Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

 Years ago I co-owned an automotive business. During the 14 years that I was in this business, I made sure to make the business very "women friendly". The lobby had comfortable chairs, there were current women`s magazines, there were plenty of plants and greenery, the place smelled and looked neat and clean. There was a T. V. and a fish tank. I also had a small table with 4 chairs, a huge box of crayons and big pile of coloring books for their children to amuse themselves. The lobby was a safe environment for the children. The LADIES room was to always be neat, clean, and SAFE and this is a big deal in iteslf.
In addition to this, the mechanics were instructed to speak only to the service managers, who in turn were the representatives of the shop. They were to be neatly dressed in their blue jeans and sports shirt and were NEVER to "speak down" to anyone especially women! (We all know its not just women who may not know about cars....!)  None of the guys were working on commission, so therefore, there were no high sales pressures to our customers. When people`s cars were going to take a while to repair, we would drive the customers where they needed to be, and picked them up when the cars were finished.
Seat covers, steering wheel covers and paper floor mats were always used to protect the interiors and each car that came into the place, left cleaner than when it arrived. Customers were the lifeblood of the business and they were treated as such. Word of mouth can make or break a business, and this one was one heck of a success! I do agree, make a place comfortable for women, and you can guarantee more business for yourself. Women tend to tell their friends, family, co-workers and so on about places to go, or stay away from...take it from me, I know, I was the WOMAN who ran the place!

it sounds like a good idea to me for a repair shop, i defantly will take some of these ideas to consideration when i get an actually get a building :)