Management and Strategy

Management is mostly the responsibility of one person while broader governance decisions are shared by the two directors. Significant use is made of cloud based software for all daily transactions, ledgers, stock and data management. The business ran Spanner Planner workshop software which was recommended but found after 12 months it did not have the scope to deal with the type of business we are operating. We now have Mechanic Desk which is far more comprehensive and we also use Xero which is good for reconciling our bank accounts etc and is where our profit and loss statements, GST returns etc are all generated from. As mentioned before we were able to secure some great supplier agreements and also belong to a purchasing co-operative. This allows greater purchasing power. Along with this are various online subscriptions to access specific industry data for vehicle services and repair. Day to day operations are slick, aided by cloud based applications. There is no need for a workplace server and users can login from anywhere. This is very helpful when working from home or out of town. Vehicle / plant data can be entered directly from field jobs where data coverage allows and invoices generated on the spot. An invoice can be received by a client before the service vehicle is even back at the shop. 

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MISSION STATEMENT:
Our mission is to become the first choice in Marlborough for post warranty service and repair of cars and light commercial vehicles.

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STRATEGIC GOALS:
​-To provide employment for three full time staff inside the first year and grow our staffing as required.
There must always be a full time qualified technician on the staff. Other staff are offered the opportunity to contribute and develop their skills.
2017/2018 Four FTE will be required to staff extra capacity.

-To provide significant service to the community.
Cash for schools programme. Cash for clubs an option.
2017/2018 to provide sponsorship for two sports teams (budget $2000)
Offer 20x free service vouchers to community groups involved in fundraising (budget $2500)

-To return on investment to stakeholders and maintain financial stability.
First year loss due to significant cost of establishing business. We also now know how hard it is to build a client base from scratch.
Second year profit after tax/depreciation etc of $25k (represents a $70k shift from year 1)
Budget $60k for 2018 and well on track.
Increase revenue by careful capital investment. 2017/2018 we will add an extra service bay to cope with increased workload as well as install a vehicle hoist in bay 1 to better reflect the kind of work we are now undertaking.

-Achieve strong brand recognition in the community.
All cars serviced carry our service sticker and rear window sticker.
Growing presence on Main St
Re-sign written vehicle to provide good mobile advertising that stands out.
Continue targeted advertising on NZME stations.
Sponsorship of two teams (as above)
Push FaceBook notifications.
Establish an Instagram Community
Promote our online presence and visibility by SEO and regular updates to site.
Contribution to MCOC eg attend BA5’s and enter Business Awards.
Direct marketing to MCOC members and other local business.

-To become the flagship branch for the Instant Auto brand.
Work to develop franchise systems that will:
* allow the business to run efficiently and profitably from a governance level.  
*and add real value to the business as we look to franchise our operations in the near future.
Continue consultation with Brain Keen of Queensland Australia.
We believe that even if franchising does not eventuate that robust systems will allow stronger growth and better customer experience.

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND PROCESS:
Having such a small staff the business structure is quite basic and easy to manage. As systems and processes develop more time will become available for Colin to work on the broader goals of the business.
The core processes for daily operation are developed from the AOCA procedures and modified in house. A ‘Blue Book’ contains much of the IP required to run the business and need to be kept up to date as systems develop and evolve. It is anticipated that soon the business will be able to be picked up and run effectively by anyone with basic business and HR skills; the key to any franchisable operation.
Learning the Mechanic Desk software has been essential in our quest for paperless operation.It covers all operations from booking right through to invoicing a job. It allows customers to book their own job online from our website, carries all jobs and client information in its database and holds its own ledger. All customer statements and invoices are generated from Mechanic Desk.

COMPANY VISION:
​Instant Auto will become a good citizen of the community it serves. We will be recognised as:
-Environmentally responsible
-Fiscally profitable
-A great place to work and develop personally / professionally.

PLANNING:
A strategic and annual plan are completed and reviewed each year. Here our goals and objectives are set out and scrutinised. This has been a mandatory requirement for Colin in his past 20 odd years of working life and so it makes sense to continue this in our own business. About three times a year the two directors head away for an overnight retreat to discuss the business plans and directions.
We have also worked with Brian Keen a consultant from Australia. Having met him twice in Melbourne Colin went to a weekend workshop in Queensland. This was intense but provided six in depth sessions each with a business lawyer, marketing consultant, accountant, business development consultant and a couple of sessions with Brian himself regarding systems and franchising. We worked with five other small businesses all on the same journey which was a big part of the learning and impacts directly on our business planning.

LEADERSHIP:
Leadership rests firmly on Colin as the main driving force in the business. Colin has had 15 years experience in managing teams, human resources, reporting to trustees and the myriad of other tasks undertaken by primary school principals. This holds him in good stead as far as decision making and consulting is concerned. Although most decisions are initiated by Colin consultation happens with Joanne and the company accountant Megan Cameron.

STAFF TRAINING and MOTIVATION OF SELF.
Resources are a bit limited as the cost of external staff training can be prohibitive in the early stages of business. So far significant use has been made of Brian Keen (as above) and utilising the strengths of the internet and our Autodata technical subscription.
Colin has also travelled to Orlando Florida as a delegate at the Automotive Oil Changes Association (AOCA) conference. From here he made some good contacts and got to visit a number of Super Lube operations around the Florida State. This provided the platform for current system development which is shared across the staff. AOCA provided a number of templates for operation which have been modified for our market and scale of operation. Staffing has changed for us. On day one a full time mechanic and Colin were the only people on site. We now employ a full time qualified mechanic Chloē Fry and mechanic Matt Walding. We also have two car groomers who combined, work up to 20 hours per week mostly on our Marlborough District Council contract.

QUALITY AND RISK ASSESSMENT…
Often a small business is so busy going about its business that risks are overlooked. Of significance to our business is the number of outstanding debtors. Some considerable effort is required to chase this which takes away from our core business. In recent months a much firmer line has been taken with customers and we are currently consulting with an external agent to recover some of the money outstanding. The single biggest risk to small business is cashflow. We are fortunate that we are a mostly cash and carry business with some established commercial customers. Our commercial clients include Simcox Construction, Moutere Logging, Marlborough District Council, Crafar Crouch Construction, Liquid Action, Hamilton Engineering, Heb Construction, Mint Air and Findlater Construction amongst many more. Managing high profile clients means exceeding their expectations and making sure invoicing, order numbers etc are managed in a timely manner.
Making sure creditor invoices are added to our software daily with weekly catch ups when required is a significant part of knowing where our money goes and making sure we have the money to meet our obligations each month.

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