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Episode 220

Eddie Butler

Butler Automotive

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Eddie Butler is the owner of Butler Automotive, a multi-location auto repair business based in Augusta, Georgia. Raised in a family garage environment, he combined hands-on shop experience with formal business education to steadily expand operations over several decades while maintaining financial discipline and brand consistency; a real-world example of auto repair business longevity.

Under his leadership, Butler Automotive focused on controlled expansion, consistent marketing investment, internal talent development, and long-term operational stability. His approach reflects a measured growth philosophy built on sustainability rather than rapid scale.

EPISODE SPONSOR

This episode of the Gain Traction Podcast is sponsored by Cosmo Tires. Cosmo Tires offers a wide range of tire solutions designed for durability, reliability, and performance across multiple vehicle segments. Learn more at https://www.cosmotires.com

In this episode…

Auto repair shops close every year because growth without discipline burns cash, weakens culture, and erodes brand trust. Rapid expansion grabs attention, yet staying power comes from steady decisions repeated over decades. The industry now faces higher equipment costs, evolving vehicle technology, workforce shortages, and fragmented marketing channels.

Multi-location operators recognize the pressure to grow while protecting profitability and culture. Real auto repair business longevity demands consistency in branding, careful capital decisions, and leadership that prioritizes people development alongside operational performance.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[01:06] Background and introduction to Eddie Butler

[01:41] Early exposure to automotive repair environment

[03:41] Post-college business strategy and operational direction

[05:36] Expansion timeline across multiple shop locations

[06:31] Owning real estate and equipment to reduce financial risk

[07:19] Promoting younger managers and workforce observations

[11:52] Internal talent development and long employee retention

[15:02] Leadership philosophy on adaptation and long-term success

[17:40] Branding consistency and transition toward digital marketing

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Quotable Moments:

“Success is not final, but failure is not fatal.”
“It’s a completely different business today than what we were in 25 or 35 years ago.”
“We never missed a month of advertising since 1988.”
“You have to be willing to adapt.”
“Family businesses are pretty dynamic.”

Action Steps:

Commit to a consistent marketing cadence that reinforces brand recognition year-round.
Prioritize ownership of key assets and control debt to strengthen auto repair business longevity.
Promote younger managers early and train internally to build leadership continuity.
Evaluate expansion timelines based on financial stability rather than market hype.

Transcript

00:00
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. I am Mike Edge, your host and I have the privilege of interviewing the tire dealers, shop owners, counter sales reps, technicians, industry executives and other thought leaders of our industry. This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Tread Partners is the leading digital marketing agency that specializes in digital marketing for multi location tire and auto repair shops. Tread Partners works with clients that have hundreds of locations, down to five locations. Get a professional, unbiased opinion and let Tread Partners review what you’re doing. It starts with a simple conversation. To contact tread partners, visit treadpartners.com so let’s get started. Hey folks, Mike Edge here with the Gain Traction Podcast. I just want to make you aware we’ve got a great new sponsor, Cosmo Tires.

00:47
You can find out more about them at cosmotires.com they sell about every tire on the market. Here’s a short video about one of their products.

00:58
Slinging that brown mud kicker Mud kick.

01:00
Up Never getting stuck Digging down deep while we cr. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, the official podcast for tire business. My guest today is Eddie Butler, owner of Butler Automotive with four locations in the Gusta, Georgia area. Couldn’t be more excited. Eddie, welcome to the Gain Traction podcast.

01:25
Thank you, Mike. Glad to be here.

01:27
Yeah, glad to have you. So you came highly recommended from my boss, Neil Meyer.

01:32
That may be an exaggeration. Well, I’ve known Neil for a long time. I, I got Neil years ago.

01:40
He said a lot of nice things about you. He said you guys have known each other a long time. So I look forward to finding out about the brand Butler Automotive. So did you grow up in the automotive business? Automotive repair?

01:53
Yes, I did. My father, when I was five and six years old, I was in a garage, if you will. And when I was in middle school, I only knew one thing, that I want to do anything but work in a garage. Working. You know, we didn’t have lifts. It was dark, it was cold in the winter, hot in the summer. So I ended up going to college and I was economics major. And as fate would have it, I ended up in the automotive repair business.

02:25
It’s funny how God works sometimes, right?

02:27
Absolutely.

02:28
Yeah. But those formidable years, what did you learn from those?

02:34
You know, it was a tough business. I. I watched my parents. My father was a mechanic turned business person with very little business experience, none to be exact, you know, high school education. Just he got into the business because he needed to provide for his family. And that was about the extent of his goals was to get his kids educated, you know, and fed, et cetera. So, you know, when I came back from college, he had a garage and at that time, I guess it was a four bay garage. One of them was occupied with junk. So technically three bay garage and started from there. But, but at least, you know, I had something to start with.

