Grow Your Business

Jul
30
2020

Can Your Diesel Repair Shop Run Without You?

Can Your Diesel Repair Shop Run Without You? You've spent years building your business. You know all the ins and outs of your shop and you have the answer to everyone's question. But, what...

Jun
30
2020

How to Recover Your Diesel Repair Shop After the Covid-19 Crisis

How to Recover Your Diesel Repair Shop After the Covid-19 Crisis     As you know, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on just about every business in the US,...

May
29
2020

How Customer Satisfaction Can Build Value for Your Diesel Repair Shop

How Customer Satisfaction Can Build Value for Your Diesel Repair Shop If you're reading this article, it's safe to assume that you want to build value for your diesel repair shop, whether...

Apr
29
2020

Does Your Diesel Repair Shop Stand Out From the Competition?

Does Your Diesel Repair Shop Stand Out From the Competition? Customers like choices. They like to know that they are getting the best service for the best price, and they'll work to...

Mar
31
2020

Is Your Diesel Repair Shop Too Reliant on a Single Entity?

Is Your Diesel Repair Shop Too Reliant on a Single Entity?  Diversification is the key to a killer investment portfolio. You've probably heard this even if you aren't into the stock...

Feb
24
2020

How to Increase Your Diesel Repair Shop's Value Through Recurring Revenue

How to Increase Your Diesel Repair Shop's Value Through Recurring Revenue Have you taken a look at your revenue streams recently? Do you know where the bulk of your money comes from each...

Jan
27
2020

What Metrics Impact the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop?

What Metrics Impact the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop? So, you're working on getting your diesel repair shop ready to sell. Or, you're at least considering selling at some point in the...

Dec
30
2019

How Your Diesel Repair Shop's Growth Potential Contributes to Its Value

  How Your Diesel Repair Shop's Growth Potential Contributes to Its Value If you're wanting to sell your diesel repair shop in the near future, then you're probably concerned...

Nov
25
2019

How to Setup a Facebook Business Page for Your Diesel Repair Shop

How to Setup a Facebook Business Page for Your Diesel Repair Shop     If you think you don't need a Facebook page for your diesel repair shop, you probably want to...

Oct
28
2019

How Financials Contribute to Your Diesel Repair Shop's Value

How Financials Contribute to Your Diesel Repair Shop's Value So you're getting ready to sell your diesel repair shop. It's as easy as listing the business and just waiting for offers to...

Sep
30
2019

How to Build Value for Your Diesel Repair Shop

How to Build Value for Your Diesel Repair Shop   If you're like many small business owners, you have no set exit plan for your business. For some of you, this may be because...

Aug
26
2019

5 Ways to Maintain Your Diesel Repair Shop's Marketing Presence (And Why They Matter)

  5 Ways to Maintain Your Diesel Repair Shop's Marketing Presence (And Why They Matter) So you've got a marketing strategy in place for your diesel repair shop. Your...

Jul
29
2019

5 Objections to Marketing Your Diesel Repair Shop Online (And Why They Shouldn't Bother You)

  5 Objections to Marketing Your Diesel Repair Shop Online (And Why They Shouldn't Bother You) Yes. We've talked about marketing your repair shop online before. We've given...

Jun
24
2019

8 Basic Ways to Market Your Diesel Engine Repair Shop Online

8 Basic Ways to Market Your Diesel Repair Shop Online We've mentioned it beforeif you're not utilizing the internet in your marketing strategy, then you're missing out on great...

Jun
3
2019

Repair Shop Marketing Message Part II: Branding Your Repair Shop

Repair Shop Marketing Message Part II: Branding Your Repair Shop In  Repair Shop Marketing Message Part I , we focused on your marketing  message and how to craft it to...

Apr
29
2019

Repair Shop Marketing Message Part I: Power of Creativity

Repair Shop Marketing Message Part I: Power of Creativity Our last posts spent time discussing your target customer—how to identify and reach them. This is one of the most important...

Apr
22
2019

Marketing to Your Most Qualified Repair Shop Customers

Marketing to Your Most Qualified Repair Shop Customers In our earlier post , we discussed how to go about identifying your target customer and what kinds of things are important to...

