GEARS Staff
Popular Articles
GEARS Staff
GEARS Staff
If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve notice trends and styles that fade away only to change back years later. Fashion is a good example. If you keep a...
In my last article in the July GEARS magazine, I explained what a Mobile Friendly website is and what it means to gaining new customers. It also explained the...
GEARS Staff
Last year, I moved from Thousand Oaks, California to Austin, Texas. Of course, Austin is the home of the University of Texas. The school’s Brand Identity is...
Pat Ayers, one of our ATRA Board members, recently approached me, telling me he had seen the women’s articles in GEARS Magazine. He told me about a very...
I’m writing this from my office at ATRA, a complex that was once bustling with activity. I say, once bustling because to comply with the order imposed by...
Get Your Kicks on Route 66!
When I was 9 years old, my family made the classic American pilgrimage to California via Route 66, the Mother Road. This amazing...
As a Financial Planner and M&A Advisor, the best advice I can offer you is to build the value of your company. In this article I’m making some...
You get things done. You make things happen. You figure it out and solve problems every day and you’ve been amazing people for years. You diagnose problems...
With the holidays just around the corner, it’d be nice to have all the tools you want. But it’s more cost effective and efficient to make sure you have the...
It’s time once again to mark your calendar and save the date for Expo 2018. This year marks the return to Bally’s: Expo will be October 31st through...
While attending Business School at UCLA, I participated in a “Capstone Business Creation Research Project” with a group of classmates. Out of the...
In this issue of Keep Those Trannys Rolling, we are going to take a look at Nissan’s CVT-Driven All-Wheel Drive System. In 2013, Nissan introduced the 2013...
With 2022 just one calendar page turn away, we should consider the possibilities for the new year. Think of this article as a collage of random thoughts and...
Transmission industry leaders are answering President Trump’s call for all hands on deck to fight the war against COVID-19. Alto Products and ETE REMAN are...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about real business and life challenges.
At this...
GEARS Staff
“Some people say, ‘Give customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want… I think...
The next step in preparing for a smart exit from your business, by determining and helping enhance your shop’s value.
GEARS Staff
Guest Author
“It’s not the Quantity of Time you spend with someone. What counts most is the Quality of Time with them.”
This popular myth has been communicated for...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
One secret great business...
GEARS Staff
In a community where local businesses form the foundation of everyday life, Croce’s Transmission Specialists in Norwalk, Connecticut, has become much more...
AI has disrupted virtually every aspect of our world. It is not only creating new investment opportunities and disrupting traditional strategies, but it is...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about real business and life challenges.
In over 20...
GEARS Staff
Whether you already have an ATRA supplied member website, or you have a website that you built or you paid someone else to build, how do you know if you are...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature where I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life. This article is a fitting way...
It seems like yesterday, but it was 1999 when I walked through the doors of ATRA in the industrial park in Ventura, California. Today, ATRA resides in San...
I’ve visited hundreds of shops during my career, and not much has changed over the decades. Years ago, you could find shops filled with work while another...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about real business and life challenges.
Have you...
GEARS Staff
The empiriKal partners© advisory team is comprised of specialists in all aspects of financial planning and investment services. I’m Edward Vela, and I was...
The 2021 Powertrain Expo is a wrap. It was held in Las Vegas at Bally’s from October 13th through 16th. I think it’s an understatement to say that Expo was...
It started out as a simple exercise. Dennis Madden, then CEO of ATRA, walked around the office with a ruler. He asked every employee to tell him what the...
GEARS Staff
GEARS Staff
My newest seminar is Only One Thing Matters in the Marketing War – Winning. It’s a war for TOMA – Top Of Mind Awareness. Think of TOMA as instant...
A new friend asked me recently, “Where do you find your inspiration”? As per my usual method of communication, the truth spewed out. My answer was simple...
Last month, we featured the compelling story of RK Transmissions, highlighting Robert and Lorraine Klein’s thoughtful decision to sell their well-established...
You’ve seen the ads… you’ve read the articles… and you’ve decided to come to Expo. That’s terrific; we’ll look forward to seeing you there!
But...
Have you ever wondered what makes us do the things we do, or on the other hand, fail to do the things we don’t do? In other words, “Why do people do what...
Last year, TCRA chose the warmth of Southern California for its annual seminar program; this year, they’ve moved across the country to another notoriously...
Over the past couple of years, we’ve looked into ways to get new people into the industry. There are technical services, organizations, and automotive...
On April 15 and 16, 2016, I’ll be out of the office: I’ll be in Seattle, Washington, attending the Torque Converter Rebuilders Association (TCRA) seminar...
The economic outlook for 2025 under President Donald Trump’s second term is a topic of significant interest, particularly regarding the relationships between...
