I've always known that I'm a nice guy. I just never knew what a nice guy I was until a phone call came in today.
I know I take in a lot of diagnostic work from other shops that, when they haven't succeeded, they farm out to me in hope I can take care of it while they do something that is profitable.
It's Friday and I'm here at my shop taking care of all the things that need to get done and go before the weekend. The call is from another shop owner. He let's me know his service advisor is out for a two week vacation. And he just took a phone call about his father having fallen sick, possibly with grave consequences.
He asked me if I would take care of his business in the event that he needs to fly to his fathers location to help and support him.
For me the answer was fairly simple, there was only one answer, help your peer. His shop is in another city 10 miles away and I felt there wouldn't be any awkward situations where a client could make a mistake of one shop for another.
I don't know if the shop owner will have to go, but if he does, I'll be there to help.
Then it dawned on me. How many of us would open up our financial and business life like an open book for another person, let alone a competitor to see?
I think it took a lot of guts for my peer to make the call. Simply put, this underscores how much of a burden and stress a self employed person has on a day to day basis.
An employee can ask for time off and a spur of the moment, leaving the business owner to deal with the consequences. A business owner on the other hand... not as easy.
I can't recall how many times I've been told that as the business owner, I can take off anytime I want. It couldn't be farther from the truth! But I choose not to take off at all.
I'll leave this one open, will come back to it once I do my duty or, once I'm not needed. It should be an interesting experience. After all, how many of us get to be in someone's shoes even if it's only in their business life.
I know I take in a lot of diagnostic work from other shops that, when they haven't succeeded, they farm out to me in hope I can take care of it while they do something that is profitable.
It's Friday and I'm here at my shop taking care of all the things that need to get done and go before the weekend. The call is from another shop owner. He let's me know his service advisor is out for a two week vacation. And he just took a phone call about his father having fallen sick, possibly with grave consequences.He asked me if I would take care of his business in the event that he needs to fly to his fathers location to help and support him.
For me the answer was fairly simple, there was only one answer, help your peer. His shop is in another city 10 miles away and I felt there wouldn't be any awkward situations where a client could make a mistake of one shop for another.
I don't know if the shop owner will have to go, but if he does, I'll be there to help.
Then it dawned on me. How many of us would open up our financial and business life like an open book for another person, let alone a competitor to see?
I think it took a lot of guts for my peer to make the call. Simply put, this underscores how much of a burden and stress a self employed person has on a day to day basis.
An employee can ask for time off and a spur of the moment, leaving the business owner to deal with the consequences. A business owner on the other hand... not as easy.
I can't recall how many times I've been told that as the business owner, I can take off anytime I want. It couldn't be farther from the truth! But I choose not to take off at all.
I'll leave this one open, will come back to it once I do my duty or, once I'm not needed. It should be an interesting experience. After all, how many of us get to be in someone's shoes even if it's only in their business life.
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