4 shops. 40 technicians
The shop you want isbigger than the one youcan run yourself.
I run Foothills Group and built ShopView, the software now running in shops in all 50 states and every province. I built it because I needed something my own shops could scale with. I write about what actually works: growth, process, hiring, and the numbers that matter.
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Who is Fabian Bonjean?
I started Foothills Group out of a garage at 24. It's now four shops and 40+ technicians serving fleets and equipment owners across Western Canada.
Scaling it broke things I didn't know could break. Scheduling, parts, dispatch, processes, cashflow, and knowing which jobs actually made money. I tried five different shop softwares and none of them handled it the way a heavy-duty shop really runs, so I built ShopView.
I still own and run the shops. I know what it's like to work 80 hour weeks and pull double shifts in a service truck, and I know how to get out of that seat without the whole thing falling apart. I write about the systems that worked, the ones that didn't, and the numbers I wish I'd been watching five years earlier, so other owners don't have to learn them the hard way like I did.
Nothing ran without me in the middle of it.How I got out (opens in a new tab)
Where are you right now?
Every stage breaks differently. Start where you are.
Owner-operator
You're turning wrenches and running the business. Every hour billed is an hour you worked.
How I got off the tools (opens in a new tab)
One or two techs
You've hired, but you're still the best tech, the service writer, and the bookkeeper. Nothing runs without you.
What to hand off first (opens in a new tab)
Five to ten techs
You have a real business, real payroll, and the workarounds are starting to fail. You need managers and systems, not more hours. Brute force is becoming less effective.
How I got out of that seat (opens in a new tab)
Multiple shops
What worked with one team breaks across two. You need reporting, a schedule that holds, and software built for heavy-duty repair.
See ShopView
Guides for shop owners
Scheduling, growth, customers, and getting out of the bottleneck. It's all free to read.
- 01
How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Own ShopStart here
Read (opens in a new tab)Why most heavy-duty shops stall at two or three mechanics, and how owners break the cycle by handing off the work that only they used to touch.
- 02
How to Schedule Technicians in a Heavy-Duty Shop
Read (opens in a new tab)An eight-step system. Plan around the work instead of trying to fill every hour and hoping it holds.
- 03
The Fastest Way to Grow Your Heavy-Duty Shop
Read (opens in a new tab)How I grew a shop from zero to serious monthly revenue with outside sales (calls, follow-up, and a schedule that could take the work).
- 04
Biggest Traps to Avoid When Running a Heavy-Duty Shop
Read (opens in a new tab)Nine traps that quietly drain profit, from low utilization to unpaid customers, and how to fix each one.
- 05
The Number One Reason Customers Leave
Read (opens in a new tab)Price usually gets the blame. Most shops lose people for quieter reasons, and a few daily habits keep them calling you first.
- 06
The Customer-Supplied-Parts Policy Every Shop Needs in Writing
Read (opens in a new tab)Why heavy-duty shops should be careful with customer-supplied parts, and how to protect the shop when you do take them.
- 07
What Is Your Shop Actually Worth?
Read (opens in a new tab)An owner's guide to valuation and exit, covering EBITDA, multiples, and owner dependency.
I built the tools we needed
ShopView came out of problems I hit running heavy-duty shops. I knew we could fix real world problems with software. Work orders, scheduling, parts, reporting, and giving managers a clear view without me involved in every decision.
It's common sense software, built by someone who still runs shops. Now in shops in all 50 states and every province.
As seen in
- BDCHow technology and AI helped this backyard truck repair shop growRead (opens in a new tab)
- The Globe and MailFastest Growing Companies 2023Read (opens in a new tab)
- The Globe and Mail#19 Alberta and British Columbia's fastest growing companiesRead (opens in a new tab)
- FOCUS BankersFrom wrenches to workflows: scaling heavy-duty repair with softwareRead (opens in a new tab)
- Calgary HeraldFrom beginnings in the owner's garage to a multi-location leaderRead (opens in a new tab)