How to Start and Run an Auto Repair Shop

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Nestor Gutierrez – Rancho Express Lube

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Supportive boss assures employee, invests in development.
07:48 Expanded tire services, building customer awareness.
11:01 Tire margins are small, balancing brings profit.
17:40 Prioritizing quality, training, and loyalty in employees.
22:16 Earning respect from father led to loan.
30:50 Entrepreneur built successful car cleaning business.
32:25 Established trust, contract led to bigger opportunities.
41:25 Create shareable content to eliminate sponsored ads.
43:21 Instagram influencers and car enthusiasts attract customers.
52:45 Car repairs in 2022 were tough due to parts shortage.
54:24 Improving business through customer service and learning.
01:03:33 Authentic Business Adventures featuring Nestor Gutierrez.
01:04:38 Exciting podcast available at DrawInCustomers.com.

Podcast Transcription:

James [00:00:01]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at draw in customers.com. We We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. And today, we’re welcoming slash preparing to learn from Nestor Gutierrez, owner of Rancho Express Loo. So, Nestor, how are you doing today?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:00:26]:

Hey, James. I’m doing great. And thank you for having me today. I’m super excited to share my story. And, Like, at the end of the day, everything’s possible. You just gotta follow through, and, don’t don’t don’t, step back when the times get hard. You know? So, I’m really excited to share my story.

James [00:00:42]:

Very true. So tell me, the Rancho Express Lube, is that I imagine that’s just what it sounds. Right? It’s a express lube place?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:00:49]:

That’s correct. Yeah. So, real quick. So I started working as an employee, for this company in, May 20 2015, And I, I started as a lead technician. And really quick, I I got bumped up to manager within 2 months. And, what happened was really the owner really noticed I was hustling. You know, I was pretty much doing everything. The management was really poor Back then when I first started, it was it was it was very poorly ran, like, just to be honest.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:01:18]:

You know? I I got to the point where I didn’t wanna be here anymore. My dad wanted to quit because I wasn’t I didn’t like the way I was treat being treated. You know? I didn’t like I talked to the owner. Point is, you know, he, promoted me to manager. We got a really good relationship. I would work anytime. Like, I was, like, Pretty much like it was my business, but it wasn’t. You know? So it got to the point where he gave me a percentage of of, of the of the sales for the shop.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:01:46]:

And, in in 2018, He he came up to me, and he’s like, hey. This place is gonna be yours. I was like, I don’t think I’m ready. I mean, I was really young at the at the at the time. I was, well, like, 20. And I had school full time, and I had a lot of things going on. So I didn’t see that happening anytime soon. I told him that would be more like in the forties, you know, later on.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:02:07]:

And he’s like, no. This is gonna be yours. And then he like, a couple times, he came up to me. He’s like, are you sure you don’t wanna take that over? I’m like, I’m not ready. Don’t I don’t feel ready. So, fast forward to 2020, COVID, everything going on, he came up to me. He said, look. If you’re not gonna take over, I have a have a few buyers.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:02:27]:

Even if I I I sell it to them, I’m a give you a percentage because you you’ve been a great employee, and I wanna take care of I mean, you know what? We’re gonna take care of this. I don’t know how I’m a get the money, but I’m gonna buy this business. And I was it was supposed to happen March 2020, but with everything going on, It got backtracked to, August 2020. I took over in, August 2020. And, obviously, the the road hasn’t been pretty, but this year is, really my breakout year. And that happens to be due to, a lot of personal development. I’ve I’ve invested over a 100 k this year in personal development with, Really good mentors, Ben Cardone, and local people. So that’s really the the the change in my business for the has been great.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:03:10]:

Like, I I’ve doubled up what I made every year. I’ve doubled up everything, I’ve made the previous year. So, It’s like I mean, I went from employee to CEO, like, without even planning on it. You know? It just it happened. You know? And it’s it’s crazy how things lighten up.

James [00:03:27]:

It is super cool. So tell me Mhmm. No. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:03:31]:

And, when I first started, this was just an oil change spot. It was just purely oil changes, simple, in and out, express. Now I kinda transform the the business. We do everything, from Oil changes to preventative maintenance, brakes, tires, suspension work, AC. We work on everything. We get a lot of we’re in an area where we get a lot of nice far as we get, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, a lot of nice cars. You know? So we kinda open the door for anyone and, any vehicle, you know, any brand. So Now we’re we’re to the point where a lot of people know us locally, and, they feel comfortable bringing in their vehicles because I’m part of the Chamber of Commerce for the city.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:04:13]:

And, I think that’s really building a trust, within the company. So they really trust us, and and it that’s that’s one of the reasons why the business is doing so good.

James [00:04:22]:

You got it. That’s super cool. That’s impressive. So when you when you bought the business, did you get real estate as well, or did you just more like

Nestor Gutierrez [00:04:29]:

No. So so when I bought the business, I just bought the brand. I bought the name of the business, which came with, the equipment and everything. You know? I I don’t own the property. I lease a property, but that’s something I do plan to do within the next 3 years to buy the property. Oh, great. And it it it’s in a good, very good area. I don’t know if you’ve heard about, Route 66, but it’s on Route 66 So it’s a very big area.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:04:52]:

A a lot of traffic. So, I I I love it. Honestly, I I love where, Where where I’m at, I love the location. I’m super blessed.

James [00:05:00]:

Oh, that’s impressive. That’s super cool.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:02]:

Yeah.

James [00:05:02]:

Yeah. Route 66, my buddies and I went on a a road trip from Chicago to, I wanna say, Kingman, Arizona. We’re we’re

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:12]:

both from

James [00:05:13]:

California. Okay.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:14]:

Oh, but that was

James [00:05:15]:

a long time ago. Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:16]:

My butt,

James [00:05:16]:

61 Buick. It was a blast.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:19]:

Damn. That’s badass.

James [00:05:20]:

Yeah. It was fun. It wasn’t so badass going through the desert when my buddy was worried about overheating, so turn the heat on.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:27]:

Yeah. Yeah.

James [00:05:27]:

Not great. Not great.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:29]:

It’s a

James [00:05:29]:

long distance between exits, but no worries. That’s super cool.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:32]:

Yes.

James [00:05:33]:

So when you are you still in the same building as when you bought the house

Nestor Gutierrez [00:05:36]:

in 2020? I’m still the same building. So the building, It’s it’s a pretty big, location. I would say it’s about a 8 3 or 0.2, so it’s a big block. And, there’s there’s a lot of opportunities still, like, around me. It’s it’s just, like, there you can say, but there’s a lot of potential for, like, opening up, more little offices to either even a a lease or or even do something else for my own self. You know? So Oh, wow. I do plan on on opening up a wrap Shop, a vehicle wrap shop. The vehicle wraps is is, really growing in California, so that’s that’s my my next, journey.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:06:12]:

And then right now, I’m also, Hosting an event in, in a few weeks, November 18th for entrepreneurship. So I wanna kinda, like, pass on what I know, bring in all the mentors that I’ve had, And share with all the people that that are ready to learn and and really, make a change in their life. You know?

James [00:06:30]:

Oh, that’s super cool. Tell me, how many bays do you guys have?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:06:33]:

So, at the current shop we’re now, we have, 4 base.

James [00:06:36]:

4 base.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:06:37]:

4 base. And when I first took you over, it was only 2 base, And the other 2 based plot. Yes. So then I talked to the to the owner of the property, and I told him that I wanted to take over the the other building because so what they did was 1 big building, but they cut it in half. And then, they did window 10 next door, and they did the repair on this side. Well, since that guy moved, I told him I wanna take over. So I took down the walls, and I made a nice, So now I have 4 base.

