Best Buy Auto Equipment shared the results of a study of 1,557 lift-related calls, revealing that a surprising number of small-shop owners are going through the equipment-buying process with an incomplete understanding of what their shops need. These misdirections can range from trivial to catastrophic, though home garage owners are at a greater safety risk as a result of misdirected equipment purchases. The mistakes small shop owners typically make, on the other hand, pose a different kind of threat. Here are the key takeaways for shop owners from the report.

1. Nearly a third of small shops start their search in the wrong place.

It's easy to mistake familiarity with knowledge. Most of the time, starting with what you know best is a good first step. However, 32.8% of independent shop owners start the purchasing process on equipment that doesn't actually meet their shop's needs. That's nearly the same percentage of home garage-buyers that make that mistake (35.9%), meaning a good amount of professionals are running into the same hurdles as amateurs when it comes to buying the right equipment.

2. Small shops are more likely than home garages to try to purchase the wrong capacity lift.

According to the report, 17.1% of small shops start the process intending to buy a lift that's the wrong capacity, typically one that underperforms compared to the needs of the shop.

The most common errors involved selecting the wrong lift type: 29.8% of shops intended to buy a 2-post instead of a needed 4-post or a scissor lift instead of a mid-rise lift. The other categories of errors are as follows:

• 16.6% of errors involved shop constraints, like ceiling height or concrete slab thickness. 
• 14.9% of errors involved scam listings or mislabeled brands.
• 10.5% of errors involved missing accessories, such as rolling jacks or adapters.

3. The solution to capacity concerns is simple.

The recommendation is for shops to consider purchasing a lift that's one step up in terms of their capacity needs to account for business growth and changing vehicle sizes. There's a far greater chance of a shop running into an opportunity with heavier vehicles, even if it's just a one-off for a favored customer or fleet owner, than for it to exclusively serve one specific weight class of vehicle.

4. These mistakes pose a massive operational risk to businesses.

While home garage owners are typically more misdirected than shop owners (24.1% of home garage misdirections were rated as catastrophic compared to 13.8% of shop misdirections), they carry nowhere near the amount of investment required of shop owners. Replacing a lift in a home garage is an inconvenience to one person; returning and replacing a lift in a shop requires freight scheduling, bay downtime, professional installation, and it costs the shop productivity every step of the way.