Page 41 - Australasian Paint & Panel Magazine Jan-Feb 2019

PAINT&PANEL JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019 WWW.PAINTANDPANEL.COM.AU
BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
The Right Direction
CARA LEA LEWIS AND MARK DEBONO OF EAST COAST PAINT AND PANEL HAVE COMMITTED TO SHARING THEIR BUSINESS JOURNEY DURING 2019.
ARK DEBONO, A QUALIFIED PAINT
technician, founded East Coast Paint and Panel (ECPP) in Cairns in December 2014 initially because he couldn't find a job that he wanted, so he created his own. He roped in his part- ner Cara Lea Lewis who had 15 years ex- perience in the hospitality industry and zero experience in the autobody repair industry. “Green as” is how they describe themselves. They knew nothing about running a business and yet in four years, learning on the job, in difficult market conditions, they outgrew their first shed
and moved into a new one a year ago. Paint & Panel encountered them on the
2018 awards judging tour
and was impressed with
their work ethic, what they
had achieved and by their
potential. We could tell
that they were a little un-
sure as to how to grow the
business any further. Does
any of this sound familiar?
ply to a large number of independent col- lision repair businesses. The couple feel they have enough work for the number of staff and are almost apprehensive about taking on more work, which means that their growth has stalled.
MARKET CONDITIONS
Cairns has a population a smidgeon over 150,000 and 10-15 collision repair shops (depending on your definition).
Airport Smash is a Suncorp shop and Wilmott Smash Repair Specialist are NRMA (they will both work for other in- surers as well), between them they have a significant chunk of the insurance re- pair market sewn up.
ECPP is in no position to compete against these large enterprises and, sensibly, hasn't tried to. Theirs is a mix of private, insurance, restoration and fleet work.
SETTING GOALS
Ben Fewtrell, managing partner at Max my Profit has agreed to coach Lewis and
are proud that they have no debt on the business however Fewtrell pointed out that debt isn't always bad and could have a positive effect on cashflow, the lifeblood of successful companies.
Once the goal was set it was broken up into manageable chunks for each 2019 quarter and then in 12 month periods.
Lewis said: "Mark and I are excited be- yond measure to be embarking on this journey. I think one of the most impor- tant parts of this venture is the fact that it will be documented. It definitely keeps us accountable. Looking back over the last few years, I am amazed at how far we have come, and after our initial meeting with Ben, I now realise how much fur- ther we can advance. We are looking for- ward to coming back fresh from the holi- days ready to absolutely smash 2019." We’ll be co-ordinating a team of advi- sors from different areas of the industry to help ECPP. Follow their progress on our website and social media channels.
EAST COAST PAINT AND PANEL
M
Debono over the
next 12 months. Not only will there be a monthly coaching and goal set- ting session but Max My Profit has an online hub with over 700 resources to help with every aspect of running a business. At their first session it was
This could ap-
clear that the pair didn't have a clear, set goal. After some discussion is was agreed that the goal will be to generate a gross profit of $500,000 in five years time. While we won't be publishing ECPP's financial information, we will be reporting increas- es in terms of percentages. A brief look at their business information revealed the business isn't paying them the market val- ue for their roles which Fewtrell suggested was one of the first matters that needed to be addressed. He explained in very simple terms how fixed expenses and business costs impact business profits so that the couple understand exactly how each busi- ness decision, such as putting on a new member of staff or investing in new equip- ment, will affect this. Lewis and Debono
LEFT:
Business coach Ben Fewtrell
ABOVE: Cara Lea Lewis and Mark Debono
WORKSHOP: 750m2
STAFF: Five including Debono and Lewis
TYPE OF REPAIR: Minor to medium collision repair/paint rectification. The business has yard work, private/insurance work, limited restoration work.
GOAL: To grow the business profitably and achieve $500,000 profit in five years time.
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