Sallas said he moved his business forward when he moved out of the shop and into the office.

"It was a huge transition going from a tech to a shop owner," he said. "My tech rolled my toolbox into the back room and told me that I didn't need to come out there anymore because they had it handled. It was kind of like hanging up my tools."

Working on the business rather than in the business was the most profitable business decision Sallas said he has made.

"When you are involved in the day-to-day operations of the business, it is real hard to grow the business, but when you can work on growing the business by looking over the profits and losses, and figure out how to get new customers in, then I think you can successfully run one of these businesses."

The transition was not easy for Sallas, who has been turning wrenches since the early 1980s. Initially, he said he started busting tires for Goodyear, who eventually sent him to Sacramento for drivability training, an area that became his specialty. 
Following his stint with Goodyear, he said he worked as a technician for a Honda and Chevrolet dealer, where he furthered his education in diagnostics and drivability before opening his own two-bay shop in 1992.

In 1996, Sallas said he had outgrown the shop, so he moved to his current location, a three-acre lot on which he built a 7,000-square-foot shop with 11 Rotary lifts and a Hunter alignment machine, purchased from both Myers Brothers and NAPA's tool and equipment division. He said five technicians work at the shop along with one service adviser.

Growth for Sallas Auto Repair continued in 2005, when Sallas said he decided to open a second shop in Overland Park, Kan., a two-bay, 2,000-square-foot shop with one technician, one porter, and one service adviser.

"You have to have good people below you," he said. "My crew here and at my Overland Park store is great. I am blessed in that area. We had a record month in January for our 14 years in business. I think that is from the guys doing a good job and me just leaving them alone."

Rather than overseeing everything his technicians do, Sallas said he has discovered that his technicians are more productive when he trusts them and lets them do their job.

"When you get good employees, they want to make you proud and do you a good job if you leave them alone," he said. "When you are always on them trying to change things, it becomes an issue." 

 
Although Sallas primarily focuses on running the business, he said he still stays up to date on all his ASE certifications, reads trade publications, and helps diagnose vehicles when his assistance is needed.

 
"My background is drivability; of course, now that I have been running the business, I am a little rusty on that, but I still get out in the shop and try to stay current," he said. "I like to stay abreast of everything so if there is an issue, I can help the guys out in the shop."

Sallas said his shops excel on diagnosing drivability issues, and he keeps them up to date with all the necessary tools including a Snap-on Modis, GM Tech 2, Hickok Star Tester, OTC Genisys, Sun 450 engine analyzer, and access to Identifix. In all, he said he has spent about $35,000 in diagnostic equipment.

"We also use a drivability sheet that everyone goes by to keep everyone in line and following the same path," he said. I think a lot of these guys when they are doing drivability, they are looking too deep and forget the basics, and the sheet is to keep them focused on the basics."

Sallas said he recently purchased a portable laptop for PCM reflashing, a Chrysler DRB II diagnostic scanner, and VAG COM software for diagnostics on Volvos and Volkswagens because of an increase in work on European cars. 

 
The latest investment at Sallas Auto Service however is not in scan tools, but instead in Technician Chris Sacarello, who Sallas said he enrolled in a one-year automotive training program at Johnson County Community College and paid for it. 

 
"I am trying to grow my technicians the way I want and get them the skills they need to be successful in this field," he said.

"When (Chris) is in school Monday through Wednesday, he gets an hourly wage, and he is required to work here Thursday and Friday." 

Sallas said this is the first time he has tried something of this nature and hopes that it produces a loyal employee that will have the necessary knowledge to make a great technician.

Sallas said he also puts on some training including a women's clinic twice a year and also a lunch-and-learn for corporations in the area.

The women's clinics started nine years ago because Sallas said he saw too many women being taken advantage of due to a lack of knowledge about their cars. The class, available for 20 women, takes place on a Saturday mornings from 9-12. Sallas said he and his technicians go through a flow chart explaining everything on the women's cars.

"We teach them about ABS brakes, how to check the air in their tires, and what a CV boot is," he said, "so if they go into a repair shop and somebody tells them they have a torn CV boot, they can go out and look at it and recognize it."

Sallas said he and his wife also do a lunch-and-learn for corporate executives to educate them about their vehicles, which often times leads to attendees bringing their vehicles to his shop.

"We gain a lot of customers off of it, but there are a lot of the people that don't come to my shop, and I am fine with that," he said. "If I can go out and educate the public, the better it is for the whole automotive industry."