In this episode, Peter Cooper sits down with Nate Taylor, the owner of New England Fleet Services, celebrating its ten-year anniversary. Nate shares his journey in running a successful commercial truck repair operation, which includes both mobile capabilities and a 6,000 square foot shop in Connecticut. The conversation digs deep into the primary challenges facing the industry today, particularly the high costs of employee benefits, the shifting dynamics of the hiring process, and the non-negotiable role of relationships and reputation in long-term success. They also explore the factors that create value in a business - like mobile service capacity and real estate ownership - especially in the context of industry consolidation by private equity.
Key Takeaways:
The Number One Challenge is HR Costs: For Nate's shop, the biggest struggle is the rising cost of healthcare and other HR-related expenses, which makes competing with larger companies and dealerships difficult.
The Hiring Shift: The job market has changed; employers must now actively court candidates and pay top dollar, often spending thousands of dollars on the hiring process.
Culture Over Skill: A key lesson learned is that an "BTech with an awesome attitude" is better than an A-Tech with a terrible attitude, underscoring the importance of a healthy, employee-centric shop culture.
Relationships are King: In an age of technology and AI, reputation and relationships with customers, vendors, and even "competition" (seen as resources) are the most important assets that cannot be replaced.
Long-Term View & Honesty: Choosing to run an honest shop with a long-term view builds a powerful reputation, often involving "short-term pain for long-term gain" when rectifying mistakes with customers.
Episode Highlights and Timestamps:
[00:00:00] - Introduction, Nate Taylor's 10-year anniversary, and the question of where he sees himself in five years.
[00:01:39] - Nate's journey from the automotive world to commercial truck repair and the shop's mobile and 6000 sq ft facility capabilities.
[00:06:59] - The number one challenge facing the industry: HR-related costs, specifically healthcare, and the difficulty in competing with large companies.
[00:11:16] - The dramatic change in the hiring process: employers must now sell themselves to the employee.
[00:15:40] - The enduring importance of reputation and relationships with customers, vendors, and even competitors as resources.
[00:21:07] - Nate's five-year plan: focusing on real estate ownership and increasing mobile service capability to grow the business's value.
[00:23:23] - Discussion on industry consolidation, what private equity looks for (profitability and mobile repair), and the value of owning the real estate.
[00:27:06] - The value of having a brick-and-mortar shop to establish legitimacy, especially for mobile services.
[00:29:41] - The importance of upfront honesty and integrity as a core value in the repair trade, exemplified by the "three B's" of running a shop.
[00:39:26] - A "B-Tech with an awesome attitude" is better than an A-Tech with a terrible one, and the danger of managing from a place of fear.
Follow Guest Nate Taylor:
👉 Website: https://nefleetservices.com/
Follow Host Peter Cooper:
👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cooper-ascend-consulting-468367133/
👉 Website: https://ascendconsulting.help/
👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570030967745
👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascendconsulting.help/
👉 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shopconsulting
Listen to Beyond the Bay:
👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1IH2SSXjGRDqzP3p0Ie5C3
👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-the-bay/id1834168994