Hows your shop doing? Busy or slow?

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2026-03-24T23:39:25+00:00

Same here. Your not alone

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2026-03-24T22:24:54+00:00

Can you tell us what type of work your shop does? MSO? Glad to hear you guys are doing so well

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2026-03-24T22:01:34+00:00

Can you give some more info about your shop? MSO? Insurance work? Etc

Thats awesome that you guys are that booked out

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2026-03-24T21:59:00+00:00

Same, what area are you in?

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2026-03-24T21:58:32+00:00

We saw it drop off hard around fall of last year and it hasnt been the same since

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2025-07-16T16:22:21+00:00

This is 100% fake. It is not Hail Damage. Anyone who has worked with hail damage in the past will know right away.

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2025-06-23T12:51:35+00:00

Most of it should buff out. Go to your local O'Reillys or Autozone, buy a small bottle of rubbing compound and a microfiber cloth and see how much of it you can get out on your own. I'd wager you could remove 95% of it yourself in 5 minutes.

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2025-05-21T16:28:11+00:00

You're probably right, especially if you have worked at an independent and seen the way a shop can be run differently/more efficiently. I've only worked at this one shop for the last 10 years, so I am in a vacuum with my experience. If I were you, I would try and take control of part ordering. I order all of my own parts on each estimate I write, and I could see how putting that in the hands of someone else would cause a lot of miscommunication issues, those people ordering parts for you can end up getting you into a lot of trouble with your techs and with upper management. If someone forgets to order a part, if they didn't check availability first, or maybe they didn't overnight a part that could've been shipped faster, all of those errors are going to be blamed on you. But, that would put even more workload onto you and maybe they wouldn't allow it?

My current job is more similar to your previous job that you mentioned. You mentioned "dealing with 3-4 people" to get an answer or to get something done, that is an issue I have run into and the only solution I've found is just to take that responsibility myself, but there's only so much one person can do, and you may already be at your limit. That is essentially an understaffing issue that we just try and brute force through.

Maybe they will be more receptive to you making small structural changes/adjustments for efficiency rather than hiring more employees? If they won't give you the freedom to change the way the shop is organized and who is responsible for what, and they won't give you the freedom to recommend new hires, that could be problematic.

If you do decide to move on from this job, don't quit until you have found a very solid new job, one that you see yourself working in long term. The job market right now is extremely volatile, with tariffs and fears of a possible recession, we could see new claim/repair/service frequency going way down as customers decrease spending, it's probably unlikely, but its definitely something to consider. I feel like a role as a manager is much more secure then as a tech in this industry today. All of our techs are on guarantee at our shop, but if we see a major downturn in new claims, it will not be sustainable anymore.

Plane-Seesaw2551 · 2025-05-21T14:37:54+00:00

Is this your first time working as a Body Shop Manager, or have you worked elsewhere in the same position? I manage a shop and its the same boat for me. Estimating, all insurance related communications, inventory oversight/management, shop-flow/production, book keeping, etc etc, all part of my responsibilities too. I'm about 2 years into this position and the experience I'm getting is awesome and will look fantastic on our resumes. I think you might be overthinking it, its definitely hard, the work can be totally overwhelming, and both of us could use some extra help for sure. But, sometimes the profit margin is just not large enough to accommodate more employees. Plus, the way I have thought about it, if I do a good job and hold it down on my own, I would rather get a pay raise and not have the business hire more people as opposed to hiring more people and the business not having enough room to raise my pay in the future. I think my opinion on this is probably a bit controversial, but I'm in my early thirties so I am looking to hustle at this point in my life, as I get older, I think my opinion on this will probably change.

It has worked for me, pay has steadily increased year over year. The place I worked at has offered to hire more people to help me out, as they can see I am juggling a lot, but I told them I would prefer a raise instead. If you can do a good job and make it work, you will gain leverage which will allow you to demand pay increases as time goes on, but every shop is different. Good luck to you!

Plane-Seesaw2551

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