Learning ways to adapt and diversify a business is sometimes the key to keeping a business afloat and refreshed. Central Coast Smash repairs explains how.
Leaning into their passions of cars and motorbikes, the Payne’s have found a way to reignite and expand their passion for the collision repair industry.
Husband and wife team, Matt and Kirsti Payne are co-owners of Central Coast Smash Repairs. Onto their second workshop, Central Coast Smash Repairs is located in Gosford in the heart of the Central Coast, New South Wales.
Growing their team over ten years, the Payne’s now employ fifteen workers, and repair between 25 and 30 vehicles per week.
Both work in hands-on roles. Kirsti looks after the accounts, the books, the wages, the creditors, promos, marketing, and their social media. Kirsti’s background was in veterinary drug company, where she was sales area manager, before jumping ship to manage their Central Coast workshop.
Working in the industry for over 35 years, Matt started off as an apprentice panel beater at 16 years old. Decades down the line, Matt is now in charge and takes on the role of quoting and back-end duties.
“He was only on the tools for a few years before becoming a foreman, and then a manager,” Kirsti says.
“After that, he decided he wanted to buy a workshop, so he did.”
Matt and Kirsti bought the business after it had been in operation for 30 years. After owning a workshop in Sydney called Pymble Accident Repair Centre for seven years, the Payne’s were well versed in the industry and knew what they wanted in a shop straight away.
“Even though we owned a workshop in Sydney, we actually lived closer to the Central Coast,” Kirsti says.
“We pretty much just drove around the Central Coast area and spotted a few workshops that sparked our interest.”
The Payne’s then approached a few workshops and asked if they were interested in selling. After a few hard no’s, one workshop did a double take.
“The workshop originally said they weren’t interested in selling. A few weeks later however, we got a call saying they had changed their minds,” Kirsti says.
With a buyer for their Sydney shop already lined up, it was the perfect time to make the purchase and set up shop on the Central Coast.
“We sold the Pymble workshop and bought this one simultaneously,” Kirsti says.
“It was a nightmare trying to juggle everything at once.”
“I was eight months pregnant with our second child and learning how to do all the behind-the-scenes work was a massive learning curve.”
The new workshop however, had multiple advantages.
“The size of the new workshop, the presentation of it, and the layout is what really drew us to this workshop,” Kirsti says.
“We’ve got a block of land next door that we rent so we can store all our work in progress. It really ticked all the boxes.”
10 years in business
Having been in their current location for the last decade, the Payne’s have grown their business in more ways than one.
“We have tripled in sales since 2015,” Kirsti says.
“We have two staff members who were with the original owner. We’ve also brought on quite a few new staff members.”
The workshop has three painters, and two painting apprentices, three panel beaters, and two apprentice panel beaters, and a detailer.
“We try and lead our team by example,” Kirsti says. “We have a great team around us.”
Initial challenges
Coming from a sales background, Kirsti was shocked by the complexity of the industry at first.
“It took a few years to get my head around the industry and how it worked,” Kirsti says.
“The quoting, the assessors and the insurance took a bit of understanding to fully grasp the entire repair process.”
Kirsti also highlighted how the necessity of getting people back on the road often presented an emotional side for customers which businesses had to try to navigate.
“Cars are people’s second biggest asset, and they need them for work and general life duties,” Kirsti says.
“So, when you tell them they will be without a car for five days, they look at you like; ‘what am I supposed to do?’
“It was a hurdle to get over for the first few years.”
Defining success
For Central Coast Smash Repairs, being in business means making a profit in order to be able to look after their staff.
“If you aren’t making a profit, you won’t be in business very long,” Kirsti says.
“We have a low turnover of staff, and people want to work here. We find that to be a great success of ours.”
Ensuring that interactions with staff are positive and encouraging is a key strength of the business, according to Kirsti.
“Our ability to talk to staff and manage them I believe is a real strength,” Kirsti says.
“We don’t speak to them as though they’re beneath us. I try to give the guys a lot of ownership over the business. We include them when we are trying to fix problems.”
Changing practices
Going through some core changes within the business, the Payne’s have gone over their business with a fine tooth comb this past year, aiming to increase efficiencies.
“We had a massive change at the start of this year when we changed paint companies,” Kirsti says.
“I also changed the boys’ clocking in and off systems and rearranged the way we store parts.
“I have left no stone unturned. I am always looking at where we can grow and do better.”
Central Coast Smash Repairs now use De Beers as its paint supplier and have been blown away by their after services support.
“They come with a great support team,” Kirsti says. “We sit down with the representative every month to update him on everything that’s going on.”
Passion project
With a keen interest in motorbikes, and specifically Harley Davidsons, the Paynes have ventured into the world of customising motorbikes.
“I thought we needed to diversify as much as we could, so we set up the business and it’s going really well.”
The Paynes named the business Big Boss Custom Motorcycles, and it has been a project they have enjoyed working on over the last 15 months.
“We found a fabulous airbrusher that we work in conjunction with, and we also do custom paints,” Kirsti says.
As the Payne’s were really starting to feel ‘the pinch’, they knew they needed to find another outlet in the repair industry.
“We knew we needed to have a change, so we found a way through Big Boss to diversify a bit,” Kirsti says.
“When we hear that a bike is coming into the workshop, we drop everything and run out to see it. We love bikes.”
Changing industry
Kirsti acknowledged the changes in the repair industry, and how the new technologies and regulations aren’t just limited to vehicles.
“We didn’t have to do all the fire statements, OH&S, electrical testing and admin systems seventeen years ago,” Kirsti says.
“So much has changed in that time, so we had learned to work smarter not harder.”
The Payne’s implemented a time clock for their repairers which gives them the ability to track how long a job takes, so it is accurately reflected to the insurance company.
“All of these tools help with the challenges.”
Training apprentices
With an industry wide strain for apprentices, Central Coast Smash Repairs has a healthy number of the next generation of panel beaters and painters.
“We go through a training service and they are really helpful to communicate with if we run into any issues,” Kirsti says.
“We’ve had guys who came to us for work experience also do their apprenticeship here. We enjoy having the young guys around.”
Ensuring that there are happy staff also coincides with having a community-like feel in the workshop. Kirsti organises lunches, toolbox meetings and birthday cakes for the team.
“I try not to make the lunches at a certain time because then I feel the value goes away,” Kirsti says.
“All of them get a birthday cake and we sing happy birthday to them whether they like it or not.”
“We are very much a ‘you attract more bees with honey’ working environment. We never speak down to the team unless we need to pull someone into line.”
The Payne’s aim to lead the workshop and their team by example.
“The team is like family, we treat them with respect,” Kirsti says. “If someone is sick, we can fill in for them, or if we are behind, Matt will get out of the office and wash cars himself.”
The Payne’s are looking forward to growing their motorbike business in 2025 and for future years to come.
“It would be a dream to get Big Boss into its own showroom, but for now we are focussing on more short-term goals,” Kirsti says.
“There’s always something to improve so we will keep streamlining the business as much as we can.”