INSPIRATION AND MENTORS

My Inspiration

Opening my own service and repair facility in 1995, I had a lot to offer as a mechanic serving my community. I was young, ambitious, full of energy and most of all, determined.

I arranged a meeting with my bank and inquired about a small business loan. They asked if I had a business plan and I replied with, "what is a business plan?" To make a long story short, the idea of a small business loan from a bank was out of the question.

Looking back on it now, I was a newly licensed technician with absolutely no business experience with little knowledge of running a service garage. Why would they give me a loan?
I had a vision and no one was going to take that away from me. The only people who had faith in me at the time were my friends and family.

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My Main Mentors

Throughout my career, there have been many people who have supported me and provided me with guidance when I needed it.

When I started out, my folks (Shirley and Bill Smith) were my only hope for financial resources, but even they were limited.

My mother gave me all the money she could. She said to me "so you want to be an entrepreneur eh? Ok, here is a loan for $10,000 to get you started. It's all I have in my savings. You can start by paying me back in monthly payments once you begin covering your monthly business expenses. Don't let me down kid!"

That was her way. She was the kind of person that would give you the shirt off her back in good faith. She gave me a chance to fulfill my vision and in the process she taught me a thing or two about responsibility. At the time $10,000 was only a fraction of what was necessary to get started, but it was a start and a huge help.

My next step was finding a location and registering my business name. I called my garage Autoline Automotive and the rest is history.

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Inspiration Making Dreams Come True

I started my shop with the bare minimum but continued to grow. I worked on average, ten hours a day, six days a week for about three years straight. During that time I didn't take a pay cheque for myself.

This hindered my personal life and relationships but all who supported me, stood by me through all my ups and downs. Without the continued support from my friends and family during my early years, maintaining the success of my business venture would have been much more difficult.

I learned that gratitude and appreciation goes a long way. I dedicated all I had to offer to my newly found customers and this proved to bring the success that I was determined to achieve. My business grew quickly, solely from word of mouth.

My customer base exceeded my expectations by 1998 and I was soon struggling to keep up with the amount of jobs that were coming in the door. I landed company fleet maintenance accounts and was constantly adding new customers to my list. I created a name for myself in the community with little advertising. I didn't even have an ad in the phone book. I was certainly doing something right. "The kid" who didn't know what a business plan was, had more business than he could handle.

I expanded in 2001 and moved to a much larger garage. This brings me to the two mentors behind the scenes that helped make my vision come true. Little did I know that the things that I learned as an apprentice that were not directly related to being a technician would be so valuable later on in my life.

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My Mentors

Working for Mike Garon, Owner/Operator of Mike's Esso (The Garage) in Stoney Creek was the beginning of my career. He was the only technician (service garage) who gave me the opportunity to start my auto technician apprenticeship. Many people said (behind my back) that I didn't have what it took to be a technician, but Mike saw something in me and he continued to teach me the trade on a professional level.

Not only did he teach me the skills of the profession but he also taught me business principals and values; honesty, integrity, respect and gratitude. On a daily basis, he maintained this professional business etiquette with all his customers and colleagues. Mike built a great name for himself and his garage and he was considered one of the busiest garages in Stoney Creek in the 80's and 90's.

I couldn't have learned this trade at a better service garage or under the wing of a better man. I learned how to work in the trade as a professional and most importantly learned how to earn a living being an honest technician, working with integrity. Mike set the best example in a trade that sustained such a bad name. He would often say "you don't have to lie to make a living in this business and I like to sleep at night." Years later, while operating my own service garage I found myself saying these same words. I maintained the same principals that Mike possessed and my business achieved the same success that Mike's had.

Mike supported me in more ways than one. He continued to provide me with professional business advice, technical support and referrals from his own customers. He sent me customer jobs to help keep my service bays full. This was the ultimate gift. After Mike retired and closed up shop, some of the customers that I had once serviced in his garage became my customers.

The support didn't end after Mike retired. Every Friday morning he would come to my shop for a coffee until I closed in 2007. We still maintain our friendship to this day and visit occasionally. I will always enjoy his company and words of wisdom. He has always managed to put things into perspective for me and has supported all of my business ventures including the launch of my new venture, Rightway Auto Consulting.


Mike,
"Thanks for all your past and present support and your dedicated guidance throughout all these years!"

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Don Rutherford, a former Ministry of Transportation enforcement officer has also been a major influence and mentor. He proved to be another valuable key to my success in the automotive service business. I was introduced to Don in my early apprentice years and in some ways I was quite intimidated by him. Some called him the "gate keeper" in the Stoney Creek/Hamilton area. He provided service garages the licenses necessary to perform safety inspection and safety standards certifications. He had quite the job. If you saw Don coming through the door of your safety inspection station (service garage), you probably had some explaining to do! His job was to respond to customer complaints reported to the M.T.O regarding phony safety certificates and/or safety certificate infractions.

In a nutshell, his job was to maintain the integrity of safety inspection station garages and enforce the rules. The bottom line; I was going to stay on his good side! Who better to teach me how to run my safety inspection station than Don Rutherford?

I had the pleasure of getting to know Don on a more personal level, in conjunction with my garage. I wanted to become a safety inspection station licensed by the M.T.O. Don received my request and paid me a visit. Even though I met Don during my apprenticeship years, I never had any one-on-one dealings with him. Honestly, I was quite nervous but I would soon find out that he was not "the big bad wolf" that I thought he was. In fact, he was very approachable and knowledgeable. He was a "straight-up" no B.S. kind of guy who gave everyone a chance before you broke the rules. That was the chance I needed since I had no intentions of breaking the rules.

Don's first question was "so you want to write safety certificates?" My voice crackling, I replied "yes, I believe it is going to be a service expected from my future customers." He handed me the rule book and specification requirements. He then inspected my service garage and said "ok, you have the necessary experience, qualifications, facility and tools, but read the rule book. I will send you the licence and your first safety certificate book"

Don is a highly respected person in the local automotive service industry. He is a professional in every aspect of the word and he continues to stay up to date with new automotive technology and innovation. He has definitely had an impact on my success and he continues to be a major influence and supporter of my business ventures. He has become much more than a M.T.O. officer to me. He has become a true friend.

Don,

"Thanks for all your continued support and inspiration. Words are not enough to express my gratitude!"

I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences and learning about the special people in my life that have helped me to make my dreams a reality.

Rob Smith

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