Show Notes:
Is your collision shop financially prepared for the future?
Feeling lost in the complexities of shop ownership?
In this week's MindWrench Podcast we uncover essential financial strategies for collision shop owners as we tackle the intricacies of business transitions. In this episode, the industry’s only Certified Exit Planner, financial expert Matt DiFrancesco, sheds light on how to secure your shop's future while creating generational wealth. We explore “business musts” such as setting our GPS & establishing a clear vision for your business, the importance of business continuity plans, and innovative stay bonus programs to retain valuable employees.
With insights geared for the collision industry, Matt explains how to avoid common pitfalls that many shop owners face and offers actionable steps to promote healthier financial decisions.
This engaging conversation not only informs but also inspires shop owners to make proactive decisions regarding their financial health and legacy. Don't miss out on the valuable insights shared in this episode – tune in, learn, and take the first steps toward ensuring a successful future for your business!
Guest Info: Matt DiFrancesco – Founder -High Lift Financial/ Host- Your Business, Your Life Podcast
Email: Matt@highliftfin.com Website: https://highliftfinancial.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This week I'm super stoked.
I get to spend some time with agood friend of mine one of my
co-hosts Inclusion Cocktail Hour, matt DeFrancesco.
He is the owner and financialtechnician at High Lift
Financial.
Today we're going to catch upon a lot of great financial tips
, suggestions and ways you canhelp yourself if you're a shop
owner, either looking to handdown your business to your
(00:23):
family or exit, or make somefinancial improvements.
That makes your business moreworthwhile.
So make sure you stay tuned.
It's going to be a greatepisode.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast with your
host, rick Sellover, where minoradjustments produce major
improvements in mindset,personal growth and success.
This is the place to be everyMonday, where we make small
improvements and take positiveactions in our business and
personal lives that will make amajor impact in our success,
next-level growth and quality oflife make a major impact in our
(01:09):
success, next-level growth andquality of life.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast.
I'm your host, rick Silover.
Thanks so much for stopping in.
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(01:34):
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brand new listener, welcome.
I hope you find something ofvalue here that helps you in
(01:54):
your personal or professionallife as well.
Please make sure to click thesubscribe or follow button so
you never miss another episode.
Today I'm super stoked.
I got one of my buddies on, avery good friend of mine, a
fellow podcaster like myself,and he's one of my co-hosts on
the Collision Cocktail Hour,matt DeFrancesco.
He is the owner and financialtechnician of High Lift
(02:16):
Financial.
He's also the founder and hostof the your Business, your Life
podcast.
We got lots to talk about today.
Like I said, I'm super happythat he's on with me today.
And, matt, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Hey, thanks, rick.
I'm glad to be on here, so I'mlooking forward to our
conversation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So just a quick review.
So Matt and I, we first met in2021.
I recently started a podcast.
His was fairly new as well, andhe reached out to me because he
was interested at that time ingetting more into the collision
side of business and my namepopped up a couple times for him
(02:56):
.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, it was basically.
I mean, I was dealing with justfamily businesses in general,
all kinds of different familybusinesses.
I always kind of I'll give youthe high level.
The high level story it's whenI, when I first got into
financial services, I didn'thave access to any money.
I didn't have any any.
You know, rich family, richfriends, anything like that.
(03:19):
So I basically had to kind ofgrind it and I I knew two things
I knew municipal bonds and Ilearned 401ks.
So that's what I spent my timedoing.
I spent all day calling familybusinesses Do you have a
retirement plan?
Do you know the tax benefits ofit?
Or you do have one?
What's the last time you had itreviewed?
And I was selling these plans.
(03:40):
So what happened was I got acollision shop owner who
referred me to another one and Ireally just started doing a
deeper dive into the industryand I really liked the
demographic, I liked the peoplein it and I just decided to go
all hog into just the collisionindustry.
So that's basically how I gotinvolved in it.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, great.
Yeah, it's a unique industry,but there's so many good people
and there's so many people thatneed help on the financial side.
So it's a unique industry, butthere's so many good people and
there's so many people that needhelp on the financial side, so
it's a great fit for you.
I know, since we first startedtalking, that your business has
grown through the collisionindustry and now you're at the
point where you're doingspeaking events, which is
fantastic.
So you're getting in front ofmore larger groups of collision
(04:21):
shop owners and I'm telling youfolks, matt has made a great
impact on my life and I knowhe's making an impact on those
other lives out there, becausethere's some of this stuff that
you know.
I spent my whole life incollision shops and most of
these shop owners had no idea,on the financial end of the
business, really what to do.
Or you know best moves, besttax advantages, you know how to
(04:45):
get in and out of buying a shopor selling a shop, you know
passing it down to their kids orgrandkids or whatever.
So there's a lot of financialinformation there.
That's just that block wasmissing and Matt has been doing
a great job providing that tothe shop owners, wouldn't you
say, matt?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yes, I think the biggest thing and this is I mean
it's, it's interesting, I meanit's, it's typical of collision
shops, but I think it's.
It happens in every business.
You know you invest so muchtime and money in your business
and then all of a sudden it's,it's.
You get to a point where it'slike, okay, I start looking at
the next chapter and nobodyknows where to go and there's so
much misinformation that's outthere that they really just
(05:23):
don't get the guidance.
And it's actually interestingbecause I just submitted an
article for Body Shop Businessabout why DIY exit plans don't
work.
And I see this a lot of timeswhere shop owners looking at
transitioning the business tokids or to a key employee or
they're like I don't haveanybody, I'm going to sell it to
(05:51):
a third party, and all of asudden they just get stuck All
right, and either they never getout of that, that revolving
five-year exit window, or theydo something rash and then end
up regretting it 12, 24 monthsdown the road.
So really, what my goal is withclients, and especially with
collision shop owners, is, firstoff, to help them identify what
they want that next chapter oftheir life to look like.
Okay, and I really equate it toa GPS.
(06:14):
So if you're going to go on atrip, rick, first thing you're
going to put in is where youwant to go, right, absolutely
Okay.
So we figure out where we wantto go, so we develop that vision
.
But then the second thing thatthe GPS is going to ask you is
where are you starting from?
Right?
So then we've got to figure outwhere they're starting from,
and typically what happens iswe're going to find that there's
a gap in there.
So now it's about okay, how dowe address the gap to get you to
(06:38):
that end point?
And so now we can create aroadmap out of it.
And that's really what I dowith these collision shop owners
is really help them to identifywhere they want to go, figure
out where are you now?
Are they going to match up, andif not, then what do we need to
do to get to that end point?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Okay, that makes sense.
So I see I was looking on yourwebsite recently and it says
you're the only certified exitplanner in this industry
currently.
Is that still true?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yes, there's only about 130, maybe 140 of us in
the world certified exitplanners.
Okay, that's awesome.
I'm the only one that focusesspecifically in the collision
industry.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, Okay, I think that's a good fact for people to
know.
So Matt not only knows hisstuff, he knows it to the level
of you know.
He's actually been certified tohelp shops exit their business,
so in many different forms.
So I'm also going to refer tohim as the GPS of the exit plan,
so because everybody's going toneed it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So that's right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah.
So let me ask you.
So we're talking aboutgenerational wealth and exiting
and things like that.
So what exactly is generationalwealth, and why does it seem to
be not on anybody's radarwithin the shop?
If you're looking for acompetitive edge for your
business or a more effectivejumpstart to your personal
development in 2024, I'll makeyour first step super simple.
(08:07):
It is a fact that an incrediblenumber of the most successful
business owners, nearly half ofthe Fortune 500 companies,
top-earning professionalathletes, entertainers and
industry leaders likeMicrosoft's Bill Gates, former
President Bill Clinton, oprahWinfrey, richard Branson,
amazon's Jeff Bezos andSalesforce's Mark Benioff all
have one thing in common theyall have at least one coach and
(08:30):
some have several that they workwith on a consistent basis,
someone that helps guide, mentorand support them, challenge
them, help them set and achievegoals that move them forward and
then hold them accountable tofollow through driving personal
and professional growth.
Working with a coach has manysubstantial benefits.
Just for an example, 80% ofcoaching clients report improved
(08:50):
self-esteem or self-confidencethanks to coaching.
99% of individuals andcompanies that hire a coach
report being very satisfied and96% would do it again If, deep
down, you know it's time to makethose improvements in your
business, your personal life,that you've kicked down the road
year after year.
If you're tired of knowingthere's a better version of you
(09:11):
waiting to shine, but unsure ofhow to bring that version to
light, if you're tired ofwanting to enjoy a more
successful business but not surehow to start, and if you don't
want to go another 12 monthswithout better results but you
don't want to go it alone, thentake the first step.
It's super simple.
Sometimes talking to the rightperson can make all the
difference.
Go to wwwrixelovercom contactand I'll set you up with a free
(09:35):
consultation.
Call with me to see ifone-on-one coaching is right for
you.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
Well, I think, first off, what?
What does generational wealthmean?
Generational wealth is beingable to take what you've built
and create an ongoing legacy,not just for your generation,
but for the next generation andall the generations after.
Um, it's really, it's reallythe model of you.
Look like the rockefellers, thevanderbilts.
(10:03):
You know a lot of the old time,the carnegies, the old time uh,
industrial wealth.
What they were able to do wascreate, basically, just a
vehicle that is carried onthrough multiple generations,
not only to benefit theirfamilies, but to benefit
societies itself.
Well, that could be done on avery on a smaller scale too, and
I think nobody realizes.
