It is often said that repair shop owners need to spend more time working on the business than in the business, but this can be a difficult task for an independent shop owner/manager. According to Babcox Research, a repair shop owner/manager actually spends more time in a typical week repairing  and diagnosing vehicles ( 43 percent) and working with customers (24 percent) than he or she does managing the business (20 percent).

 
Babcox Research also shows an interesting correlation between the number of technicians on staff and the amount of time a shop owner/manager spends managing. As the number of technicians goes up, so does the percent of time the business owner spends managing. For example, in those businesses with one to two technicians, the shop owner/manager spends about 13 percent of the week managing, as compared to shops with six or more technicians, where the shop owner/manager spends 56 percent of the week on management tasks.
 
A shop owner/manager’s remaining time during the week is spent working with suppliers (10 percent).

For more information about Babcox Research, go to: http://www.babcox.com/marketing_research.html.