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Better Business for Small Business Leaders
Better Business for Small Business is the go-to podcast for entrepreneurs looking to get 1% better in their business every day. Hosted by Chrissy Myers, CEO of AUI and Clarity HR, each episode dives into real-world stories and expert insights from resilient small business owners who blend passion, purpose, and philanthropy to drive success.
Better Business for Small Business Leaders
How Bill Snow Built Multiple Successful Businesses by Finding His White Space
Bill Snow's entrepreneurial journey begins with a moment many of us can relate to—a family vacation derailed by car trouble. That frustrating experience sparked a revelation that transformed his career path and led to multiple successful businesses.
"When you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else," Bill shares, highlighting one of his hard-won lessons about entrepreneurial focus. As a franchise developer for Rad Air Complete Car Care, co-owner of Atomic Autosports, and host of the Late to Grid podcast, Bill knows firsthand the challenges of balancing multiple ventures without burning out.
The conversation explores how genuine transparency revolutionized his approach to customer service in the automotive repair industry. Through digital vehicle inspections, online estimates, and automated updates, Bill's businesses build trust in an industry often viewed with skepticism. This commitment to clear communication extends to his team as well, creating a culture where everyone understands the bigger picture.
Bill's evolution in time management offers practical wisdom for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Moving away from anxiety-inducing to-do lists to strategic calendar blocking, he emphasizes the importance of creating "white space" for thinking and reflection. His candid discussion about preventing burnout includes recognizing warning signs and incorporating regular self-care practices like exercise and pursuing personal interests.
Perhaps most valuable is Bill's closing advice: "Figure out who's in your room and make sure it's the right people." He emphasizes that surrounding yourself with supporters who elevate rather than drain you is crucial for sustainable growth. Sometimes this means making difficult decisions about business relationships, even with friends.
Whether you're managing multiple businesses or just starting your entrepreneurial journey, this episode offers actionable strategies to help you maintain focus, build customer trust, and achieve your ambitious goals—all while preserving your wellbeing along the way.
🎙️ Connect with Chrissy Myers and discover how resilience, expertise, and community can transform your world:
🔗 Follow Chrissy on LinkedIn for behind-the-scenes insights, leadership tips, and updates on her journey as the CEO of two thriving businesses.
📘 Grab your copy of 'Reluctantly Resilient' to learn how Chrissy turned challenges into opportunities and how you can do the same in your life and business.
🤝 Explore Clarity HR and discover how Chrissy’s team simplifies HR for small businesses, giving you peace of mind to focus on what matters most.
🎙️ Connect with Chrissy Myers and discover how resilience, expertise, and community can transform your world:
🔗 Follow Chrissy on LinkedIn for behind-the-scenes insights, leadership tips, and updates on her journey as the CEO of two thriving businesses.
📘 Grab your copy of 'Reluctantly Resilient' to learn how Chrissy turned challenges into opportunities and how you can do the same in your life and business.
🤝 Explore Clarity HR and discover how Chrissy’s team simplifies HR for small businesses, giving you peace of mind to focus on what matters most.
💼 Visit AUI to see how Chrissy's employee benefits expertise can help you build a healthier, happier workforce.
When you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else, and when I approach situations like that, I realize, okay, I'm just saying no to this so I can do something that's going to get me closer to my ultimate goal.
Speaker 2:Bill Snow is a successful entrepreneur, a franchise developer and a podcast host. He balances multiple ventures and I am very excited to have him on the podcast today. Bill, thank you for your time.
Speaker 1:It's great to be here, Chrissy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so can you tell me a little bit about the businesses and the podcast that you have?
Speaker 1:Oh boy, yes. So business-wise I'm part of the Radar Complete Car Care organization and we franchise automotive repair businesses. I became a franchisee 11 years ago, now have one and a half stores, so I co-own half-own a store with another gentleman and five years ago I jumped on the franchise side of our business, so looking to help our existing franchisees and then also look for new franchisees to open up. We've spun off a performance shop at our Wycliffe location so we track, prep cars and get them ready for racing, and then the podcast is Late to Grid and we share the motorsports journeys of people that have gone and done things on track just to inspire others that want to follow in their footsteps. Nice, so I'd like to jump back that want to follow in their footsteps, nice.
Speaker 2:So I'd like to jump back into your entrepreneurial journey, if that's okay. So your entrepreneurial journey began with a frustrating experience on a family vacation that you've shared with me, and it led to a profound shift in your thinking about car repair. So, before we get to the specifics of Rad Air, can we revisit that aha moment if it's not too traumatic for you?