03:19
And I had been reading trade magazines and Mitch Schneider was writing back then, this would have been in the early 80s and they were starting to promote certain ideas about a 50% margin on parts or 1.15, 1.6 and not, not 50, you know, markup, 50, 60%. And I started reading some of that stuff with interest and weren’t applying those low standards, so it gave me some ideas as went forward.

03:50
That’s awesome. And did your dad more or less, when you got back from college, did he need you or did you choose to engage in the business after your collegiate atmosphere?

04:01
No. And yes, I, I hesitated going to work for him because we didn’t generate enough cash to pay another body. That was going to be a problem in itself. But I took a job with a local parts house and I learned that side of the business. But at the same time I was trying to make some decisions about how we managed the business, you know, as far as marking up parts labor. And at some point you just decided to dive in. And I started and I think I was able to help pay my way pretty quickly.

04:35
That’s awesome. Was there any like, you know, being the guy that started. It was, did he have any, did you feel any resistance to your ideas or what you wanted to implement?

04:45
We, we could spend a day or two on family businesses. They’re, they’re pretty dynamic and anybody that’s ever been in a family business is probably that there’s a, a tug of w, A lot of testosterone. But no, he didn’t have a lot of interest in the business end. So even at a young age he allowed me to make mistake after mistake. And some days I look back and gosh, trust me, I made more mistakes than you can imagine what I learned from him as went. And I had a lot of control at a very young age because sometimes I look at some of our managers and I’m like, okay, what would I have done? And unfortunately, sometimes I see some of the same characteristics. Everything’s about just volume.

05:36
There’s no focus on collections or no focus on other aspects of the business that are quite important. So yeah, so you’ve got, you.

05:46
Had the one shot. How did you guys expand to 4? And was your dad part of that in entire journey or was that some at some point just you?

05:55
He was there. But no, I did the second shop on my own and he had made it clear he didn’t want to participate in that. But he did in the end. I mean he worked with me but financially I did it. And we opened the second shop probably about 10 years after our first and we brought in someone to manage it at that point and we didn’t open the third shop after I’d been in business 20 years and the fourth shop was close to 30 years. So we’ve opened up one store about every 10 years. Probably a little slow by today’s standards. Yeah.

06:37
But you know, do you own your real estate too?

06:39
We do on all, we own all the, on all the equipment. We don’t finance or lease anything.

06:46
So yeah, there’s a lot to be said for that. Eddie. I think, I think, I mean you’re in a position of strength all the time. I mean when you’re not in debt.

06:57
That is true, that has been, you know, we achieve those goals but you know, at the same time we missed out a few years ago when everybody was, everybody started buying existing businesses. You could buy them for pretty close the cost of the real estate or a very low multiple if you took the real estate own. We probably missed a few opportunities.

07:20
I think you always miss some, you know, but that’s just part of life. So when you hire a manager, what are you looking for in a manager based on your own experience?

07:32
We want some familiarity with, with, with cars or some interest but really interpersonal skills, iq, an interest in business, an interest in learning. We want somebody that’s motivated, can, can handle all the different facets of the business. And we found, we, we’ve hired a lot of young people that we’ve trained.

08:02
So when you say young, what type, what range?

08:05
I’ve got, I’ve got a manager that’s, he’s been a store manager for four years now and he’s probably, he may be just 25.

08:15
Wow.

08:15
Yeah, he’s.

08:17
So you’re not afraid of this Gen X?

08:20
Absolutely not. No, no, I’m sorry.

08:22
Gen Z, this is Gen Z. I’m sorry.

08:24
Yeah, I can’t keep him set.

08:25
Yeah, me neither.

08:26
But with some of the younger people, we, some, some Kids that didn’t necessarily want to go to college, but they were sharp. They, they’ve got plenty of energy and they were, you know, they didn’t have any preformed notions that they’re open to ideas. We’ve, we’ve enjoyed that.

08:48
I mean, it’s, that’s awesome. I love that because I actually have a good vibe about this generation. I mean, look, you put your hope in the next generation, right? You have to. And there’s a lot of good youth out there. And I, I, I sense a lot of, I don’t know, there’s a little change in the air for me, at least the ones that I see in my kids. And I’m glad to hear you say that. It reinfor, actually it reinforces a conversation I had recently with Tony Abilovich with Point S Tire. He’s the masterclass trainer there, but he is definitely interested in the youth and we’ve talked about that several times together. So you saying that’s kind of refreshing.

