I’ve been pondering this very question for about a week.
I recently bought The Kustom Shop - Auto Collision and Accessories and to say we’ve put a lot of effort to get our name out there would be to put it lightly. In all the effort we’ve put forth it’s been focusing on what we do. That’s easy.. we do auto collision, we do Jeep builds, accessories, etc. Ok... so does a lot of people. People don’t seem to get passionate about what we do. In all honesty, if you think about it hard enough... none of us really have the passion for WHAT we do.
I’m being very deliberate with that phrase. Yes, we have passion here. Yes we enjoy what we do. But is the act of “doing” the thing that we really love? Do any of us focus more on the act of getting the job done over the positivities of the completion and the positive feedback we get from the customer for a job well done?
That’s where WHY comes in. People won’t utilize our business because of WHAT we do. There’s a million other places that do what we do. So Why do business with us? Why are we in business in the first place? Why? Why? Why?
For me, that’s not a simple answer that can be boiled down to an awesome facebook post that I can boost for everyone to see. That is exactly why I even dug far enough to find that “facebook notes” was even a thing.
WHY are we in business?
Simply, we are in business because we enjoy our families and we want to be in control of our professional lives in such a way that allows us to spend more time with those that mean the most to us. All of us here have worked for others and have thought at some time or another that we could do it better. So enough talk about it, that’s WHY we’re here. We need the ability to control our professional lives in such a way that we can hold our heads high all day long at home or at work.
Ok, that’s WHY #1 for us. But here’s a better question...
WHY do business with us?
Paul Spanel and I have had a lot of discussions before and during this venture. One of the reasons why we work so well together is because we are very like-minded when it comes to how we do business. And I don’t mean anything about profitability, schedules, etc.. I mean how we come off professionally to those customers who have given us the opportunity to work for them. So WHY do business with us? Simply put, we both take a lot of pride in making sure whatever job we’re doing for the customer is done to the best of our ability. Sure, we invest in some of the best products, parts, materials, etc... but those are only as good as the intentions behind their use. We have high expectations of our employees and we hire those who have high expectations themselves. We absolutely love the ability to make people happy. Sometimes it’s taking a terrible accident and giving it a pre-accident appearance (or better) and sometimes it’s taking a stock Jeep or Truck and giving it a whole new attitude. Those people come in, give us money, and leave happy. If that doesn’t sound like the best business model, simplified, then I don’t know what is. WHY do business with us? Because we’re here to do it right, make you smile, and make you want to do business with us again.
Thank you to my beautiful wife Natalie Campbell who also happens to be our Office manager, for not only keeping our household and workplace operating smoothly but for always helping me look for the WHY not the WHAT.
