Garage Owners Network (UK)

🚨 Nadia's scared to book in. Gareth thinks you're all at it. Sian would rather suffer with dodgy brakes than ask for a payment plan. None of them will ever say that to your face — because none of them will ever pick up the phone in the first place. This week on Garage Owner's Network, we're tackling the FINAL marketing topic in this training series: Topical Marketing — the one tha...

You're rammed — three weeks booked out, techs flat out, phone never stops — and the rewards aren't showing up in your bank balance. This week: why "too busy to build systems" is the exact trap keeping garage owners busy and broke. We push the MBA framework to its extreme conclusion — do less, not more. Hear the story of two nearly identical garages with completely different outco...

🔧 We built the technician crisis ourselves, and most garages don't know how we did it. Every garage owner blames the same things for the technician shortage: money, kids today, the government. Fair enough — but wrong. Go live with me this week, and I'll show you two things: 1️⃣ How the industry created this crisis — and why "Turnover Tony" (you'll know a Tony) is part of the...

This week we're talking MONEY — and why your relationship with it is quietly running your whole business. Ever wonder why some owners can raise their prices without blinking, while others stay frozen on the same rate for years, terrified to ask for what the job's actually worth? I'll show you exactly why that happens — plus the real numbers behind the MOT fee freeze, and why raising yo...

Find out how you can be fully booked and still one bad month away from being broke. Meet Overtime Owen, who works 7 days a week. His diary is rammed, and it's slowly killing him & his business. There are only 3 Core Functions in your garage — Sales, Operations, Finance. You're brilliant at one. Blind to the other two. This week: find out how "Disaster Dai" became "Deck C...

You sponsor the local football team's shirt. It feels good, but you don't know if it actually brought anyone through the door. Sound familiar? This week's Training Topic is community marketing — sports teams, school talks, local Facebook groups, fetes. All the stuff independent garages are already doing, half-heartedly, without ever measuring what came back. I show you how to make comm...

In this training topic, Andy dives into one of the most common questions in the independent sector: " What GMS should I use?" But a GMS is like a socket set, not a mechanic, and software isn't a standalone solution. Discover how asking the 'RIGHT' questions will tell you what's really broken. How to stop drowning in data and start acting on the one number that matters. 

Most garage owners only give feedback when they're already annoyed — and by then it comes out as a verdict, not a conversation. In this episode, Andy breaks down the three-step formula that takes the awkwardness out of feedback for good: Situation, Behaviour, Impact. You'll learn why it works just as well for praise as it does for correction, and what to do when you've said all the rig...

You opened a garage to fix cars. But if that's still your answer, it's probably costing you money, time, and sleep. In this training topic, we'll go through the three businesses every garage owner is actually running — whether they know it or not. One is where most start. One is where most get stuck. And discover the one where the best garage owners are winning. This could be the topic...

Your customer does not see channels. They see one garage. In this episode, Andy explains why omnichannel marketing is not about being everywhere; it is about being consistent everywhere. The starting point is simple: your NAP — name, address, and phone number — must match across Google, your website, Facebook, directories, invoices, and reminders. That is the most basic form of joined-up trust. Fr...

It’s not if you will use AI, it’s how. This training topic shows garage owners how to use AI properly without replacing judgment, skill, or standards. Using a simple diagnostic job as the example, we explore three practical levels of AI: answers, augmentation, and automation. The session explains how AI recognises patterns, why context matters, and how poor prompts create poor answers. By the end,...

Do you focus on the positive or the negative aspects of your business? Are you providing excuses or looking for clues? Because success leaves clues, and the successful are better at spotting the patterns the rest of us step over. The greats defined these patterns: Bruce Lee: mindset — be like water. Ford: method — build the production line. Hormozi: multiplier — more, better, before additional. Th...

Most garage owners work hard for money, but they are building only one kind of money: earnings. They turn up, do the work, solve the problems, and keep the wheels turning. But if the business stops earning when they stop working, they have not built freedom. They have created themselves a job. In this topic, Andy breaks down the three types of money in a garage business: earnings, equity, and pass...

Time is the great leveller; everyone has the same amount every day, it's how you use it that makes the difference. This training topic examines the 3 ways you can use your time. Are you using yours wisely? Join me to find out.

Most garage marketing fails because it talks about you, not your customers. "Quality service at competitive prices" doesn't connect with the customer lying awake at 11 PM, worried about breaking down on the motorway. This episode introduces the Problem-Solution-Outcome framework —a structure that makes marketing material work. But here's the critical part: it applies differently...

This training topic shows garage owners why they should stop relying on gut feelings and start measuring key metrics. Past performance leaves clues in the form of repeatable patterns; spotting these patterns in timing, overruns, and margin allows owners to build systems to improve future performance. Study the evidence, not emotions, to reduce surprises, improve communication, and turn repetition...

"Taking the Business Pulse” is a simple, repeatable habit to transform visibility into profitability. Most garages suffer from poor visibility because they don’t track the right numbers. Start with one daily metric to build a measurement habit. Review it weekly to reveal the patterns that enable you to take prompt action. Join me this week to discover the 3 most important profit driver in any...

Garage owners either ignore the competition or compare themselves unfairly. One says,  “I just focus on my own business.” The other sees bigger workshops, better websites, newer kit, and feels inferior. Neither helps. Your customer is comparing you, whether you do or not. This training topic shows you how to study the competition without copying, criticising, or crushing your confidence. Learn fro...

This training topic explains how to design hooks that connect your services to the customer’s world. Their pain, their problems, your solutions. Using a simple framework, Andy shows how to create better hooks so that your customers understand what's in it for them. The big takeaway: the headline gets attention, but the hook creates relevance. If you want your marketing to attract more of the r...

Why don’t people do the things they know they should? Most people assume the problem is motivation. But behaviour science tells us something different. In this training Topic, Andy explains the MAP Behaviour Model. The model shows that behaviour only happens when Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt occur at the same time. You’ll learn why motivation is the hardest thing to change, why making tasks e...

After suggesting garages increase labour rates in line with inflation, the response was immediate: “If you raise prices, you must add value.” But are we confusing two completely different words — price and value? In this Training Topic, Andy breaks down why they are not the same thing. Using practical examples, he explains three types of value every garage owner should understand: utility value (u...

Most garage owners manage their business like they manage their weight — they step on the scales, don’t like the number, and hope it improves next month. If you are only measuring lagging metrics, they can only tell you what has already happened. In this episode, Andy explains why you need both leading and lagging data. Leading metrics are the controllable inputs, your daily behaviours. Just like...

You’ve seen the ads: “Add an MOT bay from only £15 per day.” In this episode, I explain why that number is simply a marketing trick— and why you should include opportunity cost in your ROI calculations. Using a realistic 3-bay garage example, we will reveal the number of MOT’s you may need to do every day just to stand still. Then I will tackle the “failures will pay for it” argument—breaking down...

Most garages aren’t stuck because they don’t know what to do. They’re stuck because they won’t do what it takes. You are not being held back by the market, money, methods, or models. You’re being held back by you. And if you want to grow, you need to learn to do one thing: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Because growth lives on the other side of discomfort

Most micro-businesses have a sales level need. They need more cash flowing through their business. There are only two ways to make this happen: More sales or Higher Sales Values Attracting more of the right customers means more sales and potentially higher sales values. That’s why marketing matters; the problem most small businesses face is that they don’t know how to create content that converts...