European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fixing cabs sky s the limit for Auto repair shops by Hank Ezell Cox news service when Courtney Morris was ready to go into business for himself he turned to a fitting source of financing he sold his car. With the Money a $8,000 from a 1982 Bow he had owned for four years and kept in a-1 condition with his own hands a Morris opened an Auto repair shop. Now he and two helpers make their living fixing other Peoples cars. A a the move got him info a business that Many see As a. Briar Patch of nettle some problems. But it is also a business that Morris and Many others see As their ticket to y Independence a a Way to convert mechanical skills and technical training into the rewards of business ownership Quot you re looking for the Gold Quot Morris said from his shop com Auto service Center inc. In College Park a. A that and it feels Good not to be working for anybody else1 a a but if an Auto repair shop is a Way to be on your own it is not at All the kind of business americans traditionally think of As a garage. A the biggest problem is that people think the got a Toolbox and i am a Mechanic a Quot said Tom Watkins executive director of the automotive service association of Georgia. Quot automobiles have gotten so technical you can to believe it. Its no longer baling wire and a pair of pliers and a screwdriver. /. Quot in today a Market Quot he added Quot you have to have expertise not Only from a business standpoint but from a technical  a a or or despite the challenges and they Are Complex ones a successful garage operators find a number of rewards in their business. V \ Pride for example. A i feel like something a. Accomplished every Day Quot said Jon Yost co owner of eurasian motor sports inc. In Lilburn a. Quot a car comes in with a problem and 99.9 percent of the time it s fixed when it  /. \ people who like the work also like the intellectual challenges involved in repairing today a electronically equipped automobiles. Quot its like putting a Puzzle together,1"yost said. A we re diagnosing much Tike a doctor. When we figure a problem out its  there a also the profit motive. Though Competition is fierce a from franchised specially As Well As dealers maintenance operations a Independent operators also can Prosper. Quot the sky a the limit Quot said editor Bob Weber of super automotive service a monthly Trade Magazine with 110,000 circulation Quot there Arentt enough Good mechanics Good technicians. Hence there Arentt enough Good . That statement suggests one of the numerous problems that confront a Start up Auto repair shop personnel Quot people done to want to get their hands dirty today a Watkins said. Quot Young people done to want to work in the garage business Quot if finding qualified technicians is hard so is the ongoing process of training and retraining them. Quot the automobile has changed More in the last 10 years than in 70 years before that Quot Watkins said Quot that a better for the consumer for Gas consumption for Comfort. But its changed for the worse As far As training  garage owners now Are confronted with the need to train workers on new kinds of diagnostic equipment and a continuing Stream of new systems and gadgets on automobiles. That Means owners not Only must Shell out for the training programs but they must also lose productive time while workers Are in schools. That a not the last of it. With better training Many shop owners worry technicians Triay Well find they have More chances to move on to other Bosses. Quot in the automobile Industry there a Only one person who does no to have a wheels on his Toolbox and that a the owner Quot Watkins said. Quot All the rest have wheels and they Roll them Quot another problem is Start up capital. Yost said he and his brother David put out $1500 just for benches vises and shelves. That does no to count $12,000 Worth of tools. They accumulated during their High school and College Days when working on cars was both a passion and a livelihood. Quot people Don t want to get their hands dirty today Quot nor does it count their Start up inventory of. Replacement parts test equipment or any of the routine expenses involved in starting a Small business of any sort. 1. A a a. A. A a a test equipment can be particularly daunting an engine analyser for example costs $30,000 or More. It is a necessity for trouble shooting on Many newer engines. Quot to get into the mechanical Field in the proper Way to do the Best Job you possibly can for the consumer you re Watkins said. A Quot you can lease the equipment but its still going to be a great Deal of Money. You be got to produce a great Deal of income to pay for All . For new companies jump starting that Cash flow is another Challenge. Morris said he started out with a Small Circle of friends and relatives who knew and trusted him. Quot if you do Good work you get references Quot he added. Quot the biggest thing is word of Mouth. Advertising is Good but references Are the Best Quot. By James h. Rubin associated press v a Roger Frankel s Golf game is deteriorating Gerald Mumtaz had hoped to Lake it easy and spend More time with his wife and sex children. The economic downturn has breathed new life into what had been a shunned speciality a bankruptcy Law a and Frankel and Munitz Are part of the Boom. Law schools report that More students Are interested in learning about bankruptcy though some prefer to calf it corporate restructuring. Quot certainly there is a feeling its a much More stable. Part of the profession right now Quot said june Thompson of. Harvard Law schools career services  newfound interest in bankruptcy Law is due in part to a credit crunch among corporations and individuals that took part in the Wheeling and dealing and spend now pay later economics of the Reagan Era a the administrative office of the . Courts said the number of bankruptcy petitions filed annually nationwide has doubled in the past five years to More than 725,opt. Corporate bankruptcies comprise less than 10 percent of the total. A a a a a most involve individuals seeking a Way out from under a a Pountain of debt often caused by running up credit card charges. A. A a a a. A a Frankel a bankruptcy lawyer for 20 years said Quot have never seen it like this Quot in the nations capital. His five Day work week of the past its gone. Singe last Spring he s been on the Job 10 hours to 1? hours a Day six Days a week. A Quot my Golf game is suffering. Seriously i have Young kids i d like to see grow up. Its difficulty he said. Munitz Quot said it is the same in the. Nation s heartland. His bankruptcy Boomho lawyers. Fig j Chicago practice is taking up More and More and of his time Quot just at the Point in life when you re hoping to Quot take things easier Quot he said. Munitz 57, and a father of six children ranging in age from 11 to 27, said he would like to see More of them and his wife than his work permits. _ the sums of Money also have changed since he started practising. A was a Young lawyer when someone. Owed a million dollars that was All the Money in the world Quot he said. Quot its peanuts these Days. We re accustomed to dealing with a Bili Ign dollars in debt. The numbers Are mind-boggling.�?T1 _ the Competition for bankruptcy experts has Law firms scrambling to hire them. V. Quot there Are a lot More bankruptcy lawyers particularly among Young people who five or eight year ago turned. Their nose up at this kind of thing Quot said Nathan Feinstein a bankruptcy expert. A Feinstein who Heads an american bar association 1 committee on bankruptcy Law said that in the Early 1980s Only a handful of the nations 200 largest Law firms had a bankruptcy department. Today nearly All of them have teams of bankruptcy attorneys. Many have acquired bankruptcy Quot boutiques Quot Small firms of perhaps a dozen or fewer lawyers who practice the specially. A the demand has become so great that bankruptcy attorneys have been flooded with offers to switch firms Feinstein said. 1.a. A / a Quot you Start worrying if you Haven to been called by a headhunter this week Quot he said. Job placement firms say the Hunt for bankruptcy expertise is not limited to the traditional financial centers new York los Angeles and Chicago. Washington d.c., for example is a seller s Market for attorneys a due Only in part to the state of the local Economy. A /. A a there have been a number of major bankruptcies in  area and a downturn in what once was considered a recession proof real estate Market. The collapse of the National Bank of Washington alone has spawned a cottage Industry for lawyers. More than three dozen lawyers showed up in a Federal courtroom recently to handle a spate of cases arising from the Bank s ?11 is Bank lest i lost and the lawyers won said Luther a Hodges former chairman of the Bank a Parent company. Some businesses go belly up in bankruptcy and sell of their assets but in most bankruptcy proceedings the overextended Borrower engages in what la called. Restructuring or reorganization. Creditors Are paid a traction of what they Are owed As the debtor is placed under strict court scrutiny ironically bankruptcies do not necessarily jump when t recession hits. The opposite May be True As lenders a decide it s a bad time to collect when the value of corporate assets is reduced. A in the stars and stripes saturday december 8,1990