Beating the ODDS
Since the recession began, I've spoken to thousands of business owners and asked them the same question: How's business? Over 90% have said that they have struggled to stay afloat and that the economy is responsible for their sluggish sales. I spoke to one business owner who jokingly said that "Flat is the new growth."
When I spoke to Troy Costa, the owner of AutoWorks of Gold River, I was delighted to hear how great his business was doing. He said that his business was booming and his sales were up 30% over last year! With so many businesses struggling just to survive, I was very curious to learn more about Troy’s business and find out why his auto body repair shop and classic car restoration facility was thriving.
GFI: What did you do before you started the body shop?
Troy: I got my degree in computer science and business management. I have been heavily involved in the auto body/mechanical industry for well over 30 years. My father and grandfather had been service managers and body shop managers through their whole lifespan. I've been well versed in collision repair and complete restoration work.
GFI: So would you say that it's something you have always had a passion for since you were a child?
Troy: Definitely. I love working on the old cars especially. They are outstanding to work on and becoming very rare. A lot of people have a 1940's-1970's care that they are trying to build and recondition.
GFI: Did you have any hardships along the way that you had to overcome, including the recession?
Troy: It's a very competitive industry. I had a shop a long time ago and it didn't work out. We specialized in Porsche's and Corvettes, but the economy was really bad at the time and basically was the reason we had to close down. After that, I went back into business management for a while, but have since opened up this shop which has been here for over 25 years. Even in this economy, because of customers and referrals, we have been growing leaps and bounds. I think the main reasons are because of the quality of work that we do, our commitments, follow through, competitive pricing and those referrals. Basically, our customers today become our friends tomorrow. It's a great motto to have and it’s working very well for us.
GFI: What are the things that have really helped your business stand out and grow?
Troy: Well, those referrals are huge. Our customers being satisfied 100% is the key to our success. It's very hard for other businesses to compete with our quality and pricing. Last year, we grew 20% from any previous year, and this year we are set to grow another 30%! We have diversified. At this point, we have fleet accounts that specialize in all major insurance companies so all customers are welcome. We do a lot of collision repair and about 35% of our work is turn key restoration. A lot of people aren't doing that these days. We actually sit down with our customers, design the car with them, go through their budget, and do everything on the car so when it's complete, we hand them the keys and they are ready to drive it home. We just simply don't have a lot of competition in that area, especially for the prices that we charge. Also, the difference between people coming to us and having us help them build their car versus doing it on their own in a garage, is that instead of taking it 10 years to complete, we'll get it done in 3-4 months!
I have a guy right now with a 1940 pickup that he's been working on for 20 years. The truck has been in 3 different shops over the past 7 years and nobody has held to their commitment. We went down to the Manteca area to pick it up and we're going to have it done for him in 3 months!
GFI: How were you able to shorten that time frame so dramatically?
Troy: Everything is a process when you restore old cars. You have to have a blueprint and look at the entire picture. You have to have a budget and know where it's starting and where you want it to end, and most importantly you have to be organized when you go through that process. There are many things you can do at the same time when you're building a car. You can be doing the motor while you’re doing the body work. There are a lot of processes like that which we can go through to make the project go a lot faster. The key is good communication and a clear budget so nobody is surprised, then staying organized throughout the whole process.
GFI: You appear to have great organizational skills and are able to anticipate all the things that need to be done ahead of time. For example, you were able to fix my son’s car in just one day and my mom's car in two days, which was phenomenal. With all the damage their cars had, I think they would’ve been in most shops for at least a week.
Troy: Our cycle times are the key. It's a big inconvenience for people to be without their cars, especially today because some people don't have rental car coverage and everyone's on a budget. It's very important for us to work within those parameters.
Q: I heard that you also do oil changes here. Is that true?
Troy: Yes we do. We do a lot of things here. About the only thing we don't do is engine rebuilds. We do tune ups, radiator replacements, AC service, brakes, front end work, suspension work, etc. We have multiple employees to do all this work and have actually added three new employees within the last three months because we are growing so much. This has allowed us to diversify and offer more services to our customers other than collision repair and restoration.
GFI: That makes it a whole lot more convenient because your customers don’t have to go to another shop to get mechanical work done and then come here to get body work done. This can truly be more of a one stop source for them.
Troy: Very true, and the key is that we get the trust of the customer. Another key to our business is that there are a lot of businesses that just work on newer cars (2000 or newer), but we treat all of our customers the same. I don't care if it's a 1988 Chevy or a brand new car. We work on all cars and don't set any criteria.
GFI: You also offer paint-less dent removal and a variety of other services. Can you tell us about these other services?
Troy: A few of the things we specialize in are glass repair, glass removal, and paint-less dent removal. Paint-less dent removal only takes us about and hour or two, and it's done for a fraction of the cost of traditional dent removal. If there is a small dent that's been bothering you from a bicycle, shopping cart, etc, usually for about $75-$100 per panel we can repair that so you don't have to spend and extra $500 or $600 on paintwork to the entire side of the car. This saves consumers a lot of time and money.
GFI: What's the best way for our readers to contact you?
Troy: You can get a hold of us at the office at 916-631-9456. My email is troy@autoworksofgoldriver.com. Our website is actually under construction right now and won't be done until about March 20 th. We'll have testimonials, before and after shots of all the cars and we’ll have pictures of every car that's in the shop every day. We'll be posting those pictures so our customers can track the progress of their cars. The address of our store is 11311 Folsom Blvd., which is about a mile East of Sunrise Blvd in Rancho Cordova. |