James [00:07:01]:

Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:07:03]:

So it’s

James [00:07:03]:

a tough I mean, oil change. I used to work as an oil change guy and then tires, all that kind of stuff. Oil change takes up some space. But you said through your tires, you’re talking inventory. You’re talking the tire change. You’re balancing equipment, alignment equipment, and AC, and all that equipment. So was it tough to find room for all of that?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:07:25]:

Yeah. So that’s why one of the reasons why I I took, I had to take over the other 2 bays because at first, I didn’t do tires right away just because of that reason. I I was looking for space. And, what does help, to to sort storage is, the fact that I have a pit style. Oh, nice. I have underground and above ground. So that that really helps us. All the inventory, we keep it underground.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:07:48]:

And the tires, obviously, we have it all racks up up upstairs, and, Which is roll them in, roll them out, and then we just keep it in space so people can see that we do tires because that’s something for the like, the 1st year, obviously. I was I wasn’t disappointed, but I understood that, like, you know, people don’t know me by tires. So it’s gonna take a while to to understand that. You know? So now I do have people calling for tires. So, I I mean, it’s all a process. You know? And, I don’t have an alignment rack just because so since it’s a pistol, you know, there’s a capacity a way you could have on top. I do have a 2 post lift. So I made it work.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:08:22]:

Like, there, we had, we had to bring engineers to make Make it work. So I I can I can get a mobile alignment rack, but it’s not a 100% accurate? So I’d rather do it right. So I am looking for another location next year that, is just gonna be based for auto repair and alignments. And then we do, like, the express stuff right here. Yeah.

James [00:08:40]:

Gotcha. Tell me, I wanna run down the tire rabbit hole a little bit. Yeah. Because, actually, right now, today, I’m getting tires thrown on the car.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:08:48]:

Okay.

James [00:08:49]:

And it dawned on me that when I was doing tires, we’re talking 2 decades ago, long time ago, maybe even more than that. Or yesterday, whatever, a long time ago. There were a lot of tires, but a 20 inch rim wasn’t a thing back then. A 24 inch Graham wasn’t the thing that It wasn’t. Mhmm. He’s not on anything but a tractor. Now you have variety of sizes that I guess fourteens really aren’t a thing like it used to be back Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:09:14]:

Kinda kinda fell off. Yeah.

James [00:09:16]:

But we got, I suppose anything from sixteens up to 20 twos, I saw, a car that was came with 22 inch rims, which I thought that was insane. How do you stock all those tires to figure out what people are actually gonna need and buy on top of the brands, the style? I imagine snow tires don’t come into play with you in California. But

Nestor Gutierrez [00:09:37]:

So, really, the way I work is, I really like keeping track of every Everything that comes in. You know? If it comes from the phone calls to the service to the return rate for the tires, I always have my my people, know, hey. You know you know, this Toyota Corolla is very common. The the size, we always use it. Let’s keep an extra amount of these, and let’s have, different brands. So we always base it on the brands that people request. We we we like sorting those out and having them ready. I do have, 5 warehouses.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:10:07]:

They’re all nearby. So if you come in right now and I don’t have it here, we’ll make it happen. You know, we’ll go get the tires. If you like the price, we’ll, like, we’re pretty fast. You know? So that’s a very convenient thing. Like, just having the warehouse, like, literally, well, like, half a mile away. So that’s great. Super close.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:10:23]:

Okay. Super convenient. Before, my my closest warehouse wasn’t until, like, 30, 40 minutes away, so that was kinda little more of a hassle. But now that we have that, it’s super convenient. And another thing that we do is we service all of our enterprise vehicles. So we do have to have certain, Brands in certain sizes just because of them. Like, sometimes they they they run into something. We need to get the tire ASAP so the truck can we can get back on the road.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:10:48]:

You know? So that’s how we do it. Mhmm.

James [00:10:50]:

So tell me one thing that I never was able to pick up on when I was doing tires is what is the margin? Is it pretty healthy? Like, So oil change. You’re buying

Nestor Gutierrez [00:11:01]:

Honestly, that’s what I tell my guys all the time. The margins on the tires is not It’s not the best. And I don’t know. I sometimes I don’t under understand how, like, tire businesses make it just because, for example, like, If if a tire is costing me $50 and then you go to Walmart and it’s $54, you can’t mark it so high because Athena did I saw it at Walmart for $54. You know? So the margin on the tires are about, like, 10 to 15%. So it’s not even that much is is is is almost nothing. You know? And, really, where where you kinda make your money on the tires on the on the mounting and the balancing. That’s really, like like, where the money really comes from.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:11:41]:

But, like, on the on the margin of of the actual profit from the tire you’re selling, there’s really no no no big thing on it.

James [00:11:47]:

Interesting. Okay. Okay.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:11:48]:

It’s like like, it the margins are way higher on the oil change, than than the the tire just because on the oil. Like, you know, like, I mean, oil prices have gone up. But, however, the the rates that you get for oil are way cheaper than the tire. You know? Even if even when you with people. Yeah. So So that’s how it works.

James [00:12:07]:

Alright. Yeah. When we I remember, doing oil changes and stuff like this. They wanted it 30 minutes or less.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:12:14]:

Yeah.

James [00:12:14]:

I do this laundry list of inspections.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:12:17]:

Yeah.

James [00:12:17]:

Most of the guys would just be like, yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Because you get yelled at if you take longer than 30 minutes.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:12:23]:

Yeah.

James [00:12:23]:

Which also get yelled at if you don’t do the inspections. Let’s just race it. Because there’s some I suppose you see this. There’s some air filters that I don’t know what engineer put that in that spot.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:12:33]:

Absolutely.

James [00:12:34]:

Not the guy that has to work on that car.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:12:36]:

Absolutely. And, yeah, we’re we’re always like down, like like, Especially new cars. Like, really? Like, do we really have to move all that stuff to get to the oil filter nowadays, you know, especially the European cars? Yeah. We have to go with the air boxes. We have to go a bunch of stuff just to get to the filter. You know? So I totally understand what you’re talking about.

James [00:12:56]:

It’s funny. So tell me, air conditioning, I imagine in California, that’s a year round or almost year round thing.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:13:03]:

I mean,

James [00:13:04]:

that’s gotta be a lucrative business.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:13:06]:

It it it is. And right now so the the main thing that, has made me bring in even more people is the fact that I do a lot of content on Instagram. So I do a lot of videos, educational videos that I talk about, you know, this is important, so replacing the cabin air filter. You’re getting a bad smell and So on. You know? So I do I do a lot of videos for AC, and I have even a higher return that comes in for ACs because Not a lot of shops like the the pit pit style do ACs. You know? So

James [00:13:34]:

Oh.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:13:34]:

That that that is, like, around the area. Like, for example, Valvoline doesn’t do AC. Jeffy Lou doesn’t do AC. You know? So I’m, like, I’m unique in that sense, and I also do a free car wash show. I do get a lot of people coming in for ACs. And then the AC industry, yeah, the the marches are much bigger. You know? It it’s not very depending on on what people need. But normally, like, for example, let’s say you need a AC compressor, and AC compressors are pretty expensive, you know, on the part.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:02]:

So on the margins, on the parts, it’s not even that big. It’s on the labor. You know? Some some of these parts take, like, 5 or 6 hours, of labor to get with. So that’s that’s really where the money comes from.

James [00:14:12]:

Alright. And when you, so the place that I worked at, you’re just paid hourly. But But I did have some buddies that worked in the industry, and they were paid, based on what the motor manual would say.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:24]:

Yeah.

James [00:14:25]:

So motor manual says 5 hours to replace his AC compressor. You quote the client 5 hours.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:31]:

Mhmm.

James [00:14:31]:

And regardless if it takes you 6 hours or 3 hours, the mechanic would get paid the 5 hours. So if it takes them 3 hours

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:42]:

They get paid for 5.

James [00:14:43]:

They’re making some extra cash because then they can get more products or

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:46]:

Yeah.