(10:23):
They think that you've got tohave multi, multi, multi,
millions and billions to be ableto do something like this.
So it's really about creatingan awareness about what's, what
are the possibilities that areout there.
Okay, the second thing is that Ijust don't think it's ever been
approached.
I don't think people have beeneducated on what they can really
do with their lives.
You know, most of the time mostof us go through life, you know
(10:46):
we just kind of hunker down, wegrind, we do our thing and then
then what?
We don't know because nobody'sever really educated us on what
we need to do.
That's what I really feel myrole is.
Why do I do speakingengagements?
I do it to try to educatepeople, say these are the
possibilities for your life,okay.
Why do I write articles for inthe industry publications?
(11:06):
Because I want to educatepeople.
This is what's possible andwhen?
So all of a sudden, peoplestart to see the possibilities,
now their world opens up, theycan make something that's much
bigger than themselves.
It's not just a collision shop.
It can become a legacy.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Right, it becomes a mindset.
Mindset shift at that point too.
Right?
Because I think I've heard yousay before this is one of your
taglines is we seem to spend asa shop owner.
We'll spend a large portion ofour life underneath, with the
hood up right.
We'll come out from underneaththe hood and go God, I'm in my
60s, what the hell am I supposedto do now?
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
How do I get?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
out of this, what's my next step?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, exactly, and it's because they just don't
know.
And so that's what my role isis really to help them to define
that.
Just to use another analogy, Ialways say you know to.
To execute these things isactually it's like putting a
puzzle together, right, and youjust take the pieces and put
them, and I know how to put thepieces together, but I can't
help you to put the pieces onuntil we create the picture on
(12:02):
the box, because you ever try toput a puzzle together without
seeing what it's what the endproduct's supposed to look like.
No, you can't, you can't, right.
So that's that's what my roleis is to help to create that
picture, help you, the shopowner, to develop that picture.
Then we can start putting thepieces of the puzzle together.
Right, but I think it takes it.
It does take.
(12:23):
A certain quality among shopowners is the first thing is
you've got to be coachable.
You've got to be willing to sayall right, you know what.
I'm going to trust that thisguy's going to lead me in the
right direction and you're goingto follow the steps that I tell
you to do.
I've had too many times whereclients have said, oh, you keep
(12:43):
talking about these stay, know,you keep talking about these
stay bonuses or you keep talkingabout business continuity.
All I need is a consultant tocome in and fix everything.
Well, you know what buildingvalue in your business is more
than just getting youroperations right.
I had a lot of really goodoperators that are still a mess
and they don't have thevaluation that they need because
they haven't put any othernon-financial aspects and the
(13:04):
financial aspects into place.
So that's really.
My role was really more as acoach through all of this
helping you, leading you throughthe process, executing what I
can from my skillset and thenbringing in the outside
professionals that can help youto accomplish your goals.
So this becomes a team effort.
It really needs to be that.
And you know goals.
(13:26):
So this becomes a team effort.
It really needs to be that.
And you know all of you guys onour Collision Cocktail Hour
group are part of that team andI've got many, many others that
can help us to execute.
Give you a great example, rick.
I just did an intro call onTuesday with a dad that owns the
business.
Sons are in it, he wants totransition it and we're talking
about certain things and he wastalking about yeah, well, I'm
(13:48):
just going to hold the note andI'm like, oh, is that your plan?
And he said, well, that's theonly plan.
I thought and I'm like, well,there's other ways to skin the
cat.
I mean, we could restructure asa C-corp.
Now you're doing stockpurchases instead of asset
purchases, but now you're payingcapital gains instead of
(14:08):
ordinary income.
Oh, and you know what?
Guess what?
Because they're your kids, youcan utilize gift strategies.
You can almost eliminate anytax liability that could occur
because of using gift andestates and estate planning and
trust.
And he said to me he goes, goes.
Why isn't anybody told me this?
And I said because they don'tknow because he hadn't talked to
(14:29):
you yet.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That's why that's right.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
So that's really what it comes down to.
I think you got it.
You know they got to beeducated, but then the second
thing is are you willing tolisten to what I teach you and
follow the steps right?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
that's probably I.
It seems like that would be thebiggest or most difficult part
of the job, for what you do is,number one, casting the vision
to where someone actually couldsee it and go.
Yes, I get that.
Okay, how do I start to go inthat direction?
Right, cause I think a lot oftimes I've talked with thousands
(15:06):
of of collision shop owners andtechnicians and managers and
stuff, and and you know, theycan be pretty hardheaded,
sometimes they can be veryegotistical, right, you know,
this is my baby.
I built this thing from theground up and you know I know
what's best for my company.
And sometimes, getting pastthat, right it.
(15:26):
Listen, I'm not challenging you, I'm not telling you you're not
smart.
I'm just saying you haven'tlooked at it through this set of
lenses yet, you know, and ifyou get somebody to look through
it through that set of lensesin a non-threatening way, then
they go oh, I really neverthought of it that way, right?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, that's no, that's exactly right.
And I think you know, somebodyasked, somebody was asking me
about why you know why collisionshop owners, and I talked a
little bit about the demographic.
But I think one of the biggestthings is and I told a little
bit of my story, but you know,I've had to grind to build my
business.
All right, all right and so,and I find most collision shop
(16:03):
owners that's what they arethey're.
They're they're guys who lovecars, started working in the
industry, worked themselves up,either started a shop or or
bought a shop that they workedfor or, you know, took over
dad's shop, but they kind ofgrinded it out and I can relate
to that.
I also can relate to, you know,thinking that I was.
You know it's, it's up to methat you, I don't need anybody's
(16:26):
help, and I've come over theyears to realize that I have
shortcomings.
I was talking to a woman I'mdoing some work with and she's
really good at developing SOPsand I'm like that's where I suck
, that's where I suck.
All right, so I'm getting, I'mhiring people now to help me
develop standard operatingprocedures so that now workflows
(16:48):
can work much, much morefluidly.
That's where it takes somehumility to do that, and I guess
you know what I tell shopowners is that look?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
would you rather be right or rich?
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
It's similar, mike.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Anderson.
Mike Anderson's got a taglinevery similar to this is you know
, do you want to be happy or doyou want to be right?
Cause there's a difference,right.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
There is a difference , there's a big difference.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, yeah, and he's referring to talking with
insurance companies and thingslike that.
So you can argue all you wantto you know it.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That's exactly right.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, I'm glad there's someone like you out
there right now doing the thingsthat you're doing.
I've seen a lot of adoption,I'd say, in our collision
industry of people wanting toget more educated, wanting to
learn these things that maybe wedidn't learn for 30 years.
But we see the world around uschanging.
We see the collision worldaround us changing massively
(17:51):
right.
See the collision world aroundus changing massively right.
You've got some heavy-duty,top-notch groups out there.
You know buying up shops thathave everything figured out.
They know their financials,they know their operations, they
have SOPs already built.
So I think there's a nicehigher level that you know your
average mom-and-pop shop can getto if they really want to.
(18:12):
But they have to enlist theright people right.
They have to reach out to theright type of coaches, the right
type of resources.
Like you or Laura Gay with youknow the way she works with
people on selling their orbuying their shops.
Yeah, it's, it's a shift.
I feel we're like in the midstof right now man, and, like I
(18:33):
said, I feel fortunate.
I know enough people in thisbusiness now they're that know
how to help others get there.
Um, because, just from mybackground, you know dealing
with the smallest to the biggestof shops.
For a lot of years I alwaysfelt for the smaller business
guy.
Right, I always felt for theyou know the guys that's
struggling.
(18:53):
He's got one of his kidsworking for him.
He's got one other guy.
He's constantly battling withthe kids, it's like.
But you know they want to getto that next level but they just
don't know how and I hate tosee them all sell out and just
get out of the business becausethey've given up on the battle.
But I think you know, with themoney I see being made in
collision centers these days,you know the prices on labor
(19:15):
keeps going up.
The items that we were missingfor decades that we're now
charging for drives the revenueup and it's becoming a better
business.
It really is.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I completely agree yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, great, yeah, yeah, I I like to see where
people like you, people like me,people like mickey and the
other people on our team can getinvolved and help these shops.
You know, you're not, you don'thave to do this alone, and
that's I think that's themessage I I like to try to get
out there.
You don't have to do all thesethings alone.
It's, it's not like it was acouple decades ago and every man
(19:52):
for himself.
Now it's there's, there's alittle bit more community, I
think, in this industry thanthere's ever been.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Right, and you know what?
It's interesting Again, beingin financial services, I use
this analogy a lot becausepeople ask me, like what's a
great stock to buy, or what's agreat investment, and you know,
there's lots of real estate'sgood.
You know there's stocks you canbuy Nvidia, and, and you know
there's lots of real estate'sgood.
You know there's stocks you canbuy in NVIDIA and you know a
lot of people made a killing onthat.
But the best investment you canmake in is in yourself, and I
(20:26):
find that the shop owners thatare investing in themselves that
they're, you know, they'rebeing part of, you know, Mike
Anderson's 20 groups, or they'reinvesting with Mickey Woods in
marketing, or, you know,investing with you and working
in mindset those types of things, or investing in me to help
them, to put the financialpieces of the puzzle together to
get them the end result thatthey want.
You know those are the onesthat always progress, and that's
what I think I really likeabout our collision cocktail
(20:48):
hour is we've got shop owners onthere that want to learn and
yeah, there's probably what Iwould say about a quarter of
them.
