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March - April 2022
Bunch: Focus on Controlling What You Can I just got back from Vision 2022 and Worldpac STX 2022, the two largest industry training events. It was great catching up with old friends and mee ng new people. On the last night in Orlando, they sec oned off part of Universal Studios for all the STX a endees. It reminded me that we are on a WILD ride in the auto repair industry right now! As a kid, I loved the thrill of adventure and the excitement of doing dangerous ac vi es with unknown outcomes. Rollercoasters and anything else that went fast and subjected my body to Gforces thrilled me! But as I walked through the park with a fellow friend and long- me shop owner, we saw the massive Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster overhead in all its glory. I looked at the roller coaster and said to my friend, “No more; that stage of my life is over!” I’ll s ll enjoy my Polaris RZR and Porsche 911 this summer, but I’ll be driving them!
Warning! Wild Ride Ahead, only the brave should proceed! We agreed that the industry has been on a rollercoaster ride since early 2020. The ride will con nue as we see major events happening in the world, i.e., COVID-19, the Ukraine war, energy prices, infla on, and, of course, the chip shortage that manufacturers are facing right now. We realized that, as long as we’re in business, we’ll con nue to experience roller coaster ups and downs and that we can s ll enjoy the thrill of the ride. We can’t control how wild the ride gets, so, to some degree, we have to just strap in and hope we don’t get tossed off in a corner or as we go upside down on the roller coaster of business. As I talked to many shop owners at both events, the ques on I was asked over and over in my classes was, “How do we prepare for the future?” We all need to ask ourselves, “What can we control and focus on in our businesses now and in the future?” I teach CEOs that it’s our job to understand the future of our business and what trends will affect it in the short and long term. I also teach that our sights need to be on the aspects that we can control. Continued on Page 69
Mopar Masters Guild Magazine
