I have long admired the people who sell Mary Kay, and whenever I see a pale pink Cadillac, I know whoever drives it hustled hard for it. To succeed in multi-level marketing, you have an unwavering tenacity and passion for and belief in the business you represent and the product you sell. And in the case of Mary Kay, that’s a singular product line. Mary Kay reps don’t sell Bobbi Brown. They don’t sell Bare Minerals. They sell one cosmetic brand to their customers—wash, rinse, and repeat—for the life of their relationship with the company. So, yes, that Mary Kay Pink Pearl Cadillac is earned. This isn’t an endorsement for MLM practices or strategies, just an observation that when you know your clientele, you can find the riches in the niches.
In this issue, we look inside the businesses of niche shops. For Nichole Bennecoff of Empower Automotive, and Ronnie, Yamilm, and Andrea Rocha or Rocha’s Auto, succeeding in the auto care industry while servicing individual makes or select vehicle types is a testimony of the hard work and dedication it takes to say ‘no’ to other work. In “Primed to Specialize," Bennecoff, who specializes in Subarus talks about how her shop chose the automaker as its focus and how today, while it remains the lion’s share of her clientele, she’s started to repair other Japanese makes since the shop now has command of the market.
On the note of market share and competition, Dutch Silverstein asks a pointed question to shop owners that older millennials can appreciate: “Do you have FOMO?” (fear of missing out, if you’re not hip to the lingo).
Silverstein discusses in his column, “Motivation: What Gets Your Motor Running?”, a growing trend in the auto care industry of auto repair shop owners not operating from their business plan, but instead operating out of fear. They don’t want to miss out by not doing what shop owners around them are doing. He warns that this strategy can lead to fear-based leadership and poor decision-making.
Niching in and going against the grain aren’t easy ways to run a business, but as you’ll learn in this issue, those willing have been met with success. You can be, too. Stay the course.
