When customers enter the front office of Noaker's Auto Body in the small town of Duncannon, Pa., north of Harrisburg, they're
struck by a couple sensory reactions. People comment, "It doesn't look like a body shop. It doesn't even smell like a body
shop."
Yet there's no mistaking the type of business Robert Noaker owns.
"These reactions — they're intentional," Noaker says. "We don't want to look like the standard auto body shop. We made the
decision to operate our office in a separate building from the shop. We now hang up photos of mountains and rivers to replace
the certification plaques that used to mark their spots on the walls. We found that nobody outside of our industry cares about
(those plaques)."
The certifications now reside in folders, although they're certainly nothing to sneeze at. The I-CAR Gold shop also is ASE-certified
and filled with ASE master technicians. The feedback regarding the shop's front office cements Noaker's decision, enabling him to stand apart from his competition.
"We hear from customers all the time who are shopping around that from the start our shop 'looks much better,'" he says.
The "look" has ultimately translated to the bottom line. Having opened in January 1999 with revenues of about $110,000, Noaker's
pleased, even humbled, to report revenues of $1.7 million in 2007. His ballpark estimate for 2008 is to the tune of more than
$2 million. Some of those revenues can certainly be attributed to direct repair programs — 14 in all, along with a couple
dealership arrangements.
The profitable business is outgrowing itself already. Four years ago, Noaker built a new shop, based on demographics data
indicating the building would be "plenty big" to fulfill his shop's then-current needs. Yet by early this summer, the 5,000-square-foot
shop will build an addition that will add 19 bays and 12,000 square feet to existing space. Noaker says he is pleasantly surprised
by the increasing amount of business for a shop whose radius now spans approximately 40 miles and relies mostly on word of
mouth.
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He credits the shop's success to his 15 loyal employees, one of whom includes his wife, who handles the bookkeeping. The number
of employees has consistently grown since the beginning and will likely climb with the completion of the new addition. "I
haven't lost an employee I wanted to keep," he says. He attributes that in part and half-jokingly to the fact his shop has
air conditioning.
Although he really doesn't struggle to keep employees, Noaker still invests in incentives such as training opportunities and
his restaurant plan. He set up accounts with several restaurants in the area. Each of his employees receives $40 per month,
which they can save and then use to take their families out, for example.
And if the employees look forward to their restaurant incentive, Noaker's practically a kid in a candy shop when it comes
to another aspect of the business: equipment. "If something new comes out, we usually try to get it. Some might call me a
toolaholic," he admits, confessing that back when he was working two jobs, he'd spend his entire paycheck from one of his
jobs strictly on tools. Recently, the shop invested in a new frame rack, and Noaker currently is eyeing a new paint booth,
since the current one runs 14 hours a day.
Posted Jul 08 2008 12:19PM
