Any good service techs out there that are tired of the cold?
- Thread starter mac
- Start date
So picture a typical car wash down here. No doors, no floor heat, no boilers, no hot water, no freeze protection. Plus you get stone crabs, snook, boating that is just wonderful, Key West (do a search for fantasy fest), South Beach, tarpon capital of the world, Bahamas just 60 miles off the east coast, and great cigar bars with year round outdoor seating. I guess some people just like jump starting cars and shoveling snow. Get those parkas ready.
robert roman
Bob Roman
“….picture a typical carwash….No doors, no floor heat, no boilers, no hot water, no freeze protection.”
What about no A/C for six months when its 92 degrees F and dew point 75? Market price for stone crab claws is like $38.00 per pound (2 or 3 claws). Cheap flight to Bahamas is $300. Boat club is $100 per month for 19’ (inter coastal only) and fish charter is $500 per person. Average rent here for apartment, where you would actually want to live, is $1,000 a month.
How much does this field tech position pay?
According to Alice Report for Florida, survival budget for a single adult is $19,000. Family of four is $47,500. Stability budget, enables not just survival but self-sufficiency, is $27,000 for a single adult. Family of four is $82,000. This means living from pay-to-pay.
So, if tech works long hours and on-call, it’s tough to enjoy attributes and benefits of Florida.
For these reasons, I would look to recruit people who work in the industry here. This means stealing from other companies in state or finding local carwash workers who want to engage in apprenticeship.
Like carwash, it pays to first form a small nucleus of good employees and then slowly add new ones as opposed to gathering up a crew of 20 persons many of which may suffer from ADD, tardiness, substance abuse, etc.
What about no A/C for six months when its 92 degrees F and dew point 75? Market price for stone crab claws is like $38.00 per pound (2 or 3 claws). Cheap flight to Bahamas is $300. Boat club is $100 per month for 19’ (inter coastal only) and fish charter is $500 per person. Average rent here for apartment, where you would actually want to live, is $1,000 a month.
How much does this field tech position pay?
According to Alice Report for Florida, survival budget for a single adult is $19,000. Family of four is $47,500. Stability budget, enables not just survival but self-sufficiency, is $27,000 for a single adult. Family of four is $82,000. This means living from pay-to-pay.
So, if tech works long hours and on-call, it’s tough to enjoy attributes and benefits of Florida.
For these reasons, I would look to recruit people who work in the industry here. This means stealing from other companies in state or finding local carwash workers who want to engage in apprenticeship.
Like carwash, it pays to first form a small nucleus of good employees and then slowly add new ones as opposed to gathering up a crew of 20 persons many of which may suffer from ADD, tardiness, substance abuse, etc.
"What about no A/C for six months when its 92 degrees F and dew point 75? Market price for stone crab claws is like $38.00 per pound (2 or 3 claws). Cheap flight to Bahamas is $300. Boat club is $100 per month for 19’ (inter coastal only) and fish charter is $500 per person. Average rent here for apartment, where you would actually want to live, is $1,000 a month."
Good points Bob, but slightly off. Maybe where you are, but in southwest FL:
When it gets hot, there are many air conditioned places. Some even serve adult beverages. You simple wear shorts, bring water, and realize you didn't have to preheat your car before going to work.
Stone claws here are around $18/pound for large, where you get around 6 claws. That's very reasonable.
While it will cost you around 300 per person for round trip there, I fly my Mooney there round trip, and total cost is around $300, but that's for four people, and at my schedule. Take a personal boat from the east coast and the travel, while longer, is even cheaper per person.
There are many good used boats for well under $10K. Smart buyers can find nice fishing/cruising boats in the $8K range. Yes, new, you go way up, but in Cape Coral where I live, there are 400 miles of canals, and more boats per capita than any other city.
Rent will be around that number. You can find cheap places in Otumwa, Iowa for $300 per month or less. But then, you're in Otumua, Iowa. Paradise is more expensive than the tulip festival in Pella.
And lastly, and most fortunately, we are having what I call nice success with the Istobal line. For a good person who wants a future, we are in a position to provide that.
Come on down and I'll show you where the stonnys are more moderately priced, And we can go to our local hole in the wall bar, Bert's. See Here: http://www.bertsbar.com/
Good points Bob, but slightly off. Maybe where you are, but in southwest FL:
When it gets hot, there are many air conditioned places. Some even serve adult beverages. You simple wear shorts, bring water, and realize you didn't have to preheat your car before going to work.
Stone claws here are around $18/pound for large, where you get around 6 claws. That's very reasonable.
While it will cost you around 300 per person for round trip there, I fly my Mooney there round trip, and total cost is around $300, but that's for four people, and at my schedule. Take a personal boat from the east coast and the travel, while longer, is even cheaper per person.
There are many good used boats for well under $10K. Smart buyers can find nice fishing/cruising boats in the $8K range. Yes, new, you go way up, but in Cape Coral where I live, there are 400 miles of canals, and more boats per capita than any other city.
Rent will be around that number. You can find cheap places in Otumwa, Iowa for $300 per month or less. But then, you're in Otumua, Iowa. Paradise is more expensive than the tulip festival in Pella.
And lastly, and most fortunately, we are having what I call nice success with the Istobal line. For a good person who wants a future, we are in a position to provide that.
Come on down and I'll show you where the stonnys are more moderately priced, And we can go to our local hole in the wall bar, Bert's. See Here: http://www.bertsbar.com/
robert roman
Bob Roman
What I was trying to get at was to sell the job, not the place.