Apr
15
2019

Repair Shop Marketing: Identifying Your Target Customer

Repair Shop Marketing: Identifying Your Target Customer So you've decided to focus on the way your diesel repair shop handles its marketing. Maybe you've even considered a few...

Apr
8
2019

How a Website Can Grow Your Diesel Repair Shop

How a Website Can Grow Your Diesel Repair Shop The internet has swiftly invaded the way we interact in our everyday lives. Most people access the internet daily now, for shopping, news,...

Apr
1
2019

Word-of-Mouth Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be

Word-of-Mouth Isn't All It's Cracked up To Be If you're like many diesel repair shop owners, you probably rely heavily on word-of-mouth advertising as part of your overall marketing...

Mar
25
2019

Repair Shop Advertising: Are You Doing it Right?

Repair Shop Advertising: Are You Doing it Right? In our series overview, How Are You Marketing Your Diesel Repair Shop? , we talked a little bit about the differences between marketing...

Mar
18
2019

How Are You Marketing Your Diesel Repair Shop?

How Are You Marketing Your Diesel Repair Shop? It might seem like marketing your repair shop is a waste of time—you have customers and word of mouth seems to be good. But with...

Mar
11
2019

Grow Your Business, Not Your Work: HHP White Paper

Grow Your Business, Not Your Work: HHP White Paper Are you ready to grow your diesel repair shop? Our white paper can help! We've brought our Grow Your Business, Not Your Work series...

Mar
4
2019

Don't Let Employee Problems Hold Your Repair Shop Back

Don't Let Employee Problems Hold Your Repair Shop Back We've said it before, and I'm sure you've heard it—there's a shortage of qualified diesel technicians out there. But that...

Feb
25
2019

Busy Work Keeping You From Growing Your Repair Shop?

Busy Work Keeping You from Growing Your Repair Shop? We've all said it before: I'm just too busy! And there's no doubt that you are busy. But are you the right kind of busy? As a diesel...

Feb
18
2019

Prevent Parts Problems from Derailing Your Repair Shop

Prevent Parts Problems from Derailing Your Repair Shop Are you having trouble getting the right parts? Are your orders getting mixed up? Markups not making you enough? Parts problems can...

Feb
11
2019

How to Get and Keep Qualified Diesel Technicians

How to Get and Keep Qualified Diesel Technicians If you own a repair shop, I don't have to tell you there's a shortage of qualified technicians. It's a problem the vast majority of shops...

Feb
4
2019

Keep Work Delays from Stalling Your Repair Shop

Keep Work Delays from Stalling Your Repair Shop In a previous post in this series, we talked about what to do if your bays are full but you're not making enough money. Closely related...

Jan
29
2019

Setting Up Processes Your Repair Shop Will Follow

Setting Up Processes Your Repair Shop Will Follow If you've been reading the other posts in this series, you've probably noticed a common piece of advice—systematizing your diesel...

Jan
21
2019

Full Bays, No Cash?

Full Bays, No Cash? Have you noticed that you consistently have full bays, but you don't seem to make any money on the work? Have you ever really stopped to think about why that might...

Jan
14
2019

Keep Your Repair Shop from Holding You Captive

Keep Your Repair Shop from Holding You Captive When's the last time you were able to take a vacation and not have to worry about getting phone calls from your diesel repair shop? You...

Jan
7
2019

Manage Your Way to a Profitable Shop

Manage Your Way to a Profitable Shop If you're like most repair shop owners, you've got your eye on your bottom line, and you always want it to be a little higher. In our last post,...

Jan
2
2019

Will Your Repair Shop be Here in 5 Years?

Will Your Repair Shop be Here in 5 Years? When was the last time you thought about your retirement? If you're like many small business owners, you may not have thought about it as much...

Dec
21
2018

Solve Repair Shop Headaches With Business Systems

Solve Repair Shop Headaches through Business Systems Is your repair shop making enough money? Are you going to be able to retire comfortably from your shop? Can your business run without...

Dec
17
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: HHP White Paper

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: HHP White Paper Today we're bringing the entire Profit Boosting Boot Camp together! We've spent the last few weeks discussing various metrics you can measure...

