Emily Chung knows what it takes to offer outstanding auto repair experiences for busy families. As if she wasn’t busy enough nursing a new born and caring for a toddler, Chung decided to enrol in the Automotive Service Technician program at Centennial College just to broaden her knowledge base! This wonder-mompreneur worked in public policy, psychological testing, and human resources after studying psychology and business at the University of Waterloo. But after a string of frustrating car repair experiences and empowered by her new found knowledge of the industry, Chung was inspired to do it right, starting AutoNiche in 2009.
As a rare female-owned and run garage in a male-dominated industry, AutoNiche built its demographic quirk into a booming specialty business. Emphasizing customer service and child-friendly amenities in her shop, Chung focuses on building trust with clients from all walks of life—a tactic that doubled AutoNiche’s sales in its second year. Breakfast Television, CBC Radio, and Metro have already highlighted the tale of this Markham mom and her repair firm. But her story is just beginning; today, Chung continues vaulting from her core values to work toward her auto technician license and grow her business.
Company Mission: In faith and grace we strive to provide our customers with auto repair services that meet the highest standards of quality, honesty and integrity.
Quality Service, Honesty and Integrity: These three values are integral to our business and fundamental to the success of our goal of building enduring relationships with clients, vendors, partners and team members who are committed to the same standards.
What does this mean to our customers? Peace of mind.
- Quality Service: We will always strive to be a welcoming shop. We will discuss and agree on standards and expectations at the beginning of each job and when we make a commitment, we will keep it.
- Honesty: We are open at all times to receive your feedback, to explain all services and charges, and to discuss options and alternative ways of meeting your repair needs.
- Integrity: We say what we mean and mean what we say.
The Mechanic’s Story
Emily Chung holds an Honours BA from the University of Waterloo and has worked in public policy, psychological testing and human resources. After experiencing frustration whenever she took her vehicle in for service, she decided to go back to trade school and learn how to fix it herself. While on maternity leave with her second child, Emily pursued the Automotive Service Technician program at Centennial College. She placed second in her class and received the Toronto Automotive Dealers Association apprentice scholarship. In addition to running AutoNiche, Emily continues to work towards her auto technician license.
What inspired you to start your business?
I felt frustrated when I took my car in for service, not knowing if the technician or service advisor was truthful. I felt that there was a lack of effective communication and that made it difficult to discern which repairs were necessary. After speaking with other women, I found that a common reason women dislike their garage was because they “weren’t treated right, experienced inappropriate communication, and felt judged.” The reason men liked their garage was because the technician troubleshot the problem well and fixed the issue. So it wasn’t actually about the gender of the technician, but about the ability to communicate and relate to clients. Since starting the business and to our surprise, we’ve found that we have more men coming to the shop because they felt pressure to know something about cars simply because of their gender, and were tired of putting up a front. It’s unfair for us to assume that guys know a lot about cars as much as it’s unfair to assume that women know a lot about childrearing.
Building trust is about being able to build a solid relationship
Where did your business’s seed capital come from and how did you go about getting it?
Mostly personal savings and the federal government’s Small Business Start-Up Loan. The biggest obstacle for that was sitting down and writing the business plan. For most people, that is the hardest part of the process, because it’s time consuming to sit down and put into words what their plans are. But this is such an important part, because if you don’t write it down other people will not know what your vision is.
Tell us about your products/services.
We provide mechanical and electrical auto repair services as well as child car seat inspections/installations. Although we are located in Markham, our clients are from various areas in the GTA.
What makes your products/services unique/different/better?
We are a family-friendly shop, started by women who believe that great customer service shouldn’t be dependent on gender. We have men and women who are able to speak in layman’s terms or in technical jargon. Our staff come from all walks of life and have varied interests, so we can relate to our clients. Building trust is about being able to build a solid relationship, and you start by finding a common ground.
Another difference that sets our company apart is that I incorporate a lot of my faith (Christianity) in my business.
How did you build your management team?
Because we are a small business, our management team consists of wise counsellors in their respective fields, whether they are in finance, law or sales, who are not direct employees of the company. My lead technician has a wealth of expertise in auto repair, and holds the same core values as my mission statement.
I am appreciative of all that has unfolded, even the difficult situations.
How do you keep your staff motivated and engaged?
1) We lead by example. I expect our core values (honesty, integrity and quality work) in my employees, and I hold myself to these values as well. I also expect these values in my suppliers, so we are able to build long-term relationships that benefit each other. 2) Our staff has many opportunities to learn and grow in their skills.
When my staff are here working, I expect them to give 100%, but recognize that they also need to rest and take time off. We close Sundays and Mondays so that everyone has a chance to rest, and close on Saturdays on long weekends.