James [00:14:47]:

Service done.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:14:48]:

Yeah. So

James [00:14:49]:

it’s very interesting game because then if you run into a problem where you’re like, I didn’t notice this or the rusty bolt. Maybe in California, it’s not a thing in Wisconsin. It certainly is. Compared to this headache.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:15:00]:

No. Yeah. It absolutely is, though. So I I as far as I know, I never worked at a dealership. But as far as I know, the people that, that I know. It’s mainly the dealerships that normally pay you, like, flat rate. There’s some shops that are, like, just, like, engine or transition shops that They also offer flat rate, where they get paid by the, labor guy. But most of the time, any shop like this, like, they’re hourly, And if you’re in sales, then there’s commissions.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:15:28]:

You know? So Gotcha. That’s how you keep the the team, like, on the on the same level. You know? And then for me, like, well, it has worked a lot. I I like, I like treating everyone the same because at the end of the day, like, my loop technician, the assistant, my assistant manager, my manager, mechanics. So we’re all always, working on team skills. You know? So we have daily meetings. We talk about several things, and, also, we I take them out. I like cheating them because none of this would be, happening right now without them.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:15:59]:

And I think that’s something like, some business owners, they they overlook. You know? They they they’re so focused on making their own money and growing on themselves than And actually helping out others because I I I’ve seen that when you help others, you know, the the return is much higher, and and they’re more More, likely to be really, like, helping you grow, really, focus on on another job. You know? So Yeah.

James [00:16:25]:

Yeah. Right on. So when you bought this place in 2020, how did the transition go as far as the employees go?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:16:33]:

So back then, during COVID, we never stopped. Okay. We only laid off 1 guy, and, It was just 3 of us. When I took over the business, 22 guys came with me, and, One of those is still with me. The other 1, he left, within a few months, and and he left because my my rules, He didn’t really like them, but he saw the change. So he started like, this is not gonna work out for me. You know? And Before, like, some things, like, were were like, just because of the old owner, like, he, like, tolerate a a certain things just because he was a really good mechanic. Oh, with me, I’m like, I don’t care how good you are.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:17:18]:

You know? These are the new roles. Like, you know, showing up on time is is is huge. You know? Not a couple minutes late. So, that person’s, he’s still with me. And then bringing in new people during COVID, it was a little tough just to bring in quality people. You know? So I I I did make a few mistakes when hiring. You know? I kinda went with people. You know? I have a bunch of ASCs.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:17:40]:

I had the experience, Write them over, and they were nothing what the book said. You know? So I took my time after that. I kept what I have for the moment to make it work, and I really focus on good quality people. You know? And I also got people that didn’t have any experience because, at the end of the day, I’m like, I’d rather spend money on them, train them, And then make them great and and have them, stay with me, you know, the loyalty. Yeah. So right now, we have, 7 employees, not including my stuff and my wife. Yeah. So so, yeah, when when we started you first started, like like I said, like, we only have 2 guys.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:18:14]:

Now we have 7 people, and, like, We’re we’re probably looking into getting 2 more people because we’re pretty busy.

James [00:18:20]:

That’s awesome.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:18:21]:

Yeah.

James [00:18:21]:

Are they are they cool with each each other, or is there a battle, or do you have to deal with Man,

Nestor Gutierrez [00:18:25]:

honestly, like I said, I I love my team. The everyone like, we’re we’re, like, more more than just, you know, just, Coworkers. We’re we’re really a family. We’re we’re it’s a brotherhood. Alright. And, I say that because the the the main thing that I focus on, in the last couple years is the leadership. You know? Leading by example, and I think they they respect that, and they they look up to it. And, I think I’m kinda setting the tone for them.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:18:51]:

And even when I’m not here, like, everything’s, like, on autopilot. They know their duties. There’s no fighting. At the end of the day, I gave them I gave them all commission. It’s not just my salesman. I gave my My loop technician at commission, and and we focus it on a team a team goal. You know? This is, the moment we have to reach, and everyone’s, being Held accountable for for that. You know? So, you know, no comebacks, none of that stuff.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:19:16]:

Like, we focus on a great job from the beginning. So at the end of the day, everyone’s so focused on winning That there’s no time to be competing or being better or talking back to someone else. Like, everyone else is always at the same level. You know?

James [00:19:30]:

Alright. Super cool. One of the things that I wanna chat with you about just in the industry that you’re in, especially in California. California is notorious for having the environmental stuff and all that jazz. And I was thinking when I was a kid and I was working on cars, You had your brake fluid going everywhere. You had your, just every all of the chemicals in the car. You would try to contain what you could, but in the end, there was a drain. And a lot of time not that you were just emptying the oil from a car in the drain, but if a few drops end up on the floor Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:20:01]:

The

James [00:20:02]:

floor gets hosed off at the end of the day. It all ends up in that drain kind of thing.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:20:05]:

Mhmm.

James [00:20:06]:

I always thought that’s a chemical mess right there.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:20:09]:

Yeah.

James [00:20:09]:

But I imagine in California, it’s gotta be way worse, I imagine, is or more difficult, I should say.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:20:15]:

There’s yeah. There’s so you just gotta be super careful. Like, You’re so limited to the things you can do. Like, for example, like like, for me, like, I can’t I can’t even Let’s say a car comes, and I I kinda wash the the tire. It’s how to clean it up. I can’t do that because the water is not going to a drain. No. And there’s a car wash next to me, and the car the the water would, like just the way it’s leveled, like, the water would go to the car wash.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:20:42]:

You know? So they they don’t want that. You know? So I I can’t even can’t even do that in the back. You know? If I’m mopped, I can’t I can’t just throw the water any you know? Like, you have to go to the sink. That’s where I have to throw the water out. You know? So there’s so many laws. You just gotta be careful. And I know a lot of. I I’m I’m 1 just just for the fact that I’m part of the chamber.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:21:02]:

Like, My standards are so high. Like, I don’t want a bad image, especially from me or my business. So I’m always, up to regulations, and that’s what, in the team meetings that we have, we touch we do touch, Touch safety. You know? And and we go over, you know, the fire, fire hazards, oil disposals. They know the rules already. If they see any drops of oil or any to clean it up right away. We mop it or we put kitty litter. Clean it up.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:21:26]:

Make sure because at the end of the day, someone can fall and, you know, it can get worse. You know? So I’m super huge on that, you know, on on the boots that they wear and just making sure that everything’s being done correctly, you know, because I don’t wanna be dealing with no OSHA, none of that none of those headaches. You know? So I like doing it from the beginning.

James [00:21:44]:

Gotcha. Nice. So tell me, when you took it over, were you married, have a spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever, anything like that?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:21:52]:

Yes. So when I took it over, I had to sky married. I I got married You

James [00:21:56]:

had just got married.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:21:57]:

I had just gotten married. I got married in, October 2019, and I took out, Yeah. No. Couple months later. Yeah. So Alright. And

James [00:22:06]:

how did they feel with you buying the business?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:22:09]:

You know what? I think I’m super blessed it happened like that because, just getting the money, my father-in-law helped me a lot.

James [00:22:15]:

Oh, wow.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:22:16]:

And, it was really nice having his right because, you know, before then, like, I kinda you just said I earned his respect because before then, like, he was just, like, more like, you know you know fathers, You know? And and and they’re only daughters. You know? So he was a little tough on me. He kinda didn’t really talk to me, but then he he noticed what I was doing, and I told him, you know, that that was my plan. And I didn’t even ask for anything, and and it came out of him. Say, hey. I I can because he has his own company for construction. So he’s like, hey. I can lay you some money.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:22:43]:

Like, I’m fine with them. Like, damn. Like, really? And I told my wife, and my wife always has supported me in everything that I do. So as long as she she says, as long as you know that, You know, you are gonna make it. You you do have a plan. You’re not going into something that you’re not sure. I’ll support for you. You know? So that was really good to have that.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:23:00]:

And, Really, my father-in-law really helped me make it, you know, because, you know, the money.