09:30
Yeah. Now we’ve, we’ve had several and we, that they’re with us now. And you know, often I wonder why they didn’t pursue the college route, but they were, that’s not the route they wanted to go. And they could have very easily have gone that route, no doubt. I mean, sharp young people.

09:51
Well, you know, it’s interesting, Eddie, I’m in my mid-50s, but I can tell you it’s the price of college that since I was a kid and to now has gone on, gone up exponentially. But nothing’s changed in education. It’s not like you’re not getting some better return for it, if that makes sense. You know what I mean? It’s, but the price has gone up. And I think, you know, if you look at a lot of these college campuses where they spent money, it’s in beautification projects, the buildings, et cetera, the land development and things like that. But, you know, that’s not what it takes to get a good education. And unfortunately, all of that cost and, and what these kids pay. And you look at these, I don’t know what was it? I think we’re at 1.7 trillion in student loans.

10:41
I think that’s a crime. I really do. I think it’s criminal to put that much debt on the next generation and convince everybody that the product is worth it. Like, you know, everybody should pay for this product, as if, you know, and then you Meet people way into their 40s, still paying that bill while they’re having kids, while they’re trying to get their kids off to school. You know what I mean?

11:01
It’s a. Oh, no, absolutely. I, I’ve still got one in college right now.

11:05
Yeah. So I, I’ve got one in there and one to go. One’s still going. But anyway, we go a little bit more non traditional and we grind it out in different ways. But it’s just, look, I got a college education and I’m glad I do. And I’m an econ major as well. But I’m also one of those guys that are realistic about the shape the market is in and the way things change. And when you can see the opportunity for kids to go into the trades and the amount of money they can make in the trades today, it’s off the charts. I mean, it’s fantastic.

11:39
Yeah.

11:41
So how do you find talent? Do you do anything special or is it just word of mouth? I mean, what. Do you have any strategies?

11:50
You know, I would say that’s probably, if you ask me, that’s not one of our strong points.

11:57
Yeah.

11:58
But over the years, a lot of our talent we’ve developed in house. And whether it was intentional or not, whether it was by design, I think we’ve been pretty fortunate and we’ve done a fairly good job with it. I have one of my techs downtown that in our downtown stores, probably mid-30s. And he started out as parts runner. And I would venture to say to this day he’s probably one of the highest paid techs in Augusta, Georgia by stretch. But now he’s a hard worker. He’s learned and he’s not, he’s not our best tech. He’s just a very motivated person that’s a very good salesperson, great service tech. But the same would be true with service advisors. We, we’ve got a lot of people. We, we’re fortunate.

12:56
We’ve got a lot of people that had been with us 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, and even 30 years. And that number, you know, it continues to grow and we’ve had a lot of retirements, but we still, that number’s still growing. So a lot of people, just over time, after 10, 15 years, they start to learn, you know, your culture, your way, and you really get comfortable, you know.

13:24
Well, it’s interesting you say it like that because it seems to me like you’ve created an environment of stability and consistency. And I’ve always said this about kids, you know, I’ve got five. They’re. They’re. My youngest is senior in high school, so everybody knows my kids have, you know, pretty much gotten out of the nest and doing the thing. And I’ve had younger dads ask me, what do you think is most important? And I always say, God first. But then. But in the practical level of. Of how to do things, I think stability and consistency, and then I think that transfers to business. I think businesses that have stability and consistency for their employees, you know, some form of predictability, have less turnover.

14:06
And I think that, you know, when you’re able to say that you’ve had people for 15, 20, 25, 30 years, that’s outstanding.

14:13
Yeah, but it makes a difficult business a little more manageable.

14:19
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, face it. This. This business here is you’re. You’re not waking up every day dealing with people’s happiness. You’re dealing with people’s, you know, they’re not. They didn’t wake up today wanting to spend money on automotive repair. And you’re, you know, every day you’re dealing with, you know, people’s challenges or problems. And that’s. I think that’s the skill set that you guys do so well, that have grown your businesses, that, you know, you. You’ve learned to expand, but you’ve learned to take care of your neighbor, your community, and let them know that, hey, we’re. We’re here to help, and we’ll get you back on the road. Curious, Eddie, just on a more personal level, do you.

15:02
I like to ask people this because it gives our audience a little bit about who you are, but do you have like a quote, a mantra, a code kind of that. That stands out to you?

