Lately, I’ve been looked at with the eyes of “you haven’t been working, have you?” Well, I’m pretty sure that’s not entirely wrong.
Hehe… But finally, starting around last month and this month,
it’s gotten to just the right amount of work.
Increasing the volume of work is actually very easy.
All I’d have to do is aggressively pursue new business, including new clients, and take on all the work offered. Using social media and the internet, there’s really nothing to worry about. On the flip side, adjusting the workload is surprisingly difficult, and it took about two years to get to where we are now. *I’m not actually sure if this is just coincidence or if I struggled to reduce it.
Now that I think about it, my time perspective on work tends to get caught up in “either busy or free—just two choices.” What both customers and the shop actually want is “just right.” I’ve recently come to think this is actually really important.
To use a bath water temperature analogy, it’s easier to understand: it’s not “hot or lukewarm?” two choices, but rather “just right” is best.
We can work with some breathing room, and we can properly discuss and research things, so I think we can spend better time together.
Isn’t it a hassle to choose a menu? Decide based on budget
“Just do an inspection and oil and other fluid changes, light maintenance, and keep it around 100,000 yen or so” You know, people like that.
Sure, “this costs this much, that costs that much,” it’s a hassle for us to estimate too, and I’d like to know the customer’s budget upfront. What we can and can’t do within the budget, what should be deferred to next time—if we choose based on that, things would move much faster. That’s this kind of menu.
I’m thinking this might become our go-to menu without really knowing why.
We’re going to clean up and overhaul the oil-cooled original carburetor
Suzuki genuine parts have had large price increases, and it felt a bit risky to do the work.
There’s also the option of using generic-like aftermarket parts. But we won’t know what happens after a long time passes until years later. If the results work out, that’s great, but if there’s a problem, we have to make some kind of improvement. I think we want to avoid those kinds of risks as much as possible.
I haven’t checked all models, but Mikuni BST-type carburetors seem to still be okay. For the float valve, I found a compatible part from Mikuni genuine, so we’re going to use that to handle it.
If you don’t let the carburetor condition deteriorate, with an air cleaner box, you can safely use it for around 30,000 to 50,000 kilometers. In a way, depending on age and annual mileage, “it might be fine for as long as it’s alive?” That’s the state I think it’s in. Carburetor O-rings, gaskets, starter plungers— who knows if parts will be supplied forever.
Like main harnesses and such, people think “it works now, so it’s still okay,” and then time passes, it becomes discontinued, and they regret it—I bet there are quite a few people like that. If you could at least stock just the parts, that would help. Since it’s a lot to handle all at once, please keep it in the back of your mind.
New customers, just a little bit, just a tiny bit
I don’t want to advertise too big and get a lot of inquiries because it’s a hassle in various ways.
Same with responding to inquiries, but conversations get long. It’s hard to move forward if we don’t understand each other’s vibe. And with bikes in bad condition, it takes a lot of time and money.
The workload depends not on the number of customers but on the condition of the bikes being requested. Recently, attaching photos has become mandatory. I need three photos: handlebar area, battery area, and muffler side. Bikes with heavy DIY wiring work on the handlebar or battery areas are declined. For the muffler-side photo, I’m judging whether the bike is well-maintained and clean.
I have a ton of other things I want to do besides work, so I try to use my time for myself as much as possible. So I can’t just take on work to the max and only do the work. I’d like to balance things well and have a relationship where we’re both at just the right temperature? That’s what I’m thinking.