They participate in theconversation, but probably two
thirds of them sit there andjust listen, but you know that
you're taking something out ofit because they're there month
after month after month.
Oh, yeah, that's.
I think that's a greattestament to the people in this
(21:10):
business, to a certainpercentage of them.
Yeah, and it's interestingbecause I had a guy that came to
me one time and he sat in onone of the collision cocktail
hours and afterwards I wastalking with him and he said you
know, I was on your collisioncocktail but I had to bug out of
there because you know, allthose people have time to work
on their business and I don'thave that.
And I said that's your problem,You're not making it your time.
(21:35):
You know we have to, and mycoach teaches us all the time
and I teach this to my clientsthat there's three types of time
we need to, that we need toinvest in.
We've got a tactical time.
Tactical is when we're workingin the business.
That's when we're doing ourthing, All right.
But then we've got to investtime in strategic, which is
working on the business, and wehave to literally dedicate time,
(21:57):
pull to put that into ourcalendar and say, look, I need
to do this.
And if you're, if you're in aposition where you can't do that
, then that's really your firststep is that we need to find the
people, by your time back, thatcan allow us to take more
strategic time, All right.
And then third one is renewaltime, and renewal time is really
that's time.
We need to just get away fromthe business, Because I find
(22:20):
when I get away from thebusiness that's when my greatest
breakthroughs come in, becauseI'm not working in the day to
day, yeah Right.
And when you're at the beach oryou're, you know, on a hunting
trip out in the Rockies oryou're riding motorcycles on the
Hatfield-McCoy Trail, that'swhen you have your breakthroughs
.
And so you've got to workyourself into that position.
(22:41):
And if you're not in thatposition, then that tells us.
Here's what our first steps are.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Absolutely, boy.
I'm 100% on that.
I find my best thinking time iswhen I'm not, you know, in the
whirlwind of work, and all thethings that I do is when I'm out
on a walk or I'm sitting on abeach, and you know God, I
always like to.
I have my phone with me nomatter where I go, obviously
like every other person in theworld, but I usually take notes,
(23:09):
so I'll have things come to me.
Oh, I should.
You know, maybe it's a podcastepisode I want to do, maybe it's
a thought for work, or maybeit's just something I need for
my own self.
Oh, you know, if I starteddoing this, I think that would
be a good idea for me.
I'll keep those notes becausethat's the only time you have
clarity.
And you know what, if youreprioritize some things, you
(23:42):
can make time for working on thebusiness instead of it.
Right, because everybody has toyou.
Look at every top performer thatgoes to.
You know a mike anderson.
You know his spartan 300 group,right?
This isn't a promo for the hisSpartan 300 group, right?
This isn't a promo for theSpartan 300 group.
But I'm saying these are allguys that are serious and gals
that are serious about theirbusiness.
They dedicate the time to goout of town, spend a couple days
(24:04):
with a bunch of other businessshop owners going over things
that are important, but theymake that time and it makes them
more successful, right yeah.
And they also invest in thetime you said to just tune it
down a little bit, get the hellout of the shop for a little bit
, get away from everything for alittle bit and have that me
(24:25):
time to rejuvenate and let yourbody heal up a little bit from
the scars of working every day.
It's absolutely needed.
It really is absolutely needed.
I found that in my own lifewhen I started doing those
things like wow, life getsbetter, better when you do that.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
It really does exactly there's.
Yeah, there's no doubt, andit's, you know, it's interesting
.
It's interesting as you'retalking about that funny story.
I had a client that came to meone time and says, you know, hey
, matt, I look I've got no kids.
I don't have, you know, so I'vegot no succession plan there.
None of my key employees areinterested.
I want to sell the third party.
(25:00):
So I said all right.
So we started going through theprocess and I actually
introduced him to Laura and soshe did an evaluation and we
kind of looked at everything.
We were matching up the numbersand he was actually part of
Mike Anderson's Spartan group,so it was really good.
(25:21):
But anyway, as we were goingthrough the process and I
started going through, okay,let's evaluate what's more
important to you, a third-partysale, or internal or external?
And he started to realize thatif he didn't have to, if he
didn't have to be there 60 hoursa week, 60 hours a week, he
could live.
If I could be more of anabsentee owner, why would not?
(25:42):
I having the name on my shop isimportant to me because I
couldn't drive by it and see.
You know one of theconsolidators names on there,
right, okay, yeah, I'd like toprovide more for my key
employees and maybe start, maybegive them a little bit of an
equity share in in, in in theshop.
And so all of a sudden histhinking shifted because he
started to realize what wasreally important to him.
(26:03):
And I think that's, that's adanger, and I and and Laura and
I, that's why we I think we workwell together, because she a
lot of times we'll bring me onthe front end to help them to
define this vision.
Then, if they, if a third partysale is it, she goes and
negotiates that and then I comein on the back end to structure
those assets, to help them uh,create that, uh,
(26:24):
multi-generational legacy right.
So on the third party end, butyou know, also on the internal
end, we you know the uh, the uhinternal sale, whether it's a
child, children or key employees.
That can be another veryfulfilling thing.
There are some owners that sayyou know what I do love the
business, I just don't want tobe grinding it here.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
40, 50, 60 hours a week, Right, yeah, there's
really plenty of options to goat that point.
There really is.
It's only the ones that aretruly I've had it, I've done.
I can't take one more minute ofthis.
I just want to go fish the restof my life.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Do you really want?
I mean, I think about that inmy life, like, do I really want
to get to the point where I'mjust so freaking burned out that
I just got to give up what I do?
Yeah, I mean, I'd like to haveoptions before that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah.
Well, if you make yeah, youmake the changes earlier, you
get the help earlier, you getmore people involved in your
business that are an asset,right, then, yeah, you can get
there.
You can.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Yeah, I mean one of my, one of my very first
collision client.
He's still a client here.
This is what 10, 11 years laterand we were initially working
on an internal transfer with histwo sons the one son didn't
work out.
The other son left for a littlebit, came back, just went
through a lot of these ups anddowns, but now what he's
(27:41):
realized is that he's about 62now and he realizes, you know
what.
I don't want to completely exit, but I like building my culture
legs, but I just I likebuilding my culture.
So I want to kind of be the50,000 foot guy and his, his
younger son and his key employeewhere he's developing them to
do more of the operations so hecan go now, live the lifestyle
(28:04):
that he wants.
But he doesn't have to bedetached from the business.
Things can evolve that way tooand he, you can have the best of
both worlds, but you've got tobe willing to plan to do it and
then be able to be coached,implement the things that you
need to do to get there.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, my message is always you know nothing's off
tape.
You have the opportunity toreally direct your life in any
direction you want.
It's just are you willing to dothat?
Are you willing to make changesor involve the people?
And I, you know, I like to tellpeople I don't care where you
are if you're not stuck there.
You're only stuck there if youlet yourself be stuck there and
(28:41):
you convince yourself oh, Ican't do anything but what I'm
doing right now.
So we all have.
We all have the options toprove and maneuver and grow and
all those other things.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
So well, and I think that's, I think that's a lot of
the benefits that you providethese shop owners.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Again, so much of it's up, here it is everything's
up if you don't, if you don'tget the six inches right between
your ears, you're not gonna goanywhere yeah, it doesn't matter
how hard you work or how hardyou grind, or how many employees
you have, or how many cars youbuy or how many houses you have.
If you don't fix that inbetween years, you won't really
(29:17):
enjoy any of it.
You won't get the fruits ofthose labors.
Right, yeah, exactly, yeah, Iwant to switch gears a little
bit.
So obviously I've got a greatfinancial wizard, I believe, on
the horn here today.
So, matt, could you give us sofor any shop owner, small or
large, that probably hasn't gonethrough any of these things or
(29:43):
hasn't enlisted a really goodstrategist in their business?
What are, like I say, the topthree financial flubs, if you
want to call it, or financialmisnomers that we can talk about
?
That would help somebody.
If at least they understoodthese three things.
It would get them thinking inthe right direction of hey, what
else can I do?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Right, right.
So definitely the first one,and it's so funny because it
just works out this way.
But the first step every shopowner needs to take is putting
together what I call businesscontinuity plan.
So basically, the businesscontinuity plan is a plan that
says, okay, if I die, if Ibecome disabled, if I you know
(30:21):
if there's a divorce or you knowif I've got a partner
irreconcilable differences howdo we ensure that the business
functions, either until asuccessor can take over or until
it can be put into a positionfor third-party sales?
We want to look at protectingnot only the business but also
the owner's family.
So that really entails a coupledifferent things, two aspects
(30:44):
that are probably vital to itand it's so funny because I've
had guys that say you keeptalking about these things, why
do you keep harping on it?
I say because they're thatimportant.
One is what's called businesscontinuity instructions.
It's basically a booklet thatwe help our clients put together
that has all the instructionswho needs to be contacted, who
are the key advisors that needto be contacted, top vendors,
(31:07):
who is going to take overcertain roles, where are the
passwords, who has access to thebank accounts, where's the
combination to the safe, allthese different instructions all
in one spot.
So then something happens.
A spouse or key employee can gothere and have all the
instructions written out forthem.
The second one is what's calledstay bonus programs.
(31:29):
And stay bonus programs andstay bonus programs are
basically the programs that wedevelop that for key employees
that have vesting schedules onthem.
So they kind of work like agolden handcuffs type of uh type
of program where if they leavethey're going to leave money on
the table.
So you want to develop thesestay bonus programs so it makes
(31:51):
that key employee stickier.
Because, first off, you want todevelop these stay bonus
programs so it makes that keyemployee stickier.