Speaker 1:It's not. We still talk about it quite a bit. And you know it was in the seventh grade. I remember that I was like I really want to own a business someday. I just I thought I was going to own a boat dealership. Actually. And you know, as time went on, you know graduated, got an undergrad degree, got my MBA, went in the corporate world, did all that kind of thing. And Got an undergrad degree, got my MBA, went in the corporate world, did all that kind of thing, and I had this itch to connect some passions, first off cars and motorsports, but then also business, and maybe it'd be a side hustle, maybe it'd be a full-time job. Anyway, started to develop a business plan for that. Corporate life, family life kind of things collect dust. The business plan was collecting dust.
Speaker 1:Anyways, we are taking a family vacation, our first beach vacation. It's 2012. We're driving from Cleveland, Ohio, down to North Topsail and an hour from the beach we start to break down. The vehicle's overheating. It's 100 degrees outside. We're cranking the heat. Because that's what you do to cool a car down. You crank the heat. It acts like a secondary radiator. Windows are open. Kids are like what's going on.
Speaker 1:You know, anyways turns out. You know, we had to have the vehicle towed the rest of the way and found a great shop in town and I was. I was just eating it up sitting in that shop because I kind of knew I wanted to be doing something like this. And turns out someone put the wrong antifreeze in our car. You know I, and it turns out someone put the wrong antifreeze in our car. You know I'm not a mechanic. Yeah, I work on our race cars and I tinker here and there, but I never serviced my wife's vehicle and we're sitting on the beach and I told my wife you know, if this is happening to us and this being poor car care, it's happening to other people. We got to go back to Cleveland and make car care better and that's what we did.
Speaker 2:Dusted off the business plan, kind of converted it more to a consumer business, and here we are 11 years later. Okay, so you know many entrepreneurs don't have a straight path to success. It's a challenge. Your story involves several ventures, including Atomic Autosports, so I'd like to explore some of those things with you. What were some of the initial hurdles or setbacks that you encountered in those early days, especially as you're going and transforming the car industry and car repair?
Speaker 1:Yeah, time management's the big one. Entrepreneurs want to do it all. We don't want to say no, we want to be the one that's there. We don't want the fear of missing out. And the big thing is just what do I need to focus in on?
Speaker 1:In those early years, I said yes to a lot of things I shouldn't have said yes to. You know yes to a lot of things I shouldn't have said yes to. Yes to volunteer opportunities, yes to jobs that didn't yield us a whole lot of profit, probably lost money on those trying different things. I actually said yes to expansion way too early. The building I'm in I had the opportunity to acquire some more space in and I said, yeah, I'll grow into it. Well, I shouldn't have. I should have waited on that. I should have waited until I was busting at the seams to get that. But entrepreneur well, I shouldn't have. I should have waited on that. I should have waited until I was busting at the seams to get that other. But entrepreneurs well, we won't miss out. I should probably act on it now, but then also realizing where the market opportunity is. So you know things like what type of equipment we should buy and when, based on the market demands.
Speaker 1:And you mentioned atomic auto sports. You know, ever since I opened my shop we would have people that knew me from racing and motorsports saying, hey, not just you have a shop, can you help me with some of this stuff? And it got it's growing so we actually had to kind of spin it off. We used to do it under the radar name in Wycliffe and the marketing became a little confusing because people are like well, are you a race shop? Are you a regular shop? So we put it underneath the Atomic Autosports name just to market it differently. And it's got a fun vibe to it that people are starting to realize and say, okay, these are the guys I want to be working with for my race car stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, go slow, be patient, say no. Those are so hard for entrepreneurs. I agree with you, they really are.
Speaker 1:And you know, until you can realize and here's a good piece of advice when you're saying no to something, you're saying yes to something else, and when I approach situations like that, I realize, okay, I'm just saying no to this so I can do something that's going to get me closer to my ultimate goal.
Speaker 2:I like that. So let's talk a bit about transparency and relationships, because Radair stands out for its commitment to transparency and customer relationships, especially the work that you've done in growing your business. So can you give us some concrete examples of how you implement those principles into your daily operations, just for those other entrepreneurs who are starting to figure out? You know, how do I build relationships? How do I build transparency? Oftentimes, some of us that are new to entrepreneurship get in because we don't like rules and we don't like having to be told what to do. So how do you build? We don't want to be questioned, so transparency sometimes seems a little bit different, kind of counterintuitive, to what we want to do. So can you share some wisdom there?
