesco
And it,
40:42.24
Jimmy Purdy
This is some psychological stuff there, man.
40:44.59
Matt DiFrancesco
Right. That's true. That's true. But, you know, it's interesting. I just recently listened to a podcast with Arthur Brooks and he talked about the imposter syndrome and he goes, if you're not, if you're not falling, if you don't have the imposter syndrome, that means you're a narcissist.
40:59.40
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. So we have to certainly, you know, we have to be stretching ourselves that we, it's like when I first got into, you know exit planning and I remember I was, I was doing the training for it this advanced training and, and the certification I have, there's only, there's only about I think there's only about 400 of us in the whole country.
41:17.17
Matt DiFrancesco
And I'm the only one that focuses specifically on collision shops and automotive shops.
41:17.25
Jimmy Purdy
sure you're going to it for you.
41:21.63
Matt DiFrancesco
And, um and yeah, I remember we're doing this training and it's, we're talking about advanced estate planning and how to utilize trust for family transfers and, you know, talking about third party sales and all this stuff. And like, it's kind of blowing all of us away in this class.
41:36.81
Matt DiFrancesco
And ah remember one of the guys was like, Because I don't know if I can do this. And I kind of looked at him and it was just kind of this thought hit me. I said, yeah, but guess what? you're you're Your client doesn't know that you don't know. And as long as you're humble enough to say, hey, I know where to get the answer, you can get through it.
41:59.77
Jimmy Purdy
That's fair, man.
42:00.08
Matt DiFrancesco
So it's ah and and then and then that's how you learn.
42:00.53
Jimmy Purdy
That's ah that's that's huge. yeah just like so Just like sales training on the phone, no one knows what you're going to say. Just like right now with a podcast, right? like No one knows what our script is going to be or should be or might be or even if there is one, right?
42:16.34
Jimmy Purdy
And I learned that in radio a long time ago, right?
42:17.07
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah, I had no idea what we were going to be talking about. so
42:20.49
Jimmy Purdy
Right. But it's like it's like but in your brain, you think that you have to stay to a certain script. Right. And did it on the radio for a long time. was like, if I don't get to certain, you know, I'd have out my all my stuff written out. Like if I don't get to that article, got to I got to rush through this to make sure I get all this in time. And it's like the listeners have no idea that this stuff is laying in front of me.
42:38.75
Jimmy Purdy
Nobody knows what you know or want to do. Right. So like at the end of it's like just figure out as the problems come because you can't know everything.
42:47.43
Matt DiFrancesco
It's exactly right.
42:48.60
Jimmy Purdy
It's crazy.
42:48.70
Matt DiFrancesco
That's exactly right.
42:49.49
Jimmy Purdy
It's crazy what our brains do to ourselves.
42:50.06
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
42:52.36
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, it really is. It really is. it was, it was funny. I was recording a podcast yesterday and, um, or no, it was on Monday. I was recording it. And, um, It was a guy had met at a show and um we were we were talking about things and I was like, and and the problem was, is, you know, I've done, i think I have about 120 episodes. All right. So I've done this a number of times and, but I didn't really prepare.
43:19.39
Matt DiFrancesco
So I got in and then he started talking about like, you know, tax strategies and like some, some pretty crazy stuff that was like without any disclaimers.
43:30.65
Matt DiFrancesco
And like, you know, oh, yeah, I know this guy and he invested in all these different private placement stuff. And he did the mega Roth strategy. And, you know, I had a hundred million dollars has a hundred million dollars in his Roth IRA.
43:42.15
Matt DiFrancesco
And I'm like, so after I recorded the thing and then I like i think of something was just not sitting with me. So I went back and I reviewed it and I'm like, this ain't going to pass, you know, this, you know.
43:53.76
Matt DiFrancesco
This going to pass compliance test. He's not a CPA. He's not an attorney. He's not a financial advisor, yet he's making claims about all of these different areas.
44:00.07
Jimmy Purdy
Hmm.
44:02.86
Jimmy Purdy
Sure.