Because, first off, you want tomake sure that they leave.
What happens a lot of times isif something happens to the
owner, key employees panic andthey leave.
Now all of a sudden thebusiness is screwed.
But the second thing with thestay bonus program is they now
have got finance.
They feel like they're boughtinto ownership on the business
(32:12):
because you typically want totie these stay bonus programs
into increases in net profit.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Partial ownership right Right.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
So it's not really partial ownership, but the way
they qualify for the businessesis on increases in net profit.
So you kind of get two thingsthere.
So I think that's probably thebiggest thing that I, that just
about everybody, every shopowner, misses.
Every shop that I've talked togives their employees bonuses,
and you can't do away with thecash bonus that you give them
(32:40):
because a lot of them rely onthat.
But now you want to implementthis stay bonus program that
basically, will you know, rewardthem for increases.
So think of it kind of like aprofit sharing plan, but it's
under our vesting schedule sothat you know if they leave
within that year they don't getany of that money.
Okay, and then little bits ofit are vested over each year
(33:02):
over time.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, I don't think many shops I know of will do
something like that.
You're right, they all dobonuses.
Well, most of them will dobonuses, but yeah, I'm sure
there's a way to figure out.
Okay, we'll have a little bitless cash but we'll have more of
this, this vested bonus, stay,stay bonus program.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
But actually no, because you're building on
increases in gross profit.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, it's based on gross profit, net profit.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
So think about it this way.
So let's say you're I'll usenice round numbers let's say
your net operating profit aftertax is $500,000.
So what we do is we set that ata baseline.
Okay, let's say then that yougrow to $600,000.
So you have a hundred thousanddollar growth.
All right, out of that hundredthousand dollar growth we we
(33:57):
have the owner retained 60% ofthat because he still, you know,
needs to invest in the business.
Then 40% is taken as part ofthe um the state program.
So let's say, you have fouremployees, that four key
employees, that would give eachof them $10,000.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Okay, and then you could structure it any way you
want.
Some of them might do 5,000 asa cash bonus.
5,000 that goes into the staybonus program.
That's under a vesting scheduleOkay.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I like that.
That's a really interestingconcept and it sounds like it'd
be fairly painless for a shopowner to really set things up
that way it's all based ongrowth yeah it's all based on
growth if you're hustling andyou're contributing, yeah,
everybody wins, house wins, andyou guys win.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You're winning as a shop owner, because you're still
growing and you're stillretaining 60 of those earnings
right yeah, that's the first one, that that's probably the
biggest.
That's typically the first stepI do with shop owners.
The second one is puttingtogether some type of adequate
retirement plan.
(35:05):
Too many shops I see havesimple IRAs.
Simple IRAs are good, they'reinexpensive, but they don't give
you a lot of flexibility as faras how much can be deferred
into a plan and there's greattax benefits to it.
Most shop owners want to.
You know, nobody wants to paymore than they have to correct.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
So a good, solidly designed retirement plan is the
best starting point for any typeof tax deferral, and I just see
that the shop owners missedthat opportunity over and over
again.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Okay, well, that's good, that's you know.
I wanted a couple of goodtakeaways for those that listen
and those are great takeawaysbecause those in a lot of the
shops I've dealt with over thepast 35 years anyways, I never
heard any of those three thingsmentioned and I've had really
good intimate conversations withshop owners I've known for 20
(36:00):
years or 25 years years and andI don't think those you know,
maybe today it's different withall the advances we've had in
the last five years with youknow, you know the collision
shops and what they've reallyfocused on and stuff, and I'm
sure some of these larger groupsin the smaller msos are.
They probably have things likethis set up, but the average
collision shop owner probablydoesn't.
(36:20):
So those are three great uhtakeaways that uh, someone can
start thinking about right now.
Reach out to you and go hey,matt, can I get a little bit
more information?
That's right.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yep, oh yeah, no doubt that's what we're here for
.
And again, it's really abouteducation.
Most people don't know thesethings.
Why?
Because they've never beenexposed to it.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Right Now somebody can reach out, schedule just a
consultation, free consultationcall with you, right.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Yep, yep, so you can go to my website.
It's highliftfinancialcom, okay, and up at the there's a up on
the top right there's a let'schat button that you can get
right on my calendar.
I give everybody 30 minutes ofmy time no charge, and here's
the one thing I promiseeverybody is, even if I can't
help you, I will get you pointedin the right direction.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
That's excellent, that you can't ask for more than
that, man.
That's.
That's more than fair right.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
It's all about providing value.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, no, that's great.
Well, I'll make sure I put alink for that in the show notes.
Okay, when I when I post this.
Just a couple more questions.
And this has been greatfinancial information, and I
know it's tough for you becauseyou're going through dealing
with the flu, but I appreciatethe hustle and the can-do
attitude here.
No problem, man, I've noticedthat you've been getting a lot
(37:36):
more speaking gigs.
Yes, so I've seen you a coupleplaces and I know you've got
several lined up this year.
So if the folks are hitting anyof the trade shows, is there a
couple that you could share thatyou know you'll be at for sure
if they want to try to catch youthere and maybe listen to some
more on what you've been talkingabout.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Yeah, so Northeast is probably the one that's coming
up.
Well, that's in March, actually, the AASP Illinois show I'm
going to be at that's February22nd.
I'm going to be actuallytalking about building value in
your shop to exit, on your terms, because it's always about
(38:16):
preparing ahead of time.
Yes, and that's in Naperville.
Then in March I'll be at theNortheast show.
I'm actually going to be doinga um, a co-presentation.
Laura gay and I are doing ittogether, kind of walking them
through the steps that we talkedabout, from, you know,
identifying, you know, yourpersonal vision, your gap, then
(38:37):
going through a sale process andthen how the back end works.
Um, uh, it's southeast.
That is um, southeast that's inmay.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
I think late april or may.
Yeah, yeah, that's may?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
I'm going to be talking about becoming an
incidental owner oh, okay, onethat is not where the business
is not dependent on them anymoreand how to become that okay.
And then we're looking at abatabat, that's in september,
possibly shop expo, which is injune.
And um actually just got anemail from josh kent about the
tennessee show, so he just askedme he had a speaking request
(39:11):
there.
So excellent.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Yeah, that's right.
And how do you like doing that?
Because you didn't do thatbefore.
This is relatively new than thepast year and a half, right?
So how?
Speaker 3 (39:19):
do you like?
That I love it.
I love it, I love being infront of people.
I love uh, I just like peopleand I like interacting with them
and I like educating them.
I think that's probably thebiggest thing.
I just find it as a goodvehicle to be able to help them
to get to where they want to goand make them aware that there
are possibilities that are outthere.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
That's awesome and that's probably one of the
things we share a passion aboutis just helping educate people,
giving back, you know, takingsome of the things we've learned
and share those that don't knowit yet.
So that's awesome.
I will see you out at AASP inIllinois, so I am planning on
heading out there next month and, of course, I'll see you on
(39:59):
every.
So.
The collision talk I'll alreadymentioned it a couple of times,
so that's something thatthere's four of us now that
co-host Is it four or five, five, five, yeah, yeah, so there's
five of us.
Now Clay had dropped off.
So every third Wednesday of themonth, 8 pm Eastern time, we
(40:20):
have an hour-long Zoom call andwe'll get anywhere from 30 to 70
shops.
Get on there.
It's just a free exchange ofyou know.
We'll share a topic for thenight and then usually it'll
evolve into something else, orit may just go the whole hour,
sometimes it goes an hour and ahalf, but the cool thing is is
it's absolutely free, there's nocharge, there's no nothing,
(40:42):
it's just a get together for theindustry.
There's no nothing, it's just aget together for the industry.
(41:13):
And we have a lot of reallyloyal returning shop owners,
very manager, even a technician,a supplier, as long as you
don't work for an insurancecompany, you're more than
welcome to join us.
We'd like to keep a nice Iguess, safe environment to talk
about the things that are onshop owners' minds.
So I invite anybody to go tocollisioncocktailhourcom.
There's a website for it and wehave a Facebook group for it.
If you guys are interested,stop in and check it out.
It's a lot of fun.
Me and Matt will be on therealmost every month, but anyways,
(41:33):
I just wanted to bring that upwhile we talked about it earlier
.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
No, I think it's important.
It's a really great forum and Ithink it's interesting because
I know there's times when we'veeven said, oh, maybe with a
holiday, or we'll do this, we'renot going to meet.
Everybody gets upset.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Yeah, I know it's still my favorite night of the
month.
I enjoy doing that.
It's always a good time, lotsof good conversation.
So, matt, I know we've stressedyour voice.
As far as we're going to stressit today, I want to give you a
break and get you out of here.
I really appreciate everythingyou shared today Great tips,
(42:08):
great advice, great input fromyou, as usual.
And, like I said to the folksout there, all BS aside, matt
has made a positive impact on mylife.
He's a great human, he's got alot of great things to share and
I'm sure if you give him anopportunity, he'll probably make
a difference for you as well.
So I will leave all of hiscontact information in the show
(42:31):
notes and with that, matt.
Any final words before we go.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
You know, and I thank you for the kind words, I do
appreciate it and I think that'sone of the things that appeals
to me about this industry Peoplelike you, people like Laura,
all the different shop ownersthat are part of our Collision
Cocktail Hour there's so manygood people out there that
really just not only want tobenefit the industry but benefit
each other, and I think that'swhat appeals to me about this
(42:57):
industry.
