2021_ADN_V6_No3_web

PIT FALLS
Pitfall #3:
Being Mean
Being someone that no one wants to
work for will make your business sink. Remember:
People do not usually quit jobs,
they quit bosses. Ask anyone with more
than a small handful of employees, and
they will tell you that employees and the
problems that come with them can be one
of the biggest headaches of owning a business.
And, unless you want to do all of the
work yourself, employees are a necessity,
and each one must be treated with respect.
Always remember that they are people too,
and they have families to support and bills to
pay. They want to work in an environment
that is not hostile, and where their opinions
and concerns are heard, acknowledged
and addressed. Not all suggestions will be
implemented, or are even logical, but it is
important to listen. More than just listening
to them, reward them for hard work with
adequate pay and bonuses. From a business
owner’s perspective, turnover of employees
costs a lot more than a few more dollars an
hour or an occasional lunch. Once you’re
at a place where you’re successful enough
to need and support employees, your role
within the business will be changed forever.
You are a leader and your reputation
as a good, or horrible boss can spread like
wildfire. Negative word-of-mouth can hurt
a business, even if you’re an exceptional
detailer, so make sure your own employees
are doing some good marketing for you. Do
not let ego, or stubbornness become a pitfall
that you cannot overcome.
Pitfall #4:
Ignoring
the Pitfalls
Thinking you know everything and
have it all figured out is another big pitfall.
You have to always keep yourself in check
and know that small businesses fail all the
time. The aforementioned pitfalls are just
a few of the many I see detailers fall into,
and there are so many more out there to
be aware of and avoided. Avoiding them
will certainly help in keeping your business
afloat and will certainly help you
along your journey to become an established
business. Read reviews of your
business. Ask your clients if they are satisfied.
Take classes provided at tradeshows
and the SBA. It is important to be flexible
and think outside the box for solutions to
help you avoid becoming part of the 90%
that do not make it.
Rob Schruefer is the owner of On The
Spot Detailing out of Columbia, Maryland.
He proudly serves on the board of
the International Detailing Association
and works tirelessly to ensure that detailing
business owners receive business development
support to help them achieve their
goals. When not writing the cover story,
Rob is a regular contributor for Auto Detailing
News with his column, The Business
of Detailing.
A Few Other Pitfalls
According to Entrepreneur
Magazine, here are a few other
pitfalls to avoid:
Ignoring the Competition: Never underestimate
your competition. Competition can
crush your business totally if you aren’t careful,
especially if you haven’t taken the time to fully
understand it. Startups based around a new
idea sometimes get too sure of themselves,
neglecting to keep a watch on the markets --
competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but
you need to make sure you differentiate yourself
in a way that makes your company seem
like the more appealing service.
Becoming Complacent: Too many companies
have failed because they were overly
dependent on one thing. Maybe it was a
highly valuable customer, or a very talented
and experienced worker. Maybe it was an
environmental condition that allowed for
the company to be successful. But remember:
Customers can opt out. Workers can
quit. Environmental conditions can -- and
will -- change. If you allow any part of your
business to be dependent on anything, you’re
setting yourself up for disaster (or at least a
huge gamble). Instead, hedge your bets by
investing in multiple variations and multiple,
complementary dependencies.
Why Startups Fail
The following graphics were from Entreprenuer.com:
Famous Companies
that Failed to Pivot
It’s no secret that familiar and once-popular business
chains are closing down...forever. From Toys R Us,
to Kmart, to non-brick and mortar companies such as
MySpace and Motorola. People will say they miss the
businesses, but how much money were they actually
giving them. Little to none was the case and the businesses
ultimately closed. The reason? According to experts,
it’s because they failed to pivot and change with
the times, and the generations. The baby boomers
had different needs than Generation X-ers, but some
businesses didn’t consider this or maybe didn’t want to
waste potential time and money on investing in such
changing needs.
Toys "R" Us CEO David Brandon, stated in a U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission filing in 2017
that the company fell behind its competitors "on various
fronts, including with regard to general upkeep
and the condition of our stores." And, while Amazon.
com competition wasn’t helping matters, customers
complained of the stores’ warehouse-like environments
with little to no customer service.
As for the once extremely popular and money-making
machine that was Blockbuster, it wasn’t Netflix that
did the company in, it was the company’s failure to reimagine
its prototype. While the business did welcome
new ways to make money and serve its clientele by offering
video game and music rentals in the 1990s, it didn’t
think past the way in which to make money through
$3+ rentals and late fees. In fact, Netflix approached
Blockbuster with a proposal to team up and set the stage
for a mail-order and brick and mortar prototype. But
that proposal was rejected. According to Reed Hastings,
co-founder of Netflix, that meeting was upsetting, but
not detrimental. In his book, No Rules Rules: Netflix
and the Culture of Reinvention. Hastings wrote: “I am
often asked, “How did this happen? Why could Netflix
repeatedly adapt but Blockbuster could not?” That day
we went to Dallas, Blockbuster held all the aces. They
had the brand, the power, the resources, and the vision.
Blockbuster had us beat hands down.
It was not obvious at the time, even to me, but we
had one thing that Blockbuster did not: a culture that
valued people over process, emphasized innovation
over efficiency, and had very few controls. Our culture,
which focused on achieving top performance with talent
density and leading employees with context, not
control, has allowed us to continually grow and change
as the world, and our members’ needs, have likewise
morphed around us.”
28 | AUTO DETAILING NEWS | VOL. 6, NO. 3 • FALL 2021