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, I'll approach it from the consumer side first, and then there's actually a good portion of transparency that needs to be out with your team as well. Perfect, yeah. So on the consumer side, what we've done over time is we're always honest and upfront. So when you bring your vehicle to us, we're setting expectations about when you're going to hear from us, when the vehicle is going to be looked at, when you might even possibly get it back, depending upon what we found. We also use digital vehicle inspections, so I don't know if you've ever been the recipient of one of those, but while your car's at the shop, you actually get a text message with a link and you can see pictures and videos of all the good things on your car, all the average things and then all the broken things. It gives you the consumer confidence that, okay, I thought something was wrong. Now I see something wrong. I can trust the people sending this to me.
Speaker 1:We've actually moved to online estimating as well, so I can text you an estimate. You could see the breakdown of every single thing we're talking about. You know, as soon as you get that phone call from a shop you're going through oh my gosh, you know, do I have the budget for this. Does this really need to be done? What are they telling me? I don't understand. After that phone call, when you get that text message, you can then look at it and say well, you know, maybe I can do the wiper blades myself. I'm going to say yes to that, so you have a good idea of how it's moving through.
Speaker 1:We also have automation that sends you updates as your car is going through the shop. It's been assigned to a technician, we're waiting on parts, whatever the case might be, and then, of course, there's the follow-up. Just hey, your car is ready to go. We're here until 530. When would you like to pick it up? That's the technical side of it. Having that conversation with you as a consumer, but more so as a person.
Speaker 1:We always want our team to approach things with empathy. So we understand where you're coming from, understand how you use the car, be honest and upfront, and we back it with a fix for life warranty as well. So if that option is available for your repairs, you're going to know that it's fixed for life and you won't have to fix it again, which is again a little bit of confidence that, all right, these folks are standing behind their work. On the team side, the more that we can share with our teams about what's happening, why it's happening, what the future is, the more engaged and inspired they'll be to do their best for you. So you know a little bit long-winded with the transparency, but the more we talk, the more we share, the more we communicate, the less likelihood that we're going to have an issue with either a consumer, customer, client or with one of our team members.
Speaker 2:I like that and I think it's universal. Take the customer through the life cycle, giving them the understanding, as opposed to them just standing out there and waiting, being in the unknown, not thinking, okay, how much is this going to cost me, what do I need to do, how much more time I know? For me, as a consumer, oftentimes time is more important, so how long am I going to be waiting? Or if there's a status update in between? So I think you've given some really good insight to how different business owners can take that and make it transferable to their business. So thank you, sure. Yeah, I'd like to talk a little bit about time management and prioritization. So you do a lot of different things, you wear a lot of many hats, and so I want to know specifically what are your tools and techniques for making sure that things get done when they need to get done, but then also you're managing your time effectively, giving attention to the things that really need it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs run the fire. What you know, what's burning, what needs to get done now, what's urgent, whether it's important or not, you're always running to what's what's urgent and I, I, I can't wait till the minute I figure out how to effectively balance this. But here's how I'm getting through and it all gets done. My wife might argue otherwise, but, um, you know, I used, I used to carry up until a quarter ago, up until about um, I think I stopped using October. I used to keep a daily planner every quarter. It would have to do's and it would have my schedule and I would take meeting notes in it. And I stopped that because it was creating so much anxiety about what I had to get done that day. I wasn't focusing on the big things. I'm more relaxed. I'm actually getting more done without a daily to-do list. Now stuff still gets done.
Speaker 2:How are you doing this? Because you say I got rid of my planner and I just got a major anxiety attack of like oh my gosh, my planner's like two feet from me and I have to touch it right now, because I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack.
Speaker 1:Our store folks. When I go and visit they would say, oh, bill's got his Bible, because I never was without it. What I've gone to is more calendar scheduling. So what gets scheduled gets done. And if I know that I need to send an email out to our race team, for example, I have that time blocked and that's how I'm going to do it. That acts as my to-do list. Sure, email acts a little bit like a to-do list as well, as long as we're prioritizing it, not the person sending us the email. But I went from then scheduling my time on what I had to do, as opposed to putting together a list and then trying to get that list to fit into what I have scheduled.
Speaker 1:And another thing I've done is just be more aware long-term. What's happening. So long-term could be a bunch of different things, but here I'm talking about what does the month look like? And for the first time ever, my wife and I are starting to look at the whole year of what we're doing. When's the family vacation? When do we have race day scheduled? When's Atomic Autosports hosting events that we need to be aware of the calendar?