James [00:23:05]:

Yeah. That’s, super cool. That’s impressive. Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:23:08]:

Yes. But

James [00:23:08]:

when you got married, Did your wife know that you were looking to buy the business, or were you talking to home?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:23:14]:

No. I mean, we we I met her in 2016, So she she knew I was working for a while. She knew my my position, my manager, position. And, she also knew the owner because, You know, we would always go to his house and vice versa, and, she kinda knew, like, you know, the offers being made by him, but We never I never even told her, like, I’m buying it. Like, I I didn’t even know myself. You know? 1 it was kinda like one of those things when he told me the final time, like, hey. I do have more buyers. You don’t wanna take it over? That’s kinda like, oh, wake up, Paul.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:23:46]:

You know? Like, do you really want this, or or you don’t want it? You know? And at the beginning, I was so focused on, like, man, I’m I’m a winner. Hopefully, he does sell it. I’m a get a percentage out of it. But then I’m like, what’s gonna happen when the new new, Owner comes in, and he wants to lay everyone off. You know? So Mhmm. That’s kinda that was the wake up call for me. I didn’t know. She didn’t know.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:24:03]:

It was everything just happened so fast. And I think just, like, till now. Like, everything always so hap happens so fast. You know? And I’m always like, opportunity comes, I’m like, okay. Let’s take it. You know? So

James [00:24:14]:

Nice. Yeah. That’s super cool. Tell me that had to be capital intensive, so tell me about the purchase. Did the previous owner do they Did they finance it? Did you have to go through a bank? Did you just give them a bag of money and say, here you go. How did that

Nestor Gutierrez [00:24:28]:

Everything everything was so simple just Due to the friendship that we’ve had. You know? He made it, like, literally so easy. Like, he told me he had 2 years to pay me off. I want a 20% down of the total amount. That’s all I’m asking for. And after that, we’re gonna make x amount of payments. And, as long as you pay before 2 years, no interest. After 2 years, there’ll be an interest of x amount.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:24:53]:

You know? Okay. So he he literally just went like like this. You know? Like, here here’s a shop. Give me the money. You know? And, my my goal from the beginning, you know, at the end at the end of the day, Since I had money borrowed from my father-in-law, I owed him money, and I pretty much owed my my my previous, boss money. You know? So I pretty much had 2 transactions to be paid monthly. And my goal was I told my wife, I I gotta pay them off within the year. I I don’t like that.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:25:18]:

I I don’t like dealing with that, so we’re gonna pay them off before the year. Well, we paid them off in 9 months, both of them. My my father-in-law and I paid off my

James [00:25:25]:

Oh, congratulations. That’s impressive.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:25:27]:

Thank you. Thank you. And I think what what really helped Make that happen was the fact, like, all the bills for the shop are due on 10th or 12th. So I told myself, you know, I have 10 days to get the ball rolling. I gotta make sure it’s like we’re kicking butt. You know? So that was my main focus. So the 1st 10 days were focused on paying the bills. And after that, I said, okay.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:25:51]:

Now we have you can say a couple days that we can we can put those aside and then start putting some money into our our, reserve account. You know? So that’s the way I worked. You know? And back I mean, when when I got the business, I Well, I was 23. I turned 24. So the business, like, mentality wasn’t there. I was more of like, I gotta do it myself in order for it to get done right. You know?

James [00:26:18]:

Oh, sure.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:26:19]:

I I felt like I had to be, like, all over the place. You know? And, I’m so glad that I I I grew out of that because that’s that’s the way you you know, at the end of the day, I didn’t have a business. I just had bought myself a job. A high paying job, you could save, but, yeah, that that’s that’s really how it worked. I’m very fortunate. Like I said, I’m very grateful for him because none None of this would be possible without him. You know? It’s an opportunity that you don’t you don’t get every day. You know? So

James [00:26:45]:

No. No. That sounds impressive. So did your old boss cut you a little bit of a deal compared to the other people that were gonna buy?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:26:51]:

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Like

James [00:26:53]:

Okay.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:26:53]:

Absolutely. Like, it’s like It was like, if you were buying a a brand new car in in 2020. You know? Like, I’ll tell you this. That was less than 100 k.

James [00:27:03]:

Oh, that’s awesome. Okay. Yeah. Uh-huh.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:27:05]:

Yeah. It was it was less than a 100 k, and, just the money that the the business is worth for now is is crazy, you know, for how much I got Yeah. It’s it’s just amazing how at the end of the day, he only did that because he saw that I had a lot of passion for vehicles. And, He it like, he only got this business because there was an opportunity, but it wasn’t really his thing. He did stereos. He did window tint. And And at the end of the day, like, what he did is, all the money that, he got from this business, he used it to open up more locations for window tint. So he won.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:27:38]:

I won. We both won, and he’s doing great right now. I’m doing great, and it worked out. You know?

James [00:27:43]:

Oh, very cool. So did he start this thing from scratch, or did he buy it from someone else?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:27:48]:

No. So so this this business used to be owned by the same people that owned the the the land And also the the property and the, the car wash next door. What happened is, this business was established in 1996. The the original owner, he really had something really good right here. I don’t know what happened. Like, he had to move out, but he was He was averaging, like, over a 100, cars a day. There was a gas station in the corner. You know, it’s on the foothill on on Route 66, so a lot of traffic.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:28:22]:

I don’t know what happened. He he left, I believe, in 2009, and new owners came in that that bought everything out, And they decided to run the oil change. Well, everything good that was built was literally collapsed by the the new owners Oh, no. Because because what happened is They they were investors. That that that’s what they were. They got random people from the car wash come over here to do the oil changes. People didn’t know what they were doing. Cars were leaving.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:28:50]:

Like, you could you you you can you can assume what happened. You know? Leaking and, just a mess. You know? They literally killed the spot within a year. So when my my, my previous boss came in, he saw the opportunity, and, he’s like, you know what? Like, It’s time to build this thing, and then he came in with a partner. And the partner had a lot of, history in the automotive industry, And, that’s why he brought him in. And, Athena, they, the partner in him, he just didn’t like the way he operated. Like, he was so focused on On sales, sales, sales even when they weren’t needed. So my my previous boss is like, I don’t want that.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:29:26]:

You know? I want this to to be built the right way, and it needs to be with honesty. So, they broke up, and, that’s that’s kinda, like, around the same time that I came in. And when I first started, this place was only doing, like, On a good day, maybe, like, 8 cars a day.

James [00:29:42]:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:29:43]:

Yeah. It was nothing. It was nothing. You know? 8 8 cars a day. So It was just, a manager, assistant manager. They were brothers and me. You know? And then, it slowly like, some some Saturdays, we do, like, 15 cars a day. I was really there.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:29:59]:

And you know? And, after after he got rid of them because, like I said, Part of it had to be the way they were answering the phones, the way they’ve managed everything. They didn’t do any inspections. Like you said, they would just The car engine is like, check, check, check, check, check. Get it out of you know, oil change is done. And, I was pretty much doing everything. And they were just in the back. They were just, you know, Smoking cigarettes and, like, they’re just not working. You know? Mhmm.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:30:26]:

Until the day that, you know, my my previous boss noticed, like, man, This guy, you know, me, he’s really doing everything, and the other guys are just, you know, just standing here bossing him around. So At the end of the day, that’s when I noticed. I told them. I’m like, there’s so much potential here. Like, you gotta notice. Like, I see it. You know? Like, a lot of cars come in sometimes, but, like, they’re rude to them. Know, you’re losing customers because of the management.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:30:50]:

And, I mean, I was only at the time, I was, like, 18. Like, It was hard for him to believe me, obviously, you know, because, like, what the this kid what is this kid talking about? You know? So then he he tried to invest more time in in the business because he was never here. And, we started getting, more marketing, and then we slowly grew it. And then within the next couple of years, we started averaging about 15 to 20 cars a day and And and slowly grew that. You know? So so now I’m averaging about 55 cars a day, and and I have pretty good high tickets too. So, it’s it’s only getting better and better, and, I service a lot of enterprise vehicles. I service a lot of local flower shop and Contractors. I have a lot of fleets.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:31:32]:

You know? So that’s also really helpful.

