The part that blew me away is that 56% were considering exiting their business within the next 4 years. Or should I say only 44% were considering staying? They failed to mention the age group of the respondents. I'd bet the majority of them were baby boomers.

According to the article (if you do the math) since 2005, independent shops have dropped 3.5% in number and the number of technicians working in them have dropped 2.5% while during the same time, dealership PARTS & service sales have grown 48%. I can't help but think a lot of that growth is more in parts than in service.

It's very common nowadays for shop owners to not be making money and then take out a mortgage on their home to keep the shop going or some other creative form of financing. Some shop owners are retiring in debt. How many phone calls a week do you get with offers for business loans? I call them "Uncle Guido Loans".

It's the mafia's new way to loan shark. 40%+ interest rate and they file a UCC-1 on your shop.

Check out https://www.ondeck.com/business-loans/term/

Larry Bloodworth
Technical Information Specialist/Technician
Tanner Transmissions
Draper, Utah, USA