In times of economic expansion such as the United States is experiencing at the time of this writing demand for small business services will grow as well. As the economy grows more and more people enter the workforce resulting in more commuter traffic and overall economic activity. A small business service provider will face many challenges. Due to increased demand there will be more competition for quality employees. And this challenge will run headlong into growing sales opportunities. To respond to increased sales opportunities without increasing staff size a small business will need to explore other avenues that result in more capacity.
Capacity can be made available by increasing efficiency in business operations. Planning will always result in improved efficiency and faster execution. In the automotive repair business taking advantage of scheduling is an effective way to improve overall efficiency. Working from appointments and doing as much up front preparation as possible will increase efficiency thus allowing for vehicle throughput. If a shop merely schedules an appointment for a customer without defining as much as possible about the customer requirements then no planning is really taking place. The identification of repair and part requirements doesn’t begin until the vehicle arrives. But if the repair requirements are identified at the time the appointment is scheduled the shop can pre-order required parts and eliminate the lead time required for parts delivery thus allowing repair work to proceed as soon as the vehicle is brought to the shop. When recognizing greater capacity through improved execution resulting from diligent planning the shop is able to do a better job of handling increased demand due to positive economic circumstances.
