Vision

One of the biggest issues I see when visiting the majority of auto recycling businesses is lack if vision. Most businesses lurch from one week or month, or year to the next with no real idea where their business is going, or what they will be doing, and this lack of leadership is reflected in the staff who are not motivated to do their best because they cannot see any benefit.

And this lack of vision makes it easier to remove someone from their job because they are demotivated and lacking in enthusiasm, so they are replaced and some time later the same problem returns with the new staff member.
In fact, the problems come from the manager or owner not having the ability to run a business, and get the best out of his or her staff.
This may require the manager or owner to change how they work, and I have seen many people resist that change with devastating effects to them, their business and their employees. They need to take a step away from the day to day operations and actually start to manage people, strategy and develop their business.
Too many owners of small auto recycling businesses are too heavily involved in the minutiae of the operation, they need to take a step back and become a leader who can delegate to, train, develop and grow their staff to get the best out of them and the best for the business.

One of the best pieces of advice I received when I left one company to take the position of After Sales Manager at another was 'take a few hours each week to sit back, think and make notes, and always use a pencil because you can rub these notes out!'
Wise words that are even more relevant today. Our business is becoming more complicated, more competitive, and the profit potential is getting squeezed daily for a variety of reasons, so you need to attract customers to your business by offering them something they cannot get elsewhere, and staff members are a crucial part of that offering.
There are many companies out there who will take loads of money from you to create a vision for your company, but it won't be 'your' vision, so the best advice I can give you is to set aside a regular time slot each week to plan out the future of your business; it could be every Tuesday morning, or after lunch on Thursday - whatever suits you. Start small, look at next week, or next month,and then start to think about next year, what do you want to be doing, how quickly can you do this?
Look at all the alternatives,  and don't be afraid to reflect on some radical options, including closing the business down and selling the land because that may be more profitable then trying to keep the operation running.

Salvage Wire can assist you in shaping the future of your business, we don't tell you what to do but we can give you the tools to make decisions, decisions for you, your family, your business and your future, contact us at www.salvagewire.com