For example, my daughter and her boy friend attend college and work almost full-time (bartender and stock boy). Both can make twice as much by working as “characters” at Disney World. However, neither wants to live in Orlando (neither would I), be characters or go to school there.
It’s like carwash manager position that pays $52,000 plus incentive. You can get this just about anywhere in U.S.
I know it sounds crazy, but there are a lot of folks who prefer to live above the Mason Dixon Line and west of Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
So, consider checking out these folks. Maybe they can help you find and place tech.
http://www.pitstopconsulting.com/estimates/trained-car-wash-managers/
http://www.pentagoncarwashconsulting.com/car-wash-manager-training/
I’ve referred some of my clients to them because training isn’t something I get involved with anymore.
For example, my daughter and her boy friend attend college and work almost full-time (bartender and stock boy). Both can make twice as much by working as “characters” at Disney World. However, neither wants to live in Orlando (neither would I), be characters or go to school there.
It’s like carwash manager position that pays $52,000 plus incentive. You can get this just about anywhere in U.S.
I know it sounds crazy, but there are a lot of folks who prefer to live above the Mason Dixon Line and west of Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
So, consider checking out these folks. Maybe they can help you find and place tech.
http://www.pitstopconsulting.com/estimates/trained-car-wash-managers/
http://www.pentagoncarwashconsulting.com/car-wash-manager-training/
I’ve referred some of my clients to them because training isn’t something I get involved with anymore.
robert roman
Bob Roman
No it’s not glamorous. That’s the point. Consider how Army recruits.
Picture of Uncle Sam pointing his finger saying I want you for the U.S. Army. Army advertising slogan - so easy a caveman can do it!
In other words, Army isn’t looking for people interested in tea party nor should recruits expect one.
Similarly, I would focus on the challenge of the position.
Big question, does field tech position pay more than $20 per hour?
Picture of Uncle Sam pointing his finger saying I want you for the U.S. Army. Army advertising slogan - so easy a caveman can do it!
In other words, Army isn’t looking for people interested in tea party nor should recruits expect one.
Similarly, I would focus on the challenge of the position.
Big question, does field tech position pay more than $20 per hour?
soapy
Senior Member
It was -33 this morning here. I thought maybe I could qualify after 22 years of working on my own washes. Then I reconsidered I won't leave here unless it gets to -50.
robert roman
Bob Roman
More questions.
What is ideal tech to machine ratio? How much is billable hour?
What is ideal tech to machine ratio? How much is billable hour?
Good questions. I think a decent tech should be capable of maintaining 15 to 20 automatics. A lot depends on the machine if it's easily maintained. Billable per hour should be in the low end of $70/hr to maybe around 90 or so. That is for normal hour rate, not weekends.Any less than that and you are simply not generating a profit on service, which will eventually kill you. Mark 7 is supposedly charging around 60/hr with no increase on weekends. That will doom them. Will be fun to watch them go. I get so much grief from customers, mostly new ones, about charging a travel fee to have a tech show up. I want to choke them till their eyes pop out. Look at what it costs to have a nice, well stocked service van, with a decent tech in it. It costs me about $1.50 per mile to have tha tech and van drive down the road.
I think is has become very difficult to be a successful distributor in today's market. In our area there several distributors have closed. I would say most of those depended heavily on new sales which have really taken a beating. The ones that remain are very busy with maintenance and repair work. The ones that closed either charged too much or too little for their service and several I know did lousy work. Good luck Mac finding a competent tech, they are difficult to find anywhere.
robert roman
Bob Roman
15 to 20 units might be too few. Ryko is like around 25 to 30.
Perhaps you need to be in the $3.00 per minute range. Thus, $90 an hour would support $30 hourly wage (30 percent labor).
If you can’t find techs for $30 an hour, an alternative would be to teach operators how to fix it themselves.
After all, most in-bays wear out at a rate of about $2.00 per wash.
Instead of pocketing obsolescence, operators could pay you some of it to train them.
Otherwise, I agree it would be hard to profit from $60 an hour.
Perhaps you need to be in the $3.00 per minute range. Thus, $90 an hour would support $30 hourly wage (30 percent labor).
If you can’t find techs for $30 an hour, an alternative would be to teach operators how to fix it themselves.
After all, most in-bays wear out at a rate of about $2.00 per wash.
Instead of pocketing obsolescence, operators could pay you some of it to train them.
Otherwise, I agree it would be hard to profit from $60 an hour.
robert roman
Bob Roman
Oops,
$1.50 per minute. Not enough coffee yet.
$1.50 per minute. Not enough coffee yet.
Yes the quest continues. It is a fine balancing act to be a successful distributor. We down here are blessed for several reasons. One we work in a nice place. It was actually hot yesterday. Set a record of 91. We have a good mix of customers: regular wash operators, government agencies, large national accounts, car dealers, and bus companies. We have been here in FL for 22 years and have built a fine reputation for getting things done. Not always the cheapest, and I don't want to be. But pretty damn good. And one of the helpful things to our success is the quality of our competition. In a word, lousy. Mark 7 just fired all of its experienced techs in the state and replaced them with fresh youthful techs that just don't know much of anything. The major players that have gone direct will get the national accounts, but they suffer when dealing with investors. And there are some major happenings coming down the pike as they say. Stay tuned. Pictures at 11.
chaz
Active member
Have you tried to track down some of those MarkVii fired techs?