How did you brand your business and market it?
We branded our business to address the lack of trust in our industry. We believe that our ability to communicate with our clients is what will overcome that trust factor. Our marketing efforts were targeted to the local area, concentrating on the fact that we started this business because we were frustrated ourselves with taking our cars in for service. We also emphasized that a benefit of coming to our shop is that we can communicate on any level—whether it’s speaking technically to the car-savvy client, in jargon-free speech to clients who have little to no experience with cars, or even to children as some have been, for example, curious about the purpose of fuel in the car. We have great responses from both women and men who were tired of the “dreadful” feeling whenever they needed to take their car in for maintenance/repairs.
Emily Chung with Jennifer Valentyne on Breakfast Television
Could you give a brief description of your biggest success so far?
We doubled our sales in our second year of business, all while maintaining work/life balance. I attribute this to my commitment to operating this business according to God’s principles. We are diligent in our work, honest with our clients, and strategic in our marketing plans. We were successful in getting some media coverage from radio, TV and newspapers, both locally and nationally. We have been featured on Breakfast Television, CBC Radio, Metro, and 24 Hours – anytime we get exposure; it helps to solidify our brand and gives us more credibility.
Do you have plans to expand to new markets/products?
No not at this time, this is my full time venture
What are your goals as an entrepreneur?
My goals as an entrepreneur are to 1) make a difference being a woman-owned business in a male-dominated industry. We bring differences in the way we communicate and in the services we provide. 2) make a difference as a Christian-owned business. I strive to operate this business in a way that glorifies God, so that I’m living my faith Monday to Sunday.
Get wise advice from the person most qualified to give it. So often, we take advice from those who are most available to give it.
What is your exit strategy?
None.
How do you define success?
I think strength and success in leaders lies in their ability to discern what each person on the team is great at, and their ability to combine these people/strengths together.
To what do you most attribute your success?
Faith and perseverance. There is something to be said for knowing and acting on your purpose in life, and persevering through everything to fulfill your calling.
What three pieces of advice would you give to others who want to become entrepreneurs?
1) Communicate – Effective communication is so important in expressing ideas, building relationships, motivating employees, etc.
2) Counsel – Get wise advice from the person most qualified to give it. So often, we take advice from those who are most available to give it.
3) Diligence – There are many challenges to being an entrepreneur, and diligence is a learned skill that will take you through many of the hurdles.
…the mindset of looking back and wanting to do things differently takes away from the value of what we’ve learned…
If you were to recommend a book or movie to a young entrepreneur, what would it be?
Jim Rohn’s Challenge to Succeed has been influential in transforming my perspective on my life.
How has being an entrepreneur affected your life?
As an entrepreneur, there is so much to do, so much to multi-task. On top of that, I am a wife, and a mother raising two preschoolers. I have a supportive husband, but it is tough to find balance and juggle everything. My priority is to make time for my family. What works for me is when I box-in and highlight time on my calendar. I only allow myself after-hours meetings a couple of times a week, and the rest of the time is saved for my family.
When I first started in business, there was always that feeling that I needed “to do one more thing and another one more thing,” so now I’ve learned to be disciplined with my time. There will always be the “one more thing,” and for the most part, that “one more thing” can wait.
I don’t know how I did it when I was going to school. My youngest was 3 months old and the other one was in preschool; I would nurse in the morning, go to school and pump breast milk during the day and study at night. I ended up placing second in the class and was awarded a scholarship.
What is the best part of owning a business?
You can implement your own vision for the organization, recognizing that there is a need for the services/goods that you provide, and not having to confine yourself and your ideas to someone else’s vision.
It’s unfair for us to assume that guys know a lot about cars as much as it’s unfair to assume that women know a lot about childrearing.
If you had the chance to start over again, would you have handled your business differently?
No. I would not have had the same experiences and opportunities to grow on this journey. It’s not to say that I did everything right, but I find that having the mindset of looking back and wanting to do things differently takes away from the value of what we’ve learned by going through all that we did. I am appreciative of all that has unfolded, even the difficult situations. So in a sense, I will do things differently from this point forward, but not necessarily think back on how I could have done things differently in the past.
It’s about so much more than just fixing cars
In a typically male dominated industry Emily Chung has demonstrated that if you set your mind to do something, it doesn’t matter if there are only a few women who have blazed the path before you, as long as you provide your clients with quality service at a fair price and differentiate your services by providing an alternative to what’s out there, clients will come and they will tell others.
At the heart of any successful business is trust and reputation and at AutoNiche they firmly maintain that open communication and trust is what fosters the relationships they have with their clients. Being the owner and hands-on auto technician certainly keeps this full time mom busy.