15:10
Maybe success is not final, but failure is not fatal. You know, life goes on. We have to just continue. You know, you can’t. You know, it’s like going to the gym. You can’t. You may, but you shouldn’t reach a point where you take a picture and go, okay, I got into shape. This is it. And then put it in your pocket and go through the rest of life and say, yeah, I was in shape. Let me show. It’s constant, it’s ongoing. It. It. I mean, if you. If you’re working out when you’re 25, you’re gonna be working out when you’re 30, 35, businesses, the same. I mean, you may have a great business when you’re 30, but you gotta be able to pivot. You gotta be able to Change, adapt. It.

15:56
It’s, it’s a completely different business that we’re in today than what were in 25, 35 years ago. It is very different what we do, how we do it. There’s so many things that have changed. We were late, we didn’t, were still using paper invoices up TILL I think 1995, 1996. Yeah, I did, you know, just didn’t want to make that change and probably waited too long. But then when we made it, you know, we can never go back and same thing with DOS going from a DOS based system to a window. I love the DOS based system and there were so many positive things about it, but ultimately we had to, you know, give in and go to a Windows based system. But nowadays even the type jobs we do are so different than what we did, you know, 30, 35 years ago.

16:56
So I think you have to be willing to adapt and. Yeah.

17:00
Do you have a particular equipment company you trust the most that you buy your equipment from in the shop?

17:06
No, I’m, you know, unfortunately there’s a side of me that I, I, we, we’re going to shop that we’re going to look for. We’re constantly reevaluating and looking and you know, equipment is a big expense and I mean if we can have, we have to control our expenses on equipment. I mean it makes our return higher. So if we can find a piece of equipment that does the job, that, that’s not as expensive. Another. We’re, we’re going to at least evaluate it and give it a chance. Oh yeah.

17:42
What about like your CRM or point of sale system? Do you, do you use a major one?

17:49
We do not. We do not. We are some. But that does lead me to another thing I would tell you because you opened up with branding and with our customer relations years ago in I guess 1987. We hired an advertising agent because were committed to marketing in our market and we’re in a mid sized market where TV was still affordable at the time. But we hired an agent and we made some commercials that established our brand. At the time, I think it was committed to repairing your car. First time own time. Every time. Let the butler do it.

18:27
And we had the butler with the platter that indicates service and we started running those commercials in 1988 on a, you know, commercial TV and cable and we had a pretty healthy budget for a small business at that point and we never missed a month since 1988. So were accustomed to doing our own branding and our own marketing, and we had. Our. Had handled our own outreach. And I think if there were one thing that we did well. And I don’t know if we do it as well today, but in the 80s and the 90s and even the early 2000s, before TV started to. It gets so splintered, were pretty strong in that department. I mean, to this day, it’s a pretty recognizable brand because we’ve invested. We’re. We’re almost 40 years into that investment now that we’ve.

19:29
We’ve never missed a month on television or cable. Cable network tv. But now we moved a lot of that to digital. But we handle that all ourselves, and we do it ourselves. I mean, we do have online appointments, but we. Up to this point, we’ve done about. Done it ourselves, and we. We’ve considered moving to a cr, you know, having someone else, but we’re not there right now.

19:53
No, I got you. Well, it sounds like you’ve had a. I mean, you’ve obviously had a great run, but you’ve obviously found. Found that niche that worked. I gotta ask you this because you’re from Augusta. Do you play golf?

20:04
I follow it constantly, but I play once a year at best.

20:11
I was just curious, I guess. You’ve been to the Masters, though.

20:15
Oh, absolutely. Played the course, Run the course. I got to run the course probably 20 years ago. A friend of mine worked at it, so we ran Tita green. It was 4.7 miles. You couldn’t do that today. But as we ran the course.

20:32
That’s awesome. Well, I’ve never been. It’s. It’s on my bucket list, if. For sporting events, but I’ve. I’ve heard it’s a great event to attend. I mean, they. They obviously do a great job, and it’s fun to watch on tv, especially in April. Every year, they advertise. They start advertising that they’re going to promote it. It seems like months in advance, you know, to gear you up that the Masters is coming. But I had to ask you that question.

20:58
I could go on with stories about, you know, about the. The national for some time, that. That’s something I enjoy reading about history and I. Yeah. So there are a lot of great stories.

21:10
So I bet on a personal level, let the audience get to know Eddie a little bit better. But what do you. What do you do as a hobby? Anything outside of this?

21:22
Run a lot.

21:23
Oh, already?

21:24
Okay. Yeah. I just got back from a half marathon this Weekend in Kiawah with my daughter, but running, hiking, outdoors things for the most part.

21:34
So you’re obviously one of those older guys that doesn’t have the knee or hip problems yet.

21:39
No, no, still. Still like to hike. I like to go out west, you know, not nearly as often as I like, but do a lot of hiking.