44:03.19
Matt DiFrancesco
And you know I'm registered. I mean, I'm under the jurisdiction of the SEC and being an and an investment advisory representative. I mean, i I have to take a fiduciary role with my clients, meaning I have to do what's in their best interest.
44:16.77
Matt DiFrancesco
And so I can't just wildly say, oh, let's do this. You you you won't pay any taxes.
44:23.91
Matt DiFrancesco
I can't do that because I'm not certain i'm not a CPA to tell them that. I could say, we could do this and really minimize your tax liability, but let's talk to your CPA about it.
44:32.51
Jimmy Purdy
Right.
44:33.33
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay? and But the that my point in all of this is, in 120 episodes of doing this, I still made a mistake.
44:42.05
Jimmy Purdy
Oh, it won't be the first one. It won't be the last one either.
44:43.88
Matt DiFrancesco
And it won't be the first one, right? So we can't be afraid of making mistakes either.
44:48.49
Jimmy Purdy
Right. Yeah, that's... Well, i think I think hiding it. So that's the biggest thing. and Make a mistake and hide it.
44:55.97
Matt DiFrancesco
Right.
44:56.18
Jimmy Purdy
Like that's... like And so as long as you're okay not making a mistake, like you won't try to hide something. But that's... Man, that's ah I've done group sessions with other coaching clients, with other shop members, right?
45:06.84
Jimmy Purdy
We're in these big group processes. And you start looking through their numbers you're like, this isn't right.
45:08.91
Matt DiFrancesco
right
45:10.98
Jimmy Purdy
And then you like kind of talk to them after the the event or the after the coaching session, having a beer. And it's, oh, yeah, I went in... I'm like, why? like why Like, you're paying money to like learn how to do this better.
45:21.88
Jimmy Purdy
But like, you're so worried about your ego and showing that you're not doing it the right way that you hide this in the coaching. So you have, there's 15 shop 15 shop owners that are all willing to put their input in and make your shop better.
45:28.45
Matt DiFrancesco
yeah
45:33.33
Jimmy Purdy
And you're hiding the most crucial point of it. That's crazy to me. I don't understand that at all, but it it must be a very prevalent thing the industry.
45:36.98
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, yeah.
45:42.22
Matt DiFrancesco
It really is. I mean, it's really, it's very prevalent and and it's all over the place and I see it all the time. They hide stuff from me, you know, and
45:49.78
Jimmy Purdy
they're And they're paying you.
45:51.33
Matt DiFrancesco
ah Yeah. I mean, I guess the good, I know, I know.
45:52.32
Jimmy Purdy
They're paying you to tell you what's wrong.
45:55.00
Matt DiFrancesco
I guess the good thing is I've seen it enough and I've like looked at financials and, you know, I know how to, you know, calculate adjusted EBITDA or seller discretionary earnings and get a, get a basic, a sense of valuation.
46:07.16
Matt DiFrancesco
I'll look and I'll be like, me numbers aren't adding up right. There's something not right here. I mean, I had one guy like literally, I mean, you know, $6 million dollars a year and he's showing, he's showing an adjusted EBIT of about $160,000. And I'm going,
46:23.80
Matt DiFrancesco
that makes no sense whatsoever. Well, then when I come to find out, oh, he's running all of his personal expenses off as business Amex card.
46:31.30
Jimmy Purdy
Oh, nice.
46:32.56
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah. Yeah. So we had to go back and do ad backs and all this stuff. And it's like, and then you're wondering why the value of business is only showing this, you know, less than a million dollars.
46:42.89
Jimmy Purdy
You know, that stuff's so important to hear. And like the more the more of that stuff that anyone listening to can listen to of that, because everyone has that uncle or that friend or that whatever that tells you that's the that this is what I've been doing for years and I've never gotten in trouble.
46:51.08
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
46:58.41
Jimmy Purdy
I've never had a problem with it. And then I can call everything a write off. Right. And it's just it's just red flag city. Right. It's like and it's it's terrible. but And it goes back to your point about the guy that's like spewing stuff on your podcast that doesn't have you know any background. It's like you can't take that stuff for VATEM. Like you have to you have to make sure you're talking to a professional about it. And like and that's the right way to do it because you hear this one thing from this one guy that like.
