Just because what you have ‘works’ doesn’t mean you can’t find a better way to do things.
Welcome to the 21st Century! Are you thrilled to be here, or would you like to get into a time machine and go back to a simpler time, when everything wasn’t connected to the Internet, Transmissions were 3 speed and car windows had handles.
For those of you that long for The Good Olde Days, take heart! Technology isn’t always your enemy. In fact, with a bit of preparation, you can actually get your auto repair shop team to do most of the technological heavy lifting and give yourself a break from having to deal with all minutia that can bog you down.
First, though, you have to deal with the fact that technology is here, and it’s here to stay as long as there’s electric power. Even without ‘house current’, you can still get personal electronic devices that run off solar power, or recharge through your vehicle’s dashboard interface. In other words, there’s no point in hating it, since it’s everywhere, and won’t go away.
Having dealt with that, how can you move forward, and start finding things to, at the very least, not hate about technology? The simplest way may be the so-called smartphone. While you may feel that it’s smarter than you, so you leave it at home so it doesn’t embarrass you in public, give yourself a break and become app-savvy: learn how to use phone apps to perform tasks, like reading bar codes, QR codes and the like.
Then you can start learning how to make, correct, and send simple documents with your smartphone. While this little tool may not be ideal for writing an essay or 25 page business plan, you can create and distribute notes, memos, and other short documents that just might save you some time away from your computer keyboard.
Now comes the really fun part. How about using technology, automation, and ‘cloud computing’ to run your business? Auto repair software can be a major boost to your bottom line, fiscally, but it can also free you from all the tedious, handwritten tasks you have to deal with now.
Why ‘write’ a work order when you can just plug in some information and have it printed out? Why search all over a car for a VIN number, when you can just plug in the car’s license plate number, and have that VIN number automatically added to your work order?
The same goes for old-school time-clocks. Why have your employees punch in with a physical time card when they can use their own smartphone to do the same task at the speed of light? Mind you, those employees won’t have permission to see your private business information. Only you can allow anyone else to see what’s going on beyond their level of participation in the business.
Profit Boost shop management software can give you as much or as little technology as you want. The most important thing it can give you is security. Since all your data is backed up off-site, you never have to worry about a computer dying on you, or a power failure wiping out years of facts and figures.
Integration with Quickbooks, Carfax, several parts suppliers’ current prices for parts, etc., means you can save time, money, and aggravation by deciding to become tech-savvy. Best of all, if you want, Profit Boost can help you figure out how to improve your bottom line by ‘tweaking’ how you do business.
Of course, if you’re a technology lover, all this may seem like the best deal you’ve heard of in a long time. You’d be right!