As a student in 2004, I studied Brazilian economics in Brazil, Salvador da Bahia, while also experiencing one of the world’s most dynamic festivals...
When I grew up, it seemed that very disposable product was labeled Made in Japan or Made in China. If it was easy to reproduce or inexpensive, that’s where...
My friend, Albert, moved from California to Idaho to seek a more manageable cost of living and employment opportunities. After a few years, he established...
“I recently performed a portfolio review for one of our new clients. He and his wife both turn 72 this year, which means they’re required to start taking...
Many small to midsized companies found it challenging to sell in 2023. This was mostly due to the rise in interest rates and the hesitation from private equity...
For two years, you’ve had reminders for social distancing and felt the sense of panic after realizing you had forgotten your mask as you approached the local...
Guest Author
Guest Author
Every decision made today can ripple through time, creating significant impacts in the future. This concept, famously known as the “Butterfly Effect,” is...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
Last week I received a...
President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico have sparked significant debate about their impact on various industries...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature in which I share stories, insights, and reflections about real business and life challenges.
There’s...
Whether you love or hate it, Start-Stop systems are another technology that we have to address during transmission rebuild or repair. And when the system is...
When I touched down the Friday before the Phoenix, AZ seminar, Keith Clark and I had planned to stop by a few colleges and talk about how ATRA can help bridge...
GEARS Staff
GEARS Staff
These days it seems everyone wants to send today’s young people to college as soon as they finish high school. You can’t watch TV or go online without...
W hen people don’t know what’s going on, they often assume the worst. For 16 years, I drove a delightful little 2003 Thunderbird, but at 142,000 miles, and...
How many people work for you? About half of them.
It’s an old joke, but too often it truly is the case in shops around the world. We’re all employed at the...
The 25th annual TCRA seminar was held in Charlotte, NC on April 14-15th, and it was a huge success with record attendance. The event brought together torque...
GEARS Staff
This year marks a significant milestone for ATRA in several ways. Most notably, our annual EXPO will be unlike any other in our history. Since our inaugural...
At this year’s Powertrain Expo, I’m presenting a workshop entitled Pea Soup: The Cure for Entrepreneurial Split Personality Disorder. I’ve compiled some...
Over the past thirty years I’ve had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of business owners and seeing, firsthand, how they run their shops. These shops run the...
The American Dream has always been about freedom and ownership. The Founding Fathers debated the following statement for our founding documents: “Life...
For the past two years, I’ve been on a mission to establish our home office in San Antonio. Handling contractors, construction crews, and city planners has...
When Alberto Vela looks back on his journey to owning A-Plus Transmissions in Weslaco, Texas, it’s clear that his path wasn’t just about mastering...
The problem is clear and the solutions are getting there. ATRA chapters are regaining their relevance as we enter this new stage of industry development. For...
My client in China once asked me, “What words come to mind when you think of China?”
I replied, “Culture, History, and Tradition.” Then I asked him...
Last month, all manner of broadcast communication — TV, radio, and internet — was interrupted to present the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro...
ATRA’s first-ever Virtual Powertrain Expo took place November 11 – 14, and I have to say, it was a great success! 350 attendees, across 26 different...
If I don’t struggle, I won’t improve.
As I sat at the big round dining table with my Chinese hosts in Shanghai a few years ago, I struggled with my...
Once again, ATRA kicked off Expo with its annual golf tournament, always a big hit with die-hard enthusiasts who look forward to traversing the links in the...
Since 1954, transmission professionals have looked to ATRA for training and specialty services to keep the transmission-rebuilding industry strong and the...
That small businesses across the country have felt unprecedented pain during the pandemic of 2020 cannot be overstated. Even “essential” businesses like...
GEARS Staff
What do you regularly do when you go online? Let’s be honest, you probably aren’t frequently perusing your doctor’s website in your downtime.
Just like...
It is with heavy hearts that the TCRA Directors share the loss of Martin Dale Brooks. He passed peacefully at his home on January 9, 2021 at the age of 69...
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century Italian economist, maintained that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This idea came to him from an observation...
GEARS Staff
The Continental Divide is an imaginary line that runs through the North American continent and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from...
Bit by bit over the years, I’ve been renewing and customizing my 2003 Thunderbird. I love this car! For me, it’s what Ford originally called the T-bird:...
This year Expo came a week early, on October 19th through the 22nd. This was our second year in a row at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, at one of the...
Up Your Business is an exclusive GEARS Magazine feature where I share stories, insights, and reflections about business and life.
There she was – the...
Guest Author
With help from several people, I’ve been able to piece together the following details and stories about Gene. Most helpful was Gene’s daughter Patty, who...
GEARS Staff
GEARS Staff
