176 - Building Anchor Motorworks with Seth Lancaster: Diesel Dreams, Euro Cars & a 4-Day Workweek

176 - Building Anchor Motorworks with Seth Lancaster: Diesel Dreams, Euro Cars & a 4-Day Workweek November 20, 2025 - 00:48:28   Show Summary: When Seth Lancaster was five, he already knew he wanted to be a mechanic. Today, he’s living that dream as the owner of Anchor Motorworks in Laurie / Gravois Mills, Missouri, a growing five-bay European specialty shop serving Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, and especially diesel SUVs. In this episode of The Leading Edge Podcast, host Jimmy Lea sits down with Seth to trace his unconventional path: shade-tree wrenching with his dad, years as a missionary and English teacher in Mozambique (where he watched alternators and starters get rebuilt instead of replaced), becoming a diesel tech and firefighter back in the States, and finally taking the leap into shop ownership. Seth shares the real story behind moving from a tiny 2-bay shop with no lift to a busy 5-bay facility, why masterminds like ASOG and MWACA changed everything for his business, and how a four-day workweek, deposits on big jobs, and rock-solid SOPs are helping him protect his time, his family, and his sanity. If you’re a shop owner wearing all the hats, this conversation will feel very, very familiar and give you a roadmap forward.   Host(s): Jimmy Lea, VP of Business Development   Guest(s): Seth Lancaster, Owner of Anchor Motorworks   Show Highlights: [00:00:00] - Seth shares how updating signage and online presence immediately improved customer clarity and shop visibility. [00:03:56] - Early hands-on experience with engines shaped his confidence and mechanical problem-solving from a young age. [00:10:05] - His time in Mozambique taught him resourcefulness and repair skills that serve him daily in shop ownership. [00:13:38] - Returning home, he built a diverse skill set that positioned him for long-term success as a specialty technician. [00:17:24] - Industry connections and the ASOG Mastermind gave him tools, direction and accountability as a new business owner. [00:20:23] - Investing in a lift transformed his efficiency and profitability, validating strategic equipment purchases. [00:24:18] - Seth explains how building SOPs allows future growth and reduces dependency on him as the sole decision maker. [00:26:17] - His focus on Euro diesel SUVs attracts distant customers and sets his shop apart with niche expertise. [00:38:26] - He stresses requiring deposits after costly lessons with oversized jobs that drained time and resources. [00:45:02] - Moving to a four-day workweek improved revenue, reduced stress and strengthened his family life.   In every business journey, there are defining moments or challenges that build resilience and milestones that fuel growth. We’d love to hear about yours! What lessons, breakthroughs, or pivotal experiences have shaped your path in the automotive industry? Share your story with us at [email protected], and you might be featured in an upcoming episode.   Don’t miss exclusive insights, expert takeaways, and real talk you won’t hear anywhere else. Hit Subscribe, drop a comment, and share it with someone who needs to hear this!   Links & Resources:  Want to learn more? Click Here Want a complimentary business health report? Click Here See The Institute's events list: Click Here Want access to our online classes? Click Here ________________________________________ Episode Transcript Disclaimer This transcript was generated using artificial intelligence and may contain errors. If you notice any inaccuracies, please contact us at [email protected].   Episode Transcript: Jimmy Lea: Hello friends, this is Jimmy Lea with the Institute for Automotive Business Excellence and you are listening to the Leading Edge podcast. Joining me today is Seth. He is with Anchor Motorworks out of Missouri, right? Seth Lancaster: Yes. So we are in Laurie, Missouri. The address is Grab voice mills, but you know, it's politics there. Jimmy Lea: Well, and I wonder because I saw your YouTube video, you talk about two 17. South Main Street. I wonder if you were to tell people it was two 17 North Main Street, Laurie, if they would actually come to you and grab voice mills. Seth Lancaster: So yeah, so it's two. Our ours is North Main Street and then there's a South Main Street. Seth Lancaster: Yeah, just a quarter mile down the road. So that's throw some fun in there. This shop has been closed for about five years, the building I'm in, and so. It hasn't been needed for looking up on Google, and Google knows that. And so thanks that everyone's going to the other places. Jimmy Lea: There you go. So you've gotta get a sign out front and get a picture of that sign and send it over to Google so they know you are the real deal. Seth Lancaster: Absolutely. That's in the books for hopefully this week. Jimmy Lea: Ooh, congrats. Oh, that's awesome. So what are you doing? What is, what kind of, are you doing a temporary sign or is this a. Permanent fixture. Seth Lancaster: So this one's gonna be a temporary temporary permanent. It's one that's gonna go up in above the front doors of the office. Seth Lancaster: It's a two foot by 12 foot sign. And then we have another big sign that is there from the previous owners and still says the other business. So that gets to be quite confusing and interesting, but. Jimmy Lea: Can you cover up that other sign? Is it a street sign? Seth Lancaster: Yes. Yes. So that's gonna be covered up. Seth Lancaster: It's gonna Jimmy Lea: cover with a vinyl banner or something like that. Seth Lancaster: Yep. That's in the process. Jimmy Lea: Dude, that's awesome. Congrats. Congrats. And for those who are listening here, this is. Take number two for Seth and I, we had a fabulous discussion here last week, to which I forgot to push the stupid record button, but we're back for take two. Jimmy Lea: Oh. And when Seth and I were talking last week about his Facebook page and his website and a couple of things, I gave him some advice to say, Hey, Seth you gotta look at these couple of things. And one was his hero picture. You wanna show your shop in the parking lot as full. Seth Lancaster: And is very full. Jimmy Lea: And is very full. And to his credit, Seth went out immediately, took a picture and loaded it in on the Facebook. I saw, first of all, yes, but website. I haven't got it on my website yet. No. There's something on your website. I saw it. Yeah. No, I did. I did. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. I forget what I do sometimes. Jimmy Lea: Well, and that's the one that we want to cut out the gravel, 'cause I think gravel's about half your picture. Jimmy Lea: Oh yes. So cut out. Cut out the gravel. Tighten in on that left side a little bit. Yes, because it's all about the cars and that's what we want to see is all those beautiful European cars. Seth Lancaster: So that's what we do. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. European cars. European cars and I saw that on it was very obvious on your website that those are the cars you're working on because the, it was all Euro cars, so yes. Jimmy Lea: That was very cool that you did that. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Welcome to our podcast, Seth. Glad to hear we are here for round two. How about that, huh? Seth Lancaster: Oh, yeah. We had a good conversation. I wish you guys could hear it. Could have heard it. Jimmy Lea: Well, I wish they would've heared it too, Jimmy Lea: Seth. This is such an awesome industry. I love that we are in this automotive aftermarket industry. You have an absolutely fascinating story going all the way back even into Africa. You were in Africa for a while. Jimmy Lea: Yes. Jimmy Lea: Let's go back What? Rewind the clock for us. How did you get into the automotive industry? Seth Lancaster: So. It started out with a kitchen scale on my mom's bed, taking things apart. I loved doing that. At about the age of seven, my dad gave me a carburetor to take apart. And what it was one he was replacing and didn't have any need for it. And he gave it to me to have fun with and yeah. So how Jimmy Lea: many times did you take it apart and put it back together? Seth Lancaster: I took it apart. That was it. And all put it back together. Same with not that day, the kitchen scale. Same with everything else until several years later. My mom used to joke with me that I would I learned how to take things apart. And then now I finally learned to put things back together, so, oh my gosh. Seth Lancaster: That's hilarious. That's that's how it goes. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And to that point, with my wife, I, every once in a while I, she'll have a an appliance and the appliance will break and I'll buy another one to replace it. But in the meantime, I wanna take this one apart. Yeah, see if I can fix it. 'cause if I can fix it, hey, that's pretty cool. Jimmy Lea: I haven't been able to fix many here recently, so, Jimmy Lea: so Jimmy Lea: That's where start. But I do get to take 'em apart. I love taking 'em apart to see what makes it work. Seth Lancaster: Oh Jimmy Lea: yeah. And that's, I think, where your mind was going to. Seth Lancaster: That was what I did. And so I used to help my dad just, you know, he really. Seth Lancaster: He didn't enjoy working on cars, but he knew how to do it and he did it. Because paying a shop was expensive. He really taught me a whole lot though of how to maintain, how to take care of how to repair cars. I remember the first time I helped him replace an engine on a car, and so that was kind of where it started. Jimmy Lea: Wait. Hold on a second. Is dad working out of the garage? Like he's on the driveway replacing an engine Seth Lancaster: shade tree. Jimmy Lea: At home. At home, yes. Is this his side gig? Is this his main gig? Is this how he's making money for the Seth Lancaster: family? Just his own cars. Jimmy Lea: Just his own car. So dude just decided to pull an engine, got a cherry picker? Jimmy Lea: Yes. Picked out the engine. Put in a new one. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Wow, that's a school of hard knocks right there. Right. So you're helping pops in the driveway, replace an engine. Are you seven years old? Are you 12 years old? So Seth Lancaster: that was, I guess I was about eight when I helped him replace the engine. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And is that when you learned how to hold the flashlight? Right. Seth Lancaster: I don't think I, I don't think I ever learned how to do that. Right. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that, oh, that's too funny, man. That's awesome. I don't think we ever learned how to hold a flashlight. Exactly right. But we try. Seth Lancaster: I hold it for myself and that's it. Seth Lancaster: So, so this is Jimmy Lea: the, there you go. There you go. And that's the start of your automotive introduction. That was the start of it. So you're swapping engines at eight years old with dad. Seth Lancaster: Yes. So that really got me started in the love of mechanics, the love of fixing things. At the age of about five or six, my dream was to become a mechanic. Seth Lancaster: And so a lot of people talk about, you know, oh, what you dreamed of being when you were five. You know, hardly anyone ever becomes that. And here I am I'm living my dream. So through the years I worked construction many different times and learned how to do it, didn't enjoy it. I worked on my own cars. Seth Lancaster: When I would, when I turned 16 my dad had a truck with a bad engine and he said, you can have it if you can fix it. So. I swapped an engine in it and rebuilt that engine and all that stuff that was at, Jimmy Lea: oh, okay. Well, hold on a second. There's a difference between swapping an engine and you fixed the engine. Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: You fixed the engine. Seth Lancaster: Yeah, so I swapped, well, I swapped a diesel engine into a truck that was a gas, it was a Mazda pickup, and I put a Mitsubishi diesel into it. Then ended up having to rebuild that engine. So I just dove in and did it. Jimmy Lea: Dude, that's amazing. And to, to your point, I've always wanted to take a Ford Explorer and put a little four four cylinder diesel engine in it. Jimmy Lea: I always thought that would be so cool. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: And you did it. Oh my God, Seth Lancaster: I did it. I did it. And I did it a couple other times on different other vehicles as well. It was just kind of a hobby of mine. Jimmy Lea: Wow. All right. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. So then through the years I never had a job doing mechanics partly because most mechanic shops wanted actual education Jimmy Lea: certifications and Seth Lancaster: not just, you know, learning yourself and doing it yourself. Seth Lancaster: So then in 2013. 2012. I moved overseas to Africa and became a teacher teaching English as a second language there. I also took care of the missions. So I, as a missionary there, I took care of all their cars did all the repairs on them, and got to observe the. How they do it in Africa. Seth Lancaster: They would rebuild stuff. It was kind of the, you can't get it, so you have to fix it. So they would rebuild things that we would just throw away. So that was, and Jimmy Lea: rebuild things. I mean, this is like the thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. You're rebuilding starters and alternators and starters Seth Lancaster: alternators. Seth Lancaster: Really everything but. Jimmy Lea: Did you ever work on them? Old cars that had the generators on 'em instead of an alternator? Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Would you, so did you rewire, did you learn to rewire in Africa? Seth Lancaster: I didn't learn to, I just observed there, and then when I moved back or got kicked out whoa. Whoa. What? Seth Lancaster: The government of Mozambique, the country I was at in was doing some stuff that weren't, that wasn't quite honest. And they were trying to hide it from the US and the un And so any Americans that were there, they would, they were highly suspicious that they were spies. Jimmy Lea: Oh, wow. So we Seth Lancaster: got investigated as spies and, Jimmy Lea: thanksgiving Day. As missionaries. As missionaries. I mean, gosh, that's a good cover for a spy too, I guess. Yes. But anyways, no I can Seth Lancaster: understand from their side, like we had no financial reason to be there, you know? And so for them, it's like these people who are here, who aren't here to make money, where are they getting their money from kind of thing. Seth Lancaster: And why are they here? I think they're here to. See what we're doing wrong. And so Thanksgiving day 2015, we got a call from immigration and they said, you have 10 days to leave the country. Yeah, that was fun. Jimmy Lea: Oh my gosh. I mean, that ticket can't be cheap 10 days. Seth Lancaster: No. And long story, it, we ended up being there another 30 days. Jimmy Lea: Oh wow. Okay. Seth Lancaster: Because we asked them, we told 'em, Hey, 10 days is too short. Can we extend that? And the immigration head of that area said, we'll let you know. Jimmy Lea: 10 days Seth Lancaster: later, they still hadn't let us know. 30 days later, they still hadn't let us know, but we had bought our tickets. Jimmy Lea: Oh, Seth Lancaster: wow. And so, yeah, that was fun. Seth Lancaster: I got to experience how things are run in other countries and. Get all that experience. It's very interesting. Jimmy Lea: Very cool. So you came back from being a missionary Yes. Back to the United States. What? And then did you try and go find a shop that Rewinds starters alternators. Seth Lancaster: So, so that was. When I was when we knew that we were leaving I was like, okay, what am I gonna do? Seth Lancaster: What? And there was a couple different skills that I wanted to do. I wanted to learn how to rebuild starters and alternators because I had watched it being done and I wanted to be able to do that. And then I wanted to become a diesel mechanic and oh, I wanted to become a firefighter. So those are like three of the things that, oh, and I wanted to get married, so I wasn't at that point. Seth Lancaster: So anyway, I came back and yes, I became all four of those. I got married. I learned how to rebuild starters and alternators. Became a diesel mechanic and became a firefighter. Jimmy Lea: So dude, congratulations. That's four ticks and four boxes. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. So when I came back, I applied to add a diesel shop. Seth Lancaster: But they really didn't, you know, they didn't hire me and I found out later on it was because they thought that I was planning to leave again and they didn't want somebody who was part-time. But so I went and I worked at a starter and a alternated rebuilding shop. Which I really loved that I pretty quickly passed up the guy who was running it in knowledge and ability and really enjoyed doing it. Seth Lancaster: So then I guess about after a year of doing that, then I was talking with a guy who worked at the shop I had applied at and he said, yeah, we're needing a new guy and. So I went back, you raised your hand and said, Hey, send me and coach, like, hey. And he said, well, I thought you were getting ready to head back out somewhere. Seth Lancaster: I said, no I'm staying here. Says, well come in. So I went in, had an interview and got hired and that was really a very big blessing. Melvin Garber at Garber Diesel service. If he listens to that. You're a great boss. Jimmy Lea: Hey, congrats Melvin. That's freaking awesome. Seth Lancaster: How about that? Seth Lancaster: Shout out from Seth. So he's part of Auca. He was the one who got me started. Jimmy Lea: Nice. Seth Lancaster: In moca Jimmy Lea: Midwest Auto Care Alliance. Got Seth Lancaster: a little, that Midwest Auto Care Alliance. Yeah. Jimmy