Speaker 1:But let's go back to looking at just the month and toward the long term as entrepreneurs. We're looking at tomorrow, we're looking at later. Today, we need to be looking out a week, a month, a quarter and making sure that everything's fitting in there, because we never put enough white space on our calendar and I call it white space. That's where we need to be thinking. That's just the okay. You know, chrissy and Josh talked to me all about this AI stuff. When will I have time to actually think about it and contemplate it? And then that's where the white space. So, and constantly moving the pieces of the calendar as well, you know saying you know what I got to move this so I can do something else, or I got to delete this. This isn't part of the big focus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I see you on the larger calendar piece. We do something in our house called free days, focus days, and so free days are we're not talking about work, we're not doing work. Focus days are the things that we need to do specifically on the business and we have those buffer days kind of in between. So we look through. As someone who has smaller kids that are still in high school, junior high, we have a large family calendar, so it kind of looks like a war room in my husband's office as to like where is everyone at any given time and so planning. So I encourage you, as you're starting to look further out, get yourself a huge calendar. It's really helpful.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know, gosh, there was something else I was going to share about calendar and it just it just left me. Oh, I know what it is. One thing I'm really trying to do is when I get home I, I know what it is. One thing I'm really trying to do is when I get home, I put do not disturb on the phone so I can be in the right mind for my family. And you know we're empty nesters right now, but you're going all day and you know sometimes at the end of the day is a good time to kind of decompress. Let me follow up on a couple of quick things. But yet your spouse or your partner is like okay, they're home, I have them.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm going to word vomit everything that happened.
Speaker 1:Yes, so that's a good thing. And I guess, one last thing on making sure that the right things are getting done. I've also recently taken a look at where am I doing my work. Physically, okay, a lot of times I'll go to my shop, and that's not the best place for me to get my work done because guess what happens? People want to share updates with me about cars in the shop. I don't need to know about those. People want to share, you know. Client says, hey, is Bill here? I haven't seen him in a while. I want to step in and say, hi, yeah, I think he's here. You know, not that I want to see people, but there's things that we need to get done for the team and for our company and have that block. So I would encourage your listeners, too, to look at where am I doing my work and is that the best place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so where I've got questions for you on that, because I have my staff knows now, but I have a super secret coworking space where I don't work from home because I'll get distracted if I do and I don't always go into the office. So I will go to my super secret coworking space that may be in Cuyahoga Falls and get things done. Where do you go for you? Is it home? Is it a coffee shop? What's the best place that you found for productivity?
Speaker 1:I love coffee shops, small business, locally owned coffee shops. One is there's a fun vibe in there. Usually you look around, there's other people doing the same thing. There's just something about that. Nobody knows where I am. Maybe the phone's on do not disturb and you can just sort of plow through some work. Being empty nesters, working from home, isn't a big, you know, big interruption with things. You know people aren't getting off the school bus and we used to have a nice franchise office that we weren't using enough and that was a great little hideout because, again, you know, I was there by myself working so constantly looking for the place. Sometimes it's just my truck you know.
Speaker 2:Yes, I understand. Yeah, I work from the car. Sometimes, too, I take a lot of meetings from the car, yeah, so let's talk a little bit about burnout, because you're kind of indicating you know ways to kind of prevent burnout, but I want to know what steps do you take personally and professionally to continue to ensure that you don't burn out? And what are those signs for you when you know, oh, I may be getting close to hitting the wall? How do you keep yourself in guardrails? Because I know, as an entrepreneur, I can work 20 hours a day if I really want to, but eventually it's going to cause a problem for me. So can you share some of your wisdom around burnout?
Speaker 1:Yeah, believe it or not, others indicating that hey, what's wrong? You look tired, you look cranky, oh I, hate those questions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you look really awful today. It's like thank you, I love you too. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So that's, unfortunately, one indication. The other is just when the level of frustration gets to a point where it's your only focus and you're trying to think why am I so frustrated? And it's because you have so many balls in the air you so frustrated. And it's because you have so many balls in the air you're afraid to drop one and you just keep plugging along and at some point we all have to realize that it's the work's still going to be there tomorrow. So you know, deal with it and just take, take whatever attention you need right now. So, um, and one of the things I talk about with some folks is self-care. So what are you doing as an entrepreneur for self-care?
Speaker 1:For me, I enjoy working out and I work out with one of my daughters twice a week. She's still at Cleveland State, so in the mornings we'll go work out. I have a Peloton. I enjoy outdoor running when the weather's nice, kayaking, mountain biking I don't do it enough and that's just a great way. The other way for me is just finding something I enjoy doing, and a lot of times that's just tinkering, whether it's on an old motorcycle, my race car, and it's just, it's just me, it's, you know, a little bit of you know, three doors down or Creed playing in the background and no interruptions, just work with my hands. So for the listeners, find out what you enjoy doing. You know if it's something to get some endorphins going with exercise or just being alone and doing your craft.