I mean, go to a CollisionIndustry Conference, go to any
of these shows.
It's amazing how people arewilling to share and help each
other.
It's just an industry full ofquality human beings.
So I appreciate the kind words.
I feel the same for you.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
And let's just keep rocking it and make this
industry as great as it can be.
Well, I hope you enjoyed thatfinancial wisdom Matt shared
with us this week and maybepicked up on a few helpful tips
on how you can start preparingyour business for a successful
transition, or maybe just makingyour shop a more financially
stable business.
That'll pay you great dividendsdown the road.
If you want more information onthe subject, be sure to connect
with Matt at High LiftFinancial and definitely check
(43:41):
out Matt's podcast, yourBusiness, your Life.
I'll leave all the links in theshow notes.
Check out Matt's podcast yourBusiness, your Life.
I'll leave all the links in theshow notes.
Thanks again for tuning in.
I really appreciate yoursupport and I hope you have a
great week.
I can always be reached atwwwrickselovercom where you can
find all my social media linkspodcast episodes, blog posts and
much more Outro.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Music.
This week I'm super stoked.
I get to spend some time with agood friend of mine one of my
co-hosts Inclusion Cocktail Hour, matt DeFrancesco.
He is the owner and financialtechnician at High Lift
Financial.
Today we're going to catch upon a lot of great financial tips
, suggestions and ways you canhelp yourself if you're a shop
owner, either looking to handdown your business to your
(00:23):
family or exit, or make somefinancial improvements.
That makes your business moreworthwhile.
So make sure you stay tuned.
It's going to be a greatepisode.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Welcome to the MindWrench Podcast with your
host, rick Sellover, where minoradjustments produce major
improvements in mindset,personal growth and success.
This is the place to be everyMonday, where we make small
improvements and take positiveactions in our business and
personal lives that will make amajor impact in our success,
next-level growth and quality oflife make a major impact in our
(01:09):
success, next-level growth andquality of life.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Hey, what's up everybody?
Welcome to the MindWrenchPodcast.
I'm your host, rick Silover.
Thanks so much for stopping in.
If you're a returning listenerand haven't done so already,
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(01:34):
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I would really, really reallyappreciate your help sharing
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I hope you find something ofvalue here that helps you in
(01:54):
your personal or professionallife as well.
Please make sure to click thesubscribe or follow button so
you never miss another episode.
Today I'm super stoked.
I got one of my buddies on, avery good friend of mine, a
fellow podcaster like myself,and he's one of my co-hosts on
the Collision Cocktail Hour,matt DeFrancesco.
He is the owner and financialtechnician of High Lift
(02:16):
Financial.
He's also the founder and hostof the your Business, your Life
podcast.
We got lots to talk about today.
Like I said, I'm super happythat he's on with me today.
And, matt, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Hey, thanks, rick.
I'm glad to be on here, so I'mlooking forward to our
conversation.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Absolutely, absolutely.
So just a quick review.
So Matt and I, we first met in2021.
I recently started a podcast.
His was fairly new as well, andhe reached out to me because he
was interested at that time ingetting more into the collision
side of business and my namepopped up a couple times for him
(02:56):
.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, it was basically.
I mean, I was dealing with justfamily businesses in general,
all kinds of different familybusinesses.
I always kind of I'll give youthe high level.
The high level story it's whenI, when I first got into
financial services, I didn'thave access to any money.
I didn't have any any.
You know, rich family, richfriends, anything like that.
(03:19):
So I basically had to kind ofgrind it and I I knew two things
I knew municipal bonds and Ilearned 401ks.
So that's what I spent my timedoing.
I spent all day calling familybusinesses Do you have a
retirement plan?
Do you know the tax benefits ofit?
Or you do have one?
What's the last time you had itreviewed?
And I was selling these plans.
(03:40):
So what happened was I got acollision shop owner who
referred me to another one and Ireally just started doing a
deeper dive into the industryand I really liked the
demographic, I liked the peoplein it and I just decided to go
all hog into just the collisionindustry.
So that's basically how I gotinvolved in it.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, great.
Yeah, it's a unique industry,but there's so many good people
and there's so many people thatneed help on the financial side.
So it's a unique industry, butthere's so many good people and
there's so many people that needhelp on the financial side, so
it's a great fit for you.
I know, since we first startedtalking, that your business has
grown through the collisionindustry and now you're at the
point where you're doingspeaking events, which is
fantastic.
So you're getting in front ofmore larger groups of collision
(04:21):
shop owners and I'm telling youfolks, matt has made a great
impact on my life and I knowhe's making an impact on those
other lives out there, becausethere's some of this stuff that
you know.
I spent my whole life incollision shops and most of
these shop owners had no idea,on the financial end of the
business, really what to do.
Or you know best moves, besttax advantages, you know how to
(04:45):
get in and out of buying a shopor selling a shop, you know
passing it down to their kids orgrandkids or whatever.
So there's a lot of financialinformation there.
That's just that block wasmissing and Matt has been doing
a great job providing that tothe shop owners, wouldn't you
say, matt?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yes, I think the biggest thing and this is I mean
it's, it's interesting, I meanit's, it's typical of collision
shops, but I think it's.
It happens in every business.
You know you invest so muchtime and money in your business
and then all of a sudden it's,it's.
You get to a point where it'slike, okay, I start looking at
the next chapter and nobodyknows where to go and there's so
much misinformation that's outthere that they really just
(05:23):
don't get the guidance.
And it's actually interestingbecause I just submitted an
article for Body Shop Businessabout why DIY exit plans don't
work.
And I see this a lot of timeswhere shop owners looking at
transitioning the business tokids or to a key employee or
they're like I don't haveanybody, I'm going to sell it to
(05:51):
a third party, and all of asudden they just get stuck All
right, and either they never getout of that, that revolving
five-year exit window, or theydo something rash and then end
up regretting it 12, 24 monthsdown the road.
So really, what my goal is withclients, and especially with
collision shop owners, is, firstoff, to help them identify what
they want that next chapter oftheir life to look like.
Okay, and I really equate it toa GPS.
(06:14):
So if you're going to go on atrip, rick, first thing you're
going to put in is where youwant to go, right, absolutely
Okay.
So we figure out where we wantto go, so we develop that vision
.
But then the second thing thatthe GPS is going to ask you is
where are you starting from?
Right?
So then we've got to figure outwhere they're starting from,
and typically what happens iswe're going to find that there's
a gap in there.
So now it's about okay, how dowe address the gap to get you to
(06:38):
that end point?
And so now we can create aroadmap out of it.
And that's really what I dowith these collision shop owners
is really help them to identifywhere they want to go, figure
out where are you now?
Are they going to match up, andif not, then what do we need to
do to get to that end point?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Okay, that makes sense.
So I see I was looking on yourwebsite recently and it says
you're the only certified exitplanner in this industry
currently.
Is that still true?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Yes, there's only about 130, maybe 140 of us in
the world certified exitplanners.
Okay, that's awesome.
I'm the only one that focusesspecifically in the collision
industry.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yes, Okay, I think that's a good fact for people to
know.
So Matt not only knows hisstuff, he knows it to the level
of you know.
He's actually been certified tohelp shops exit their business,
so in many different forms.
So I'm also going to refer tohim as the GPS of the exit plan,
so because everybody's going toneed it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
So that's right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah.
So let me ask you.
So we're talking aboutgenerational wealth and exiting
and things like that.
So what exactly is generationalwealth, and why does it seem to
be not on anybody's radarwithin the shop?
If you're looking for acompetitive edge for your
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Speaker 3 (09:42):
Well, I think, first off, what?
What does generational wealthmean?
Generational wealth is beingable to take what you've built
and create an ongoing legacy,not just for your generation,
but for the next generation andall the generations after.
Um, it's really, it's reallythe model of you.
Look like the rockefellers, thevanderbilts.
(10:03):
You know a lot of the old time,the carnegies, the old time uh,
industrial wealth.
What they were able to do wascreate, basically, just a
vehicle that is carried onthrough multiple generations,
not only to benefit theirfamilies, but to benefit
societies itself.
Well, that could be done on avery on a smaller scale too, and
I think nobody realizes.
(10:23):
They think that you've got tohave multi, multi, multi,
millions and billions to be ableto do something like this.
So it's really about creatingan awareness about what's, what
are the possibilities that areout there.
Okay, the second thing is that Ijust don't think it's ever been
approached.
I don't think people have beeneducated on what they can really
do with their lives.
You know, most of the time mostof us go through life, you know
(10:46):
we just kind of hunker down, wegrind, we do our thing and then
then what?
We don't know because nobody'sever really educated us on what
we need to do.
That's what I really feel myrole is.
Why do I do speakingengagements?
I do it to try to educatepeople, say these are the
possibilities for your life,okay.
Why do I write articles for inthe industry publications?
(11:06):
Because I want to educatepeople.
This is what's possible andwhen?
So all of a sudden, peoplestart to see the possibilities,
now their world opens up, theycan make something that's much
bigger than themselves.
It's not just a collision shop.
It can become a legacy.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Right, it becomes a mindset.
Mindset shift at that point too.
Right?
Because I think I've heard yousay before this is one of your
taglines is we seem to spend asa shop owner.
We'll spend a large portion ofour life underneath, with the
hood up right.
We'll come out from underneaththe hood and go God, I'm in my
60s, what the hell am I supposedto do now?
Right?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
How do I get?
Speaker 1 (11:39):
out of this, what's my next step?
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Yeah, exactly, and it's because they just don't
know.
