Working Every Day and Getting Nowhere? How James Got His Shop Running Without Him

If you're working every day and getting nowhere, more hours won't fix it. What fixes it is building the systems and the team that let your mechanics workshop earn money when you're not standing in it. James Walker did exactly that at Ballarat Roadworthy Centre in Ballarat, Victoria. He went from working nearly every day, weekends included, to a four day week that his whole team has now run for two years. The business is a couple of months from paid off, and he has signed contracts to buy the property it sits on.

What does working every day and getting nowhere look like?

James started at Ballarat Roadworthy Centre as a mechanic in 2005. In 2020 the chance came up to buy the business, and he took it. He found us that year while he was researching how to stay viable through it.

For the first year he ran it the way most of us start. "When we first started, we had a diary and a phone and that was it. So everything was paper based." There was very little recordkeeping. In his words: "It worked, but it didn't. It was very stressful."

He was there nearly every day. "I was here most of the time, even on weekends." Then their first child arrived, and he wanted to be home more. That's when he saw the trap he was in:

"It just felt like we worked so hard but we're getting nowhere. It was always just the same sort of grind and just not knowing a direction to go in."

And the line I hear from so many auto repair shop owners: "Without me being at work, we weren't making money. So, something had to change."

Underneath it sat a belief he'd carried for years. "I always thought you had to work 15 hours a day to be able to make a living."

About a year after taking over, James joined The Engine Room, our coaching program for auto repair shop owners. He nearly didn't. "It might sound like it's expensive. I thought it was expensive and thought I don't think that's a good idea." It was his wife who "nudged me a little bit and said things need to change."

What did James change to get his shop running without him?

There was no single big fix. He changed five things.

He got the business out of his head and off paper. The diary and the phone gave way to systems and technology. Now, as he puts it, "People know what to do. And if anything comes up, everything gets handled, just because of the systems we got in place."

He took a hard look at how he treated his team. This is the one he called his biggest takeaway. "When I took over the business, I had no business experience. I didn't know how to treat my team." He's honest about what that cost:

"You sort of have a high turnover rate and you wonder why people don't like to be working for you and it's usually yourself in the end."

So he changed it. He encouraged improvement, let his people develop their skills, worked on getting their buy-in and offered lots of training. His team didn't always love it at first. "Everyone's like, 'Oh, he's got some more crazy ideas. What's he, what are we going to implement now?'" By the end, he says, everyone's saying, "That was a really good idea. I'm glad we did that."

He stopped making every decision alone. In The Engine Room he leant on other owners who'd already made the mistakes. "If you ask the question you think it might be a good idea but someone else has already tried it and it hasn't worked, they'll soon let you know." His rule now: "It's always good to run ideas past everybody first."

He handed accountability to his team. With the base in place, James moved into the next tier of our program, which is about building for the future. The aim was to "pass on a bit more accountability to everyone else in the team" and get them to step up, and they did. When someone takes leave, he no longer thinks he has to bring someone in from outside. "The team can step up and do it themselves, which is really good to see."

He moved to a four day week. "It was a bit scary at the start. We didn't think how how will this work, but it works." They advertised the change, and "we didn't seem to lose any business because of the change." It gave his team more time with their families too.

What changed once the shop could run without him?

Before: working nearly every day, weekends included, paper and a diary, and a business that made no money without him in the building.

After: a team of seven, four mechanics on the floor, two in the office, and James half time on the tools by choice. "I can go away and the business still runs." When he was asked about the last whole weekend he spent at the shop, he said, "I couldn't tell you." These days if he has to call in on a Friday to grab something, "It doesn't feel right."

The money moved too. "Got a couple of months left to pay off the actual business and we've been able to purchase the property we're in now and the block next door." By his own reckoning, "we're probably 5 years early into our plan."

And the life around it changed. James and his wife now have three kids, and with the oldest starting school he'll be there for drop-offs and pickups. At our client retreat on Hamilton Island he went for a run "for some reason", and he hasn't stopped. He's since run a half marathon.

This is the same owner who thought you had to work 15 hours a day. He's clear about why it worked, and he says it better than I can:

"You need the time and you need the brain power, which if you're sort of just grinding every day in the same old grind, if people aren't doing the right thing, you're sort of putting out fires all day. But when you move past that, you have time to really think about the next steps."

Hear it from James himself. In 16 and a half minutes, he tells you what working every day felt like, what he changed in his team, and how a four day week works in a busy mechanics workshop.

What does this mean for your shop?

• Paper, a diary and you as the only one who knows. Start with the systems a mechanic workshop needs first, so your people know what to do without asking you.
• A team that keeps walking out the door. Look at yourself first, the way James did, then read how to keep good technicians and apprentices.
• Every decision and every absence landing on you. How to build an auto repair shop that runs without you walks through handing over the how-to and the decisions.
• Five or six days a week, every week. How to move to a 4 day work week without losing profit shows you how to make the change James was scared of.

Questions auto repair shop owners ask

Can my shop run without me if I'm still on the tools?

Yes. James still works half time on the floor. The difference is that he's there because he chooses to be, not because the business stops without him. "I want to be here, but I don't want to be here, have to be here all the time." Systems and a team that can step up are what give you that choice.

Will I lose customers if I move to a four day week?

James was worried about the same thing. They advertised the change, and in his words, "we didn't seem to lose any business because of the change." The planning comes first, so read the four day week guide before you change your hours.

Is business coaching worth it when money is already tight?

James thought a business coach was too expensive. Then he joined, and he's now paying off the business years ahead of plan. His advice to other owners: "It's definitely worth the investment. You'll just be able to whatever you're aiming for, you'll be able to do quicker." If you're weighing it up, is business coaching worth it for an auto repair shop? sets out what to look for.

Where to start tonight

Grab a pen and last month's calendar. Count the days you were at the shop, weekends included. Next to each one, write the thing that only happened because you were there: the question only you could answer, the job only you knew how to quote, the decision nobody else would make.

Those are the jobs keeping you at the shop. Pick the one that comes up most and write down how it's done, so someone else can do it next week. It's the same first step James took when he got the business off paper and out of his head.

Related questions:

• Why Do I Have to Do Everything Myself?
• How Do I Delegate When My Team Keeps Making Mistakes?
• How Do I Take a Holiday Without the Shop Falling Apart?

See what changes for the people who do this work. On our Our Clients page, auto repair shop owners like James, named and on camera, tell you what actually changed in their shops and their numbers.

More on this topic: all Systems articles.

Whenever you're ready, here's how we can help.

• Not ready to spend anything yet? Start free with Shop Talk, a 30-day reset for auto repair shop owners on our YouTube channel, and our free resources for auto repair shop owners.
• Over $50,000 a month and ready to stop working every day? The Engine Room is the program James joined. It changes how the whole business runs, from your numbers to your team, delivered online with one-on-one coaching on demand.
• Running an auto repair shop under $50,000 a month? Auto Superstars Academy builds the foundations, with one-on-one coaching on demand from a business coach who is a current or former auto repair shop owner.