Frank: Good morning, good afternoon, good day, whatever time it is for you today. We are back for another episode of Shop Boss Radio. You got your senior account executive, Frank Jones, at your pleasure for today. I have my co-owner, my co-host, my best bud in the business, Austin, right here with us. And today we have a very special guest, someone who has been in the industry longer than I’ve been in the industry and has taught me many things over the years.

We have the Jimmy Purdy with us today. So first and foremost, I’m gonna give my man Austin a good chance to, uh, introduce himself and then on to Jimmy. Austin, take it away, brother

Austin: Absolutely. Thanks, Frank. Yeah, I’ve been in the, uh, auto industry for going on about eight years now. But, uh, you know, I just, I love working with shops and, and helping them solve [00:01:00] problems and figuring things out, and it’s just, uh, awesome to be here and to, to meet you again, Jimmy, and, uh, learn a little bit more about, uh, what you’ve been doing for so long

Frank: And, and, and with that being said, Jimmy, talk to me, brother. How you doing, man? It’s been a while

Jimmy Purdy: Well, first of all, you guys are making me feel old

Frank: Stop it. Stop it

Jimmy Purdy: right? ‘Cause I’m, ’cause I’m just, I’m still just a little baby bird and I’m still learning every day. I sometimes forget how long it’s been, and that’s kind of d- that’s kinda depressing. But

Frank: Hey man, time flies when you’re having fun, brother

Jimmy Purdy: My mo- my mom, my mom called me

Austin: Let’s go

Jimmy Purdy: I think it’s a different kind of special by this point in time ’cause I

Frank: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: over and expecting

Frank: Man, Jimmy, if you want to take a minute, man, tell me who are you? Where are you from? Talk to me about your shop real quick

Jimmy Purdy: Yeah, I’d love to. Uh, Jimmy Purdy out here in California, Paso Robles, California. Little slice of, uh, paradise is what we call it. It’s, uh, on the Central Coast, so when you … It’s not LA and it’s [00:02:00] not the Bay. It’s, uh, just a nice little rural country area right on the coast. I mean, we love it here. I couldn’t… E- everywhere I go and travel, I just, I’m always happy to come back home. And everyone says California, and, you know, it’s got that negative connotation. But man, unless you’ve been here to this point of it, you just don’t understand what it is. So been here, graduated high school here in this town, um, and started a shop, uh, almost 10 years ago this year.

Frank: Congratulations, brother. Congratulations.

Jimmy Purdy: 2016 I opened

Austin: Awesome

Jimmy Purdy: Yeah. Uh, been an ASE master tech basically the whole entire time, so I’m technician turned shop owner. I’m, I’ve, I’ve started wrenching in the bays, building transmissions, learned how to do the hardest diags, and eventually got to the point where I was able to take over the shop and, built it up since then.

So I worked for the previous owner for about eight years before I bought him out. So, um, what is that? What’s the math there? Almost 20

Austin: Awesome

Frank: Can’t let you go past ’cause you, you see Austin, you see Austin over there.

Jimmy Purdy: You know what? I started this whole [00:03:00] episode talking about this.

Frank: It’s okay. No, man.

Jimmy Purdy: know

Frank: No.

Jimmy Purdy: you’re

Frank: No, brother. Hey, listen. And, and, and you see Austin over there grinning because you California guys absolutely love where y’all live and go ahead, Austin, you got it

Austin: 100%. Sunny Orange County down here. We get the, uh, pretty much 75, 80 degrees year-round. It’s perfect. Perfect. I love it. I

Jimmy Purdy: Yeah, it’s

Frank: So J-

Austin: Jimmy,

Jimmy Purdy: I love going down to La Jolla

Austin: weeks ago, so yeah, yeah. It’s a beautiful area up there

Frank: so Jimmy, and I, I, I can’t let us get out of here without you talking about the wife and the new baby. Just give me, give me a, give me a little bit. Give me a little bit

Jimmy Purdy: Oh yeah, Mallory, 15 months. 15 months? Yeah. Uh, we got the Mid-State Fair in town, so we were just down at the fair. And when you say fair, right, everyone has a, the different thought of it, right? Like some people say fair and they, oh yeah, the big drinks and the sparkling cups and the, and the crowds of people.

No, we go on the ag side of it. So we got to walk around and, uh, see all the [00:04:00] FFA kids, and they

Frank: Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: pigs and their, and their sheep out and, and she loved it. So we like to get her around all those animals. And like I said, we’re rural, we’re ag country here, so we’re, we’re just, we’re into the animals and all that kind of stuff.

So yeah, 15 months and the wife’s just, she’s at home full-time now and taking care of the baby, so

Frank: How that, has that been having her not in the shop?

Jimmy Purdy: It’s, um, it’s

Frank: And we gonna leave it at that. And we gonna leave it. She knows I love her. She knows I love her

Jimmy Purdy: It’s the best, it’s the best thing, and

Frank: She knows I love her, so I can hear you

Jimmy Purdy: It’s like working with family. It’s like the best thing about working with family is also the worst

Frank: Understood.

Jimmy Purdy: right? Like, I loved having her

Frank: Understood.

Jimmy Purdy: having her home too,

Austin: There you

Frank: Beautiful, beautiful. So I mean, you’ve already kinda touched on how you got in the industry. You were literally working in it. So what was that motivation to become from a tech to ownership?

Jimmy Purdy: I think it’s the motivation most technicians have, right? It’s the big ego and [00:05:00] you wanna do everything yourself. You think you can do it better than the guy that was there before you. I mean, j- up, I have zero business experience. I had no business getting into business, right? It just the thought of owning a shop was like, “That sounds pretty cool.

Let me do it.” And it was the opportunity arise and, um, and I just fell into it, right? And, uh, every single… I mean, uh, it, it went from every year I’m learning something new to now every quarter and I, I feel like now at this point that I’m… The more you learn, the more the layers of the onion peel back and you start realizing like, now every month I need to learn something new.

It’s like now every week there’s so- it’s just you just don’t know what you don’t know, and you start peeling it back. You’re like, Oh, my God, I really? don’t know anything. How did I even make it

Austin: Oh, really?

Jimmy Purdy: That’s crazy. I look, I look, I, I, I think about it all the time, like man, 10 years ago, the problems I have today, right, still seem in my mind just as instrumentally big as they were, you know, 10 years ago, but how did I get through that stuff?

Like I didn’t… I was just like, holy

Austin: Yeah.

Frank: and how and how did you?

Austin: Oh, yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: So it’s been,

Frank: Go ahead

Austin: Absolutely. [00:06:00] I was gonna say, yeah, you know, do you have any, uh, do you have any idea what you were getting into? Like, did you know it was gonna be as much of a shock as it was? Or like, that kinda take you by surprise?

Jimmy Purdy: No, I think ignorance was bliss. I, I, I’ve, I think I was definitely a lot happier making the… I mean, I had $5,000 in the, in the checking account at any given time back 2016 up to, like, 2019, right? For the three years it was just, there was, there was nothing, and I, I wasn’t making a paycheck. Like, it was just five grand.

As long as I had some money in the bank account at the end of the month, I’m like, “All right, I’m winning. I’m, I’m successful,” right? And I get to show up and do whatever I wanna do, and it was like that was… I didn’t know any different, right? I was- I just figured this is how all shops ran, this is how it was supposed to be, and as long as I have, as long as I have money in the bank account, then I’m winning.

‘Cause everybody else I knew, the group of people that I was around, had no money, and they were going into debt. So I’m like, “Well, if I’m not going into debt, that must mean I’m doing good. All right, I’m a rock star,” right? And, uh, and I think, like I said, as the layers start peeling back, you start realizing how ignorant I was and, like, how far away I am from… [00:07:00] You know, then you start surrounding yourself with more higher achievers and you’re like, “Oh, I have- I’ve got such a long way to go.” The one thing I’ve, I’ve come to realize is, like, the top 10% of shops, right? Are, like, the big money makers, right? 90% and under are doing less than a million dollars a year. The spread between zero and 90% is the exact same amount of spread from, like, the top 10 to, to 1%, right? Like, that’s, that’s… It’s, like, it’s easy… not easy, but from getting from zero up to the top 90%, To that million-dollar mark, that is the exact same amount of time it feels like to get from, like, zero to, like, even the top 3%, right?

And then from, like, the 3 to the 1%, that spread is just as wide as zero to 90. So it’s, it’s, it’s just very interesting as you start going, you’re like, “Oh, I’m at a million. I’ll be at

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: million by no time,” and it’s, like, all these new problems that you didn’t even know existed come up, right? And you’re like, think about this,” and you don’t think about…

And, and then just a whole new ball of wax and, and yarn [00:08:00] you gotta start unraveling again. It’s

Frank: So because I know the number, ’cause I already saw it and you just said it, so you are currently at what million now, Jimmy? Go ahead and say it

Jimmy Purdy: But two point– Well, we should be crossing 2.6

Frank: you and I, I think it was the late, great Biggie Smalls that said, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.” Is that what you’re hearing?

Jimmy Purdy: There it

Frank: So,

Jimmy Purdy: it

Frank: you know

Jimmy Purdy: Yep. It’s a real thing. There’s no money problems and

Frank: A- and so I,

Jimmy Purdy: And I’m not big money problems

Frank: so I gotta ask you, you know, with… This is gonna be a real tough question. A real, real tough question, and I know, I know you gotta answer for me. It is 7/23/2026. What’s the state of our industry right now?

Jimmy Purdy: Well, first, th- there’s no tough questions, there’s only tough answers. ‘Cause if

Frank: Come on

Jimmy Purdy: you got, if you got, if you’re gonna ask the

Frank: I’m ready, brother.

Jimmy Purdy: ready to hear the

Frank: I’m [00:09:00] all ears. I’m all ear ’cause I know you got answers for me. I know you got answers. Come on

Jimmy Purdy: Oh, what a complicated answer for that one. Um, I mean I think, I think tired.

Frank: Tired

Jimmy Purdy: I think, um, I think just exhausted, right? I…

Frank: Please

Jimmy Purdy: unpack that a little bit. So it’s… There’s a lot of, a lot of aging out of the industry. There’s a lot of boomers, there’s a lot of senior, uh, shop owners that are aging out, right?

And there’s a new in- uh, influx of, uh, private equity coming in, consolidating shops, right? Buying big. Uh, there’s a lot of intelligent people that are realizing instead of fighting each other, let’s just join, right? it’s monopolizing the industry. We see it with O’Reilly’s trying to buy NAPA, uh, the latest with, uh, what was it? Pep Boys getting bought out, right? So there’s a lot of consolidation that we’re all [00:10:00] seeing with private equity, not to mention a lot of the smaller independents that are joining together, and they’re creating kind of their small monopolies. And I don’t mean to say monopolies in like a negative connotation, but that’s just the best way I can the picture, right? And so I think it’s making a lot of the independent repair facilities, the mom and pops, uh, it’s just exhausting, man. It’s very difficult to compete with that. You know, and, and it, and it dives right into, like, our processes, right? And it’s turning auto, auto… the auto industry into more of a, what do you call it? Commoditized, right? Where, where it’s like you’re scrolling on, on Amazon looking for

Frank: Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: it’s, it’s teaching consumers to just call around for price, right? Instead of looking for service. And it’s like they have these big companies and you see them on… You see the, the Lubes and Goes and the, and the…

And we’re on, you know, the Take 5s on every corner, and you can just pull in and, and get it done. And we’re losing that empathy part of it, right? And, and I feel [00:11:00] like it’s not losing it, but we’re, we’re slowly slipping away. ‘Cause as we lose these older generations that have these shops where you walk in, the guy knew your name, he knew your family, he knew your kids, he watched your kids grow up through school.

Like, we’re not seeing that anymore, right? It’s being taken over, and being that the owner’s not at the front desk anymore, and I don’t… This isn’t a bad thing. I mean, you own a business, so you don’t have to be there, but without the owner at the front desk, you have managers, right? And then the managers get cy- get cycled, right?

They’re, they’re, they’re not attached to the business. So, you know, five years down the road, there could be a new manager, right? And, and then you lose that, uh, that intimacy of the family, right? You don’t have, like, 20 years of the… If you’re going back to the same guy over and over. And, and to get back to what I said, I th- I think that’s very exhausting and makes it tired ’cause there’s a lot that are trying to keep that, and man, if, if…

Uh, that’s tough. It’s tough to compete in that environment because you have big money, big hedge funds that are competing against in the auto industry, and it was just unheard of 10 years ago, right? The amount of money that, that could be made in the auto industry is absurd. And I had the blinders on, and I didn’t realize that either, [00:12:00] right?

Like, it’s a huge, huge opportunity, and I think after COVID, a lot of private equity saw that, and they said, “You know what, man? There’s like… This is…” What, what, what did they call it? It was

Frank: Mm-hmm

Jimmy Purdy: so it was an essential business. You always need to get your car fixed, right? There is no more walking. There is no more horse and carriage, right?

Like, it’s like you need a car, right? But it’s a, it’s still, it’s still

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: not a right. you still

Frank: No, I

Jimmy Purdy: your car. And then the cost of car skyrocketed, right? So it’s like if you buy a new

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: what is that? 50, 60 grand? Where you can just spend 10 grand to maintain your vehicle. What is that over the next seven years if you were compare that to, to a lease or, or buying a new vehicle, right?

It’s, it’s, it’s 100% cheaper to maintain your and repair your vehicle that you have that’s 10 years old than to buy a new one. And it’s like the… If you’re a businessman, there’s a golden

Frank: and And, don’t get me wrong, I, I, I always try to say that I’m from the South, so I’ve always been used to that loving approach to anything. No matter what industry you’re in, you know, I’ve dealt in customer service my whole life, so [00:13:00] speaking to that customer by first and last name, asking about their children, asking about their family.

When they walked in the door, I can already know exactly what’s going on with that family. When a husband brings that vehicle in and it’s his son’s vehicle, I already know that his son, how he drives, just by that family ship force. So I feel like we are definitely losing that these days with just being able to, you know, go into any type of industry, any type of building, and just feel like that person actually knows me.

It’s all about how many customers I can get in and how quickly I can get ’em out

Jimmy Purdy: Yep. Yeah, I mean, and I’m guilty of it, you know? Uh, uh, you get… There’s a threshold, right? There’s ceilings you gotta break through, and all… I mean, you hear about it, but unless you go through it, you don’t realize it, and this next ceiling, getting past 3 million, that’s definitely, like, the part of, okay, well, I can’t, I can’t look at every vehicle.

I can’t see every customer, right? I can know most of them and I can do my best, but again, it goes back to that, man, that’s, that’s just, like, exhausting. It’s a ti- it’s, it’s, it’s a [00:14:00] lot, man. And then you’re trying to have a conversation with everybody and keep that… But I have to, I have to keep doing that, right?

And you have to be involved in the process, and if you’re not, then it turns

Frank: Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: deal, and you have to have a good manager that understands it as well. And so there, there is something special about having a, an independent repair facility in, like, a local small community, right? It’s, it’s very, very special, and you only see these big chains going into the big metropolitan areas, right?

And that’s usually where it works, right? They can turn over their staff very quickly, they can turn over their customers very quickly, and they can turn over cars very quickly, and they put, put up these big numbers. A lot of that process still works, right? In the independent. But you, you, you gotta be careful with it.

Like, you have to, you have to take what these people are saying and then, like, use your own twist on it, and I think a lot of these coaching companies that are putting out there, right? Free diag and, uh, you know, getting cars in and out as quick as you can, right? Like, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: Just be careful with it, you know?

Like, you don’t have to do what, exactly what someone else is [00:15:00] doing, and it’s just like, you, you gotta be smart enough to, like, take the, take the little bit with a grain of salt and then, like, involve it into your own company. And if you don’t, then yeah, it’s

Austin: Absolutely.

Frank: write that, I’ma write that free diag thing down and I’ma come back to that. Go ahead, Austin

Austin: I’m just curious, do you think that we’re gonna see some consumer snap back to that? Like, people getting tired of being treated just like as another number and starting to look for more of that community focus? Or what, what do you think is gonna happen from the industry from that standpoint? I

Jimmy Purdy: Well, how would

Austin: guess that’s a good point

Jimmy Purdy: Right? I mean, you call a l- a local landscaper, call a plumber, you get an AI bot on the phone. The person that you talk to is not the person that shows up at your front door, or the person that you talk to to make the appointment, then you get a follow-up call from somebody else, and then somebody else entirely actually shows up to the front door, right?

Like, those levels of, like, uh, uh, disconnect is like, every level of

Austin: Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: is just breaking your trust down, and we all here sitting

Austin: Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: have felt that before, right? And you call the guy from, from Craigslist or something like that, and the guy that answers the phone is the dude that shows up at [00:16:00] your front door. Even if his truck’s bro- you know, beat down and he’s not well-dressed, y- there’s just… There’s more trust built in that fact that the guy showed up that is the guy that answered the phone, right? Versus, like, someone showed up polished in a clean truck and, and looking good. Y- g- they took the steps to kinda counterbalance, right?

Like the fact that, like, they’re know they’re gonna lose trust through those steps, but it’s still not the same. You’re like, “Okay, and, and if this guy doesn’t do the work, is the next guy that comes to, like, fix his mistakes gonna be the one that…” Like, like, it’s like, how many different people am I gonna see coming to my house, right? And, uh, it, you deal with it, and it’s like you, you try to, you try to help and, and you s- but you try to justify it in your own mind, but at the end of the day, you’re like, “I just, I wanna call the guy, like I know who’s gonna be showing up to my house next time.” And I know with car repair it’s a little different, but it’s, it’s the same thing

Frank: There, there’s a, there’s a finicky game that we played this day in 2026 on trust and professionalism. You know what I mean? I mean, I know a lot of people would literally just say, “Well, Jimmy, someone showing up with a nice polished truck, a [00:17:00] nice tidy uniform, at least I know that he take- he cares about his business.”

That, that’s, that’s the perception in a lot of people’s eyes in 2026. Having a nice flashy sign that’s probably AI-driven anyway, but again, showing up in a certain perspective. Now, when that guy starts turning wrenches, there we go. Again, I’m from a, I’m from a place in the South where the person who does the best job is not the person who looks the best.

So I hear you on that family touch, and maybe his shirt is a little messed up, but I guarantee you he got those scratches in his shirt for a reason, ’cause that guy’s hands are probably rough, too

Jimmy Purdy: Oh, for sure. I, I 100% on, um, that’s… I mean, why can’t you have both, right? Like, there’s no reason why you can’t have both, and that’s, that’s what we’re doing here, right? We wanna be polished, we wanna be professional, we wanna be dealership elite level cleanliness, friendliness, but also we still have the, the rough hands, right?

Like, th-

Austin: So

Jimmy Purdy: there’s… You can have both. It’s hard and it’s exhausting, it’s tiring, but you can make it happen, and that’s what the best thing is for. I mean, I’ll tell you on like, [00:18:00] we were just having this conversation yesterday. I was talking to somebody about, um, hiring people to do work, right? And, and to get them to show up, right?

We’re putting a fence um, at home. It’s a, it’s a weld… You know, the ones you put

Frank: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: in

Austin: Yeah

Jimmy Purdy: then you weld the top bar, and you stretch the fence and all that, and you put a gate in. called three different contractors and they’ve all bailed on me. They just don’t

Frank: No one wants the money

Jimmy Purdy: I’d, I’d, I have a pocket full of cash right now I’d really love to spend.

That’s what I said, too, is like, I, um, like, “I’m gonna have to do it myself.” Like, I know I can do it. I d- I did half of it, so I’m trying to find someone to help me finish it ’cause I’m, I’m busy and I don’t have like… And I’m, I have money and I just wanna give someone money to do this job, and I can’t get it.

It’s crazy. It’s like you can’t just… So the only thing, like the bar is set so low, especially in the auto industry, right? Like, when’s the last time you called to have your car repaired? Do they answer the phone? Do they schedule you two weeks out? It’s like all you have to do is answer the phone and say, “Please come in right now and I’ll take care of you.”

Like, these people are calling with $1,000 in [00:19:00] their back pocket, right? What’s your average ARO?

Frank: Hmm?

Jimmy Purdy: 900 bucks? 1,000 bucks? They’re calling, they’re literally saying, they call and I’m like, “Hey, thank you for calling Shift Your Gears. This is Jimmy. How can I help you?” “Hey, Jimmy. I have $1,000 in my pocket and, uh, I’d like to get my car repaired.” And then I’m gonna say, “Well, you know what? I’m so good at what I do, I’m two weeks out. So why don’t you…” Or, or here’s a better at. “Well, I’d love to get you in. It’s gonna be $350 and then I will spend my time looking at it. Otherwise, you can find somewhere else to go.” Like can you find any other way to say no?

Frank: So with, with that, I’m, I- I- I’m, I’m, I’ma take it right into something controversial that I’ve seen you talk about. I gotta hear it, man. I, I, I, I gotta hear

Jimmy Purdy: rolling. I

Frank: I, and I, and I wanna hear it. What’s, what’s, what’s, what’s your deal on the free diag and having shops come, uh, people come in? Matter of fact, I’ma ask you the same question I heard someone ask you before.

Customer comes in, says their brakes are squealing. Are you gonna check that thing out for free?[00:20:00]

Jimmy Purdy: Absolutely.

Frank: about it?

Jimmy Purdy: No doubt. Uh, I’m, I’m here to help the community. I’m here to help

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: your daughter, right? I’m here to help your son. I’m here to help your mom, y- your dad, right? coming through the area, and we’re in a kind of a hotspot here in California where the 101 and the 46 intertwine, so we get a lot of travelers, right?

Austin said you used to live up in this area. Like, it’s, it’s very, very common, LA to the Bay, right? From L- Los Angeles to San Francisco, San Francisco down to LA. It’s… We’re right on that intersection, so we do get a lot of travelers coming through that aren’t from the area. And they’re, they’re, they’re broke down, man.

Like, they’re… What are they, what are they gonna do, right? And I’m gonna put up an opposition of like, “Well, you know what? If you need me,” gonna beat on my chest, call myself, you know, like, the king, King Almighty. “You need me. I don’t need you, so you’re gonna pay me to come into my shop.” It’s like, “No. What, what?

I’m here to help, man. Get your car in here. Let me [00:21:00] take a look at it. I’ll get the wheel off. I’m gonna send you a video. I’m gonna send you pictures of what I… You’re gonna see what I see. You’ve never met me before. You don’t know who I am. I don’t know who you are. like, let’s start a relationship before I start throwing money at you. And guess what? When I’m done, yeah, my labor rate is $230 to $240 an hour. But that’s because I took the time to build a relationship and proved to you that I’m gonna do the work, and then I’m gonna stand behind it, and you’re gonna see the whole process before… And you know what? At the end of the day, if I do all that work and I look at the brakes and you decide, ‘Oh, man, that’s too much, I’m gonna do it myself,’ perfect. I’m happy for you. I’m glad I was able to get you off the road, get you somewhere safe. G- Do you wanna pick up the car today or tomorrow?” Like,

Frank: and and and to the and

Austin: Huge

Jimmy Purdy: That’s just,

Frank: so why is it in your, in your opinion, in your opinion, why is it that you ha- you have so many shops that are not willing to give that relationship building brick a chance? They will literally say, “I’m not gonna waste my time because I know that guy is never gonna do any work with me.”

Jimmy Purdy: [00:22:00] And I can tell you exactly why,

Frank: Talk to me

Jimmy Purdy: I did that for a long time, man. It was great. My goal was to build my ARO, right? ‘Cause I, I went through all the coaching and then went to, “Well, you need to get a high ARO,” right? “You need to charge for your time,” right? And I’m a technician by trade, right?

Like, that… So my time is like, like if I’m looking at it, man, these golden hands right here, you want me to touch it? You can, you can pay me

right? And so every car that came in, came in with a vehicle inspection cost. It was $99. That’s what we did for the first half hour. You come in, it’s $100. I’ll give you a half hour of my time and I’ll tell you what it needs And it worked.

It was fine. We, we made decent money, but it came to a point where hit about 1.2, 1.4, just couldn’t get past it. Started looking at, uh, started actually looking at business numbers. What’s my conversion rate? Oh, well, there’s a lot of people saying no. There’s a lot of people not showing up, and that’s the one that you don’t see. the customer come in, and yeah, if they’re willing to spend $100, they’re typically willing to spend the more money to move forward [00:23:00] with, with what’s going on, right? like that’s, that’s typically what happens. O-okay, that’s the qualifier. Like, we’re gonna have them spend money so that we know they’re gonna spend more money, and then everything looks good.

The conversion rate actually looks great ’cause it’s like, oh, if they’re, they, they’re in here, then they, they move forward with the repairs. Well, they don’t… I didn’t look back at the phone call, right? So when the phone call rings to the closed RO, what is that

Frank: Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: right? And once you start realizing, wow, we’re getting a lot of phone calls that aren’t converting into repair orders, what’s going on here?

And then you start listening to phone calls, and you’re like, “Oh, they’re

Austin: Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: on the phone.” And then I’m just… And then of course me being ignorant, like I’m just like, “Well, I just need to spend more on marketing. I need a better marketer. I need more leads. I need better leads. You guys are sending me shit leads.

That’s what’s going on, right? It’s not me, it’s the damn marketers that are sending me these leads that just don’t go anywhere, right?” And it’s in my head I’m like, “Well, no, ’cause I’m the tech, so you’re gonna pay to come in here. So I just need someone to find me better leads so that I can vert… you [00:24:00] know, convert the sales.”

‘Cause once it’s in the shop, we’re doing a

Frank: Mm-hmm

Jimmy Purdy: job of getting them, you know, through the, through… And so you miss that bottleneck, right? That first part of it. And as soon as you pull that lid off and you say, “Wait a second, why don’t you just come in here? We’ll take a look at it for you.” It just, it went from 1.4 to

Austin: Wow.

Jimmy Purdy: in like the first year.

Austin: Wow

Frank: Come on

Jimmy Purdy: like, like… so, so is free diag- Let me ask you, Frank, is free diag free? Is, is,

Frank: Oh, I know. I know it’s gonna be paid for somewhere. Oh, I know it’s gonna be paid for somewhere

Jimmy Purdy: and I, and I think it’s the, the, the… I think it’s the technicians that get really twisted about that, right? ‘Cause I did too. I understand it. And they think that they’re gonna spend three hours looking at this car trying to figure out this complicated LIN bus or CAN bus or, or intermittent electrical fault or like whatever, and then the owner is just gonna give their time away, and it’s like you’re devaluing our industry.

And it’s like, okay, let’s just call it a, a free assessment then, okay? Can we… Let’s just, we’ll just change the wording. Does that make you [00:25:00] feel better? I don’t spend more than 10 minutes on these vehicles. This is, this is like I have a timer, a stopwatch. It’s like between 8 and 12 minutes when a vehicle comes in.

It goes on the speed lift. We’re gonna have it out, in and out of that speed rack within 12 minutes. everything in, we’re gonna… and I’m gonna know what’s going on. Now, got to clarify, if it comes in And it has a leaky water pump, has bad brakes. think Frank, I think Austin, I think just about anybody listening right now is automotively…

‘Cause if you’re listening to this podcast, th- then you understand a little bit about vehicles. You know the brakes are bad. You know the water pump’s leaking. You know the radiator has a hole in it. Like, that’s simple stuff. Now, if it comes in with a check engine light, and it has a mass airflow sensor code, and the mass airflow

Frank: that’s gonna take

Jimmy Purdy: that needs to go

Frank: that’s gonna take some work

Jimmy Purdy: technician, and that needs to be…

Now, that’s gonna take some work.

And what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna s- I’m gonna make a video, and I’m gonna explain that just like I did to you, to the customer. “Hey, so this is the code. This is the sensor that pertains to that code, and everything is in great shape. [00:26:00] So what we’re gonna do is have an ASE master certified technician spend an hour and a half to two hours, and we’re gonna charge you $350 for that time, and we’re gonna tell you exactly what it needs to fix. Now, to re- replace that sensor, it’s about $700. So it’s half the price to tell you exactly what is going on, or we can just throw the part at it and see what happens,” right? Most people are gonna be like, “No, I’d rather, like, I’d rather know exactly what’s going on.” Exactly, ’cause you have… You’re smart. You’re intelligent, like, like we are.

Austin: Absolutely. No, I was gonna say that, that makes a lot of sense and, you know, I’ve, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about the other way, uh, but I, I like the way that you explained that, just building the trust with the customer up front and really the opportunity to, to get their business going forward, and I think that’s a great way…

Like we’re talking about building trust in an industry where everything’s becoming transactional. That’s such a, an amazing way to, to kinda get that interaction started off the right way. I like that a lot

Jimmy Purdy: Most people I think wanna be sold,

Frank: Hmm. All right

Jimmy Purdy: And you guys, I mean, te- I mean, you’re, you’re in sales. And, and that’s not a negative thing, right? Like, there’s, they’re… [00:27:00] All, all you’re doing is building a relationship, right? That’s, that’s what it is. for that relationship, you gotta pay for it, right? And that’s, that’s, that’s a- that’s all I’m doing.

Like, yes, I’m gonna spend your time… Like, Frank, you’re not gonna walk up to somebody and be like, “Man, I think Shop Boss is gonna change your life. I can tell You all about it, it’s gonna be $49.99 for me to tell you about it.” That’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard

Frank: You made a great point.

Jimmy Purdy: right?

Frank: Great.

Jimmy Purdy: that’s, that’s what most shops do. Like, “I’m gonna tell you all about how Shop Boss is gonna change your life, but it, it’s $99, and then, and then, and then I’ll spend an hour of your time to explain to you why this is gonna be the best thing for you.” that actually might work. Like, you might actually have a small part of the

Frank: This guy’s, I was about to say someone’s gonna say.

Jimmy Purdy: I think Frank, I think Frank could pull it off.

Frank: I’m, I’ma try it on somebody. E- I’ma try that SEMA. I’ma try that SEMA, uh, this year

Jimmy Purdy: Well, we’ll look, we’ll look at, like f- we’ll look at, like,

Frank: Yeah

Jimmy Purdy: and look at, like, um, Alex Hormozi. Like, you pay money and spend your time to go [00:28:00] listen to these guys on stage.

So it, it does work, right? But you’re n- like, I’m not that good. Like, I’m… Like… And some… And these inflated egos of these shop owners think, like, they’re, they’re God Almighty, right? Like they’re, like… You’re not Alex Hormozi. You’re, you’re not Grant Cardone. Sorry, man. People aren’t gonna pay to hear

Frank: I hear you, brother. And I definitely don’t think…

Jimmy Purdy: That’s why I speak for free

Frank: So, you know, that kinda, that kinda segues me, way me into my next question. So, you know, what kinda separates your shop or any shop that is going to scale from the ones that don’t?

Jimmy Purdy: I think mindset is everything, and I think that’s the biggest one for me is, like, is that something I, I’m trying to get to, right? What’s, what is my goal? Am I trying to scale? I think I’m trying to buy back

Frank: Right

Jimmy Purdy: more than anything, is the most important thing. And then once that happens, it’s like, okay, do I have the systems and processes in place to actually scale, right? So it’s, it’s definitely owner mindset I think is, like, is that where you want to go? Is that [00:29:00] what you want to do? But to kinda get on your, on your question about, like, the processes and the procedures to make that happen, it really comes down to is the staff bought into what you’re doing, right? And they have to be bought into the mission statement of, like, we’re

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: to help the customer.

Like, that’s, that’s the goal, right? that, we need to get paid. And, and I think that’s the big, uh, black sheep like, wait, we gotta charge for this? Right? And, like, technicians, the same thing, right? Like, they want more time for the diags. They want more time for the repairs, right? The… If they’re on flat rate, they’re constantly like, “This isn’t enough time,” and, “Book time’s not right,” and like, the customer pays for everything, right? So you can have 80% of, of something or you can have 0% of

Frank: Yeah

Jimmy Purdy: You know what I’m saying? Like, so, I hate… Be happy with what you get, right? Like, if this is what you wanna do, then, like, learn how to do it better. Like, if you can’t get a job done under book time, [00:30:00] maybe train. Maybe learn how to do it better. Yes, there is the possibility that the owner is underselling work. Absolutely. I’m not saying there’s not.

Frank: Absolutely

Jimmy Purdy: right? But, like, with the amount of technology we have, the AI, like, I, I guarantee, like, 90% of the shops are, are quoting jobs at where the book time should be, right? And there’s probably prob- people screaming right now, “Oh, my boss is id- ” Well, go find a new f-job, man. Go find another shop. Like, th- there’s a

Austin: Nope

Jimmy Purdy: shortage, right? So there’s plenty of good shops that are looking for you if you’re, are, are an actual qualified technician that can, that can, that, that’s an animal, right? That, that… Dude, if you can get out there and you can crank, you show up on time, you don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t gamble, like, you work and you train and you can do…

Dude, I’m telling you, get the hell out of the shop you’re at if you’re not happy, man. There’s, like, so many

Austin: Yeah

Jimmy Purdy: ready to take you on

Austin: Absolutely.

Frank: So I’ve learned enough that I’ve seen our great Lisa Coyle has a business out right now about the whole tech shortage, providing shops with, with real qualified techs. Do you really feel that there is a tech [00:31:00] shortage, or is it just a shortage of people who wanna work?

Jimmy Purdy: Oh, that’s a good question

Frank: Oh, my bad. Hold on a second.

Jimmy Purdy: when you divide it like that,

Frank: Pause AI thing on here so y’all can’t

Jimmy Purdy: So that gives me

Austin: There you go

Jimmy Purdy: one,

Frank: Okay. It’s okay ’cause we’ll cut it out. I love y’all. They’re so used to my background being up, so they know they can be behind me. All right, let’s go back into it. Boom. Play. Yeah, go ahead

Jimmy Purdy: Time in. The great technician

Frank: on

Jimmy Purdy: 2026 I don’t think so. I think there’s a shortage of Ah, how do I put that? There’s definitely Uh, definitely it’s a shortage of, of, of available

Frank: Okay.

Jimmy Purdy: let’s put it that way

Frank: Unpack that

Jimmy Purdy: So they’re stuck where they’re at, [00:32:00] they’re not happy, and they’re not gonna do

Frank: Hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: it, right? The high achievers, the A players, they’re gonna make it work, right? They’re gonna show up, they’re gonna do what they need to do, and I, I don’t… I’m gonna put myself in that category because it’s the best way I can explain it, ’cause it’s where I… It’s, it’s how I went through where I am today. If I was working somewhere and I wasn’t happy, and I worked for other shops before I bought this one, just go do my own thing. Like, I went on the side, I did side work, right?

I kept myself busy, I showed up, I dealt with what I needed to deal with, and I got my paycheck, and I went and did my other thing, right? And part of that was looking outside of the industry at one point, where I was doing other, other side quests, if you wanna call it, right? like, outside of the industry. And, and that’s what’s happening, right? Like, there’s a lot of A players that are just, like, keeping their head down, they’re doing their thing, and they’re not gonna put their… I never once had a resume on Indeed or on Craigslist or on Facebook. I never looked [00:33:00] for work, But I’ve never not worked a day in my life.

I, I graduated high school through independent studies because I was never at school because I was working. I was doing, I was doing drywall at the time. So, so I was in the construction industry, and I was working, so I had to… I actually graduated through an independent study so I could continue working.

So by the time I w- I was out of, of senior year, I had a full-time job and I wasn’t really at school very much. So, and from that point till now, I’ve never not worked a day in my life, unless I chose not to. And I, and I feel like that’s where a lot of the top technicians and the top of the A players, whether you’re in the auto industry or any other industry, that’s where they’re at.

You have to go find them, right? They’re not, they’re not sitting there on Indeed twiddling their thumbs waiting for the next prime opportunity, right? They’re not on LinkedIn like, “Oh man, I sure hope someone picks my resume.” Like, that’s crazy. It, it’s not like an outward thought that they have. Like, “I’m too good to do that.”

It’s just they’re busy. They’re doing their thing, man. So you gotta go find them. Um, and I think maybe [00:34:00] 15 years ago, 20 years ago, there was more of an influx of those guys sitting there waiting for the next job because all the shops were full, right? There just wasn’t… Vehicles weren’t breaking as much as they’re breaking now.

Everybody’s more… There’s just a huge, huge opportunity in the automotive industry because the maintenance is more now, cars are breaking more now, they’re way more complicated. Uh, we have a huge or, uh, exodus of people leaving the industry because they’re aging out of it or they’re like, “This is way more complicated than I thought it was gonna be,” right? So the good ones are like, they’re just doing their thing, man. And maybe they go mobile and th- it’s like, recruiting’s been the biggest challenge, I’ve ever dealt with. And I’m, I’m actively dealing with it, right? I mean, every single day I’m recruiting and I’m trying to find new ways

Austin: Mm-hmm. Yep

Jimmy Purdy: it.

Frank: Mm-hmm. I gotta ask, I mean, and, and you can get even kinda personal on, on this w- in, in, in this particular moment. So I mean, I know you, Jimmy. I know you’re a good person. I know you, you know, you, you take [00:35:00] care, take care of your people. Why is it so hard for you to get some people in the, in the door?

Jimmy Purdy: Man, I wish I had knew the answer to that question. I was just, I was up about 3:00 AM this morning thinking about that same

Frank: I mean, I mean, dude, I- dude, like I said, again, I’ve worked, I’ve worked with you myself long enough to know, again, if I meet you and I’m really trying to, you know, be that person, whether I’m coming out of school or whether I’m, I’m an 18 player who’ve been doing this for 15, 20 years, I definitely know I can come into your shop and at least have s- have a boss that’s gonna take care of me and, and understand my family as well.

So it’s gotta be something that’s, that these kids aren’t walking in the door, or these older people aren’t walking in the door

Jimmy Purdy: I don’t… I mean, I, I have high standards, I have high expectations. Uh, I’m a little hot-blooded by nature, right? I, I take things pretty seriously, right? Like I, I don’t like to mess around. I don’t like seeing misdiagnoses. I don’t like… I mean, if we set an expectation and set a standard, like I… I’m gonna give you these things for it, [00:36:00] I ex- the expectation on the other side is like, “This is what you have to do for me,” right? I mean, in our dealings, you’ve… with Leanne and myself, like you understand like we’re very, very

Frank: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: what we want, and we

Frank: Absolutely

Jimmy Purdy: on the other side, right? Uh, I’m working on my leader- I’m wor- working on my leadership aspect of like being able to not take it to 90 or 95% when something small happens.

Like I gotta dissect a little bit and maybe break, “Okay, that was m- it was a big deal,” but like that’s like slowly ramp this up and like understand that maybe, maybe they were trying to do their best and it’s not for the… You know? So I’m working on that aspect. But also, it’s kind of like, um Like buy- when you got a buyer and seller thing, right? Like it’s, it’s, it’s a buyer’s market or it’s a seller’s market. It’s definitely a technician’s

Frank: Right

Jimmy Purdy: right? So it doesn’t take… And, and, and, and I just went through this. This is like a personal experience. Like last week, I just had a technician walk out. Great tech, billed 150 hours a month, [00:37:00] young kid, 26. I mean, just potential through the roof. He’s going through a divorce. going through some rough things in his life, and I’ve been giving him a little bit of grace, kind of letting him get through things. He’s getting frustrated. He’s kind of ha- having a couple outbursts with the manager, having an outburst with me. “Okay, I get it. You’re going through…” And, and you kind of have the kid gloves on. You’re trying to, you know… And then it gets to a point where you start seeing all these different bricks that he’s starting to put up, right? “I don’t wanna do tires anymore.” “Okay, I can, I can help you with that.” he starts selecting and choosing and picking and choosing what he wants and doesn’t want to do. And it’s like, I’m okay. I’m, I’m okay with that. Like I’m, I’m good. I’m good. I’m gonna let that go. I’m gonna let that go. I’m gonna let… And then it comes to a point in time, it’s like, this is my, this is my freaking business, right? do work for me, right? So this is what I need from you, right? And you’re not going to talk to our manager like that when we need an update for a customer, right?

It was, it was late, it was late, uh, it was late in one day and, and there was… [00:38:00] He just got a little frustrated with a job, and it happened. But I’m also frustrated too, right? Like I’m a human being, and I also have six other people here that I’m trying to manage as well, and I, I… And, and, and then you start thinking about all the things that you let slide, and you let it build up, and then yeah, sure, I, I kind of…

I could have handled it differently, but at the same time, it’s like these are the standards. These are the expectations, right? And it came to the point where it was like, if he’s gonna leave,

Frank: Understand.

Jimmy Purdy: happen

Frank: brother. And I respect that

Jimmy Purdy: It’s, it, it, it’s a, it’s

Austin: Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: to the business, right? And, and, and you lose sleep over it, and it sucks ’cause yes, the business suffers, but also, like, the relationship suffers, right?

He’s here

Frank: Absolutely

Jimmy Purdy: But, but all it takes is that one, that one conversation, and then he goes and finds another spot that’s willing to pay him $2 more an hour, and he’s out. And that’s all it takes. It’s like, and the, and you just don’t, and employers, “Oh, yeah, you could just… You’re just another number to an employer.

Like, you can just, you know, he can just fire you and find another one.” It’s like, “No, dude.” That’s like, you’re so freaking lost,

Austin: Absolutely

Frank: it

Jimmy Purdy: it is so 180 degrees beyond that. [00:39:00] I can’t just leave here and go find another job. Like, it doesn’t

Frank: Bang

Jimmy Purdy: that for me, right? And then I build the infrastructure to, like, take care of all these families, and then one leaves, and that, that lowers the entire sh- the whole, the whole bay

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: right?

So all the ships now have to lower down because the water level’s gone down. And so now I have to try to build that back up. It’s… hate that. Like, “Oh, the boss is just gonna fire you and replace you.” Like, man, you’re

Austin: absolutely. I think a lot of what I’ve seen more often is a lot of business owners are just, are nervous. They’re worried about making that step even with an employee that’s either underperforming or causing problems for the business, not wanting to get rid of them because they’re concerned about what that loss is gonna look like. can be a scary thing to move forward on

Jimmy Purdy: Oh, man. Oh

Austin: Absolutely

Jimmy Purdy: Yeah, I mean, hindsight 20/20. I mean, I should’ve, I should’ve terminated him earlier, right? I shouldn’t have let that stuff go. But, you know, it’s tough, man. It’s… I mean, and we have empathy, right? But I gotta learn how to have

Austin: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: sympathy, and that’s, [00:40:00] that’s, like, a, such a big difference, and I think a lot of owners have the sympathy, and so they sympathize with them instead of

Frank: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Jimmy Purdy: but realizing that you have to do

Frank: Absolutely

Austin: Absolutely

Frank: So what you got?

Jimmy Purdy: Doesn’t make it any easier

Frank: So Austin, you got anything pressing that you’re feeling right this moment, my good brother? ‘Cause I got a couple other things. One or, one or two other things

Austin: pretty close to the end of my stuff

Frank: Okay. Okay, well great. Well then we’ll, we’ll wrap it up with two… I got two more questions, and then we’ll wrap it up. So

So, all right, play. So with, with basically how you just said that, Jimmy, I want you to give me a hindsight 2020 question. You ready for this? What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made? Hindsight 2020, you can look back and you see today as of right, as of right this [00:41:00] moment as an owner, as an owner. Let me, let me, let me reshape it.

As an owner, if you, if you, if you could go back that 10 years or that 20 years and say, “Hey, young Jimmy, the biggest mistake I made was this.” So going into what you’re about to go into, be prepared for this. Go

Jimmy Purdy: tough, man, ’cause I don’t, I don’t know if I would know what I know now without making the mistakes

Frank: That might be the answer to let yourself make, m- make, let yourself make the mistake

Jimmy Purdy: It, gotta freaking hurt, man. I mean, I, it ha- every mistake

I’ve made, it has just rattled me to my core, but I bounce back, like, more motivated than before. I freaking love it, man. Like, I have… And so in the advent of this technician leaving, and my service manager’s also leaving. His, today’s his, his last day. so it’s gutting the shop out pretty good, right? and it rattles you, but love the building process, and I love knowing that I’ve, [00:42:00] that I’ve… messed up. I’ll keep it, uh, I’ll keep it

Frank: All puns intended, brother. All puns intended

Jimmy Purdy: No, I mean, like, like, it’s, it’s, it’s just, it’s just so freaking, like, all right, here we go again, right? And it’s like the building of it and, like, getting knocked down like that, and then having to get back up and fight. Like, I, I get way too, uh, antsy when things start going kind of smooth, and that’s probably my biggest fault, right?

I’m just, like, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m like, “Okay, everything’s going too smooth,” and so then I just gotta get in there and, like, and screw something up so I have to fix it, right? Like, it’s just my brain is, like, wired that way. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t suck, right?

Like, you sit there and think about it and you replay, like, “How could I have dealt with it differently?” And… But I wouldn’t even be thinking like that unless that problem didn’t happen and I didn’t make that mistake to begin with, right? I wouldn’t even have that epiphany. I wouldn’t even let my ego get defeated.

If I just did everything right, man, my ego would be this freaking big. I’m like, “Oh, everybody listen to me. I’m King Dick, man. I know

Frank: I’m gonna say

Jimmy Purdy: [00:43:00] But you have to grow, and as you’re growing, you make mistakes ’cause you don’t know what the freak you’re doing, and then you have to figure it out, and then you make a mistake and you’re like, “Okay.” But if, if there was a mistake, um, it would probably be not investing more into, like… And this is gonna be, like, super and, like, not interesting, but, like, getting good insurance. You know, talking to an attorney. making sure y- your S corp, making sure you got a good CPA and a good tax person. I mean, that’s like… Those are probably the big mistakes that I would, I would love, ’cause that just cost me money, and I knew better, but I just assumed, like, anybody that you hire is going to be good, right? You, like, you hire a tax person and you’re like, “Oh, well, they’re a certified CPA, so they’re just as good as any other CPA,” right?

And you’re like, “Oh, I got an attorney, and an attorney passed the bar, so he’s good as any other attorney.” And you just kind of like… It’s like automotive repair. Like, “I’m gonna go to this auto shop and he’s gonna do this repair just the same as this other guy doing auto repair.” And it’s like you don’t have that epi- I had the epiphany of like, wow, there’s actually people that are [00:44:00] better at their trade than other people, right?

Instead of just assuming, like, “Oh, this person’s gonna do the same job as this person. So s- I’ll just haggle between them two and, and get the cheapest price, and then I get the same service for less.” It’s like all wired in

Frank: Mm-hmm.

Jimmy Purdy: that way, right? And I’m guilty of it. So I think that’s, that’s the mistake that I, I made early on that cost me a lot of money that, uh,

Frank: Man, Jimmy, I appreciate the, the, the first part of that answer ’cause, I mean, one of my mentors when, when that question was asked literally said, “How are diamonds created? They’re not created in the perfect environment. They’re created under pressure. So there’s no way that you could ever be that diamond if you never go through any pressure.”

So he literally said, “I wouldn’t tell myself anything about my mistakes. I wanna live through every single one of them because those trials and tribulations are what actually made me today. If I didn’t make the mistakes, I might not be as great as I am right now. So I think I wouldn’t tell myself nothing.

I’d watch myself walk right by.” And it took me off my feet. I’m like, I’d tell m- I, I’m a big [00:45:00] Back to the Future fan, so I’m telling myself everything I can find in that almanac, you know what I mean, if I ever saw myself. But neither here nor there, the way he said it, it meant so much to me. So man, I appreciate that answer, brother.

Austin, we gonna wrap this up. What do you got

Austin: Absolutely. No, I, I, I think that’s just about all I got there as far as questions of yours.

Frank: Boom. So I’ll say, hey man, thank you all today. Jimmy, I appreciate so much. I appreciate you so much, man, for giving me your time, from stepping away from your business, stepping away from your shop, and just giving me your heart, giving me your time, giving me your energy. Man, I appreciate you, brother

Jimmy Purdy: Yeah, man. It was a really good time. I,

Frank: And I have now and will accept any invitation ’cause you’ve given me

Jimmy Purdy: talking to you always

Frank: thousand invitations to come see you. I’m coming, brother. I’m coming, brother. All right, man. So thank you, my good brother. That is gonna wrap us up for today here at Shop Boss Radio. We’re gonna see you guys on the next one

Jimmy Purdy: Let’s do it