And so that's what my role isis really to help them to define
that.
Just to use another analogy, Ialways say you know to.
To execute these things isactually it's like putting a
puzzle together, right, and youjust take the pieces and put
them, and I know how to put thepieces together, but I can't
help you to put the pieces onuntil we create the picture on
(12:02):
the box, because you ever try toput a puzzle together without
seeing what it's what the endproduct's supposed to look like.
No, you can't, you can't, right.
So that's that's what my roleis is to help to create that
picture, help you, the shopowner, to develop that picture.
Then we can start putting thepieces of the puzzle together.
Right, but I think it takes it.
It does take.
(12:23):
A certain quality among shopowners is the first thing is
you've got to be coachable.
You've got to be willing to sayall right, you know what.
I'm going to trust that thisguy's going to lead me in the
right direction and you're goingto follow the steps that I tell
you to do.
I've had too many times whereclients have said, oh, you keep
(12:43):
talking about these stay, know,you keep talking about these
stay bonuses or you keep talkingabout business continuity.
All I need is a consultant tocome in and fix everything.
Well, you know what buildingvalue in your business is more
than just getting youroperations right.
I had a lot of really goodoperators that are still a mess
and they don't have thevaluation that they need because
they haven't put any othernon-financial aspects and the
(13:04):
financial aspects into place.
So that's really.
My role was really more as acoach through all of this
helping you, leading you throughthe process, executing what I
can from my skillset and thenbringing in the outside
professionals that can help youto accomplish your goals.
So this becomes a team effort.
It really needs to be that.
And you know goals.
(13:26):
So this becomes a team effort.
It really needs to be that.
And you know all of you guys onour Collision Cocktail Hour
group are part of that team andI've got many, many others that
can help us to execute.
Give you a great example, rick.
I just did an intro call onTuesday with a dad that owns the
business.
Sons are in it, he wants totransition it and we're talking
about certain things and he wastalking about yeah, well, I'm
(13:48):
just going to hold the note andI'm like, oh, is that your plan?
And he said, well, that's theonly plan.
I thought and I'm like, well,there's other ways to skin the
cat.
I mean, we could restructure asa C-corp.
Now you're doing stockpurchases instead of asset
purchases, but now you're payingcapital gains instead of
(14:08):
ordinary income.
Oh, and you know what?
Guess what?
Because they're your kids, youcan utilize gift strategies.
You can almost eliminate anytax liability that could occur
because of using gift andestates and estate planning and
trust.
And he said to me he goes, goes.
Why isn't anybody told me this?
And I said because they don'tknow because he hadn't talked to
(14:29):
you yet.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That's why that's right.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
So that's really what it comes down to.
I think you got it.
You know they got to beeducated, but then the second
thing is are you willing tolisten to what I teach you and
follow the steps right?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
that's probably I.
It seems like that would be thebiggest or most difficult part
of the job, for what you do is,number one, casting the vision
to where someone actually couldsee it and go.
Yes, I get that.
Okay, how do I start to go inthat direction?
Right, cause I think a lot oftimes I've talked with thousands
(15:06):
of of collision shop owners andtechnicians and managers and
stuff, and and you know, theycan be pretty hardheaded,
sometimes they can be veryegotistical, right, you know,
this is my baby.
I built this thing from theground up and you know I know
what's best for my company.
And sometimes, getting pastthat, right it.
(15:26):
Listen, I'm not challenging you, I'm not telling you you're not
smart.
I'm just saying you haven'tlooked at it through this set of
lenses yet, you know, and ifyou get somebody to look through
it through that set of lensesin a non-threatening way, then
they go oh, I really neverthought of it that way, right?
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Yeah, that's no, that's exactly right.
And I think you know, somebodyasked, somebody was asking me
about why you know why collisionshop owners, and I talked a
little bit about the demographic.
But I think one of the biggestthings is and I told a little
bit of my story, but you know,I've had to grind to build my
business.
All right, all right and so,and I find most collision shop
(16:03):
owners that's what they arethey're.
They're they're guys who lovecars, started working in the
industry, worked themselves up,either started a shop or or
bought a shop that they workedfor or, you know, took over
dad's shop, but they kind ofgrinded it out and I can relate
to that.
I also can relate to, you know,thinking that I was.
You know it's, it's up to methat you, I don't need anybody's
(16:26):
help, and I've come over theyears to realize that I have
shortcomings.
I was talking to a woman I'mdoing some work with and she's
really good at developing SOPsand I'm like that's where I suck
, that's where I suck.
All right, so I'm getting, I'mhiring people now to help me
develop standard operatingprocedures so that now workflows
(16:48):
can work much, much morefluidly.
That's where it takes somehumility to do that, and I guess
you know what I tell shopowners is that look?
Speaker 1 (17:02):
would you rather be right or rich?
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
It's similar, mike.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Anderson.
Mike Anderson's got a taglinevery similar to this is you know
, do you want to be happy or doyou want to be right?
Cause there's a difference,right.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
There is a difference , there's a big difference.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Yeah, yeah, and he's referring to talking with
insurance companies and thingslike that.
So you can argue all you wantto you know it.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That's exactly right.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Well, I'm glad there's someone like you out
there right now doing the thingsthat you're doing.
I've seen a lot of adoption,I'd say, in our collision
industry of people wanting toget more educated, wanting to
learn these things that maybe wedidn't learn for 30 years.
But we see the world around uschanging.
We see the collision worldaround us changing massively
(17:51):
right.
See the collision world aroundus changing massively right.
You've got some heavy-duty,top-notch groups out there.
You know buying up shops thathave everything figured out.
They know their financials,they know their operations, they
have SOPs already built.
So I think there's a nicehigher level that you know your
average mom-and-pop shop can getto if they really want to.
(18:12):
But they have to enlist theright people right.
They have to reach out to theright type of coaches, the right
type of resources.
Like you or Laura Gay with youknow the way she works with
people on selling their orbuying their shops.
Yeah, it's, it's a shift.
I feel we're like in the midstof right now man, and, like I
(18:33):
said, I feel fortunate.
I know enough people in thisbusiness now they're that know
how to help others get there.
Um, because, just from mybackground, you know dealing
with the smallest to the biggestof shops.
For a lot of years I alwaysfelt for the smaller business
guy.
Right, I always felt for theyou know the guys that's
struggling.
(18:53):
He's got one of his kidsworking for him.
He's got one other guy.
He's constantly battling withthe kids, it's like.
But you know they want to getto that next level but they just
don't know how and I hate tosee them all sell out and just
get out of the business becausethey've given up on the battle.
But I think you know, with themoney I see being made in
collision centers these days,you know the prices on labor
(19:15):
keeps going up.
The items that we were missingfor decades that we're now
charging for drives the revenueup and it's becoming a better
business.
It really is.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I completely agree yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah, great, yeah, yeah, I I like to see where
people like you, people like me,people like mickey and the
other people on our team can getinvolved and help these shops.
You know, you're not, you don'thave to do this alone, and
that's I think that's themessage I I like to try to get
out there.
You don't have to do all thesethings alone.
It's, it's not like it was acouple decades ago and every man
(19:52):
for himself.
Now it's there's, there's alittle bit more community, I
think, in this industry thanthere's ever been.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Right, and you know what?
It's interesting Again, beingin financial services, I use
this analogy a lot becausepeople ask me, like what's a
great stock to buy, or what's agreat investment, and you know,
there's lots of real estate'sgood.
You know there's stocks you canbuy Nvidia, and, and you know
there's lots of real estate'sgood.
You know there's stocks you canbuy in NVIDIA and you know a
lot of people made a killing onthat.
But the best investment you canmake in is in yourself, and I
(20:26):
find that the shop owners thatare investing in themselves that
they're, you know, they'rebeing part of, you know, Mike
Anderson's 20 groups, or they'reinvesting with Mickey Woods in
marketing, or, you know,investing with you and working
in mindset those types of things, or investing in me to help
them, to put the financialpieces of the puzzle together to
get them the end result thatthey want.
You know those are the onesthat always progress, and that's
what I think I really likeabout our collision cocktail
(20:48):
hour is we've got shop owners onthere that want to learn and
yeah, there's probably what Iwould say about a quarter of
them.
They participate in theconversation, but probably two
thirds of them sit there andjust listen, but you know that
you're taking something out ofit because they're there month
after month after month.
Oh, yeah, that's.
I think that's a greattestament to the people in this
(21:10):
business, to a certainpercentage of them.
Yeah, and it's interestingbecause I had a guy that came to
me one time and he sat in onone of the collision cocktail
hours and afterwards I wastalking with him and he said you
know, I was on your collisioncocktail but I had to bug out of
there because you know, allthose people have time to work
on their business and I don'thave that.
And I said that's your problem,You're not making it your time.
(21:35):
You know we have to, and mycoach teaches us all the time
and I teach this to my clientsthat there's three types of time
we need to, that we need toinvest in.
We've got a tactical time.
Tactical is when we're workingin the business.
That's when we're doing ourthing, All right.
But then we've got to investtime in strategic, which is
working on the business, and wehave to literally dedicate time,
(21:57):
pull to put that into ourcalendar and say, look, I need
to do this.
And if you're, if you're in aposition where you can't do that
, then that's really your firststep is that we need to find the
people, by your time back, thatcan allow us to take more
strategic time, All right.
And then third one is renewaltime, and renewal time is really
that's time.
We need to just get away fromthe business, Because I find
(22:20):
when I get away from thebusiness that's when my greatest
breakthroughs come in, becauseI'm not working in the day to
day, yeah Right.