Dec
10
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Increasing Efficiency

Increasing Efficiency In our last post, we took a look at your shop's productivity , which measures the time and resources dedicated to a job. Now, we're focusing in on efficiency, and...

Dec
3
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: An Eye on Repair Shop Productivity

An Eye on Repair Shop Productivity Last week, your effective labor rate took center stage, but now we're turning our focus to repair shop productivity. In an ideal world, everyone...

Nov
26
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Your Effective Labor Rate

Your Effective Labor Rate Our last post focused on your Posted Labor Rate and how you might be undercharging your customers and harming your business. This installment brings it back...

Nov
19
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Evaluating Your Posted Labor Rate

Evaluating Your Posted Labor Rate Our last few posts have focused on your profit margins and how they affect your bottom line (read about your gross profit margin here .) In this post,...

Nov
12
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Investigating Your Net Profit Margin

Investigating Your Net Profit Margin Understanding your net profit margin can be key to understanding your shop's profitability and what you can do to improve it. We've spent some time...

Nov
5
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Gross Profit Margin on Labor

Gross Profit Margin on Labor We have spent the last couple of parts in our Profit Boosting Boot Camp series focusing on your gross profit margin and your gross profit margin on...

Oct
29
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Gross Profit Margin on Parts

Gross Profit Margin on Parts In our last blog in the Profit Boosting Boot Camp series, we discussed your overall gross profit margin. This time, we're taking a look at...

Oct
23
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: Gross Profit Margin

Gross Profit Margin A common question business owners want answered is: how do I know if I'm making enough profit to stay open? In our previous post, we talked about average...

Oct
15
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: What the Average Order Value Means for Your Shop

What Your Average Order Value Means for Your Shop While it might seem like busywork, tracking your shop's KPI's is actually a vital part of growing your business. In our last...

Oct
8
2018

Profit Boosting Boot Camp: How Your Closing Ratio Impacts Your Shop's Profits

How Your Closing Ratio Impacts Your Shop's Profits How often have you looked at your shop's profits and wished they were higher? As we mentioned in the last post, 10 Metrics...

Oct
1
2018

10 Metrics Proven to Boost Diesel Engine Repair Shop Profitability

10 Metrics Proven to Boost Diesel Engine Repair Shop Profitability It's always good to make more money, right? But sometimes it's hard to identify strategies for making that goal...

May
29
2018

RSVP Shop Talk: CJ's Diesel Performance

RSVP Shop Talk: CJ's Diesel Performance Problem-solving and thinking outside-the-box fuel the life-long passion of CJ Sprau, owner and operator of CJ’s Diesel Performance in Vernal, Utah....

Apr
3
2018

RSVP Shop Talk: Rattlesnake Ridge Truck Repair

RSVP Shop Talk: Rattlesnake Ridge Truck Repair Rattlesnake Ridge provides service for light, medium, and heavy trucks, along with trailers & RVs. Customers include municipalities, school...

Jan
23
2018

5 Tips to Reduce Repair Shop Receivables & Get Paid Faster

No one likes talking about cash flow, but when it comes to running a diesel repair shop, cash flow conversations are a must. During a survey HHP conducted with nationwide repair shops, managing...

Jan
16
2018

5 Ways to Increase Diesel Repair Shop Efficiency & Profitability

When we polled over 500 repair shops nationwide, we found the number one concern as we begin 2018 was repair shop profitability. As the cost of doing business increases and customers are...

Jan
9
2018

Time is Money. Why Waste it Searching for Parts?

Highway & Heavy Parts surveyed over 500 repair shops nationwide and found that of all the repair shops surveyed, bottom line profitability is the biggest concern for 2018. However, when...

Nov
16
2017

Boost Profitability with Employee Training

In recent Highway and Heavy Parts business polling, employee retention and managing cash flows were the top concerns listed by nationwide repair shops. Given the ongoing Diesel Mechanic...

Nov
9
2017

How to Reduce Repair Shop Turnover

  Simply stated, no one takes a job and immediately thinks about how they’re going to quit. Typically new hires are excited, eager to start working, and are ready to learn....

