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Name: Keith Guyton
Title: Multi-unit franchisee
Brand: Christian Brothers Automotive
Units: 2
Years in franchising: 4
I started as a service manager at various locations for Christian Brothers Automotive. After doing that for several years, I was offered by their corporate team to buy the Georgetown, Texas location. It was a logical choice given my experience working in the industry.
It really did choose me. When I was 16 or 17, I started working at auto shops and was a pretty decent mechanic. After a hiatus, eventually I needed to start working again and knew that with my limited options, going back into the industry was the right move for me. What drew me to Christian Brothers was their commitment to faith and helping others. It’s important to treat people the way you want to be treated.
There are a lot of different skills you need to be successful in this sector. Compassion, patience, multitasking, having great customer service skills, and being able to teach people how to do the job are especially important.
The big advantage is having a team backing you to share in the experience with and support you every step of the way. They can help on the financial side of things when you’re first working to purchase a location, and then once you are open, they’re with you every step of the way when it comes to operating the location.
You have to be invested in what you do – liking the work that goes into it and wanting to do it play big roles in that. Interacting with people is something that you have to be ready for too. It’s important to enjoy coming to the shop and seeing and interacting with your customers.