And when you're at the beach oryou're, you know, on a hunting
trip out in the Rockies oryou're riding motorcycles on the
Hatfield-McCoy Trail, that'swhen you have your breakthroughs
.
And so you've got to workyourself into that position.
(22:41):
And if you're not in thatposition, then that tells us.
Here's what our first steps are.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Absolutely, boy.
I'm 100% on that.
I find my best thinking time iswhen I'm not, you know, in the
whirlwind of work, and all thethings that I do is when I'm out
on a walk or I'm sitting on abeach, and you know God, I
always like to.
I have my phone with me nomatter where I go, obviously
like every other person in theworld, but I usually take notes,
(23:09):
so I'll have things come to me.
Oh, I should.
You know, maybe it's a podcastepisode I want to do, maybe it's
a thought for work, or maybeit's just something I need for
my own self.
Oh, you know, if I starteddoing this, I think that would
be a good idea for me.
I'll keep those notes becausethat's the only time you have
clarity.
And you know what, if youreprioritize some things, you
(23:42):
can make time for working on thebusiness instead of it.
Right, because everybody has toyou.
Look at every top performer thatgoes to.
You know a mike anderson.
You know his spartan 300 group,right?
This isn't a promo for the hisSpartan 300 group, right?
This isn't a promo for theSpartan 300 group.
But I'm saying these are allguys that are serious and gals
that are serious about theirbusiness.
They dedicate the time to goout of town, spend a couple days
(24:04):
with a bunch of other businessshop owners going over things
that are important, but theymake that time and it makes them
more successful, right yeah.
And they also invest in thetime you said to just tune it
down a little bit, get the hellout of the shop for a little bit
, get away from everything for alittle bit and have that me
(24:25):
time to rejuvenate and let yourbody heal up a little bit from
the scars of working every day.
It's absolutely needed.
It really is absolutely needed.
I found that in my own lifewhen I started doing those
things like wow, life getsbetter, better when you do that.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
It really does exactly there's.
Yeah, there's no doubt, andit's, you know, it's interesting
.
It's interesting as you'retalking about that funny story.
I had a client that came to meone time and says, you know, hey
, matt, I look I've got no kids.
I don't have, you know, so I'vegot no succession plan there.
None of my key employees areinterested.
I want to sell the third party.
(25:00):
So I said all right.
So we started going through theprocess and I actually
introduced him to Laura and soshe did an evaluation and we
kind of looked at everything.
We were matching up the numbersand he was actually part of
Mike Anderson's Spartan group,so it was really good.
(25:21):
But anyway, as we were goingthrough the process and I
started going through, okay,let's evaluate what's more
important to you, a third-partysale, or internal or external?
And he started to realize thatif he didn't have to, if he
didn't have to be there 60 hoursa week, 60 hours a week, he
could live.
If I could be more of anabsentee owner, why would not?
(25:42):
I having the name on my shop isimportant to me because I
couldn't drive by it and see.
You know one of theconsolidators names on there,
right, okay, yeah, I'd like toprovide more for my key
employees and maybe start, maybegive them a little bit of an
equity share in in, in in theshop.
And so all of a sudden histhinking shifted because he
started to realize what wasreally important to him.
(26:03):
And I think that's, that's adanger, and I and and Laura and
I, that's why we I think we workwell together, because she a
lot of times we'll bring me onthe front end to help them to
define this vision.
Then, if they, if a third partysale is it, she goes and
negotiates that and then I comein on the back end to structure
those assets, to help them uh,create that, uh,
(26:24):
multi-generational legacy right.
So on the third party end, butyou know, also on the internal
end, we you know the uh, the uhinternal sale, whether it's a
child, children or key employees.
That can be another veryfulfilling thing.
There are some owners that sayyou know what I do love the
business, I just don't want tobe grinding it here.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
40, 50, 60 hours a week, Right, yeah, there's
really plenty of options to goat that point.
There really is.
It's only the ones that aretruly I've had it, I've done.
I can't take one more minute ofthis.
I just want to go fish the restof my life.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
Do you really want?
I mean, I think about that inmy life, like, do I really want
to get to the point where I'mjust so freaking burned out that
I just got to give up what I do?
Yeah, I mean, I'd like to haveoptions before that.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah.
Well, if you make yeah, youmake the changes earlier, you
get the help earlier, you getmore people involved in your
business that are an asset,right, then, yeah, you can get
there.
You can.
Speaker 3 (27:20):
Yeah, I mean one of my, one of my very first
collision client.
He's still a client here.
This is what 10, 11 years laterand we were initially working
on an internal transfer with histwo sons the one son didn't
work out.
The other son left for a littlebit, came back, just went
through a lot of these ups anddowns, but now what he's
(27:41):
realized is that he's about 62now and he realizes, you know
what.
I don't want to completely exit, but I like building my culture
legs, but I just I likebuilding my culture.
So I want to kind of be the50,000 foot guy and his, his
younger son and his key employeewhere he's developing them to
do more of the operations so hecan go now, live the lifestyle
(28:04):
that he wants.
But he doesn't have to bedetached from the business.
Things can evolve that way tooand he, you can have the best of
both worlds, but you've got tobe willing to plan to do it and
then be able to be coached,implement the things that you
need to do to get there.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, my message is always you know nothing's off
tape.
You have the opportunity toreally direct your life in any
direction you want.
It's just are you willing to dothat?
Are you willing to make changesor involve the people?
And I, you know, I like to tellpeople I don't care where you
are if you're not stuck there.
You're only stuck there if youlet yourself be stuck there and
(28:41):
you convince yourself oh, Ican't do anything but what I'm
doing right now.
So we all have.
We all have the options toprove and maneuver and grow and
all those other things.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
So well, and I think that's, I think that's a lot of
the benefits that you providethese shop owners.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Again, so much of it's up, here it is everything's
up if you don't, if you don'tget the six inches right between
your ears, you're not gonna goanywhere yeah, it doesn't matter
how hard you work or how hardyou grind, or how many employees
you have, or how many cars youbuy or how many houses you have.
If you don't fix that inbetween years, you won't really
(29:17):
enjoy any of it.
You won't get the fruits ofthose labors.
Right, yeah, exactly, yeah, Iwant to switch gears a little
bit.
So obviously I've got a greatfinancial wizard, I believe, on
the horn here today.
So, matt, could you give us sofor any shop owner, small or
large, that probably hasn't gonethrough any of these things or
(29:43):
hasn't enlisted a really goodstrategist in their business?
What are, like I say, the topthree financial flubs, if you
want to call it, or financialmisnomers that we can talk about
?
That would help somebody.
If at least they understoodthese three things.
It would get them thinking inthe right direction of hey, what
else can I do?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Right, right.
So definitely the first one,and it's so funny because it
just works out this way.
But the first step every shopowner needs to take is putting
together what I call businesscontinuity plan.
So basically, the businesscontinuity plan is a plan that
says, okay, if I die, if Ibecome disabled, if I you know
(30:21):
if there's a divorce or you knowif I've got a partner
irreconcilable differences howdo we ensure that the business
functions, either until asuccessor can take over or until
it can be put into a positionfor third-party sales?
We want to look at protectingnot only the business but also
the owner's family.
So that really entails a coupledifferent things, two aspects
(30:44):
that are probably vital to itand it's so funny because I've
had guys that say you keeptalking about these things, why
do you keep harping on it?
I say because they're thatimportant.
One is what's called businesscontinuity instructions.
It's basically a booklet thatwe help our clients put together
that has all the instructionswho needs to be contacted, who
are the key advisors that needto be contacted, top vendors,
(31:07):
who is going to take overcertain roles, where are the
passwords, who has access to thebank accounts, where's the
combination to the safe, allthese different instructions all
in one spot.
So then something happens.
A spouse or key employee can gothere and have all the
instructions written out forthem.
The second one is what's calledstay bonus programs.
(31:29):
And stay bonus programs andstay bonus programs are
basically the programs that wedevelop that for key employees
that have vesting schedules onthem.
So they kind of work like agolden handcuffs type of uh type
of program where if they leavethey're going to leave money on
the table.
So you want to develop thesestay bonus programs so it makes
(31:51):
that key employee stickier.
Because, first off, you want todevelop these stay bonus
programs so it makes that keyemployee stickier.
Because, first off, you want tomake sure that they leave.
What happens a lot of times isif something happens to the
owner, key employees panic andthey leave.
Now all of a sudden thebusiness is screwed.
But the second thing with thestay bonus program is they now
have got finance.
They feel like they're boughtinto ownership on the business
(32:12):
because you typically want totie these stay bonus programs
into increases in net profit.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Partial ownership right Right.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
So it's not really partial ownership, but the way
they qualify for the businessesis on increases in net profit.
So you kind of get two thingsthere.
So I think that's probably thebiggest thing that I, that just
about everybody, every shopowner, misses.
Every shop that I've talked togives their employees bonuses,
and you can't do away with thecash bonus that you give them
(32:40):
because a lot of them rely onthat.
But now you want to implementthis stay bonus program that
basically, will you know, rewardthem for increases.
So think of it kind of like aprofit sharing plan, but it's
under our vesting schedule sothat you know if they leave
within that year they don't getany of that money.
Okay, and then little bits ofit are vested over each year
(33:02):
over time.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Okay, I don't think many shops I know of will do
something like that.
You're right, they all dobonuses.
Well, most of them will dobonuses, but yeah, I'm sure
there's a way to figure out.
