Generous Profit Still Available By Glenn Cheaney My particular specialty is the smaller two-to five-man shop venue. I attended the E+ Show and was pleased to see the interaction between rebuilders and sup-pliers. One thing that was missing was a host of new- in-the-business rebuilders. I did chat with one gentleman that shared he has been in the business for three years. I hope that there were others I just didn’t have the opportunity to meet. If not, our numbers are getting fewer and fewer. We are all looking for that area where we can still make a decent profit and a somewhat captive sales environ- ment. The way I attack this problem is by keeping track of lost sales. I am not talking about competing with the parts houses’ rock bottom pricing. I am talking about the calls you get look- ing for that odd late model (or maybe not so late) that the parts house has to order and is expensive when they do sell it. Of course you offer to rebuild it. Sometimes you get to do it—a lot of the time you don’t. Take advantage of the situation by getting on the phone and staying with it until you locate the core or new unit. Then the next time it comes up you can say “sure we have it on the shelf.” You don’t have to have every late unit on the shelf, only the ones that are start- ing to fail that aren’t available at the parts store. You may sell this unit a few times a year. As you add to this list you will find that you are getting back into the high profit margin per unit again. It won’t happen overnight, but it will hap- pen. This will last until the parts house catches up, but in the meantime you have made the sales and have already replaced these older units with cores newly purchased to do the same thing again. I do this with industrial units also. They have a built-in condition called “T need this right now!”” When I have this happen a few times I get it on the shelf. I do whatever is necessary to make sure the next time this unit needs to go it’s ready. The beauty of this is obvious. You generally get more money for the unit, the customer ap- preciates the fact you got him back to work, and you can rebuild it when you have more time. As we all know, rush jobs can come at any time and more often than not several come at once. If you have a core you can’t locate, drop me an e-mail. I will try to turn you on to acore supplier that is small shop friendly. Remember these core suppliers are in business to make a liv- ing also. Expect to pay a minimum of $50 for that special core or order some other stuffas well to make it worth their while. Establish a good working relation- ship with your core supplier. He can be one of your best assets. Any core suppliers interested in supplying the smaller rebuilder please drop me an e-mail with the type of units generally available, any minimum dol- lar amount, and a contact person. Rebuilders feel free to drop me comments or questions. I am open to suggestions and will gladly help in any way I can. Glenn Cheaney (gcheaney@aol.com) is an electrical rebuilders consultant, Naples, FL. MAY, 2001 Page 1 of 1