When Should a One-Man Shop Hire Its First Technician?

Mike Allen and Bryan Pollock welcome Caleb McElmurry to talk about the realities of building a repair business when you’re still the technician, service advisor, estimator, parts department and owner all at once. Caleb started mobile, moved several hours away and essentially started over with a brick-and-mortar shop—and now he’s intentionally waiting until the business is consistently ready before hiring his first technician. They debate why hiring a cheap apprentice first can actually make a solo owner less productive, how many billable hours might signal that it’s time to hire, what types of jobs a startup shop should avoid and why some European cars can eat a new shop alive. Caleb also explains why his first major training event is focused almost entirely on business and service-advisor skills instead of technical classes, and the conversation turns into ASE certifications, technician licensing, customer communication, $1,000 AROs and why owners shouldn’t go home from training and try to change their entire business Monday morning. The bigger lesson: being great at fixing cars gets you started—but learning how to run the business is what determines what happens next.