James [00:31:36]:

How did you end up getting the fleets?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:31:38]:

So There was just 1 idea. I saw enterprise vehicle. Like I said, enterprise. I’m like, you know what? Like, I told him. I’m like, we should get a contract with them. He said, oh, I tell you think about that. He said, oh, go go ahead and and go go to their office and and see if, we can get that. Well, you know, they they shut me down.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:31:58]:

They said no. They they have someone in house that does it. And then a couple, couple months later, I tried again, got denied. And I started looking at it slow. I I think I got, like, 2 flower shops to come in, and then I got 1 contractor to come in. That was a very small count. Well, in 2019, a new manager for enterprise, came to us because I I see a lot of requests, but they they didn’t ignore. So, We definitely need to, bring a lot of cars to you.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:32:25]:

We’re looking for a facility that we can trust, and I I see that in you. So let’s go ahead and get a contract. So it Took a couple a couple years for them to actually come in, but we’ve kept that account. And then, we have, 7 others other stores nearby that they bring us cars. You know? And just from them, sometimes we get, like, 20 cars, you know, a day just from them. Wow. So it’s it’s a it’s a really good account, and then, We use that to leverage more, so we always, mention that, yo, you know, we do have this account with enterprise, and, it opens the doors for other people. You know? So, now we’re to the point, like, where people, like, people that have a lot of vehicles, that have fleet vehicle.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:33:04]:

They call, hey. I wanna set up an account with you guys Because they see that we’re working on on, alarm, alarm v fleet vehicles, solar vehicles, and a bunch of, vehicles. You know? So now we’re to the point where, like, we’re getting known more, and they know that we’re service a lot of fleets.

James [00:33:22]:

That’s cool. That’s super cool. 20 calls a day from enter or 20 cars a day.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:33:26]:

Yeah. Sometimes, like, we we we could be like it can be, like, a couple cars in the bay, and the next thing you know, like, a a whole line of cars. Like, they have a bunch of drivers. Like, sometimes they bring 7 cars at a time. I’m like, Okay. Let’s get to work. You know? Wow.

James [00:33:39]:

That’s oil changes, tires, the typical

Nestor Gutierrez [00:33:42]:

It can vary. Sometimes it’s just, sometimes it’s just changes. Sometimes it’s brakes. Sometimes it’s tires. It could be everything, and it’s just a pants. You know? So Alright. Whatever they need, we we we make it work.

James [00:33:54]:

Fastest car in the world’s a rental car. Right?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:33:57]:

Yep.

James [00:33:58]:

Oh, it’s funny. Yeah. When I when I was a mechanic, we used to do, we had Pizza Hut cars, little Honda Civics. Okay. And holy cow did those things get beat. By the drivers, they were I don’t know how those cars kept running.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:34:13]:

Only because they’re Hondas.

James [00:34:15]:

We would I still remember pulling the drain plug on 1, and the oil just came on

Nestor Gutierrez [00:34:20]:

its own trip.

James [00:34:21]:

Yep. I thought, how in the world is this thing running?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:34:24]:

Is it here? Yep. I see this so many times. I I’m amazed see, I see now on Honda so many times, and it’s crazy because this is a older Hondas. Yeah. You’re like, how did it get here? Like, you know, you’re just like Like, this thing is is crazy.

James [00:34:38]:

Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I still remember some of those some of those cars, and I was thinking, if somebody paid me to destroy a car. I don’t think I could do as bad as these drivers are doing to this car. They’re just destroying these cars. So He’s Anyways, interesting. Tell me about, marketing.

James [00:34:58]:

When you what was the previous owner doing? And, I mean, because he was busy doing his other stuff. And then when you took it over, You probably had a dream or a vision of like, hey. When I take this over, this is what we’re gonna do to get the rockets going on this thing. Tell me what you said there.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:35:12]:

So when when when he was here, he he put all his, eggs in 1 basket pretty much. That was Google Ads and Yelp. That was, like, his main market. I saw it working, especially. I’m okay. You know? Like, I didn’t understand how it really worked until I came in. I’m like, k. So how does this work? So I did my research.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:35:34]:

I kinda eliminated Yelp because I I saw that not a lot of people were coming from Yelp. And something that that helps me to this day keep track of, what’s working. I always ask the customer, you know, how do you hear about us? And I helped me keep track of it. Right now, what the main thing that’s helping you right now is social media, Instagram, Facebook. And I say that because, like I said, I post content about everything. You know? Today, we have this vehicle. We have a certain brand. Today, you know, This is how you do this, and this is how you do that, and make sure you avoid this.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:36:05]:

And it’s like a lot of people are viewing it and asking for for, quotes and stuff like that. So social media right now, it’s my best marketing that I’m doing. However, Google Ads is second still. I do, my budget on it. It’s about 1500 a month, and I see a lot of good return coming. On Instagram, I do I do run ads on Instagram. Like, I see the videos that do good, And I make sure that they do better. You know? And, especially when I’m doing, like, like, a a a certain special coming up, I put it on there.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:36:39]:

I blast it, and I have a a lot of calls. You know? So that’s that’s what I see working, and I kind of implemented it because I have a lot of people that are in the real estate and also doing other, businesses, And I see it’s working for them. I’m like, okay. How can I make this work for me? And then I I just started realizing that it’s all about giving them information.

James [00:37:02]:

Mhmm.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:37:02]:

Because at the end of the day, you know, people make it, make it so focused on just, like, Information called to action. Information called to action. But I don’t do that. You know? I just give information, give, give, give, give. And then at the end of the day, they’re gonna trust me more because I’m giving them free content, and I’m telling them, this is how you do this. Kinda like a YouTube channel, you know, but in, like, 15 to 20 seconds. Because at the end of the day, you know, people lose interest after after a a lot longer time. You know? And then if they they they don’t wanna do it themselves, then, Hey.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:37:34]:

I saw the video that you posted. Trust you guys. That’s literally what it’s telling me. Trust you guys. I have this problem going on. Can you fix it? If we can’t, bring it over or we can’t. You know? We recommend them somewhere where they could get fixed. You know? So, that’s that’s what’s working for me at at the moment.

James [00:37:51]:

Alright. And is this you doing that stuff, or do you have

Nestor Gutierrez [00:37:54]:

No. So I have I have I have someone I have someone that comes in and and and and does it for me Just like the video stuff. You know? So I have a videographer that comes in. We shoot the content. He he edits. He does everything. He sends it to me. I’m the one that posts posts, everything.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:38:10]:

So I do keep track of that. I post my content. I post my own ads. I I take control of that. One thing that’s also really helping me with the captions and the hashtags is AI. I use a lot of chat GPT.

James [00:38:22]:

Oh.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:38:23]:

And, That’s it it has made my job way easier before. Like like, e that’s something my wife hates about me. Like, when I’m posting a video, like, I would be like, Like, I’d be there for 30 minutes, but try to trying to get the right caption, right hashtags. You know? So now literally get the video. My my guy uploads. I get it. I I I send it over to Instagram. I go to, chat GPT.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:38:48]:

Write me a Instagram, post about, this video, and I kinda put a little bit of information. I I copy and paste, and I post it, and it’s super fast. A lot of engagement, And it’s super easy. You know? So, I’m just really taking advantage of the the AI right now. You know? So it’s really helping me, and, That’s literally where I see, like, even, like, it’s crazy how much content I’m doing. Sometimes I go to grocery stores or anywhere, and they’re like, Oh, I see you on Instagram. You pop up my Instagram. So anywhere I go around here, like, people like, man, I always see you guys on Instagram.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:39:24]:

Like, that’s, like, kinda like like the the community. That that’s what they’re saying right now, you know, because I so on Instagram, you can target a certain radius, and I’ve targeted a 30 mile radius. So anywhere within the 30 mile radius, Like, they see when I do, sponsored ads, they see it, and they’ll tell you, no. I was gonna reach x amount. You know? So I always aim high, and that’s why a lot of people are like, oh, I always see you guys on on my Instagram. You know? I like hearing that because, Athena, they like the brand is building. You know? So

James [00:39:52]:

Yeah. Yeah. That’s huge. That’s incredibly huge.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:39:55]:

Yeah.

James [00:39:56]:

So are you tell me about budget with something like that because when I was looking at I guess I’ve done Google Ads before.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:40:03]:

Mhmm.

James [00:40:03]:

Depending upon what I was selling, sometimes the the bid amounts are Yeah. Cycle. Cycle when it comes to stuff like that. I had a flower shop for a hot minute

Nestor Gutierrez [00:40:14]:

Uh-huh.

