How many articles can I write about electric vehicles (EVs?) Have I hit my limit? I will not be writing about hybrids and EVs for a while, as I return to writing about other issues facing our industry.   

I am in my 49th year of running four successful businesses  — five, if you include my Elton John impersonation entertainment company, “EJ’s DJ’s!”  

Some of these businesses I created were concurrent. The first company was a repair shop I opened when I was in my mid-20s. Ten years before that, I worked at dealerships and independent shops.  

There comes a time when the world is sending you messages. You can ignore them or pay attention. A wheel falls off a car that just left your tire store. A new technician ships a car with no oil after an oil and filter change. Gross negligence has been happening for a century. Every generation complains about it, but fails to do much about it.  

My company, Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC), has been busier than normal. We have added one more person to the payroll, plus three paid interns from the local technical high school. Many shop owners are showing up for hybrid and electric car training. The topic of running their businesses always comes up and the message that changed is: “They want technician licensing?” (They see the shop down the street doing substandard work and it reflects poorly on all of us.) Other industries, like our profession, require a license. There is accountability, but how do we get there?  

The Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is the obvious place to start. The high schools that offer four years of comprehensive automotive technical training will get better. Community colleges with a Career Technical Education (CTE) directors will need more resources. Like “Right to Repair,” licensing has a better chance of becoming law at the state level than at the Federal level. But which states would take this seriously?  

As a seasoned journalist, the author of three books and an elder in the motor vehicle repair industry, I have a lot of experience. Let me explain what that means, so you know what I am trying to communicate. There’s an old saying: “Experience is what you get when you were expecting something else.” Running a tire and auto repair business is a lot like the research and development of systems, procedures and managing people. It is easy to quantify your return on investment when everything is a number. Basic math is all you need.   

Other products we need to run a business — insurance, loans, vehicles, fuel, equipment and so on — can be shopped around for better deals. Prices can be compared, along with features. Take new cell phone services as an example. We just changed cell service and saved more than $1,000 a year, but the service outside of metropolitan areas — in this case, the Worcester, Mass., area, where ACDC operates — is poor. I spend the summer commuting to a rural area in western Massachusetts. The previous service was so much better. This became a known thing versus the unknown — in other words, R&D. Sometimes it fails and that’s called experience.  

Is licensing going to fix everything? No, nothing in any service industry has a quick fix. If tire dealers and shop owners want licensing, will their techs agree? There’s only one way to know: Ask them.  

You have all heard this wise saying: “If you keep doing what you have always done, you will always get the same result.” Research is necessary to achieve better results. Trying new things is a part of growing. Developing yourself is how you got where you are today. Owning and managing a tire dealership is what you do. How you do it is a reflection of who you are. Who you are is a product of your family history, some luck and hard work. The roots of your business — if planted in the good soil of integrity, social outreach, honesty, friendliness and optimism — will keep you rich in the social contract we have with each other. Remember, the love of money can be very expensive.  

Having relationships that are understanding and mutually beneficial is a characteristic of a well-run business. A shop owner explained to me why he goes into work at 9 a.m. He said, “I make more money if I don’t visit with the help.” He was serious. Stay tuned to this column for more discussions about “human capital” and why it’s important.