Okay, we'll have a little bitless cash but we'll have more of
this, this vested bonus, stay,stay bonus program.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
But actually no, because you're building on
increases in gross profit.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Okay, it's based on gross profit, net profit.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
So think about it this way.
So let's say you're I'll usenice round numbers let's say
your net operating profit aftertax is $500,000.
So what we do is we set that ata baseline.
Okay, let's say then that yougrow to $600,000.
So you have a hundred thousanddollar growth.
All right, out of that hundredthousand dollar growth we we
(33:57):
have the owner retained 60% ofthat because he still, you know,
needs to invest in the business.
Then 40% is taken as part ofthe um the state program.
So let's say, you have fouremployees, that four key
employees, that would give eachof them $10,000.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Okay, gotcha.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Okay, and then you could structure it any way you
want.
Some of them might do 5,000 asa cash bonus.
5,000 that goes into the staybonus program.
That's under a vesting scheduleOkay.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I like that.
That's a really interestingconcept and it sounds like it'd
be fairly painless for a shopowner to really set things up
that way it's all based ongrowth yeah it's all based on
growth if you're hustling andyou're contributing, yeah,
everybody wins, house wins, andyou guys win.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
You're winning as a shop owner, because you're still
growing and you're stillretaining 60 of those earnings
right yeah, that's the first one, that that's probably the
biggest.
That's typically the first stepI do with shop owners.
The second one is puttingtogether some type of adequate
retirement plan.
(35:05):
Too many shops I see havesimple IRAs.
Simple IRAs are good, they'reinexpensive, but they don't give
you a lot of flexibility as faras how much can be deferred
into a plan and there's greattax benefits to it.
Most shop owners want to.
You know, nobody wants to paymore than they have to correct.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:24):
So a good, solidly designed retirement plan is the
best starting point for any typeof tax deferral, and I just see
that the shop owners missedthat opportunity over and over
again.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Okay, well, that's good, that's you know.
I wanted a couple of goodtakeaways for those that listen
and those are great takeawaysbecause those in a lot of the
shops I've dealt with over thepast 35 years anyways, I never
heard any of those three thingsmentioned and I've had really
good intimate conversations withshop owners I've known for 20
(36:00):
years or 25 years years and andI don't think those you know,
maybe today it's different withall the advances we've had in
the last five years with youknow, you know the collision
shops and what they've reallyfocused on and stuff, and I'm
sure some of these larger groupsin the smaller msos are.
They probably have things likethis set up, but the average
collision shop owner probablydoesn't.
(36:20):
So those are three great uhtakeaways that uh, someone can
start thinking about right now.
Reach out to you and go hey,matt, can I get a little bit
more information?
That's right.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
Yep, oh yeah, no doubt that's what we're here for
.
And again, it's really abouteducation.
Most people don't know thesethings.
Why?
Because they've never beenexposed to it.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
Right Now somebody can reach out, schedule just a
consultation, free consultationcall with you, right.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
Yep, yep, so you can go to my website.
It's highliftfinancialcom, okay, and up at the there's a up on
the top right there's a let'schat button that you can get
right on my calendar.
I give everybody 30 minutes ofmy time no charge, and here's
the one thing I promiseeverybody is, even if I can't
help you, I will get you pointedin the right direction.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
That's excellent, that you can't ask for more than
that, man.
That's.
That's more than fair right.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
It's all about providing value.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Yeah, no, that's great.
Well, I'll make sure I put alink for that in the show notes.
Okay, when I when I post this.
Just a couple more questions.
And this has been greatfinancial information, and I
know it's tough for you becauseyou're going through dealing
with the flu, but I appreciatethe hustle and the can-do
attitude here.
No problem, man, I've noticedthat you've been getting a lot
(37:36):
more speaking gigs.
Yes, so I've seen you a coupleplaces and I know you've got
several lined up this year.
So if the folks are hitting anyof the trade shows, is there a
couple that you could share thatyou know you'll be at for sure
if they want to try to catch youthere and maybe listen to some
more on what you've been talkingabout.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
Yeah, so Northeast is probably the one that's coming
up.
Well, that's in March, actually, the AASP Illinois show I'm
going to be at that's February22nd.
I'm going to be actuallytalking about building value in
your shop to exit, on your terms, because it's always about
(38:16):
preparing ahead of time.
Yes, and that's in Naperville.
Then in March I'll be at theNortheast show.
I'm actually going to be doinga um, a co-presentation.
Laura gay and I are doing ittogether, kind of walking them
through the steps that we talkedabout, from, you know,
identifying, you know, yourpersonal vision, your gap, then
(38:37):
going through a sale process andthen how the back end works.
Um, uh, it's southeast.
That is um, southeast that's inmay.
Speaker 1 (38:44):
I think late april or may.
Yeah, yeah, that's may?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
I'm going to be talking about becoming an
incidental owner oh, okay, onethat is not where the business
is not dependent on them anymoreand how to become that okay.
And then we're looking at abatabat, that's in september,
possibly shop expo, which is injune.
And um actually just got anemail from josh kent about the
tennessee show, so he just askedme he had a speaking request
(39:11):
there.
So excellent.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
Yeah, that's right.
And how do you like doing that?
Because you didn't do thatbefore.
This is relatively new than thepast year and a half, right?
So how?
Speaker 3 (39:19):
do you like?
That I love it.
I love it, I love being infront of people.
I love uh, I just like peopleand I like interacting with them
and I like educating them.
I think that's probably thebiggest thing.
I just find it as a goodvehicle to be able to help them
to get to where they want to goand make them aware that there
are possibilities that are outthere.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
That's awesome and that's probably one of the
things we share a passion aboutis just helping educate people,
giving back, you know, takingsome of the things we've learned
and share those that don't knowit yet.
So that's awesome.
I will see you out at AASP inIllinois, so I am planning on
heading out there next month and, of course, I'll see you on
(39:59):
every.
So.
The collision talk I'll alreadymentioned it a couple of times,
so that's something thatthere's four of us now that
co-host Is it four or five, five, five, yeah, yeah, so there's
five of us.
Now Clay had dropped off.
So every third Wednesday of themonth, 8 pm Eastern time, we
(40:20):
have an hour-long Zoom call andwe'll get anywhere from 30 to 70
shops.
Get on there.
It's just a free exchange ofyou know.
We'll share a topic for thenight and then usually it'll
evolve into something else, orit may just go the whole hour,
sometimes it goes an hour and ahalf, but the cool thing is is
it's absolutely free, there's nocharge, there's no nothing,
(40:42):
it's just a get together for theindustry.
There's no nothing, it's just aget together for the industry.
(41:13):
And we have a lot of reallyloyal returning shop owners,
very manager, even a technician,a supplier, as long as you
don't work for an insurancecompany, you're more than
welcome to join us.
We'd like to keep a nice Iguess, safe environment to talk
about the things that are onshop owners' minds.
So I invite anybody to go tocollisioncocktailhourcom.
There's a website for it and wehave a Facebook group for it.
If you guys are interested,stop in and check it out.
It's a lot of fun.
Me and Matt will be on therealmost every month, but anyways,
(41:33):
I just wanted to bring that upwhile we talked about it earlier
.
Speaker 3 (41:37):
No, I think it's important.
It's a really great forum and Ithink it's interesting because
I know there's times when we'veeven said, oh, maybe with a
holiday, or we'll do this, we'renot going to meet.
Everybody gets upset.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Yeah, I know it's still my favorite night of the
month.
I enjoy doing that.
It's always a good time, lotsof good conversation.
So, matt, I know we've stressedyour voice.
As far as we're going to stressit today, I want to give you a
break and get you out of here.
I really appreciate everythingyou shared today Great tips,
(42:08):
great advice, great input fromyou, as usual.
And, like I said to the folksout there, all BS aside, matt
has made a positive impact on mylife.
He's a great human, he's got alot of great things to share and
I'm sure if you give him anopportunity, he'll probably make
a difference for you as well.
So I will leave all of hiscontact information in the show
(42:31):
notes and with that, matt.
Any final words before we go.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
You know, and I thank you for the kind words, I do
appreciate it and I think that'sone of the things that appeals
to me about this industry Peoplelike you, people like Laura,
all the different shop ownersthat are part of our Collision
Cocktail Hour there's so manygood people out there that
really just not only want tobenefit the industry but benefit
each other, and I think that'swhat appeals to me about this
(42:57):
industry.
I mean, go to a CollisionIndustry Conference, go to any
of these shows.
It's amazing how people arewilling to share and help each
other.
It's just an industry full ofquality human beings.
So I appreciate the kind words.
I feel the same for you.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
And let's just keep rocking it and make this
industry as great as it can be.
Well, I hope you enjoyed thatfinancial wisdom Matt shared
with us this week and maybepicked up on a few helpful tips
on how you can start preparingyour business for a successful
transition, or maybe just makingyour shop a more financially
stable business.
That'll pay you great dividendsdown the road.
If you want more information onthe subject, be sure to connect
with Matt at High LiftFinancial and definitely check
(43:41):
out Matt's podcast, yourBusiness, your Life.
I'll leave all the links in theshow notes.
Check out Matt's podcast yourBusiness, your Life.
I'll leave all the links in theshow notes.
Thanks again for tuning in.
I really appreciate yoursupport and I hope you have a
great week.
I can always be reached atwwwrickselovercom where you can
find all my social media linkspodcast episodes, blog posts and
much more Outro.
Speaker 3 (44:06):
Music.
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