47:21.82
Jimmy Purdy
thinks he's got it all figured out, but he's not a professional in accounting or tax or anything. yeah And then then then for the rest of your business life, you're like running all your personal expenses off your credit card because someone told you, oh, because you can use it all as a write off. It's like, it's crazy.
47:36.45
Jimmy Purdy
It's crazy to me that's like that it's so common, you know?
47:36.87
Matt DiFrancesco
It is.
47:40.27
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, it is. It is. And especially then, you know, again, and then they wonder why if they're going to if they're going to sell to a third party, why they don't get the valuation that they they think they deserve. What's my reputation worth? It ain't worth crap because your numbers aren't showing it because, you know, you're running your boat through your P&L.
47:57.20
Matt DiFrancesco
just It just, it doesn't make any, so I mean, it just doesn't make any sense, but you know, and I have a criteria anytime i'm working with a client.
48:02.13
Jimmy Purdy
Thank you.
48:04.78
Matt DiFrancesco
So I always do, I'll talk to anybody. So if, if any, whether it's a collision shop owner or an automotive shop owner or, yeah You know, and and i I got started working with just family businesses in general. So I've got businesses in other other areas. I got propane. I got advertising. i've got So I got excavating.
48:24.64
Matt DiFrancesco
um And I get referrals in from people who say, hey, can you help my friend out? Okay. um Or CPA that says, look, you know, they're trying to do an exit strategy. And i'm what i like right now, I'm working with an interior design company.
48:36.44
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. But business is business. It's kind of like what you said. Okay. Um, but the thing I, so I'll talk to anybody, but there, I have three criteria that I'm looking for.
48:47.36
Matt DiFrancesco
First one is, are you, are likable? Are you likable? Do you like me? Because if we don't like each other, forget it. I mean, it's just, it's just not going work.
48:53.91
Jimmy Purdy
That's fair.
48:54.98
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. That's the second thing. the The second thing is, are you going to be profitable? you willing to pay me? yeah You know, you really pay me what to worth. Are you going just, you know, try to nickel and dime me to death? I'm getting too old for that.
49:06.88
Matt DiFrancesco
All right. But the third thing is, are you coachable? And, you know, like I said, I've been doing this for 20 years and I've got I've got clients that I've had those whole 20 years.
49:18.41
Matt DiFrancesco
And I can say this, that every one of them is in a position to live the lifestyle they want and more. Only because they've been coachable, coachable, I've said, here's what we need to do.
49:33.02
Matt DiFrancesco
Boom, bomb boom, boom. They followed the steps and then it's like, OK, we're here now. Let's do this, this, this. And they do it and they become coachable. And so, you you know, we have to humble ourselves to say, i don't I don't know what I don't know.
49:47.14
Matt DiFrancesco
And I'm going to humble myself to listen to somebody. And it may hurt, but it's gonna they're going to help me to get where I want to go. I mean, I've been working with my coach for 15 years. right I have a call with him once a month.
50:00.70
Matt DiFrancesco
There's a lot of times where there there are uncomfortable conversations. But I know if I'm going to grow, I need somebody to call me out.
50:09.67
Jimmy Purdy
Absolutely.
50:10.13
Matt DiFrancesco
They got to call me out on my stuff.
50:10.47
Jimmy Purdy
Yep. Yep. They say that the old you has to die for the new one to be born.
50:17.91
Matt DiFrancesco
That's exactly right.
50:18.51
Jimmy Purdy
Right? and that And it hurts to die.
50:19.73
Matt DiFrancesco
that's
50:20.60
Jimmy Purdy
So or so i've been so I've been told.
50:22.34
Matt DiFrancesco
It does.
50:24.11
Jimmy Purdy
Actually, I haven't been told that. I haven't met anybody that's died, so I guess I wouldn't know.
50:28.64
Matt DiFrancesco
Well, it's true.
50:29.60
Jimmy Purdy
The point is moving.
