Opportunity is everywhere. You hear that sentiment a lot, but if there is a lesson to be learned in the story of Michael Rucker and LeRoy Holland, that’s it: opportunity is everywhere. You never know what doors might open, simply because of where you go and who you meet. Rucker and Holland are co-owners of the new Mr. Transmission/Milex franchise in Las Vegas, Nevada, which opened in December. We recently spoke with the new owners about the start of their business and this history of their partnership. The two first met six years ago when Rucker brought his car in for repair.  He was impressed by Holland’s approach to car care and he quickly became Rucker’s go-to mechanic whenever his car had problems.  They developed a friendship over the years, and Rucker kept Holland in mind when he explored purchasing a Mr. Transmission/Milex franchise. “One of the main reasons why I wanted to go into business with LeRoy is that I have never seen someone so hone ... read more

This winter has been dangerously cold at times, with the recent polar vortex and its subzero temperatures. So naturally, we at Moran Family of Brands have been thinking about how the elements affect your car. Over the course of a typical winter, the elements can take a toll on your car.  If we have any more bitterly cold days ahead of us, you’ll want to pay close attention for these potential problems with your car. Your battery is at risk of dying. If your car gets extremely cold, the battery could freeze. Now, the good news is that it must get extremely cold before that happens. Some experts suggest as cold as negative 76 degrees.  That said, even at 32 degrees, your battery can start having problems. Your best bet is to keep your battery connections clean and free of corrosion, and if you’re ever stuck in the house because there’s snow outside, or it’s extremely cold, you might want t ... read more

Most business owners want to grow a business. The question is – how to grow it? After all, there are a lot of ways to grow a business in the wrong way. You can expand your business to the point that you’re spending more on the infrastructure or inventory than you’re receiving in revenue. You can spread yourself too thin, where your business is doing too many different things and none of them very well. There’s a reason the term growing pains is often thrown around. Growing can involve a fair amount of agony. That’s why we’re big fans of co-branding, the concept of having a business that has two or three or more brands under one roof. In other words, if you run a Milex Complete Auto Care, a full-service auto repair shop, you might also be the owner of a Mr. Transmission, which does transmission and clutch repair. It’s a way of growing and avoiding growing ... read more

We often talk about how important it is to fix potential car problems rather than letting them fester and become major issues later. At Milex/Mr. Transmission we want to help educate our customers about the proper care for their vehicle.  Nobody likes having to spend $1,000 on car repairs when if they had just come in two months earlier after the car first started acting strange, that same bill might have been $100 or less. Unfortunately, if there is a minor problem with a car and you ignore it, it doesn’t fix itself or remain minor. It usually gets worse. It obviously isn’t feasible for anyone to get their car examined by a mechanic every day, and it isn’t necessary. You may or may not know much about cars, but if you know what to look and listen for, you can prevent a lot of potential problems. Mostly, all you need to do is look and listen for anything strange and unusual that your car seems to be doing. Here are thre ... read more

Don’t Warm Up Your Car Before Driving – and Other Things to Avoid in the Winter It is a common practice in winter and maybe you’ve done several times. There is snow covering your car and ice has settled over your windshield. And it is very cold. So, you trudge outside, start up your car and go back in your house and wait for the car to defrost. Contrary to popular opinion, that isn’t what you should be doing. In fact, there are several mistakes people make with their cars during the winter. Here are a few. Letting your car idle while it warms up. Several minutes isn’t going to kill your car, obviously, but letting it run while you finish breakfast inside is can be bad for your engine – unless your model is one that was built before 1995. Most cars built before 1995 had a carburetor, which combines air and fuel. With those cars, it was a good idea to let the car warm up for a while, as it helped your odds of the en ... read more

Winter is now here, which can be an enemy for cars across many parts of the country.  Cold temperatures, snow, sleet and ice can cause problems on how a car operates and drives on the road. Not having your car prepared for the winter can be potentially harmful to you, as well as others on the road.  So if your car isn’t winterized yet, it’s time to get your car prepared. Think about your battery. Freezing temperatures can reduce a battery’s power by up to 50 percent – and during the winter, when you have the heat on, the defroster going and maybe the windshield wipers, you’ll want your car to be operating as well as possible. You’ll also want to keep track of your battery’s age, so that you don’t wind up stuck somewhere in the cold.  Car batteries often last three to five years. Monitor your fluids. You probably know that keeping your antifreeze and coolant mix at the appropriate levels ... read more

The holiday season often presents a great opportunity for people and businesses to help others who are less fortunate.  We are often moved by the spirit of giving and try to make this special time of year for everyone. Mr. Transmission owners Lowell and Cindy Hester are a great example of this desire to help others in their community around the holidays.  They participated in their local Toys for Tots campaign, which is a program that distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to purchase Christmas gifts.  This year the Hesters filled the box with 50 toys and $250 in donations for deserving children in the Atlanta area.  “Just the thought of kids not having something for Christmas is heartbreaking,” said Cindy.  “It is rewarding to be able to reach out to others for their support and know you’re are doing something ... read more

Some people think that if you’re a franchise owner, that’s it. You own one franchise, and you’re almost a glorified employee who works for the franchisor. You aren’t really a business owner. You can never grow your business. You just have one stand-alone store in the franchise network, and that’s it. But that simply isn’t the case, as you may already know. Some franchise owners end up running businesses that operate and manage several different franchises. You could own a corporation that has five gas stations in a region, six restaurants and three clothing stores. No, it wouldn’t happen overnight, but the point is that some people do take that approach. Those people are often called master franchisees or area developers, and obviously, it takes a long time to get to that stage in one’s career, if you go that route. But the point is, being a franchise owner never means that you can’t grow and expand your business – and we tak ... read more

You would think that most drivers, if a check engine light came on, would take their car into be serviced – right away. Because it says check engine. But as you know, if you’ve been driving awhile and owned a few cars in your lifetime, that doesn’t always happen. People are busy. Sometimes money is tight. And if the car is still driving and seems okay, it’s easy to justify not taking your vehicle in. And the more days, weeks or even months that go by, the easier it becomes to rationalize. “The car is running fine,” you may be thinking, “and I have this money in the bank, and I don’t want to complicate my life with a big car repair bill. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But the problem with that thinking is -- it probably is broken! So, yes, fix it. And taking your car in now may save you from a far, far bigger car repair bill in the future. At Milex/Mr. Transmission, w ... read more

John Olson is often traveling. Sometimes that means he is behind the wheel of a customer’s car, trying to diagnose a problem. But frequently, he is doing actual traveling with his wife, Becky, on vacation. Olson – who owns two Multistate Transmission shops, one in Ft. Worth and the other in Haltom City, Texas – has been on quite a few excursions the last several years, as their businesses continue to grow. So maybe it’s no surprise and Olson won the annual Franchisee of the Year Award from Moran Family of Brands in the transmission division, which is voted on by his fellow franchise owners throughout the system. So what’s he doing right? We talked to him and came away with several interesting nuggets of information that will hopefully be helpful to his peers. So what’s the secret to your success? “We’ve done better with our marketing,&rdquo ... read more