21:49
So how many children do you have? Because you did mention that you have one in school.

21:53
Three.

21:54
Three. Okay.

21:54
Yeah. One’s in law school, one’s a doctor, and one’s in college.

21:59
Well, it sounds like they’re all doing well. That’s awesome.

22:03
Yes.

22:04
What’s. And then last question for you. What’s a book that you would recommend to our audience?

22:11
Yeah, I read a lot in. Probably my favorite book is kind of Monte Cristo, but I love any Warren Buffett book. And my favorite biographies, probably either Titan, which is about Rockefeller, or the Cornelius Vanderbilt’s biography, which won the Pulitzer Prize. So I read several different genres, but biographies, business, the World Is Flat by Tom Friedman. Maybe that’s very old now, but at the time that was probably my favorite business book of all times, where I read it.

22:50
Oh, that’s awesome. I. That’s interesting. You like biographies? I’m real big on biographies. Documentaries, I love anything. I’m big on non fiction. I just like, I like, and I like to learn about, you know, people of the past. I mean, what made them tick and it. And I don’t have to personally like them or what they did. I just want to know what made them tick. But Cornelius Vanderbilt’s interesting to me. Did you ever see the docu series on History Channel called the Men who Made America?

23:18
I did. I watched several of those.

23:20
I’m just curious. Did you think they did a good job?

23:23
Yeah, I thought they did a real good job. I mean, but obviously when you read one of these biographies, I mean, even like Hamilton’s compared to the Broadway show. I had a hard time following the Broadway show, but the novel was great. I mean, it’s. But it got into a lot of detail.

23:41
Yeah, no, I, I thought the Men who Made America was great. So it led me down that path to follow their next series. You probably saw the. I think they did the one on the Frontiersman and I. Yeah.

23:53
And I have not watched that.

23:54
Oh, that one’s wild. I mean, you realize how tough some of these guys are. And you’re just like, you might be some of the toughest guys that I ever heard of, like Daniel Boone I mean, this guy, he. He’s not just, you know, he’s. He kind of. So he’s like in history. And he seems like, you know, this kind of fictitious character that found the Cumberland Gap and got people through it and all that. But no, the stuff that he went through is mind blowing. And then Kit Carson, I never realized how tough that guy was. He went across the desert twice just to get information back to the east. I mean, it’s just. It’s. It’s really cool. And then I saw the next one was the candy. I think it was either the food or candy they called it, that made America.

24:37
And they get into the cereals and then the candy and the, like the candy bars, and you realize, man, there was a lot of money in candy at one point. I mean, I guess there still is, but, you know, anyway, fun stuff. And I do like. I do like history. I like biographies as well, so. Well, Eddie, go ahead.

24:57
The one on candy, when I was hit on the Mars and on the. Yeah.

25:01
Yes.

25:01
Okay. No, that’s. That. That’s. That’s an. And that. That’s an interesting story. And just a side note, on the mar. There was a thing called the Emperors or Chocolate was a book, and it compared Mars and Milton. Milton Hershey and the compare and contrast. They were very different. And the Mars family dominates the pet food industry. So all the money they made in candy, they’re still the number one pet food company either in the US or in the world. So it was a huge family fortune. It was that they were one of the wealthiest families in the country. So it’s an interesting book.

25:42
No, it’s super interesting. I found, I found you mentioned Hershey. It was interesting that he had a guy named. That worked for him. His last name was Reese’s. And that guy had an idea about peanut butter and chocolate, and Hershey didn’t buy into it. So he left and. And start making it out of his kitchen and would go on a route to sell it to, you know, general stores and pharmacies and all that back then. And, and that’s how he got started. But that became the Reese’s Buttercup. Peanut Buttercup. But it was. It’s just funny how, you know, one broke off from the other. Anyway, I, I. Eddie, I wanted to thank you for doing this. I’m glad Neil introduced us, and I appreciate you being on Gain Traction podcast and telling us about Butler Automotive. You guys have a great story.

26:28
No, thank you for. Thank you for inviting.

26:30
Yeah, absolutely. To all our listeners. Thank you for being part of the Game Traction podcast. We are grateful for you. If you’d like to find more podcasts like this, please visit gaintractionpodcast.com if you’d like to make your guest recommendation, please email [email protected] this episode has been powered by TREAD partners, the leader in digital marketing for multi location tire and auto repair shops. To Learn more about TREAD partners, visit treadpartners.com.

Contents hide

1 In this episode…

2 Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

3 Resources mentioned in this episode:

4 Quotable Moments:

5 Action Steps: