Demarest: Why Every Auto Repair Shop Needs Its Own Roadmap

We live in a world where many people view their life and happiness in relative terms, so why is it surprising that many business owners do the same? The hard part is that sometimes this mindset can lead your business and personal life exactly where you want to go, and other times, to the exact opposite. Learning how to compare yourself to others while still focusing on your own goals is a crucial skill for any business owner.

Let me tell you a story.

There are two friends who have grown up together. Both have great jobs and healthy families, but they’re still looking for that next big step. One friend finally lands the promotion he’s been working toward and rewards himself with the Porsche they both dreamed about owning since they were kids. Naturally, he shares his success and the strategies that helped him get ahead.

His friend follows the same path, using those same strategies to get promoted, and eventually buys the exact same Porsche 911. But just a week later, he’s miserable and trades it in.

Why? Because he followed someone else’s script and expected it to deliver the same result. But he didn’t write that script, so why is he surprised it didn’t turn out how he imagined?

Here’s the part that gets left out: one of those friends lived in an apartment with a parking garage, while the other lived at the end of a mile-long dirt road. The vision of success was the same, but the outcome should’ve looked different.

So, should you compare your European auto repair shop in Sacramento to a diesel shop in St. Louis? If you understood the story, you probably know the answer is: in some ways, yes—and in many ways, absolutely not.

One of my favorite sayings is: Good, fast, and cheap—you can pick two. That same logic applies to benchmarking and comparing your business to others. Your goals will change how—and who—you compare yourself to.

Want something good and cheap? It won’t be fast. Want a laid-back shop with minimal owner involvement? It likely won’t be the most profitable. Want a highly profitable business with a great culture? You can absolutely build it, but you’ll have to work for it, just like my clients do.

We just wrapped up our most recent Benchmark Report, using real financial data from our clients and benchmarking it across hundreds of different ways.

I was surprised at first that most of this data doesn’t directly tie to profitability. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. This industry is simple at its core: if you keep your team efficient and sell as many hours as possible, you’ll be among the most profitable shops. But that doesn’t necessarily make yours the best business.

Raising your labor rates won’t be enough. Improving ARO likely won’t get you there either. And creating a business based on someone else’s success story can be a recipe for disappointment.

Let’s say you want to be like one of my top-performing clients and shoot for that 30% profit margin. You’re inspired by how efficient they are, and you want to keep 30% of your sales as profit. So, you copy their exact formula.

And it works—you just cleared $50,000 in profit on a $150,000 month. But you’re miserable.

Why? Isn’t this your dream?

What you didn’t realize is that 30% profit margin came at a price: no vacation in five years, missed seasons of your kids’ sports, and declining sleep and health. That shop owner is living his dream, but it’s probably not yours.

The double-edged sword of entrepreneurship is this: whether your business succeeds or fails, it’s on you. I work with plenty of people who are living their dream every day, and others who’ve created their own nightmares. But even nightmares usually start out as dreams.

Benchmarking won’t guarantee that you’re living the dream, but if you’re going to wake up from a nightmare, it’s better to do it rich than broke.

For a copy of the Paar Melis 2025 Benchmark Report, click here.