50:31.82
Matt DiFrancesco
I've watched people die. Let's put it that way. and it's in it's not
50:33.96
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah, it hurts. It's a painful process. Let's put it that way.
50:36.88
Matt DiFrancesco
but ah if But if you're a believer and believe in what's on the other side, okay, and there's something that's greater that's there.
50:43.99
Jimmy Purdy
Absolutely. There it is. Yep.
50:45.61
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. And I think it's the same thing. and And whenever you're doing any of this planning, yeah, it's going to be painful to get to the, but if I can get you to this point and I know how to get you there. and Okay. But I need you to listen and I need you to, you know, sometimes going to have to call you out on your stuff.
51:03.29
Matt DiFrancesco
I'm never sure if I can quite, if I can curse on something like this. So. but I was doing a presentation in Nashville at the Nashville show. And it was funny. I started, I was dropping, you know, curse words all over. And the girl that works with me, she's a, she's a devout evangelical Christian. And I kind of looked at her and said, I said, Oh, Hannah, said, I'm just, I'm in my, I'm in my shop element. Just, you'll have to forgive me on this one.
51:30.08
Jimmy Purdy
You're supposed to say earmuffs.
51:33.05
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
51:33.21
Jimmy Purdy
He's going to say earmuffs, and then she's like, and you can say whatever you want.
51:33.75
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right.
51:36.15
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right. Exactly. Exactly.
51:38.83
Jimmy Purdy
Well, Matt, this has been ah this has been very insightful, and we had a little technical difficulties there, but we we pushed through. We persevered. It was painful, but it was worth it because I think we had some golden nuggets in here for sure.
51:46.10
Matt DiFrancesco
Well,
51:49.81
Matt DiFrancesco
I hope that's what I, you know, that's all my, and my goal goal all the time, whenever I'm talking or even just working with a client or even just a a prospect, when I talk to somebody, I always tell them, I said, look, you know, we'll do an intro call, kind of assess your situation, see if I can help. And I always tell them, look, if it's not a fit,
52:07.76
Matt DiFrancesco
That's okay, but I promise you I'll get you pointed in the right direction. So I always want to provide value. um Okay. and just It's just part of one of one of the core principles that I have. This is just always people fried and providing value.
52:20.17
Jimmy Purdy
That's awesome. If someone was interested in getting a hold of you, they can check you out on a tidelift financial.com is the website.
52:27.87
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct.
52:28.52
Jimmy Purdy
you have any any other contact info you want to put out there?
52:28.72
Matt DiFrancesco
That's the website.
52:31.50
Matt DiFrancesco
um You can always email me at matt at highliftfin.com. Okay. um And those are probably the two best ways to get a hold of me. um on the On the website, there's actually, there's a on the top left hand, it says a let's talk button.
52:47.76
Matt DiFrancesco
That goes right into my calendar. You can schedule. I give everybody 30 minutes. ah Just, you know, no cost, no obligation. Just your intro call. Just assess your situation.
52:58.74
Matt DiFrancesco
See where you are and see if that we might be able to help. And like I said, even if we can't, I promise to get them pointed in the right direction. So ah those are probably the two best ways to get a hold of me.
53:08.32
Jimmy Purdy
That's awesome. And if they want to hear a little bit more about you in the meantime, before they make a decision, you have the podcast out there. What's the name of the podcast?
53:15.60
Matt DiFrancesco
Podcast is called Your Business, Your Life. Okay. You can find it on all the major channels, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play. We're on YouTube. You can also go to my website, highliftfinancial.com.
53:27.89
Matt DiFrancesco
And at the on the homepage, you'll see at the top, the DFran Digest. And we've got everything archived there.
53:34.78
Jimmy Purdy
That's awesome. Well, I'm a subscriber as of now. So I hope the rest of you ah jump on.
53:39.71
Matt DiFrancesco
Cool. Cool.
53:41.42
Jimmy Purdy
and And this is important stuff, man. the The sooner you get involved in these circles, because you're only you're only as good as the circle you're you surround yourself in, you know. And sometimes these podcasts is the only things we have.
