Out with the Old: Upgrading Your Shop Washington DC

A good place to start when you're considering upgrading is to take an inventory of your shop.

By Michael Regan
7/1/1996

"I'm sorry Mr. Fields, your car won't be ready tomorrow as scheduled. I can't get it painted in time."

You can't tell your customer that your veteran painter quit to go to the fancy new shop that just opened down the street, and he won't want to hear that you've been working till 2 a.m. every night just to get last week's cars done. The only thing this customer knows is that you made a promise you couldn't keep.

This scenario isn't unusual. In an increasingly urgent world, you need to eliminate situations that interfere with customer satisfaction, employee retention and your reputation. In the above situation, part of the problem was the painter jumping shop. Another part was the lack of a quality painting environment; this, however, can be solved a few different ways - one by upgrading your spraybooth. An upgrade, while not only improving your painting environment, can also have a positive effect on your entire business.

Why Upgrade?

A good place to start when you're considering upgrading is to take an inventory of your shop. What do you have to work with? Internal factors - such as the building, the equipment, the employees and your sales - and external factors - such as the number of competitors, quality of competitors, EPA and local regulations, and type of vehicles - must be considered.

From this basic inventory, make a list...