Blog Template 3 (Long-Form Testimonial)
I bought my shop in January 2020 in Parker, Colorado. I moved 700 miles away from home (Dallas) and family, driven by nothing but ambition. Although I grew up in a shop, I never really learned how to run one. I arrogantly believed I could do better than some of the owners I knew at the time.
Then COVID hit, just one month into owning the shop, and it brought me to my knees. No one knew, but I was living in the owner's office and showering at Planet Fitness. That year, the shop did $650k in revenue but ended up $100k in the red. A friend had been telling me about Shop Fix Academy, and he finally sat me down to show me some formulas for running a store that I didn’t know or believe in at the time.
I attended Shop Hackers and found myself in a breakout room. I think it was Ryan Blair asked, "Who is paying their techs a flat rate?" everyone raised their hand — except me. That was the moment I realized my friend wasn’t crazy after all. Mixed with “Fix the Owner Fix the Shop” on every single t -shirt, plus everyone’s testimonials. Aaron gave me hope that I could turn my shop around even when I had lost all hope.
I put together a plan, and though it was difficult, I let everyone go over a weekend in December 2020 shamefully instead of trying to work with them due to my struggles with leadership and inability to have tough conversations. By January 2021, I had a whole new crew and processes in place from the Shop Fix videos.
Since then:
In 2021, we did $1.7M.
In 2022, we did $2.4M.
In 2023, we did $3M.
In 2024, I bought a second shop in Texas (the Grey one).
Having one shop in Colorado and another in Texas has been a whole new learning experience. This year, we’re on track to do $1.2M in TX.
I have to admit that, because of fear of looking dumb or feeling out of place, I haven’t been as involved with my tribe as I should be. After a talk with Crystal at the conference, I realized I need to work on myself, be more engaged with my tribe and coach, and work on being more vulnerable. I also want to apologize for not being as present and connected as I should be.
All that said, I’m really grateful for everything Aaron / Shop Fix has done. My stores aren’t perfect. But because of y’all, I have been able to provide a career to over 16 employees, buy a house with cash, I started going back to church with my fiancé, and have slowly been getting my life back on track.
— David Block
[Name of Brand/Business]
Member since 2020
