3 Steps to Digital Disruption and Scaling a Business in Automotive Repair

Scaling a business is something most entrepreneurs aspire for when starting their business. A lot of startups fail in their first few years so to be able to scale is an indicator of success.

I was lucky enough to speak to Derk Roodhuyzen, founder and CEO of Fixico. Not only did he successfully scale his business in the automotive repair industry, but disrupted it in the form of digitalisation. Here are the steps he followed to do this.

1. The key philosophy of scaling a business

From day one, have a clear vision of what you’re setting out to achieve and keep focused on this when scaling your business. Derk knew from the moment he founded Fixico that he wanted to grow fast and lead the digitalisation of the automotive repair industry. By setting his sights on being a global company, he was able to focus on the potential of the whole automotive repair industry rather than just in his local space.

He maintained this focus as he grew the company by constantly asking himself ‘how can we do what is being done today but five to ten times better?’ He ensures this philosophy is shared with his employees so everyone is aligned on the same goals and strategies.

2. Listen, learn and implement

There will inevitably be setbacks for a startup and in Derk’s case, it was finding automotive repair shops that wanted to work with Fixico. Derk found that repair shops were reluctant to get involved as they were afraid of getting into price wars. He listened and found the solution to put them at ease with a closed marketplace. Repair shops were able to place bids without seeing other bids and therefore differentiate themselves based on quality, service and speed. This simple but effective solution helped scale the business nationally in just 3 months.

Not only did he listen to his suppliers but also the market demand. At a time when scaling in a Business to Consumer (B2C) market was getting costly, he had potential partners approaching him who wanted to use Fixico. Keeping focused on his vision and philosophy helped him expand into the Business to Business (B2B) space.

3. Build the right team while scaling your business

As you scale your business, make sure you hire the right people at the right time. For each phase, you need to recognise that you will need different skill sets. As a startup, you’ll need all-rounders with a can-do mentality who are willing to get involved. As you grow, you’ll need specialists who are experts in their area and can bring their wealth of expertise. Finally, as you have more employees, you’ll need managers and leaders who can ensure everyone is focused on the business goals.

Derk provided so many more insights, listen to the podcast here to ensure you don’t miss out, and leave a comment to let us know your thoughts.

Get in touch with me to have a conversation about what ScaleUp Consulting can do for your business.