James [00:40:14]:

And just competing on keywords of flowers. It was insane. I think it was more than what a bouquet of flowers cost.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:40:21]:

I can imagine. And and and that’s the thing that, I I told myself, like, I would get happy because, K. We’re we’re busy. We’re busy. But then I would see the Google Ads bill. Like, there was a time that I spent, like, 35100 Google Ads. I’m like, that’s a lot of money. And I need you to make sure that, you know, I’m I’m I’m getting more leads without paying so much.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:40:41]:

And I started noticing, like, you know, people were, like, posting content. I’m like, at the end of the day, That content is for free. So I started doing the content, and I see the option to to sponsor. So at the end of the day, It just depends on the content. Let’s say your content that you posted, it’s good information, and you you put a $100. Sometimes for me, Like, when I first started doing that, like, I just had 1 customer from the $100 information that he heard turn into, like, $2,000 ticket. Alright? Because of information. You know? So it’s it’s it’s it’s it’s something that they it’s the information that you’re getting because if you’re getting poor information and you’re sponsoring 1,000 of dollars, but the information is poor, then the leads are not gonna come in.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:41:25]:

Maybe a few do, but it’s just the information that you’re talking about. You wanna get it to the point where you no longer have to do sponsored ads because your information is so good. People are sharing it. You have people viewing it, and you don’t have to be paying a penny now. And, you know, at the end of the day, I’m I’m also, right now, really focusing on the whole referral. I posted on my social you know, referral, give $15 off, for, so if if you come into my business, I give you $15 credit, and then the person that you bring, $15 off, and it’s unlimited. And, I I I do really emphasize when when I say, like, okay. At the end of the day, if you bring x amount of people, your service can be for free.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:42:06]:

You know? So that’s people hear free people hear free are like, oh, You know? I do have a lot of people, a lot of friends, a lot of family members, and it’s it’s been like that for a couple people. You know? So, that’s also working for me, the referral program that I have. We talk talk and tell everyone that comes in so they know about it, and, that’s really working. You know? But It’s not gonna work if if you have a a horrible product. Your service is not good. Like, you gotta make sure you’re gonna focus on the on the on the product first, and then you can do this. You know? So

James [00:42:36]:

Gotcha. Alright. That is impressive. That is very impressive.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:42:40]:

Thank you.

James [00:42:41]:

So have you found Instagram? Like, there’s 50,000,000 social media things. Right? There’s Top, whatever, 10.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:42:47]:

Oh my gosh.

James [00:42:48]:

Choose where to go or where to post.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:42:50]:

So every every platform is gonna be different. You know? The algorithm TikTok is way different than Instagram. And, for me, Instagram is the one that’s working the most. I do post on Facebook. I do post on TikTok. TikTok, it doesn’t it does bring in a a couple, couple leads. But there’s a lot of people that are really into that in in in my area, but, not compared to Instagram. In the Facebook, I also do have people come in, but it’s the older crowd.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:43:21]:

Like, on the Instagram, it’s mainly the the crowd that are, like, in their early twenties or early thirties that have, like, the The car club cars. Like, you know, they they put a lot of money into their cars. That’s kinda like the the, people that come in from my Instagram. You know? And then a lot of people too do come from Instagram, like the the people, like, early forties, early fifties to have the nice exotic cars. They’re like, oh, well, they do these cars. Let me give them a shot. They like the service. What happens? They refer them because at the end of the day, they have friends with the same cars, and next thing we know, we have a bunch of those cars.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:43:53]:

You know? So Alright. Yeah.

James [00:43:55]:

Well, that’s very cool. Is it tough? I’m just just going down the exotic car road. Uh-huh. The few times that I’ve been I’m gonna quote, unquote lucky to work on them because some they’re really cool car when the hood’s shut. But sometimes when you open that hood, you think, woah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:44:11]:

That’s so lucky.

James [00:44:12]:

Not the best engineer in the world from my opinion.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:44:15]:

Yeah.

James [00:44:16]:

So but a lot of times, the the just the code readers and the stuff. The equipment that you need is all specialized.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:44:23]:

It’s kind

James [00:44:23]:

of a pain. But It is. You get to drive A little a nice guy.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:44:28]:

A nice guy. And I I think for for us, what happens is, like, all the people that I have, they love cars as well. So I tell them all the time, okay. If you guys wanna be able to get in these cars, you know, the The only way to do this is by when we get 1, we gotta do a fantastic job. Because at the end of the day, you know, he’s gonna have more friends who save cars, And they get more excited. You know? So they’re so focused on on doing a great job on every car. And I tell them, okay. What do we need to get cars like that? And then they give me a list.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:45:02]:

This is what we need. This is the scanner that we need. This is the tools that we need. Okay. I’m okay with the tools. We’re gonna be prepared. I do. I’m a I’m a high believer in the in the law of attraction.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:45:11]:

You know? And it it always happens, like, if I want something, okay, what do we need to get that? I get in. It’s automatically like, boom. Boom. Boom. Like, I’m like, oh, wow. Like, that’s crazy. You know? So that’s that’s how it’s been. You know? I I got the equipment that we needed for, like, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, all exotics.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:45:26]:

I spent a lot of money on scanners and tools, like 1,000 of dollars. You know? Wow. And now now when I really took advantage of one that that came in. It was a Rolls Royce, And it was a friend of mine. Did a lot of content. I posted. I posted it. What happens next? Oh, I have a Bentley.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:45:43]:

I have a Ferrari. I have a Lambo. Like, Can you do them? I’m like, yeah. Of course. Bring them over. So I have a supplier that can get parts for all those exotic cars. And, also, The scanner that I have can can reset any maintenance light. We can we can do diagnostic on them, and and that’s really good.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:45:58]:

You know? Here’s a little, a little something you probably don’t know. So Rolls Royce, that Rolls Royce, that came in, it that was a cooling in, 2015. It came in for, clunky noise in the in the front. I go underneath. I’m like, this car looks like a BMW. So I go downstairs, and I’m checking it out. I’m like, I told my mechanic, man, doesn’t it look like the BMW that we just did? Like, the controllers look the same. He’s, oh, yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:46:27]:

But that’s that’s because he’s like, that’s pretty much like any European. They look they look identical. You’re right. So then we start looking at it. We see the controls are shot out, And then I see BMW in the control arm. I’m like, look, man. Like, it it’s BMW part. You know? He’s that’s crazy.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:46:44]:

And then we start looking more. And on the, so on the controller on one side, it had BMW, and on the other side, it had Rolls Royce.

James [00:46:50]:

Oh, interesting.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:46:52]:

Oh, that’s interesting. I open up the hood. I’m like and I’m like, hey, man. Are you sure this is not a, like a BMW V 8? Yeah. Look. Let’s look into it. Sure enough, it’s a BMW M6. So we called, the dealership for a BMW M6 for the same part, and it was, like, 800 something.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:47:10]:

We call Rolls Royce. It was, like, 1900. It was the same part. You go to BMW, you get the same part cheaper. You go to Rolls Royce, the same part. On one side, it has been w in small letters, and the other side, it has Rolls Royce with big letters. So it’s interesting for for the name of the the other brand. You know? So A lot of people I I I do a lot of content like that for for my social media, and, like, they share, share, share, share.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:47:34]:

And that that helps them save money for the people that have that because they didn’t know that. You know? Same thing with Bentley. Like, they use, they use, Parts from Volkswagens that are way older. Let’s say you have a 2015, Bentley Continental. A lot of those parts are from a 2006 Volkswagen. So Yeah. So there’s some of, like, all these cars, like, they there’s a a background. It goes back, you know, and and we do I tell my people, you know, hey.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:47:58]:

When you get whenever you get a nice car like that, Don’t don’t trust the price that it’s telling you that you call a dealership. Let’s let’s see really where that part comes from. Because at the end of the day, we’re gonna save the customer so much money. You know? And and that’s what we want. Yeah.

James [00:48:12]:

That is cool.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:48:13]:

Yeah.

James [00:48:14]:

It’s interesting. I suppose there’s a bit of control arm somewhere just slapping on the car. Right?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:48:19]:

Yeah. And and, obviously, not not everything on the car is gonna be identical, but Mhmm. Most of it, like, A car like that, you know, it it does have the same suspension on the engine. It had the same oil filter. It took the same oil, type. So a lot of the things are are similar, but to answer that question too, at the end of the day, like, I send my people to training. All of them. You know? So I have 3 guys that before work on anything that comes in.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:48:47]:

And I have younger younger technicians that are getting there, but, When the time is right, then I’ll send them the training, but I spend a lot of money when it comes to self development on on my salespeople, on my mechanics. I send it to school to train, And it’s free. You know? And and that’s that like, at the end of the day, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You know? You it’s not gonna come out of your pocket. You’re gonna train. You’re gonna become better, and at the end of the day, you’re gonna make more money. You know? So Right. I really emphasize on that, on helping my people.

James [00:49:16]:

That’s cool. That’s impressive.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:49:18]:

Yeah. Thank

James [00:49:18]:

you. Have any were there any challenges since you purchased a business in 2020, thinking about the whole pandemic thing?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:49:25]:

When I first got The business, the main challenge was, getting more people. You know? Like, I’m just More employees and more customers. It it was slow. I was making making, ends meet, but it was tough. I I just I I did stress, like, when the 1st couple months when I got it, I lost a lot of weight, and I was really, like I was spending, like, almost all day in the business. Like, I mean, what what do I have to do to to get more cars in? And and I even try to bry bring down the price a lot, and I’m like, it didn’t it didn’t really work. And, It was his heart at the beginning. You know? And I was trying to, like, learn from other people.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:50:06]:

You know? Hey. How’s your business doing right now? Oh, struggling. You know? We’re Probably gonna close down on I got really discouraged when I I would hear a lot of over closing down. You know? So it was tough. And then, I started slowly getting more more people a couple months later and now hiring. It was super tough. You know? No one wanted to work. Everyone was, you know, getting free money, and, it was really tough.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:50:32]:

You know? And as like I said, I made a couple mistakes of of firing the wrong people. And one of those mistakes, it did cost me an engine, and it was for enterprise. I know it’s It was super mad. You know? It was a tough month because I lost I lost money that month. And I was just like, damn. I need to we need to pick the ball up because This can be the start of us failing. You know? So I’m like, okay. We need a we I I fired him, and I’m like, hey.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:51:00]:

You know, you you know that There’s a procedure we do things. There’s you know, we double check, we triple check before it leaves, and if he didn’t do it, I got rid of him, and I I tried to get more people. And like I said, They they would lie in in the in the resumes, and I would get them. And it almost happened again. You know? That, loose drink truck. I’m like, man, like, I can have this. You know? So then I got to a point where, okay, we’re I’m not gonna hire anymore. I’m gonna take my time.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:51:25]:

And it took me, like, 6 months to to find one good person. You know? And those those 6 months, I had to be everywhere. I had to be in the front. I had to be up there. Like, I had to. That was everything. You know? And it was very challenging because, you know, a lot of people what what happens, a lot of people see the good stuff. They see the traveling.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:51:46]:

They see the the life you’re living, but they don’t see the the background. You know? They don’t see the late nights, not spending enough time with your family, Not spending enough time with your your wife. You know? So that can also lead to divorce or whatever, you know, because you’re not no longer spending time with them.

James [00:52:02]:

Mhmm.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:52:03]:

And that was kind of what was happening to me. I was spending too much time on the business, a a lot of headaches, a lot of stress because it was tough. I didn’t know where to start. I’m like, okay. Do I get more customers? Do I get more employees? Like and then I finally get more customers, and there’s no employees. I’m like, damn. Like, this thing is hard. You know? And, I started getting it together, and guess what happened? All now the parts.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:52:23]:

Oil. I wasn’t able to get oil as fast as I was before. Oil prices skyrocket. Parts. Till this day, there’s, like, like, for example, there’s a range rover. I’m I’m still waiting on a partless back order, And it’s it’s been a month and a half. So that’s still all in right now. And it’s just I I feel bad because, you know, a lot of people, they rely on the cars.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:52:45]:

They don’t have an extra car. Like, you know, it’s it’s tough. You know? And that was very a very tough moment. That was what I think, At the beginning of 2022, there was a lot of cars that needed repairs, and we had the we already had the job closed and everything, and No one has a part, not even the dealership. So that’s that’s when I’m like, I got scared again because there was a lot of repairs that we’re we’re letting go in a sense, but it it was out of our, It it wasn’t our fault. You know? So it it was tough because there was a time where, like, a couple months that we just all we were doing was oil changes. We wanted to do more, but but there was no parts available. So that was another another hard time.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:53:26]:

You know? At the beginning of 2022, I’m like, man, this is very, very tough. Know? So then I started, like, getting parts from a online, like, parts stores online parts stores. And I would kinda, like, stock what the things I would see that were more common. That way, like, I wouldn’t lose more jobs. You know? And and it was very tough on that sense. And, a couple months later on 2022, it got a little better. But like I said, till now, there’s still certain, brands The the, they’re really behind on on on some parts, especially right now. You know, I don’t know how it is over there, but, a lot of people over here in California are protesting.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:54:03]:

And, also, it’s happening at Dodge. It’s happening at BMW. It’s happening at so many places right now, and, We have that going on right now. So the automotive industry, it’s it’s a hard business. Not only that because, Also, it’s it’s a retail story. You know? Customers. So customer satisfaction too. It’s another thing.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:54:24]:

So at the end of the day, you just gotta make sure that The people that you have in the front are are are running it the right way. And, because you have bad customer service, it’s gonna kill everything you’re trying to do. You know? So Right. Yeah. It it it it was it was tough. Like, right now, like I said, this year has been a breakout year, and a lot of it has been because I spent a lot of money on on personal development, you know, On how to hire, what to fire, you know, on systems, having a a a a book, you know, of everything, how it’s random. So there’s so many things that I’ve learned just this year that I’m switching, and I see I see the changes. You know? So it’s only getting better and better, but, I mean, every day, you know, sometimes we we run into something.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:55:08]:

You know? Like, oh, we can’t get this part. Like, right now, like, we have another vehicle that no one else has a part. We have to drive up an hour and a half because this leadership has won. So we’re still running into problems like that with parts, and You never know too. Like, at the end of the day, as long as as you can do whatever you can control, you make the best out of it. You know? But sometimes People can get discouraged because it’s not going their way. And, I was once I was once there, and and, I mean, it’s it’s tough because it’s not going your way, and it’s Not changing. It’s day after day, day after day.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:55:43]:

So it it can it can be tough for sure. You know?

James [00:55:47]:

Got it. Yeah. I bet. Yvette, I’m right there with you with mine. All answering service, but same.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:55:53]:

Yeah.

James [00:55:53]:

Yeah. Same hiring situation. I hear it all across the board in every industry.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:55:58]:

And and something that, that I also I forgot to mention, I did struggle, and and it did, it didn’t get to me because there was 22, technicians that I got fresh out of college, in the in the automotive industry. I taught them everything I knew, and I made really good technicians. And what happens, they they focus it on the money. Oh, I’m gonna make more money over here. And they come up to me 1 comes up to me and says, hey. Today’s my last day. I’m like, Yeah. What do you mean? Like, we just went out to lunch.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:56:29]:

You’re telling me today’s your last day. Like, what what do you mean? Yes. Because I have this opportunity over here. They’re paying me, like, $10 more. Like, you never told me money was the issue. You know? So, yeah, but, you know, $10 more an hour. Okay. You know? Do whatever you gotta do.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:56:43]:

And I was really discouraged, and then next thing you know, the other one follows. Oh. And I was with 2 really good technicians. So now I’m like, damn. You know? So there was a time I was really discouraged. I didn’t know, okay. Do I teach my people everything, or do I kinda not teach them a couple things? And I was kinda stuck. You know? And, that’s when I hired my 1st mentor, and I told him that because, his name is Albert Preciado.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:57:09]:

He has a mortgage industry. He has a lot of employees. And I I would see what he was doing. I’m like, damn, you have a bunch of people, like, over a 100 agents. Like, how do you do it? They’re really like I like, it was a team. Like, they would come in there. They’re, like, all pumped and, like, I’m like, damn, that’s I I want that. You know? How do you do that? He’s I teach him everything.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:57:26]:

I take care of them. And I tell him, okay. Well, how do you teach him everything? Are are you scared of losing them? He said, no. If they wanna leave, that’s that’s that’s a That’s their fault. You know? Because, if we’re going together, it’s going good, and and they think that they can do it better, by all means. You know? But You know what has happened before, like, for him? Like, he’s like, they always come back. They try to do on their own, and they come back, but the the door’s closed now. You know? So it’s funny that he told me that because those people those 2 people that, that did that to me, they see that, that we’re we’re growing a lot.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:57:59]:

And just recently, like, one reached out to me. He’s like, hey. Are you hiring? No. I didn’t even respond back. I’m like, you like, you left me when I needed you the most.