53:52.78
Jimmy Purdy
So listen to something that that doesn't poison your mind, you know.
53:56.77
Matt DiFrancesco
Oh, exactly. Exactly. My, you know, it's funny. My, my, uh, uh, my wife's into that, these true crime things. I'm like, why do you waste your, why do you waste your mental and energy on that? know, listen to something that's going edify you.
54:06.52
Jimmy Purdy
I'm a little, I'm a little, I'm a little guilty of that too.
54:09.11
Matt DiFrancesco
Okay. Okay. Well, you and my wife can listen to true crime, you know true crime. She, she loves that stuff.
54:13.74
Jimmy Purdy
It's a little bit, you know, there's like, there's one, uh, it's medical mysteries and man, it just like, you know, i do my, my, my learning. And then I'm like, this is my little special treat for my brain, you know? And I get to hear some crazy medical story and I'm like, well, I don't know why I listened to this, but it's, I don't know.
54:23.64
Matt DiFrancesco
There you go.
54:28.73
Jimmy Purdy
It is addictive.
54:29.11
Matt DiFrancesco
That's cool. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess sports is my little outlet. I was so like, it's funny. That's like the only thing I watch on TV is sports.
54:38.01
Jimmy Purdy
Huh. Well, I mean, to each their own. You know, I've never been into sports, so...
54:42.44
Matt DiFrancesco
That's all right. Yeah. Like you said, to each his own way, whatever floats your boat, you know?
54:44.53
Jimmy Purdy
To each his own.
54:46.70
Matt DiFrancesco
So, but no, I think it's all important. And yeah like I said, I think, you know, you know, podcasts like yours or there's, there's thousands of them out there. I mean, know, I can, you know, I could rattle off 10 like that, that I think you should listen to. and And, and, um,
55:01.03
Matt DiFrancesco
They're all good. know And I think they help to edify you and get you get you knowledge. and But I think the biggest takeaway is is find somebody who can help you to get where you want to go. And if you don't know where you want to go, then that's where that's really the starting point is really figure out where you want to go.
55:11.04
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah.
55:14.71
Jimmy Purdy
Yeah. And I think, yeah. And the more you surround yourself in that and just, you know, subscribing to to my podcast, subscribing to your podcast, subscribing to the different podcasts, it's start, the just let the algorithm do the work for you.
55:28.07
Jimmy Purdy
Right. Like we have technology now, use it to its benefit, right?
55:28.96
Matt DiFrancesco
Right.
55:31.20
Jimmy Purdy
Like you start clicking on those and then you get more, you know, and all of a sudden now all it's on your list is stuff that helps you grow. Right. And you, and you just surround yourself with it and then you can reach out to Matt and you're like, Hey, I'm ready to,
55:38.88
Matt DiFrancesco
That's right. Yeah.
55:43.38
Jimmy Purdy
um um I'm ready to use my time most the most efficiently as possible. Cause the one thing about sometimes calling when you don't know enough, right? Sometimes it's just not, you're just not ready to accept it. And like your third point, your third criteria, right?
55:53.99
Matt DiFrancesco
Yeah.
55:56.37
Jimmy Purdy
You're not coachable yet.
55:56.66
Matt DiFrancesco
Yep.
55:57.21
Jimmy Purdy
You have to make sure you're coachable. So you listen to this valuable information, not just waste everyone's time.
56:02.44
Matt DiFrancesco
Correct. And there's you know there's an old saying that you you'll become like the five people you associate with the most.
56:08.91
Jimmy Purdy
Hmm.
56:09.02
Matt DiFrancesco
So by listening to good podcasts and and and audios, those type of things, that's one way that you can associate with and the high achievers. And when you start doing that, your brain is literally going to start rewiring itself to start thinking in the ways that you need to work as not just a business owner, but as a as an entrepreneur.
56:30.91
Jimmy Purdy
Absolutely, man.
56:32.41
Matt DiFrancesco
All right, Jimmy.
56:32.59
Jimmy Purdy
Matt, thanks again for your time. and then And then hang out for just a minute.