Searching for tires and people

“I bought a piece of property on Venice Island right next to our store so I could expand the parking lot. And what I paid for that property, I could have bought an entire store — with parking and everything — in Fort Myers.”

Pit Stop Auto Repair offers all the usual tools and programs to keep employees excited about their work.

“We push training,” says Joe Ramsay, the dealership’s owner. “We take advantage of just about every training opportunity we can. We help techs pay for their tools.

“We try to look at what the everyday sticking points are for our people and we try to get ahead of them.”

Ramsay has discovered that another effective way to build enthusiasm is to “connect our employees’ passions and what they enjoy outside of their work with their work.”

Pit Stop’s employees are civic-minded, which matches the company’s philosophy, he says.

The dealership intends to donate a million dollars to various charities and causes this year.

“We partner with a lot of non-profits,” says Ramsay. “One is a crisis pregnancy center in Venice. Fla.”

Pit Stop has hired several fathers of expecting mothers.

“One of the things that worries them — in terms of having a new baby — is how they are going to support it. Well, now they have a stable income. They’ve learned a skill or a trade. And now they can support their families.”

The seven-location dealership also partners with The Salvation Army. “We split the bill on some things.”

And Pit Stop fixes needy peoples’ cars at no cost. “Sometimes it’s just a family who has come into one of our stores with a car that’s in bad shape. We say, ‘This one’s on us.’”

Ramsay is quick to point out that his dealership’s vendors are enthusiastic contributors to the Pit Stop Charitable Foundation, which he set up in December 2020.

“We don’t just want to help somebody once and wish them the best,” he says. “We want to see their families grow and succeed.”

When Ramsay gets together with his store managers, “we always talk about those things ahead of our sales and other financial measurements. That’s one way we keep our focus where we think it should be.”

Personnel and capital present additional challenges, according to Ramsay. “We have people who are really phenomenal. Some have been with us for 20-plus years — longer than I have.” But staffing new stores “can be tricky,” he notes. “When a store seems to run itself, you say, ‘Well, that’s a given.’ But with a new store, it’s not.” Finding qualified candidates has become tougher, which has forced Ramsay to adjust the compensation packages that he offers. But wages and benefits aren’t the only factors workers consider, he says. A good, supportive culture is equally vital. “We have two core values -— give and grow. And that’s our attitude toward our people. We want to be a company that’s generous. We also want to see our people grow on a personal level. “One of my goals is to get to the point where we’ve become a company that people want to work for.” Ramsay encourages employees to give back to their communities during off-work hours. “We have ‘volunteer time,’ where we pay employees to take a week off and volunteer at a non-profit. We also match gifts (donated to) any non-profit.” “I want Pit Stop to be listed on the side of companies that people are lining up to work for — to where we’re turning candidates away.” Capital is an entirely different nut to crack, according to Ramsay. To date, Pit Stop’s expansion has been funded by profit that he has plowed back into the operation, as well as a few Small Business Administration loans. “As we look at our financial models, there is a point where there will only be so much we can do before we restock the war chest. “To take that next big step to put us on a more regional level, we’re going to need a large capital investment of some sort — whether it’s loans or investors or partners. It’s something we’re certainly cognizant of.” Ramsay has been eyeing acquisitions “to the north of us and on the east coast. We’re looking to add several more stores across a more geographically spread-out area.” He also is looking beyond “The Sunshine State.” “We have two core “The next step is the southeastern U.S.,” he says.

say. “And that’s our attitude toward our people. We want to In the meantime, Ramsay has been methodically developing Pit Stop’s back-office infrastructure. be a company that’s “One of my philosophies has always been to build it generous. We also want to see our people grow on a stronger than it needs to be — even though my finance director doesn’t like it sometimes!” personal level.” The idea is to place the right talent in the right positions “so there will never be a structural problem that holds us back.” This forethought also applies to Pit Stop store managers. “Before we started our latest round of growth — going back to July 2019 — I hired all of my managers for all of my next stores,” he says. “It’s really been a blessing as we’ve gone forward because I now

Joe Ramsay had worked for several other auto repair facilities before joining Pit Stop Auto Repair in 2005.

After six months as a general service technician, he moved into an of ce role.

By 2011, after earning an MBA, Ramsay became the manager of the dealership’s largest location in Venice Island, Fla. In 2017, he took the reins of Pit Stop’s Sarasota, Fla., store.

“It was our rst expansion in 20 years and the owner, Ron Perry, said, ‘Go up to Sarasota and see what you can do.’ I poured my heart and soul into that place for a good year-and-a-half.

“Almost two years later, I went back and bought the original three stores” from Perry.

“And that’s what I really wanted — the whole company.”

From there, Pit Stop’s growth “catapulted,” says Ramsay.

“We took those three stores and my store and now we’re at seven stores. And we’re con dent we can keep growing.”

have managers going into brand new stores who have been with me for more than two years.

“I’ve had two years to kind of indoctrinate them into the ‘Pit Stop way’ before they ever hit the ground inside a new store,” he says. “I felt that was really important. ere’s only been a handful of people we’ve brought in who haven’t caught the vision and jumped in with both feet.” ose individuals tend to rotate out of the system on their own, he says. e ultimate “measuring point” for Pit Stop is how well store managers treat customers, according to Ramsay.

“ at’s easy to do with one store, two stores or three stores. With seven stores, we’re doing pretty well.

“But when it gets to the point where I can no longer in uence the culture of the guy at the front counter who’s interacting with our customers, that’s when growth kind of needs to stop.” ■

BB3L2 3L2 BB6L2 6L2 BB10L2 10L2

COVERED BY ONE OR MORE U.S. PATENTS, INCLUDING: PAT. 10,800,216 PAT. 10,800,215 PAT. 10,759,238 PAT. 10,266,019 PAT. 8,752,604 PAT. 9,033,306 PAT. 9,822,893 PAT. 9,649,897 For more information visit: www.gaithertool.com

Copyright © 2021 Gaither Tool Co. All rights reserved. U.S. PAT. 10,214,399

GT-20MS MSR-01 MSY-01