Lea: With Sherry Hamilton. She's awesome. Seth Lancaster: She brought us out to division. Paid for all the techs to go to Vision and to get the training that we needed. Seth Lancaster: Nice. All that kind of stuff. I was there for I think six or seven years, something like that. I don't know. Time flies. Jimmy Lea: Yes, it does. Seth Lancaster: And that was really the biggest growing point of. Learning mechanics and all that eventually. But Jimmy Lea: You were a diesel specialist really and truly. Jimmy Lea: You, you were, yes. Every diesel class, you probably took every single D class twice Seth Lancaster: Pretty close. I took a lot of the, you know, a lot of the diesel classes at vision and learned learned a lot of that and learned to enjoy electrical diagnostics. Oh, nice. That took some of the. Seth Lancaster: Picoscope classes and just realize that there is so much more to mechanics and just changing parts. I love it. So then all this time I buy and own German cars. Diesel, German diesel cars. So the Volkswagen Diesels Audi diesel and that kind of stuff. And those were my cars and found out nobody else likes to work on them. Seth Lancaster: Oh, but you do. But I do. So I'm also on the side. I was rebuilding starters and alternators. So I guess in the end of 2023, I found a building that was going up for lease. I'd kind of think, been thinking about. Going out on my own. I found a building that was going up for lease for a pretty reasonable price and decided to make the jump. Seth Lancaster: And it was not easy, but it was also just a great learning experience. And then there were several guys who were. There for me who, who really helped. I'm gonna give a shout out to Elijah McMillan. Jimmy Lea: Oh, love Elijah. He's the dude, man. Oh, he Seth Lancaster: is. He messaged me and he's like, Hey, here's some resources for you. Seth Lancaster: Here's the Changing the Industry podcast. Here's all these, listen to these podcasts. Here's these groups. Get part of these groups and really invested in me. With a lot of knowledge and told me to get Tech, tech metric and really was a big help there. Seth Lancaster: So fairly soon on in, after I started is when I got you know, I got in touch. Well, Elijah got in touch with me. We kind of seen each other in some Facebook groups. Jimmy Lea: Facebook groups. So did you meet up at Vision or was it all via Facebook? Seth Lancaster: It was all via Facebook. Oh, wow. So we had both been at Vision, but I'd never met him there. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Seth Lancaster: And so it was through a Volkswagen Diesel Facebook group. I Jimmy Lea: love it. Seth Lancaster: And so we got to talk and became friends and we'd never actually met. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: So we I met him. In person the first time. I guess it was last Vision. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: So he also got me involved in the ASOG Mastermind group. Nice. Has been, so getting involved in Auca and all that was a really big step and a very big help. Seth Lancaster: And then the mastermind group was just the whole link. Take it to the next level thing. Love Jimmy Lea: it. Yeah. And you know, with that asog group, they don't let vendors in there at all. Yep. I've tried to get in it and nope. Can't, I don't own a shop, so I'm out. I'm sorry. It's okay. I got a lot other things I need to be doing, but that's the beauty of that Asog group. Jimmy Lea: Is It is just shop owners. Yes. And so you guys have a phenomenal mastermind group there, so that's wonderful. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. So that's been a, it's been a, just an amazing experience and so much help. And those guys will tell you things that are hard Yeah. To push you forward. One example was, my shop is too small and. Seth Lancaster: I didn't have any lift when I joined. I had no lift. Oh. So I was just doing everything with Jack and Jack stands and you know, and creep kinda sketchy stuff. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. You were on creepers? Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. It was, Seth Lancaster: you know, it worked. Jimmy Lea: It worked, Seth Lancaster: but it wasn't ideal. Correct. So the one day I was talking with Adam Wrath in the part of the mastermind group, and he said, why don't you have a lift? Seth Lancaster: You know, here's why. And this building really isn't ideal for a lift. The floor isn't quite level and it's like, if you think about it, the cost of a lift, you will make more than the cost of the lift just in the increase in efficiency. So, Jimmy Lea: so true. So true, dude. Okay. Seth Lancaster: I went on marketplace and found one. Seth Lancaster: Thank you, Adam. I went in Marketplace and found a brand new lift that a guy was selling. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: And put it in. And it was absolutely true that week. That week it paid for itself two or three times. Jimmy Lea: Shut up. Are you serious? Seth Lancaster: I am serious in the increase in ability to get things done. Jimmy Lea: Oh, dude, that's rad. Seth Lancaster: And so Jimmy Lea: You're in this small two bay, correct? Yes. Okay. Keep going. Seth Lancaster: So that, that really just gave me the ability to move to where I'm at now. I'm now in a five Bay facility. I have two techs and that's, and you're Jimmy Lea: the service advisor Seth Lancaster: Well. I've got a lot of hats. Jimmy Lea: Uhhuh. Yeah, you are. So you're the service advisor, the shop foreman, the parts ordering, the parts returns, the bookkeeper, the shop owner, as well as the tech and Yeah, I was gonna add you're the Seth Lancaster: diagnostician, the di yeah. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. So, Jimmy Lea: dude, that's awesome. And you know, there's pe I've seen it said here quite recently that. That there are coaching companies out there that are saying, oh no, you just need to work on your business. I think there's a time and a season for everything. There's a time and a season where you have to wear multiple hats. Jimmy Lea: You, you can't afford to be able to hire somebody to do all the things that you have to do at this time. There will come a time where you are able to have an advisor and that advisor, and you probably are gonna add a third technician. Yes. To have three full-time technicians and then you become the gopher. Seth Lancaster: Yep. That's kind of, that's kind of the goal. So that kind of brings over, brings me over to what are my, you know, what my goals are. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: So I've been in this five bay shop for two, three weeks. I dunno, time flies. I guess the first, the 1st of November was when I moved in. Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. It was November 1st. Jimmy Lea: It's the 25th year. Year three and a half weeks, man. Yeah. Oh, congrats. Okay. It was going on a month. Seth Lancaster: Going on a month. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: And so Seth Lancaster: my eventual goal is to be able to set in motion, set in place, you know, people who can be here and run the place while I'm gone. That way like. If I don't if I have something else, the shop keeps, you know, Jimmy Lea: keeps going, staying Seth Lancaster: open. Sure. There's somebody there. Stuff's getting done right now as an owner, if I'm not there, it's closed. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Well, and work on your SOPs. Standard operating procedures, document everything. How you open the shop, how you close the shop, what to do if this breaks, what to do if that breaks even to the simplest and easiest lube oil filter. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Document everything so that when you're not there, the technicians don't have to guess. Jimmy Lea: They know that there's a process and a procedure for everything. Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: Okay, cool. Seth Lancaster: Good for you. I started working on that. Jimmy Lea: Nice. Yes. Oh, and bro it will never, ever be done. This is a living document. That you will continuously add to and develop and bring on more. In fact, I just did a webinar or a podcast with a gentleman that was developing his, and he's like 65 different SOPs into it. Jimmy Lea: Uhhuh says to his team, he says, Hey, look, listen guys you guys are my betas. I'm testing this out on you guys. I need to know, does this make sense? Does it work? Is it written right? Yes. And what can we do to improve it? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And I tell you, the beauty of what he's doing is getting not just the buy-in of his group, his technicians and his shop. Jimmy Lea: It's becoming their company, their culture, the way that they do business. So even though it's on you to do it, you can enlist all of your technicians to help out as well? Yes. Do. That's awesome. Oh yeah. That's awesome. So you're in the five bay now? Yes. Been there for three or four weeks. Yes. Been there since the beginning of November, 2025. Jimmy Lea: And you already have a full parking lot, so all Yes, very full. So are you just, are you working on all euros or just the diesel, euros. All euros. Seth Lancaster: I kind of specialize in the diesel euros but. I do all of them. So whether it's Volkswagen, Audi Porsche, Mercedes, BMW Jimmy Lea: which car is your favorite to work on? Seth Lancaster: I would say that would be the well, it's the family of cars, so the Porsche, cayenne Volkswagen, Tourig and Audi Q seven. So those are kind of the same, like all three. The Jimmy Lea: same look, make like the same Seth Lancaster: Yeah. They're basically the same car. Just perfect. Different package, Jimmy Lea: different badges on 'em. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. So I really enjoy working on those and so guys will come from quite a ways to have me work on theirs. Wow, congrats. Because not many people, Seth Lancaster: The furthest I've had a guy come was from from Los Angeles, California. Jimmy Lea: From California to Missouri? Seth Lancaster: Yes. And with him, I'll say he was a retired guy. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Seth Lancaster: And the Audi dealer, ne near him, didn't really wanna work on it. And he had them do work before and they couldn't figure it out. Seth Lancaster: And so he drove from there. Into, you know, here to Missouri, got an Airbnb in a rental car and just, you know, had fun, chilled and hang, hung out at the lake. Jimmy Lea: Dude just hung out until you fixed his car. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: Oh, and by the way, how did he drive it? It must not have had drivability issues. Seth Lancaster: Yeah, so it, it had a coolant leak and it wasn't a severe coolant leak. Seth Lancaster: Which it's a very common issue on them. They start to leak. Coolant from the valley area and for the first while, it'll be about a quart every 5,000 miles. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Seth Lancaster: And then eventually it'll get worse and cause more problems, but, Jimmy Lea: okay. So what's the fix, Seth? How do you, what do you Seth Lancaster: do? Seth Lancaster: Replace everything. Jimmy Lea: Oh, shut up. Are you serious? You have to replace Seth Lancaster: Not necessarily. So there's some plastic. Plastic coolant, fla, flanges that whoever thought plastic should go in the cooling system, I don't know, heat. Or they shouldn't. I don't know. I have opinions about that. They Jimmy Lea: shouldn't be in the design work. Jimmy Lea: Have you seen the radiators with the sidewalls that are plastic? Yep. What, who thought of this as a good idea? That's cool. All the plastics, like, so anyway, so you read, are you gonna redesign these plastic bits and pieces and make it a metal? Seth Lancaster: Yes. So I have a guy who makes metal ones. Seth Lancaster: And so it's much better. Oh dude, that's awesome. Metal pieces in there and otherwise, you