Speaker 2:Nice. So, talking about things that you enjoy doing, I'd like to pivot to your podcast, if that's okay. Sure, so you've got Late to. Grid showcases your passion for motorsports and business and I would like to know how that passion in that podcast has directly or indirectly benefited you as an entrepreneur, in your business and then also, I guess, on the personal side, having things that you enjoy.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I you know we're in season five and it was one of those things I kicked around for years of doing and I'm so glad I just took the leap, because if it failed then I would know hey, I did it and it didn't work. But maybe some people call it a failure. I don't know. But I get a lot of compliments at the track and it's helped me professionally. I didn't realize this.
Speaker 1:People would listen to it and then be like oh, I live close to Wycliffe, he has a shop in Wycliffe, I'm going to have him work on my car. That was not the original intent to use it as a marketing service, but it's turned out that way. And the other benefit personally is I learn from each and every guest some tip or trick how they've gotten faster. I now have a I'll date myself a Rolodex full of phone numbers of people I can call up and be like hey, remember we talked about data. I have a question about the data system on my car and how I could be using it better.
Speaker 1:Do you have a few minutes? I have those relationships now and then also it's just given me some more visibility in the motorsports community. So when I do go to a track. You know, not a ton of people, but you know a small handful at an event will say, hey, listen to your podcast and I always respond back. So you're my listener. You know just a little funny joke there, but I really enjoy it and I don't know how much longer we'll keep doing it, but as long as people keep still listening and want to share their stories, we'll keep it rolling.
Speaker 2:Wow, I was going to ask you questions about metrics and value and how you feel, but you've already you just answered all of them. It's just, it's it's relationship and building connections, and it seems to still surprise you occasionally when people are connected to you that you didn't even realize.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, yeah, and it serves a purpose in our community.
Speaker 2:Everyone has a podcast now, right?
Speaker 1:Yes, as evidenced by what we're doing right now. Yeah, and it's just. It's one little way to share someone's story that wouldn't have been otherwise told.
Speaker 2:So what's your long-term vision? I mean entrepreneur, podcast host, continuing to grow and develop as a leader. What's your world domination strategy? Where do you want to go?
Speaker 1:The ultimate goal is to own a sports car racing team, so there's a series called IMSA. It's the premier sports car racing organization in the US.
Speaker 1:I want to own a team and the way we get there is we get there by growing Radar Complete Car Care, you know, making that a national brand. That's the ultimate goal. We're starting small here in Ohio and then also growing Atomic Autosports. Ultimate goal we're starting small here in Ohio and then also growing Atomic Autosports. And when I talk about that, I'm not talking about just growing the company, talking about growing our teams as well. So having a good, robust team around us that can get us there.
Speaker 1:We have a small race team now, radar Racing, where we do endurance racing all over the Midwest. Matter of fact, we're racing at Daytona at the end of March and that's been a good way to give our employees something else to do other than just work on cars. Well, that race team could be the foundation for an IMSA team that I might go buy or acquire or even start from scratch. So that's the long-term plan. You have big goals, big plans. I do, and even if we never get there, the goal is to get there. But even if we get close, then we're better off than where we were.
Speaker 2:Bill, I appreciate the time that you've given me today and given our listeners. I have one last question. It's the question that we tend to always wrap up with, and that is you know, as our listeners are striving to improve their businesses, what is the one thing that you would like to share with them, to help them get 1% better in their business today?
Speaker 1:Figure out who's in your room and make sure it's the right people. So we surround ourselves with, hopefully, like-minded people. So the people you're surrounding yourself with, are they making you better? Are they your coaches? Are they your fans? Are they giving you what you need or are they taking away from you? And sometimes we make decisions to do business with people that we're friends with or we don't want to ruin a relationship and not do business with them, but at the end of the day, if they're not the right people to be helping you grow, then you need to get them out of your room and get the right people in there, and everything we talked about today is a result of me having the right people around me, whether it's family advisors, attorneys and I've had to make some tough decisions and tell some friends we're not doing business anymore. So that's the 1%. If you have the right people doing the right things with you, I think your business is going to grow 1% each day.
Speaker 2:Wow, phil, thank you for your time today. Thank you for the wisdom for our listeners. We'll make sure to check out the Late to Grid podcast as well as connect to all the things that you would like us to connect to with Radair, complete Car Care and the socials and Atomic Autosports. Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 1:I appreciate it, thank you.