THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 3, 1995 TAG: 9507010680
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JASON HIDALGO, BUSINESS WEEKLY
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 132 lines
Looking for the owner of Terry's Auto Repair? Don't look for a burly man in greasy overalls. Heck, don't even look for Terry. Instead, look for a tall woman with long, curly brown hair, Amy Ulrich.
``I used the name `Terry' for my business because people won't go to an auto repair shop with a girl's name on it,'' Ulrich said. ``Even I won't go to an auto repair shop with a girl's name on it.''
Ulrich herself didn't know that much about fixing cars. She didn't even know if she had what it took to run a business - any kind of business.
She did know one thing. It never hurts to try.
While Americans dream about starting their own business, most stop well short of launching a venture, scared off by their limited knowledge of the field. Then there are the determined sorts compelled by the very idea. They're people like Amy Ulrich.
``Setting up a small business was something I've always wanted to do,'' Ulrich said. ``But I never really thought I'd try. Then the opportunity came along and I thought, `If I don't do it now, I'll never know if I can do it.' ''
Ulrich doesn't look anything like a mechanic. A nicely pressed black dress takes the place of the greasy overalls and fashionable high heels replace the oil-stained black shoes.
Before starting Terry's Auto Repair, Ulrich, 30, worked two jobs to make ends meet.
She did data entry for defense contractor Seacor (a job she has kept) and worked as a supervisor for a retailer, the Sports Authority.
``Now I didn't know anything about sports either,'' Ulrich said. ``But I didn't let that stop me.''
Although starting a small business had always been on her mind, Ulrich said, she wasn't sure exactly what type of business to start.
That decision eventually became easier, compliments of a sluggish, slipping, front-end vibrating '87 Plymouth Duster.
``I've had so many repairs done to that car,'' she said, mentioning the timing belt, clutch and wheel bearings. ``I've been sent here, there and everywhere.''
One day she drove the Duster to Brothers Auto Repair in Chesapeake.
``I found out that he wanted to sell his business,'' Ulrich said, referring to shop co-owner Richard Brothers. ``I was presented with an opportunity and I went for it.''
Ulrich pooled her resources and borrowed money from family. With about $5,000, she bought the shop in April.
Although she knew little about the auto repair business, Ulrich didn't let that faze her.
``I've tried to get around that by hiring mechanics who know the business,'' Ulrich said. ``I'm learning a lot about the technical aspects of the business from them, but it's a slow process.''
Right now, Ulrich is concentrating on familiar chores, such as the books and paperwork.
Ulrich said she has an associate degree in business administration at Tidewater Community College but never obtained a four-year degree because of her two jobs.
``I'm planning to eventually get back to school and get a degree,'' she said. ``I'd like to finish something that will tie into this business.''
A small, crumpled metal sign dangles by the roadside, marking the driveway to the repair shop, a faded yellow building made of galvanized sheet metal simmering under the glare of a June sun. Asphalt scents the air.
Three mechanics work inside, their clothes stained from the greasy parts on the oil-stained floor.
``Do you want something to drink?'' asks one of the mechanics, his reddened face dotted by little beads of sweat and swathed with grease. Sewn to his shirt is a name tag, ``Terry.''
``Yes, I'm Terry,'' he said with a smile, as if a great enigma had been solved. ``I'm the guy the shop's been named after.''
Terry Spry works as the repair shop's manager, overseeing its daily operations.
``I've been around cars ever since I was 6 years old,'' Spry said, recalling how he watched his grandfather fix cars.
Spry actually worked for the shop's original owner, and repaired Ulrich's Duster.
Occasionally, customers are baffled by the prospect of an auto repair shop headed by a woman.
``Some men have asked me, `How do you work for a woman?' or `How can a woman head an auto repair shop?' ''
Spry likes working for Ulrich because of the freedom she gives him and the other mechanics.
``She just lets us do what we have to do,'' Spry said. ``She'll drop by occasionally after her other job to see how we're doing but she doesn't breathe behind our necks.''
Like most small businesses, Terry's Auto Repair faces bigger competitors. Spry dismisses the competition.
``It's easy to compete against the big chain auto repair shops because their prices are outrageous,'' Spry said.
``Amy allows customers to bring their own parts and they like that. They know what they're getting and they know what's going in their car.''
If a customer can't get hold of a particular part, Terry's orders it and sells it at the original price.
Relying largely on word-of-mouth, Terry's Auto Repair has built a customer base of about 250 people, 60 percent of whom are women, Spry said.
Ulrich's woes with her Duster led her to mistrust the repair business, and influenced the way her shop operates, Spry said.
A mechanic once insisted she needed a new carburetor. When she asked at Brother's Auto Repair, Spry told her the car merely needed a tune-up.
``There's a lot of mistrust in this business,'' Spry said. The key for success, he said, is to gain people's trust. ``Once you gain that trust, you'll notice that people will keep coming back.''
Sitting inside a small office decorated with posters of car-part suppliers and a big, pouting orange cat with the words ``I AM in a good mood,'' Ulrich is planning her shop's expansion.
``The first thing in my mind right now is getting a bigger garage,'' Ulrich said. ``I'm actually considering getting a small business loan.''
Ulrich started advertising this week, a sign that business has picked up a bit. ``Back when we started, we couldn't even afford advertising,'' Ulrich said.
She also felt comfortable enough to quit her job at the retail store.
However, the business still has a long ways to go.
``The money actually just keeps circulating back,'' Ulrich said. ``Sometimes, I even put money from my other job in.''
Ulrich said she expected this. The biggest mistake the previous owner made was thinking about starting a new business ``as a get rich quick scheme.''
``Right now the only thing I'm thinking about is, can I do it?'' Ulrich said. ``The money will come soon enough.''
One of the important things in starting a small business is to not be intimidated, Ulrich said.
``Turn that intimidation into something positive,'' Ulrich said. ``Think of it as a challenge.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Amy Ulrich, owner of Terry's Auto Repair. She bought the shop after
driving her Plymouth Duster in for work.
by CNB