We are entering a post-COVID-19 world and I want to help collision repair facilities make more money than ever before. However, in a recent discussion with a group of shop owners, I was reminded that as an industry, we still have a long way to go in our thinking. Many owners have developed a scarcity mindset. This is when you are so obsessed with a lack of something—like money or repair jobs—you can’t seem to focus on anything else, no matter how hard you try.

It’s like looking at an appetizing pie and wanting to grab the biggest piece because it seems like the last pie on the planet. This is truly a finite way of thinking.

The truth is that we live in an abundant world. There is a lot of pie everywhere! This is especially true as it relates to money.

There are more than enough collision jobs to go around if that is what you choose to believe. If you choose to believe there aren’t, then guess what? That will also likely come true.

Your beliefs dictate your decisions, and your decisions determine your actions. When you choose to believe there is plenty of business to go around, it helps you think like a champion.

Champions—in any endeavor—play to win. They play to win instead of playing “not to lose.”

A scarcity mindset and playing “not to lose” go hand-in-hand. I learned this about 10 years ago when I was learning how to win at tennis. I found myself constantly losing to opponents. I felt many of them were not as skilled as I was, and it was happening because every time I started winning, I began “playing it safe.”

I wouldn’t hit the ball as hard, for fear it might fly long. I stopped aiming for the lines like I did when I was winning. Instead, I hit the ball softly well within the lines.

In your business, are you playing to win or are you playing not to lose? Are you leveraging an abundance mindset or scraping by with a scarcity mindset?

How a scarcity mindset can negatively affect business:

1. You spend more time trying to cut costs than looking for growth opportunities.

2. Customers are treated differently. You and your team tend to treat customers in a transactional manner (How do I get as much money from them right now?) as opposed to a transformational manner (How can I make this person a customer for life?).

3. Employees are often treated differently too with business owners focusing less on long-term development and more on squeezing the most productivity out of them. They may also be reluctant to train people because they fear an employee will leave them for another employer.

4. Business owners with a scarcity mindset also typically overschedule work than they can efficiently handle thinking every job may be their last. This practice can massively extend cycle times, upset customers and cause stress for staff.

Since the pandemic, it is quite natural that some of you have drifted into a scarcity mindset. My coaching is to shake yourself out of it. Business is coming, lots of it, so I encourage you to think long-term. Think with an abundance mindset and start playing to win!

To change from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, it’s important to first become aware of your thoughts. Then, you can change them to ones that will serve you better.

Another practice that will help you—and has helped me—is gratitude. I naturally feel better and think more abundantly when I remind myself of how many things I already have to be grateful for. Gratitude is the secret superpower of high achievers, so put it to work for you.

Go out this week and be grateful for what you have. Develop a powerful abundance mindset and you will never need to worry about getting your share of the pie ever again!

For more information about running a sustainable collision repair business, consider becoming a member of Elite Body Shop Solutions’ online body shop management training community. Join Operations Monthly Live (OML), an online management training program and community of high performers. Here you’ll find hours of world-class training, including information about creating an accurate repair plan, body shop scheduling, body shop culture and customer sustainability. With a very affordable OML subscription, you can join me live for an hour each month, where you will learn a new, relevant topic and be able to ask questions while interacting with many of North America’s best collision operators. A new lesson has been added to the Operations Monthly Live library called “Elite Level Customer Service,” where independent repairers can learn how to increase the growth of their businesses with little or no money.

To learn more, subscribe to the Dave Luehr YouTube channel and visit the Elite Body Shop Academy at elitebodyshopsolutions.com/academy.