"To be honest, I'm not the most organized person," he said. "I'm the dreamer. I'm not the details guy. But what I lack is what I went out and found. I hire those kind of people and hold them accountable for what they're supposed to do."

His awareness of his own strengths and his ability to hire those who can help him achieve his vision for the business appear to have paid off. What started as a detailing business in a two-stall garage has grown to an 18-employee business with $2 million in annual sales and some significant growth plans.

In October, for example, construction began on a 4,000-square-foot addition to the 10,000-square-foot shop.

"We have a new big direct repair program supposed to start this fall," Boulton said, a reason for the expansion. He said the shop currently participates in more than a dozen insurer direct repair programs (DRPs)-–including six of the top seven insurers-–that account for between 60 and 70 percent of the shop's work.

"You're either going to advertise to get your work or you're going to give a little bit of a discount (through DRPs)," he said. "I think the bottom line about equals out."

Boulton also expects to attract more auto dealer referrals with the opening this fall of a second 10,000-square-foot shop just five miles away but in the heart of the community's Auto Row. He said he expects to hire new employees to staff the new shop but will most likely shuttle work between the locations.

"At least at first we're going to keep this the heavy-hit shop and start out there just doing lighter hits," he said. The new shop will have a similar office area to the one updated in recent years at the company's first location.

"This has worked really well for us because it has a homey, 'come in and sit down and let's talk about it' atmosphere," Boulton said.

He also is working to make the new location as green as possible through such things as high-efficiency lighting. He said he plans to equip the shop much like the current shop, which has two Chief EZ Liner frame racks and a Chief Velocity measuring system, a Garmat paint booth and four Clean Shop prep stations (three of which are downdraft), a Spectratek infrared lighting unit, a Snap-on refrigerant recovery and recycling unit, MillerMatic and Lincoln MIG welders, and a system not yet found in many shops called an Exhausted Air Recycling System, or EARS.

"It allows us to recycle the air from our air tools," Boulton said, showing how a retrofit on the tool allows a second line to be attached to recirculate the air. "When you're taking new air in, you're taking in moisture and dirt so you have to clean it and dry it.

"Now we're taking that clean, dry air and running it back for reuse," he said. "It reduces the noise. It reduces the moisture in the air lines. And it saves us energy costs by cutting compressor usage. I was so impressed with this thing that I bought the rights to sell it in the Midwest."

Boulton said the shop has used DuPont paint for about seven years, finding it very "user-friendly." About four years ago, he said, he added the DuPont ProfitNet shop management system.

"If I could change one thing, I would have gotten that management system a lot sooner," he said. "Knowledge is power, and with shrinking profit margins in the industry, there's no room for error. You have to be at the top of your game.

"The management system helps us run the shop by the numbers and be proactive instead of reactive," he said. "Like with cycle time. We always thought we were doing a good job with our cycle time. But with the management system, we started to pull the numbers and it was a real eye-opening. You get to see what you're actually doing versus what you think you're doing.

"That awareness helped us become more organized, get a plan together before we start the day, and get a lot of jobs out a day or two sooner."

Unlike some shop owners, Boulton said he doesn't foresee difficulty in finding technicians to staff his growing business.
"Knock on wood, we don't have that problem," he said. "We stay really busy so people want to come to work here."

He said shop benefits such as  health care coverage (including dental and vision) and a recently added 401(k) retirement program also help attract and retain employees. The shop also works to improve working conditions through such things as an interior estimating bay, heated floors in the shop, and the reduced noise provided by the air recycling system, he said.

Boulton said that in addition to hiring the right people, the other thing that has benefited his business has been his ability to see and respond to the direction the industry is taking.

"If I could point to any one good decision, it was not trying to fight the system but learning how to work with the system," he said. "You can either fight it or you can get on board. I've always said, give me the rules and I'll learn how to play the game."

At the same time, however, a slogan he used in his company's first phone directory ad is one he still includes on his business cards and still lives by.  "We'd rather explain the price than apologize for the quality," that slogan reads.