The Challenge

In early 2020, I had the pleasure of starting to work on a project with Bedford Wheels. They are a well established, family-run car garage serving the local community in and around the town. When I met them in January of that year they were frustrated. Despite the business being really busy, despite the fantastic, long serving, customers they had, and despite everyone working really hard, the reality was they were stuck.

They knew they needed to digitise their systems but weren't sure where to start and also didn't have the time to dedicate to it to get it right, so they bought in our expertise to give them the clarity and guidance they needed to adapt and get growing again.

Three months into the transformation programme, crisis hit. The world went into shutdown as the pandemic was announced and the virus spread. We now had the challenge of adapting to this new environment, whilst continuing the transformation programme in a way that supported the business both in the moment, and ensured it was resilient and future-ready too.

Our Approach

Working as a dedicated transformation partner, I supported Bedford Wheels in navigating both the immediate crisis and building long-term resilience. To do this we focused heavily on three key areas:

1) Digitisation of their operations with new software systems and integration into back-office processes. This was the immediate challenge and sticking point so this is where we started. By solving the bottleneck, it meant we could then move on to focus on the areas required for long-term, sustainable growth.

2) Worked with the family on sustainable strategy. This included building an understanding of where they were, and where they wanted the business to go in the future. What was important and why? Perhaps unsurprisingly, relationships with customers came out on top here and we worked to make sure that this was maximised by taking on two part time team members to run the day to day operations. This freed up the owner's time to spend chatting with customers, building and strengthening relationships.

3) Identified key operations to improve efficiencies . Once we had the foundations in place, we worked closely together to implement new practices that enabled the business to achieve its goals in the short term, and move them along their journey to long term growth. Using the do, review, adjust, cycle we embedded growth mindset techniques in the team to enable them to continue developing once the programme had ended.

The Results

• 50% increase in daily turnover during peak periods
• Improved efficiency and smoother day-to-day operations
• Future-proof systems and a confident, capable team
• Continued growth and success well beyond the pandemic

TLDR

Not only did Bedford Wheels survive 2020 - they flourished. We created an adaptable, resilient, and future-ready business, and today, they continue to thrive with confidence and clarity.