Nov
2
2017

Hiring Technicians as the Diesel Mechanic Shortage Continues

When it comes to the Diesel Mechanic shortage, it’s clear the crisis has moved from topic of conversation to a nationwide crisis. In fact, in recent Highway & Heavy Parts polling,...

Mar
28
2017

Boost Profits by Rebuilding Parts and Selling Labor

Though handling your shop’s day-to-day accounting operations might not be exactly what you have in mind when you walk into work in the morning, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a...

Jan
18
2017

Make More Money by Reinvesting in your Diesel Repair Shop

To reduce the risk of failure and ensure the success of your diesel repair shop, you must take measures to continually increase the net worth of your business. This requires reinvesting time and...

Jan
6
2017

Improve your Shop Culture to Recruit Talented Diesel Repair Technicians

When it comes to recruiting new, talented employees, we could all learn a thing or two from college athletic coaches. Every year, there is only a limited number of prospective, star athletes...

Dec
31
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - How to Maximize Your Diesel Repair Shop Profits

At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop customers...

Dec
30
2016

Controlling Overhead Costs to Increase your Diesel Repair Shop Profits

Overhead costs are the expenses associated with running your diesel repair shop that are not directly attributed to a sale or a repair order, such as rent, insurance, utilities, office staff,...

Dec
23
2016

How to Increase Profits in your Diesel Repair Shop Parts Department

Your parts department plays an important role in generating profits for your diesel repair shop. A typical diesel repair shop should keep the cost of parts at or below 25% of sales. Making...

Dec
16
2016

Managing Labor to Maximize Your Diesel Repair Shop Profits

Managing labor to maximize profits can be challenging for any diesel repair shop owner. There are many aspects of labor that need to be scrutinized in order to get the most out of it. From...

Dec
5
2016

How to Make More Money on Parts than Labor

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How to Make More Money on Parts than Labor | Highway and Heavy Parts


Nov
30
2016

Maximizing Your Diesel Repair Shop Profits - The Efficiency Factor

Like many other businesses today, getting the profits you need is a challenging undertaking for most diesel repair shop owners. The multitude of factors and variables involved in running a repair...

Nov
23
2016

The Cost of Employee Turnover to your Repair Shop

Research has shown that most diesel repair shops are having difficulty finding and keeping good employees. This presents many problems for a repair shop. It forces owners to work longer hours and...

Nov
16
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - 5 Rules for Successfully Marketing your Diesel Repair Shop

At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop...

Nov
15
2016

Measure your Marketing to Ensure Success

Many diesel repair shop owners view marketing as a necessary evil. They do it because they know they need to, seeing it as more of an expense, rather than an investment. This is primarily because...

Nov
4
2016

Nov
3
2016

Setting SMART Marketing Goals for Your Diesel Repair Shop

So, your diesel repair shop has a great brand identity, you’ve developed compelling marketing messages, and you know where and how to reach your target customers. But, have you determined...

Oct
31
2016

Selecting the Best Marketing Channels for Your Diesel Repair Shop

Once you have established a great brand and created compelling marketing messages, it’s time to spread the word about your diesel repair shop. With the wide variety of marketing and...

Oct
31
2016

Creating Powerful Marketing Messages for your Diesel Repair Shop

Your marketing messages must tell your audience what you do, but also persuade them that you are the best at what you do. Your messages should be attention-grabbing statements, followed by...

Oct
25
2016

Creating a Great Brand for your Diesel Repair Shop

Company branding is the marketing practice of creating a unique name, logo, sales proposition, and messaging that identifies and differentiates your business, products, and services from others....

Sep
30
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - Estimating the Value of your Diesel Repair Shop

  At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop...

Sep
21
2016

Estimating the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part III

PART III: Four Basic Business Valuation Techniques. 1.       Comparable Transactions Technique: Thousands of businesses in America are bought and sold...

Sep
14
2016

Estimating the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part II

PART II: Fair Market Value - The Best Measure of a Company's Value. Determining fair market value of your diesel repair shop can be a complicated undertaking. There are many ways to...

