For bicycle technicians (or any technician), a count-up timer is the single best tool to measure your value to the business.
- Why it works:
If a technician is paid by hourly wages or salary, every minute that is spent ‘clocked in’ costs the business something. This is important to remember and talk about openly, because it imparts a sense of urgency and purpose. The way to make a business owner happy is to ensure that the time spent working gives a significantly greater return than what the technician is paid. Naturally, a technician who is more efficient is more profitable to the business and commands a higher wage.
- How to use it:
There are three steps needed to effectively employ the timer. Be consistent. Be honest. Speed never beats accuracy.
First, be consistent in where you start and stop measuring. Personally, I start the timer when the seatpost hits my workstand and stop the timer whenever the seatpost leaves my workstand.
Second, you must be honest. Measure every single repair, no matter how small or large. There must be no fudging the numbers, no forgetting to start the timer, no misrepresentation or anything that isn’t 100% honest. Being honest with yourself is the only true path to improvement.
Third, speed never beats accuracy. Skipping a step, sacrificing quality or anything of the sort is unacceptable. Any repairs that are returned by the consumer should be counted as a major loss to the individual tech and the business as a whole. I assume a 10x loss: a $50 service that is returned for problems is a $500 loss.
Time your repairs and compare to your billable labor. Staying on par with the billable labor is good. Faster than billable labor is better. Pay attention to how many hours you bill versus how many you work per week/month/year. Aim high! Target greater than 3 times your wages in gross sales.
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