James [00:58:09]:

Yeah. Yeah. Now that

Nestor Gutierrez [00:58:09]:

you see that we’re doing better, you wanna be part of it again? I know. I don’t I don’t do that. You know?

James [00:58:13]:

Get lost.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:58:13]:

Because you did it once, you’re gonna do it again. You know? And and sometimes employees can be really complicated. I’ll tell you that. It can get out of hand. And and sometimes if you look at it, it it causes, businesses to fail Just because it gets out of hand. You know? For example, we don’t give them the lunches the the the way it’s supposed to, and and there’s so many things that can go the wrong way. You know? So That’s always something to be really careful with, the employees.

James [00:58:38]:

Yeah. Employees are the biggest headache for just every business that business owner that I’ve ever talked to.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:58:45]:

Yeah.

James [00:58:46]:

It’s common.

Nestor Gutierrez [00:58:47]:

And and, Athena, they too I think it it it creates, some, Like, scarce in in the person running the business that they wanna bring in family members. But I think also that’s another thing that I’ve seen before that they bring a lot of family members, and it starts going south, you know, and and bad relationships, and it gets really ugly. And it’s like Like, what I’ve learned is, like, it’s not best to to bring in family member for that reason because, you know, they could come through. You know? And at the end of the day, like, they may not do the job As as great as someone else would if you didn’t have a close relationship. You know? So Mhmm. They always try I think they they just try to play it safe, but I think, it is not the best way to do it.

James [00:59:29]:

Yeah. I get it. I get it. Totally understand. It’s tough. Very tough. But in the end, it’s totally worth it because Business is fun. Right? You don’t wanna be the one doing it all all the time.

James [00:59:39]:

Right?

Nestor Gutierrez [00:59:40]:

Absolutely. You know? So now, I’m in a good place. You know? I got the business a lot of pilot, and it’s giving me, more, time to focus on other things. You know? So it’s it’s very good. But, I mean, to look at it, you know, I opened it in, August 2020. This is my 3rd year, and, like, you know, now things are are running more smooth. And

James [01:00:00]:

Yeah. That’s true.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:00:01]:

It that’s it. It didn’t go you know, it wasn’t in the 1st year. It wasn’t, like, from month to month. You know? It it took a couple years, but and I’m not saying we’re done. You know? We’re improving and improving more, but Now we’re finally getting to a point where, like, okay. Like, finally. You know? Like, now we can we can kinda take a few days off vacation if we need to or or we have to, but Now we we’re we’re to that point. You know? But that’s some something, like I said, people don’t understand.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:00:26]:

Some sometimes people get into business to make more money and travel, But it’s not like that. You know? It’s actually not

James [01:00:32]:

a light switch. No. You gotta put in the work.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:00:34]:

Absolutely. You know, it’s the opposite. You know what? You you work more than the 8 hours. So you you work way, way, way more. You know? And I think I think they just get confused. They’re they’re in it for the money. And, I mean, I I know you you gotta make money to pay the bills, but I think when you focus on really helping people and, really, helping others, I think the money comes on its own. You

James [01:00:55]:

know? Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:00:55]:

And I think that’s the way I see it. Like, I I never saw it. Oh, I want a business to make more money. I just saw that you know, I know I know a lot of stuff that I can I can help others? You know? And at the end of the day, You know, if if if you do a great job on anything you do, more referrals come in, more money comes in, and and and it goes better. Because if you’re making it so so transactional, People are gonna know. People are gonna know you’re trying to sell them something. People are gonna know, like, they can’t trust you. Like, all all all you want is your money.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:01:27]:

And And, Athena, days gonna come to the point where, like, you’re gonna die. You’re not gonna have any customers, and it’s just gonna be ugly because you were so focused on on on the money. You know? So, that’s just, like, the difference between, me and I I mean, we’re in the industry that what happens, everyone, especially women, They don’t trust you. Oh, you’re you’re crooks. You know? Everyone has a bad image of mechanics. Why? Because the things I’m talking about always happen. You know? You go to any shop, and they try to rip you off on things that you don’t need. You know? So I get that, and I understand when they’re like, no.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:01]:

It’s okay. My my husband will take care of this. And, like, okay. You know? That’s what we try when we do anything, any any inspection, we show them, okay. This is how it’s supposed to look. This is how it looks. You know? We make the comparison. That way, they understand.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:14]:

One, we’re not ripping you off. We’re explaining to you how this works. You know? And, Atina, like I said, it’s information. It’s information that they need to see because we have a conversation. You don’t you don’t understand the terms I’m talking about. So People don’t take the extra step to do that. You know? And and I always like to to make sure that the customer has all the information needed to make the decision.

James [01:02:37]:

Yeah. That’s totally true. Yeah. Totally true. We’re in the same same boat, I guess, as far as that goes with trying to convince customers to trust us.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:45]:

Yep.

James [01:02:45]:

Because the the industry, I guess, can be a little shady, mechanic industry, especially. Right? People don’t know

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:50]:

what

James [01:02:50]:

they’re in.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:51]:

Yeah. Yeah.

James [01:02:51]:

Want their car to get from a to b and not make any noise doing it? Exactly. And not be left on the side of the road. But

Nestor Gutierrez [01:02:57]:

Yep.

James [01:02:58]:

As far as knowing what’s under the hood, it’s kinda scary how a lot of people have less than 0 interest in learning what skills they’re there.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:03:06]:

Oh, yeah.

James [01:03:07]:

So interesting, but, Nestor, I appreciate you being on the show.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:03:11]:

Thank you, man. And and and really appreciate the opportunity to to be on your show, and, I loved it. Thank you so much.

James [01:03:17]:

Yeah. Tell me, how can people find you?

Nestor Gutierrez [01:03:20]:

They can find me on Instagram at, Nestor Gutierrez, or, my business, Instagram is also, Rancho Espresso Beef. They can find me on there, and, Yeah. That’s the best way to to get ahold of me.

James [01:03:33]:

Alright. Awesome. I appreciate it, Nestor. This has been Authentic Business Adventures, is the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumph and successes of business owners across the land. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Saint If you’re listening or watching this on the web, if you could do us a huge favor, give us a big old thumb thumbs up, subscribe, and best of all and most of all, share it with your entrepreneurial friends, especially those that may be interested in the automotive industry. My name is James Kidman, and Authentic Business Adventures is brought to you by Calls on Call, offering call answering and reception services for service businesses across the country on the web at callsoncall.com. And, of course, the bold business book, a book for the entrepreneur in all of us, available wherever fine books are sold. We’d like to thank you, our wonderful listeners as well as our guest, Nestor Gutierrez, owner of Rancho Express Lube.

James [01:04:23]:

Nestor, can you tell us one more time where can people find you, what city you’re in? Just something like that. Yeah.

Nestor Gutierrez [01:04:28]:

So I am, in Rancho Columbia, California, and you can find me on Instagram at the Nestor Gutierrez Or Rancho Express Lube.

James [01:04:38]:

Excellent. I love it. Past episodes can be found morning, noon, and night. The podcast link found Draw in customers.com. Thank you for listening. We will see you neck next week. I want you to stay awesome. And if you do nothing else, enjoy your business.