know, then there's, I'm replacing the oil cooler and the several flanges, several hoses. There's, you know. And the biggest thing is just cleaning out all of the mess that is inside, inside there. So, ah, I've done a lot of them. Seth Lancaster: It, Jimmy Lea: Seth, is it because of all the plastic bits and pieces that it just clogs up that coolant? Seth Lancaster: Yeah, so that's part of it. Oh damn. Coolant has to be changed every once in a while and flushed. A lot of people don't do that as well, Jimmy Lea: so, yeah. No, it, yeah. That, it's unfortunate. They think, well, it drives. Jimmy Lea: Yep, Seth Lancaster: yep. Jimmy Lea: It's working, so I can still go. Seth Lancaster: Right. Oh my Jimmy Lea: gosh. Wow. Seth Lancaster: That's how it goes. Jimmy Lea: So you're into the five A now. What is the future, Seth? Where are you, what's your three year, five year tenure? What does that look like for you? Seth Lancaster: Yeah, so the three year I think would be. I wanna get it set up so that I don't have to be here. Seth Lancaster: So that if I'm working on cars, it's just because I want to. Yeah. Get a team set up, get a team, you know, in place to be able to manage and run the business. I wanna still be here, but I wanna be here because I wanna be here. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Seth Lancaster: I have a wife. She has some health issues and. So I, I wanna be able to be there for her and be there for my kids as they're growing up and that kind of stuff. Jimmy Lea: Totally agree. Yeah. 'cause the kids are gonna start having performances and sporting events and outings and concerts and, oh, yeah. Oh my gosh, dude. You name it. And if they get onto any touring. Sports teams, which my son did. We were a touring baseball team. There were quite a few years that every weekend was a different city, a different town, a different place, and hopefully we had family in the nearby location. Jimmy Lea: 'cause that's a lot of hotels. It gets very expensive very quickly. Seth Lancaster: Oh yeah. Jimmy Lea: Well good for you. And my Seth Lancaster: wife wants horses, so. Jimmy Lea: Oh, that's more expensive than kids Seth Lancaster: your wife wants. So horses, I think it's more expensive than cars as well. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Get her a good motorcycle. And there Seth Lancaster: you Jimmy Lea: go. There you go. You don't have to. Jimmy Lea: I don't know. I'm a Seth Lancaster: firefighter. I see the, I see what happens to motorcycles. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Get her a quad or a side by side. Get a razor maybe. Seth Lancaster: There you go. There you go. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. You don't have to feed it as much. Right. And you don't have to shovel up after it either. Yeah. My mother had horses up her whole entire life, but that was a different time where horses were much more of a a very large pet rather than. Jimmy Lea: A human and a half. Seth Lancaster: Yes. Yep. Jimmy Lea: What kind of horses does she like? Seth Lancaster: Expensive ones. Jimmy Lea: Ah, so the Arabians. Seth Lancaster: So really she likes the like the ones is not necessarily the breed, Seth Lancaster: The confirmation's very much about the confirmation and. How they behave and how their stature is. And a lot of times those are the most expensive ones. Seth Lancaster: So, but quarter horses in Tennessee Walkers. But she likes the really nice ones. Jimmy Lea: Nice. Grandpa had quarter horses here in southern Utah for quite a while as well. My dad got a painted a Pinto. Okay. Dad bought a Pinto and it threw him, he had to get right back up on that horse. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. I had that happen. Seth Lancaster: I had one land on top of me. Jimmy Lea: Ooh, that's, that, Seth Lancaster: that Jimmy Lea: can Seth Lancaster: hurt it. It did it, it took me really until the last the last couple years to actually want to ride horses and be fine with it. A lot of it is I've been building up my strength as far as physically, and I found that really helps a lot when you're riding horses because, you know, you feel more in control when you have the ability to, you know, to move and to have the core strength and everything. Jimmy Lea: Oh, yeah. And being on top of a horse is not like riding a motorcycle. It's like two times a motorcycle. You are way up there. Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: At least it feels like it. Seth Lancaster: Yep. So I lost control of one. It ran off and ended up tripping and flipping over on top of me. And it was a miracle that I didn't die. Seth Lancaster: It was I think it wasn't God's time for me to die, but Jimmy Lea: yeah. God angels looking out for you, brother. Seth Lancaster: It landed on top of me and I felt like an old man for a long time. 15 when that happened. So, Jimmy Lea: dang dude. Wow. Yeah. You were young. That was a, that's a long time ago. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: And you write, are you calling me Seth Lancaster: old now? Jimmy Lea: So no, ri riding horses is a very physically demanding. It is. It is hobby and you've got to have that core strength because if you are not in control, the horse will take advantage. Oh yeah, that's for sure. Oh, that's good. Well, that'd be a great hobby for you in the future as well. That's phenomenal. Jimmy Lea: Are you going to expand? Do you want to have a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth location or, I don't think I Seth Lancaster: wanna have a, another location. I think my eventual goal is going to be to have a bigger location of my own. Jimmy Lea: So like a eight Bay, 10 Bay, 12 Bay single location, something like that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Optimize it. You're doing five, that one, five, 6 million a year. Seth Lancaster: I'll probably have it built and I wanna own that that way it's, you know, that way I can decide how I want it and, you know, have it set up like that. Jimmy Lea: Dude, congrats man. That's gonna be awesome. That's gonna be awesome. It will. So this next year, are you headed out to Vision? Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: You taking the shop? Yes. Okay. We gotta make sure we connect. Say hello. I will. That'll be awesome. Vision any other trade shows, conferences on your horizon that you're looking at? Seth Lancaster: There's plenty on the horizon. I'll see how close the horizon gets to me. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. See if we can afford the horizon. Seth Lancaster: Right. No, it's the biggest thing, the most difficult thing is just the time of going out there. And with the stage that my kids are at right now, it's hard on them when I leave, you know, it's hard on them, on in, on my wife when I'm gone for very long. They're also at the point where they don't really enjoy the waiting around and, you know, the, you know, not having something to do. Seth Lancaster: You know, Jimmy Lea: they don't enjoy the idle time. Seth Lancaster: And my wife hasn't been feeling well enough, at least in the past, to be able to go out and, you know, go to the park and that kind of stuff with them. So, Jimmy Lea: ah, that's tough. That's tough. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. It's tough, but Jimmy Lea: well bring them back. All the tchotchkes from the vision trade show, the pens, the markers the squeezy balls. Jimmy Lea: The Oh yeah. The fidget spinners, the guitar picks. Bring back one of each for each of the kids. Seth Lancaster: Oh, yeah. They enjoy that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. That makes it a little bit more enjoyable. I remember my dad way back in the day, he built gas stations in Las Vegas. I think he probably at one point had built half of all the lo all the gas stations in Vegas. Seth Lancaster: Really? Jimmy Lea: Yeah. And he would go to these trade shows in Dallas, Texas. He just loved Dallas, Texas, Uhhuh. And when he would come back home, he would always have all the pens and the hot wheels and the. The cars and all these things that he would give to us as kids. And it was like, okay, dad. Yeah. You can go to car. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yeah. This is cool. Okay. Oh, dice. Dice was a good thing way back in the day playing cars, that they were playing cards that would have different gas fuel trucks on 'em and things like that. I mean, just way back in the day it was a lot of fun, man. It was really, Seth Lancaster: no, I bet those, I bet some of those have some value to 'em now. Jimmy Lea: Well, if we hadn't played 'em to death, they probably would. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. Yep. That's kind of how it goes. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Yep. And that's the beauty of it. We had fun with our toys and we play with our toys rather than having a, an altar. Yes. Yeah. So, Seth, you've been through a lot over the last two years. Jimmy Lea: Two years, right? Yes. Two years. You've been out on your own. Just about, there's a lot of learning that has happened, a lot of speed bumps that you've gone over, mountains you've climbed. If you were to start your business today, what advice would you give yourself today as you're starting your business? Seth Lancaster: Get a network of guys. So like a, whether it's a mastermind group or other business owners that are going to lift you up and help you out. And then I think I said it, I said a different thing last time, but the other thing that I would've started off with first is get deposits on jobs. Jimmy Lea: Oh, big jobs. If it's over big jobs, a certain amount you're getting in half up front. Seth Lancaster: Yep. And I didn't do that to start with, and that caused so much stress in my life. Jimmy Lea: Oh, amen. Yeah. That bites you in the butt, doesn't it? Seth Lancaster: Yep. Jimmy Lea: How many times did you have to do that before you learned your lesson? Seth Lancaster: I don't remember. Jimmy Lea: More than one. Right. No, really Seth Lancaster: It was more than one. Jimmy Lea: It was more than one. So mine I learned a $17,000 lesson, and here's the lesson I share with you. You have to get it in writing. Jimmy Lea: Yep. Jimmy Lea: You have to get it in writing. I had a $17,000 deposit down on buying a. An apartment complex. It was like a eight or nine unit apartment complex. Jimmy Lea: Wow. And it was just taking me a minute to get the funding put together to be able to get it done. Well, we had a 90 day window, came to the end of 90 days, and I was like, oh my gosh, you guys. No, look, I'm almost there. I'm almost there. I'm almost there. And the verbal and no. You're okay. Jimmy Lea: Take another, you know, take another week. Take another two weeks. Yeah. No we're good. Well, I came back three weeks later and I said, all right, I've got everything. We're all lined up. And they're like, oh, no, you're done. We took your deposit. Thank you very much. If you want to put in another deposit and do it again, we're ready to go. Seth Lancaster: Oh, no. Jimmy Lea: And I was like, oh, shut up. Yeah. That was a very hard lesson to learn, but a good lesson to, to learn that it has to be in writing. If it's not in writing. Yes. It didn't happen. Yes. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: So that's my $17,000 lesson. I'm sure you've got your own lessons of more than thousands of dollars that you had to learn on. Seth Lancaster: Yeah, I think the biggest was just the whole stress, you know? And don't take on jobs that are bigger than what you can do. I thankfully. Today got rid of one. That had been one of those lessons. Ooh. Jimmy Lea: Ended up never ending story. Seth Lancaster: I ended up buying it from the customer, buying the car from the customer. Jimmy Lea: Ooh. Seth Lancaster: And I sold it this morning, finally. Jimmy Lea: Oh, congratulations. Seth Lancaster: And it was every time I looked at it. At first, it was like, I don't even wanna see the thing. I don't wanna like, I don't wanna have, that's ptsd, TSD. Jimmy Lea: Yes. And then Seth Lancaster: In the last week, I started realizing, no, this is lessons don't do that. Seth Lancaster: And so that, that was, you know, one of my, one of my, I guess it was one of my first jobs in the shop and. I didn't have the equipment for it. I didn't have the space, I didn't have the knowledge. Oh. And I learned that the hard way that book times are way off, Seth Lancaster: but Yep, it was a lesson. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Do you know how they get those book times, by the way? Seth Lancaster: So, my understanding is that they have. Somebody do the job a certain amount of times, five times on a new car, and average the amount of times or average the time. Jimmy Lea: Yep. And they're in a pristine environment, in a beautifully kept environment where all the tools are laid out. Jimmy Lea: It's simple and easy, and they just get faster and faster every single time. And Seth Lancaster: all auto shops are like that. Jimmy Lea: Yeah. Right. Not, no, they're not, they yeah. It's not a fair representation of rust. Yes. Wear and tear of bolts that break off that you've gotta tap and pull. Yeah. It's a fair representation of an actual shop and working on an actual vehicle. Jimmy Lea: And those book times, they should be updated and updated as the car gets older. Those times should be, oh, yeah, out. We need to add, so to protect yourself, add in. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. I have the Jimmy Lea: 15% labor matrix, Seth Lancaster: 20% with the multiplier. Jimmy Lea: Good. Seth Lancaster: And it definitely has helped. Well, with the mastermind group, we're actually looking at. Seth Lancaster: At our numbers and comparing and seeing, you know, and that has been a very good thing to do, just to have and to see like, what did I do this week? Seth Lancaster: Why are my nu, why are my numbers terrible? Okay, let me look at that and then learn from that. And next week, let's do it better. Jimmy Lea: Next, next week we'll make better choices. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. And so it's kind of been a, it's kind of been a really good thing. To actually just watch the numbers and it's hard as a new business owner, like everything is pressing and so you don't get, you know, you don't do the things that you should and you don't pay attention to the numbers and you just keep on going. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. And. That whole busy thing, like just keep pushing, keep working harder, and no, that doesn't work. Jimmy Lea: No. Let's put a little mental thought into this. Let's work smarter Seth Lancaster: rather Jimmy Lea: than harder. Seth Lancaster: So part of that is I actually dropped down to 4 10, 4 10 hour days instead of doing five days a week. Jimmy Lea: Okay. Seth Lancaster: I did that while I was still out on my own. And it has really helped actually my. My numbers stayed the same or went up. Jimmy Lea: Congratulations. Seth Lancaster: And my, and that was just myself. My stress level went down. My relationship with my wife went up, my relationship with my kids went up. So it was just really an all around win. Seth Lancaster: So that, that would be the other thing I would tell myself is just do four days, four 10 hour days. Because I think a lot of people, as shop owners would also know and agree with this, that it's really hard to just be eight hours at a shop. Jimmy Lea: Oh, Seth Lancaster: yeah. 'cause it's just one more Jimmy Lea: thing. Oh, always. Always. It's just one more thing. Jimmy Lea: Oh, I almost have it put back together. I al I'm just almost done. 15 minutes. 15 minutes becomes a half hour, 45 minutes. It's an hour. Yep. Just you just blink and Shazam, here's another hour. Yep. Yeah, no, that's so true, man. Seth Lancaster: So that's the other thing I really, that really helped just to be able to, and people are like why are, you know, why are you closed on Fridays? Seth Lancaster: Because I can, Jimmy Lea: yeah. Seth Lancaster: I mean, yeah, they still try to call. They can leave a message. Jimmy Lea: They can leave a message and they can tow it in. They can drop it off. They, do you have a, do you have a key Dropbox? Seth Lancaster: I have a Dropbox in pickup box. Bingo. One of the greatest investments I got. Jimmy Lea: Oh yeah. Seth Lancaster: One of those the, yeah. Seth Lancaster: Whatever brand it is that stainless steel. Yep. Fort Knox type box. Love it. Oh man. It has been a very good investment. Jimmy Lea: Oh, for sure. That is phenomenal. Because now even with 'cause you're on tech metric, you can Yep. Text the customer. Text the client. They can pay for all the whole entire bill right from their cell phone. Jimmy Lea: So they're done. They paid for it. You're like, oh, thank you very much. Your keys are in box number two. The code is da. Seth Lancaster: Yes. Jimmy Lea: Swing by Anytime it's ready for you. It's here. You pick it up. We're closing. It's yep. Six o'clock we're out. Yep. And the clients let me tell you from my point of view, I love it. Seth Lancaster: Yeah. Jimmy Lea: There was a time period of almost 6, 7, 8 years that I did not go into the shop because I couldn't, I would drop the car off the night before. They would work on it that day if they needed it for another day or two or three, but that's fine. Yeah. But I wasn't coming to get it until after work, and they were long gone. Jimmy Lea: It was dark and I'm picking it up, but yeah. Oh my gosh. What I love love. Key drop boxes and pickup boxes. Those are really cool. Seth Lancaster: Very nice. Yep. Jimmy Lea: Very cool. All right. Cool man. Well, Seth, I look forward to seeing you at Vision for this year and many years into the future. I look forward to seeing your success as well, both professionally and with your family. Congratulations. Seth Lancaster: Thank you. Jimmy Lea: Alright, brother. We'll talk to you soon, man.