Ep 12: The Business End Of An Automotive Diagnostic Specialist with Jason Bowden
Harmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
Release Date: 10/04/2023
Harmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
“I only had €42 and a toolbox. I spent that on cleaning supplies and whatever cash flow we made went back into the business.” In this episode, it’s J.P. D’Arcy’s turn in the hot seat. Once a dealership technician, he shares how he walked away from the job when he realised the role didn’t align with his morals. He had no plan, no savings and a young family, but knew he could no longer stay. Talking about the early days in a car salesman’s service bay to the successful specialist garage he’s built, J.P. is open about the trials and tribulations, difficult decisions and personal...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
What does it really take to grow a successful independent garage? In this episode of the Harmonic Motion Podcast, we’re joined by Paul Griffiths, owner of Elite Land Rovers in Clydebank. Paul shares his journey from working alone in a small unit to building what is now Scotland’s largest independent Land Rover specialist. Along the way, he’s faced the real challenges that come with rapid growth — from managing people and process, to protecting your own wellbeing as the pressure mounts. In this conversation, Paul and James discuss: The turning points (and missteps) in scaling a...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
For this Technical Synchromesh episode, James is joined by Mark Wight, Terry Stokes, Simon Parkinson, Marc Roberts and Rob Drinkwater. After a full day of Master Tech assessments, our esteemed guests stayed late to provide valuable insight on their unique experience as adept Master Technicians. In an industry where being qualified is not a requirement, they discuss the importance of flying your own flag and how to promoting yourself as an exceptional garage to your customers and employees. They also discuss their usage of AI. Despite it’s well-known drawbacks, it has the potential to be a...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
James sat down with Andy Crook, long-time friend, owner of Atomic Success and founder of the Garage Owners Network, to discuss a nuanced topic in the industry. Is a new garage management system the answer to the issues in your business or is it your own internal processes? Garage management systems go hand in hand with internal processes, in order to make the most out of one you need the other. James and Andy discuss common issues garages have with, the consequences these issues have and how to identify where the breakdown is so you can repair it. They also share their secrets to awesome...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
🎵It's the last pod episode of the year🎵 Hello everyone! We hope you're all well and getting ready to wind down for Christmas. For the last HMP episode of 2024, we're bringing you some more of our esteemed Master Technician Alumni. Michael, Mark, Josh, Mike and Dan completed their Master Tech programme with us in Jan 2023 and came back down for a visit to maintain their MT status. All still good friends, they chat with James about their careers after completing the programme, share disaster job stories and give advice they wish they...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
Nigel Yardley, Steve Scott, Adam Nowak, Simon Carter and David Davies are esteemed members of the Tech Topics alumni. They completed the Master Technician programme in 2022 and were here in October to complete their reaccreditation assessments and maintain their status as Master Technician. James sat down with the guys to discuss their personal journeys to success, the impact developing critical thinking skills had on their careers and how they think the industry needs to change to keep up. Enjoy! Get involved in the podcast and be the first to know about new episodes...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
We welcomed another group of our Master Technicians into the TT podcast studio whilst they were here at Technical Topics for the Advanced Electronics course. James, Eugene, Steven, Callum, Malc and Frazer chewed the cud on specialising vs general repair, being clear in client communication and expectations and the integral role software has on modern vehicles. Enjoy! Get involved in the podcast and be the first to know about new episodes by joining the Harmonic Motion podcast Facebook group: Get in touch with us: Connect: Website: Facebook: ...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
James sat down with 3 of our current Diagnostic Technicians and some of the TT training team for another iteration of the Technical Synchromesh mini-series. Michael, Wes and Dave have been working towards becoming Diagnostic Technicians since summer 2023 and are two modules away from the big final assessment. The group discuss with Rob and James the rising cost of using and accessing dealer tools (in both time and money), the pros and cons of SERMI and how they're evolving to keep up with new technologies as an independent business and why this is so crucial. Enjoy! Get involved in the podcast...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
For this Technical Synchromesh Episode, we invited five members of one of our Master Technician groups to the podcast. These guys are coming up to the end of their programme, with only two modules left before they reach their final assessment. With a multitude of perspectives to share, our guests cover all sorts of topics like the impact of taking an apprentice on, perception of the industry and the level of technological understanding of the general public. Get involved in the podcast and be the first to know about new episodes by joining the Harmonic Motion podcast Facebook group: Get in...
info_outlineHarmonic Motion Automotive Business Podcast
In a rare turn of events during the summer holidays, we managed to get the Technical Topics training team in one room to record a podcast episode. The team behind the scenes: Kev - 2021 Top Tech Winner, Kev is an awesome new addition to team TT who contributes as both a course leader and contributor to the super secret Diagnostic Assistance project Jay - Front of House expert and German Vehicle specialist Jay is the newest addition to the team. Jay bought, ran and sold a successful garage business and now teaches others how to do the same. Wilf - Ex-BMW and Peugeot dealer technician with 45...
info_outlineIn this episode, highly successful Diagnostic Specialist Jason Bowden, from Bowden Auto Services in Torbay, joins host James Dillon to talk about the business end of automotive diagnostics.
Jason has developed his expert automotive diagnostic services business over many years, focusing on the niche. He has invested significantly in both training and tools and is the go-to guy in the wider Torbay area. He has a great reputation within the trade, and for very good reasons.
In the early years, Jason was coached and mentored by several excellent mechanics and technicians, who help him on his journey to becoming a diagnostic guru. His career has seen him working in independent and dealer garages as well as in motorcycle dealerships.
Like many successful garage owners, Jason put a huge amount of work and personal sacrifices into building his business. In the beginning, Jason was working full time at a garage, whilst working evenings and weekends laying a solid foundation in building his future business.
Running any business is not without its stresses and strains and Jason talks about the impact and how he manages not to take work home with him. Like many, the pandemic provided an ideal 'pause' for Jason to reflect and refocus on what really mattered to him and his family.
The conversation turns to garages doing what they do best, and where the limitation of their expertise in specialist subjects may lie. How should garages identify where they should refer the job, rather than go deep, past the point of their talent, tools and training? Jason talks about how his business work together with other garages to allows them to not get tied up in deep diagnostics, by offering a referral service. This enables his garage customers to continue to earn on service repair and maintenance, whilst they employ Jasons services to fix the nightmare jobs.
Check out Bowden Auto Services on Facebook for the excellent Case Studies that Jason produces. If you'd like to get a good idea of the day in the life of a diagnostic specialist, this page has just what you need.
Join the mailing list:
https://techtopics.co.uk/mailing-list/
Connect:
Website: https://techtopics.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/technical.topics.training/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tthq_techtopics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/techtopics
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/technical-topics-ltd
Listen:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/harmonic-motion/id1665148277
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3SzEMN08BU7wCSdB3xkXkH?si=e12f5c6f381f4681
Amazon: https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/364bf8fa-82b5-43e5-b227-ad9eb99e8fd3/harmonic-motion
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theharmonicmotionpodcast
Watch the video version of this episode and subscribe to the Harmonic Motion YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@theharmonicmotionpodcast