From Near-Death to Multi-Shop Success: Jim Brown on Growing an Auto Repair Business

What does it take to grow from one shop to a thriving multi-location auto repair business? In this episode of Beyond Broken Cars, host Thomas Hays sits down with Jim Brown, owner of Speed Auto Repair in North Atlanta. Jim shares how a near-death motorcycle accident forced him to rethink his systems, his leadership, and the future of his auto repair shops.

If you’re an auto repair shop owner who wants to learn about building processes, training staff, and scaling without burning out, this episode is packed with insight. You’ll hear how Jim went from turning wrenches at 17 to running multiple successful auto repair shops — and what every shop owner can apply to their own journey.

• How to create systems and processes that protect your auto repair business.
• Why building margin (financial and staffing) is critical for growth.
• Lessons from mentoring, coaching, and community in the auto repair industry.
• How to balance family, work, and the pressure of shop ownership.
• What the next 10 years might look like for the auto repair industry.

Resources & Links

This episode is presented by Leads Near Me — helping auto repair shops effortlessly increase car count with best in class Digital Marketing.

👉 Book your free marketing analysis today and get $250 off your fully custom website with code BROKENCARS at Leads Near Me Call Booking. To learn more about LeadsNearMe.com.

The automotive repair industry exists because cars break and someone has to fix them. It is not just that they break, sometimes they break in complicated, unpredictable ways. And yet in shops across the world, day after day, we fix these complex problems with seeming ease. How do we do this? We're great at fixing cars because as an industry and as a group of people, we love to share how to solve hard problems.

We value the blood, the sweat, the tears that lead to the solutions we find. And over the years, we've collected them in books, guides, forums, YouTube channels, databases, conferences, any way that we could find to spread the word. It's that willingness to help each other that makes us so strong. But in my 13 years in this industry, I've noticed something else.

We're just as willing to share how to solve other seemingly impossible problems. From broken businesses, broken families, broken relationships, broken mindsets, even broken hearts. It happens at Facebook groups, on phone calls, at conferences, within coaching groups, and even between two owners in the same town sharing a beer.

That's the inspiration for Beyond Broken Cars, a podcast hosted by me, Thomas Hayes, but really this is a show by you, our listeners, our community. Here we'll share how we fixed unfixable problems, escaped the darkest valleys, claimed hard fought redemption stories and turned seeming ends into new beginnings. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts proudly presented by Leads Near Me.

This episode is presented by Leads Near Me — helping auto repair shops effortlessly increase car count with best in class Digital Marketing.

👉 Book your free marketing analysis today and get $250 off your fully custom website with code BROKENCARS at Leads Near Me Call Booking. To learn more about LeadsNearMe.com.