The following is an interview I conducted with Paul Noakes. Paul has decades of experience owning automotive repair shops. He took a leap early in life to become his own boss and never looked back. Paul transformed his interest and hobby into a livelihood. Furthermore, he can truly be called a Jack of all trades because not only is he an expert with vehicles, but he has extensive knowledge of electrical work, plumbing, and landscaping.
When did you first become interested in cars?
It started out as a hobby and then I became pretty good at it. Friends and family would bring their cars over to my home garage for me to fix. They then told other people what I could do and that I charged fair rate so more people started to come by for me to repair their vehicles. It didn’t take long for me to get my own place to run my business.
When and where did you open your first automotive repair shop?
I opened my first shop in Boca Raton, Florida in 1980. A former boss of mine called and told me that there was a garage that had opened up and suggested that I lease the space out.
Location is very important to a business, how was the placement of the garage that opened up?
It was really good. There were other repair shops nearby; actually there were two repair shops that were literally next to my business. I saw this as a good thing because they only wanted to work on American made cars, so I decided to work on foreign made cars to differentiate myself from them. At that time more and more cars on the road were foreign. Many families didn’t just have Ford or Chevrolets anymore and because of that in my market I was able to tap into a repair market that wasn’t being serviced.
What would you say your typical cliental demographic was like?
It started out as middle aged men. However, I quickly attracted more women and college students as customers. I attracted more by word of mouth and because husbands and boyfriends would tell their significant others about how clean I kept my shop. I learned early on that women want to go to a facility where they feel safe and don’t mind going to a repair shop if it’s clean.
Did you do a lot of marketing?
Marketing was different when I started out, not like it is done today. Facebook didn’t exist then and neither did Google. Word of mouth was my biggest marketing technique. It still is today. A referral from a client to one of their friends or family is better than anything I can write on the internet.
You mentioned that you worked on foreign cars, what would you say the percentage was between preventive maintenance and actual repair work?
I would say 75% was repair work and 25% was preventive maintenance. The 25% preventive maintenance was usually from the women and the college students. If you tell a woman that something is going to break soon or there is a likelihood that it will they have a far greater tendency to fix it, where as men seem to think they know more than the repair guy. College students don’t want the hassle of dealing with a broken down car, so they convince mom and dad to get the stuff replaced before it breaks. As long as you tell the truth about the things that need to be replaced to prevent a break down you will gain people’s trust and with that trust comes more referrals. You need to show them the things that are about to break as well being honest and realistic with them about what needs to be done.
What would you say was your biggest headache in owning a repair shop?
The paperwork is always the biggest headache and finding time to do it while still working on vehicles.
What is some advice you would give to someone who is thinking about opening their own automotive repair shop?
At some point you just have to make the decision to just do it. I left a job where I was making a pretty good living and basically just took a leap of faith. You need to be honest with your clients. You do not tell people that things need to be replaced when it really doesn’t need to be. There is enough work out there and you will benefit from being honest with people in the long run. Stay on top of technology and ensure that you get as much automotive schooling that is possible. Today’s vehicles are highly computerized but a car is still full of nuts, bolts and mechanical parts. Equipment is extremely expensive so try to find some used equipment in the beginning. Start small and try to grow your cliental at a steady rate. Also, I always asked my family for new tools as gifts whenever I had a birthday or anniversary and especially during the holiday season.