Sep
7
2016

Estimating the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part I

PART I: Company Value - The Ultimate Indicator. When you think about all of the parts that make up your diesel repair shop and how they are measured, you may wonder; “Is there any...

Aug
31
2016

Capacity Planning Strategies for a Diesel Repair Shop

What is Capacity Planning? Capacity planning is the process of determining the production capacity needed by an organization to meet changing demands for its products or services. In...

Aug
24
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - The Entrepreneurial Approach to Running a Successful Diesel Repair Shop

At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop...

Aug
24
2016

The Entrepreneurial Approach to Running a Successful Diesel Repair Shop - Part III

PART III: Implementing Strategic Growth Projects “Strategic Growth Projects” are the optimal tactics, identified through analyzing systems variances that will produce the...

Aug
19
2016

The Entrepreneurial Approach to Running a Successful Diesel Repair Shop - Part II

PART II: Setting Strategic and Tactical Goals for Success. So, how do you implement innovative and systemic changes to help your diesel repair shop succeed? You begin by establishing goals...

Aug
18
2016

The Entrepreneurial Approach to Running a Successful Diesel Repair Shop - Part I

PART I: The Entrepreneurial Perspective. If you are reading this article, you are most likely a diesel repair shop owner, a manager, or a diesel repair technician looking to expand your...

Aug
10
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - Optimizing Resources to Improve the Productivity of your Diesel Repair Shop

At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop...

Aug
4
2016

Optimizing Resources to Improve the Productivity of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part III

PART III: Performing a Productivity Review. Putting the principles of productivity into practice in your diesel repair shop is simply a matter of selecting a system, function,...

Aug
4
2016

Optimizing Resources to Improve the Productivity of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part II

PART II: Managing the Productivity of Your Diesel Repair Shop. Principles apply to productivity management like they do anything else you manage in your diesel repair shop. They apply to...

Aug
4
2016

Optimizing Resources to Improve the Productivity of Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part I

PART I: Implementing Strategic Productivity to Maximize the Value of Your Diesel Repair Shop. Productivity is the practice of getting the highest and best use from your resources. It means...

Aug
3
2016

Improving Your Repair Shop Through Process Leadership

Leadership means taking initiative, accepting responsibility, and setting a good example for your employees. If you want a first class diesel repair business, you must provide your employees with...

Jul
12
2016

Innovating Your Diesel Repair Shop Systems

Observe them. Evaluate them. Improve them. Watch them work. Every system can be improved. If you don’t believe it, you should. It’s the main premise which forms the basis for...

Jul
6
2016

FREE WHITE PAPER - The Importance of Systemizing Your Diesel Repair Shop

At Highway & Heavy Parts, we believe that knowledge is the key to making good decisions for your business. Because of this, we strive to continually provide our diesel repair shop...

Jul
6
2016

The Importance of Systemizing Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part III

Part III: Key Performance Indicators As we briefly mentioned in Part II of this blog series “The Importance of Systemizing Your Diesel Repair Shop – Part II”, system...

Jun
30
2016

The Importance of Systemizing Your Diesel Repair Shop - Part II

Part II: Systems Evaluation Systems are the foundation of any diesel repair shop business. But, how do you know if your systems are working? How do you evaluate them to determine if they...

Jun
29
2016

The Importance of Systemizing Your Diesel Repair Shop Part I

Part I: Systems Development As the owner or manager of a diesel repair shop, do you continually struggle with getting the optimal efficiency out of your work flow? Do the...

Jun
15
2016

How to Make More Money on Parts Than Labor for Your Diesel Repair Shop

In today’s competitive diesel repair market it is increasingly more difficult for diesel repair shops to make more money. Rising labor rates, higher taxes, stiff competition, and fixed...

May
10
2016

Create an Employee Reward and Recognition Program

It’s difficult to find skilled employees. Then once you’ve interviewed and hired them, it’s a challenge to keep them. And even if you’re able to keep them, maybe some...

Apr
26
2016

5 Tips to Recruit Technicians

  The rate of new technicians coming into the industry is lower than the rate of technicians retiring. For many repair shops and fleets, this shortage is already a harsh reality. The Bureau...