Brad Collett owns Geebung Tyres & More, offering tyre and mechanical services to customers across north Brisbane.  A 32-year veteran of the auto industry, Brad’s experience covers a range of automotive sectors with the past dozen or so years focused on the tyre industry. Recently, he became the Chairman of the Tyre & Undercar Division of MTA Queensland, working on issues that impact the tyre sector across the state.

What products and services does Geebung Tyres & More offer?

BC: Tyres, obviously, but we also full mechanical services – everything from basic servicing to engines, lift kits, brakes – pretty much everything.

How long have you owned and operated the Geebung store?

BC: I have been here in Brisbane for six years, but I’ve been in the industry for 32.

I started my light vehicle apprenticeship when I was 16 at a VW shop in Geelong and followed that by working at a Holden dealership for about 3½ years. I got a little bored of that because I was basically doing the same thing every day, so went to work at a smaller, independent workshop for about another six years. That was very good as a lot of different work came through that shop.

From there, I moved to Warrnambool, worked at a Toyota dealership and for the RACV for a while before working on trucks for about six years. I then moved into the office and ran the workshop for four years.

After that I moved into the tyre sector, moving back to Geelong to run a Kmart Tyre & Auto in where I worked for about 10 years. I then did a stint with Jax Quick Fit, running a store in Geelong and then in Cairns for a couple of years before moving down to Brisbane in 2012 and buying this Tyres & More shop

Moving into the tyre sector wasn’t really a conscious decision, it just kind of worked out that way. That first job at Kmart was different and interesting – it wasn’t just about working on cars – and I really enjoyed it. After that, I just kept going!

Why did you decide to work with Tyres & More?

BC: My wife Carla and I looked at a few different franchises, but Tyre & More set up looked like a good fit for us. At the time, I didn’t know too much about them but when I enquired a bit more and did my research I realised what a good set-up it was, and they were clearly the best option.

The location of the store was great, and you can get as much support as you want from the company. Whatever you need, it’s always there.

You started your career as a mechanic and now specialise in tyres. Was that an interesting transition to make?

BC: It was actually quite a challenge. Tyres are not just black and round and made of rubber!

Back in the day I was probably a bit like a lot of people – wondering why there were $90 tyres and $150 tyres and how they could be different. But of course, there is a big difference in the work and development that goes into higher performance tyres – a lot more technology, a lot more testing and research. There’s so much more involved and the difference between a budget tyre and a performance tyre on the road is massive.

To be successful you have to really know the products and be of service to customers so that they are happy when they hand over their hard-earned money. Buying tyres is often a bit of a grudge purchase – it can cost quite a bit of money – so you have to make sure you are giving the customer the right information and ensure the tyres they are getting are appropriate for their needs.

What is most important to customers when they come to buy a tyre?

BC: Sometimes it is price and the question will be around the the safest but cheapest option. In that case, we’ll help the customer find the best product for their budget. Safety is also definitely important too, as is longevity.

Thanks to the internet, which has enabled people to check the different brands and tyres in quite a lot of detail, many people do come in armed and ready to go – they’ve done a bit of googling and they’ll say that they’ve heard about how good one tyre is as opposed to another. I’d say it is more than half who come in knowing exactly what they are after and we really don’t get as many of the ‘just give me what’s on special’ type customers anymore.

What we do is try to gauge how the customer uses their vehicle and what they expect from the tyre. That might mean we end up suggesting a different tyre than fits their budget but when they are offered the right advice and shown the benefits of a better tyre that often does not matter. And to be honest, sometimes the price difference is quite small, especially as many of the brands offer four tyres for the price of three. That’s an offer that brings premium tyres back to mid-range pricing.

What brands do you sell?

BC: We do the top 15 brands – brands such as Michelin, Pirelli, Yokohama, Continental and others – as well as a few of the budget brands.

Realistically, the best tyres of the top brands are all excellent – the technology, research and development that goes into them is outstanding – and while sometimes there is sometimes a particular tyre that is a real standout, it is in the budget and mid-range product where the differences are more obvious. You can buy a couple of different budget tyres and one will perform well, while the other can be, well, a bit rubbish!

What do you make of the news that Continental are to buy the Kmart Tyre & Auto chain?

BC: There had been whispers of others sniffing, so it wasn’t a complete surprise. It does give Continental a big foot in the door here as straight away they will have nearly 300 stores.

The tyre majors are tyring to get a bigger share of the market – Hankook bought Jax not long ago – so it makes a lot of sense. Maybe there will be more to follow. I’d like to think the independents will survive, however, because you do need them to keep everyone honest.

One of the changes we have seen in the tyre sector is the growth of online sales – consumers can buy tyres from just about anywhere. What are your thoughts on that?

BC: Online retail has been around for a long time and the sale of tyres became a big deal some six or seven years ago. I don’t have a problem with online sellers – we are a fitting station for some of them – but there is an issue in some cases, and that is to do with tyres that are not made for Australian conditions.

A tyre that is made for European conditions uses different compounds and set-ups and is obviously designed to work best in colder conditions. Buy that tyre and bring it into Australia and there clearly could be problems.

We actually had one brought in not long ago that we changed for a customer and on its sidewall it stated it was a snow tyre! The customer had bought it online, someone had fitted it, and the customer had come to us after suffering a puncture. In the end we couldn’t repair it anyway so we had to replace it but how did that come into Australia? We don’t really want that.

You can’t really blame the consumer – they are looking online for a tyre of a certain size, they see it at a price they like, and it may be a well-known brand, so it must be OK, right? They might not think about whether it is right for their driving use or the conditions in which they’ll be using it, and they won’t if there is no one to advise them.

The problem is that we, the fitter, are liable for anything that we fit. While that particular tyre was clearly marked as a problem, we don’t necessarily know where other tyres bought online come from. Most do probably come from Australia, but some may come from elsewhere, and that is a concern.

If I buy a tyre from Michelin or Pirelli or whoever it might be, I know it has come from the warehouse in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. With the online stuff, we just can’t be sure. It does mean we are working in interesting times.

How many staff do you have?

BC: At present we have four. I work the front counter and in the workshop, Carla does the bookwork, and I have a couple fo guys that work in the shop and a casual tyre fitter who comes in as required.

To what do you attribute your success?

BC: A lot of bloody hard work!

When I purchased the business, it wasn’t doing that well, but we had a plan. I had a feeling that this business was located well, and we could have a real crack at it.

Within about four months we had nearly doubled sales and in our first year we were up 70 per cent on what the previous owner had done in the previous year. And a lot of that was down to just saying ‘Yes, we can do the work, when do you want it done?’. That attitude changed everything, and we have grown every year. But it is a lot of hard work.

Of course, customer relationships are also important, maybe the most important aspect of the business. I don’t want a customer just for one set of tyres, I want them to come back again and again, and so we work hard for that result and for them to recommend us to their friends and family and so on. I want them to be able to say that this business really helped them out, knew what they wanted and went the extra step to make sure they were happy.

You are Chairman of the MTA Queensland Tyre and Undercar Division and a Board member of the Association. Why did you take on that responsibility and what issues is your committee focusing on?

BC: I came onto the committee three years ago and took over from John Ruddick as committee chairman a year later. I was happy to take on the role and it has been an interesting couple of years. We have a couple of important items on our agenda including tyre disposal, which is a very important issue. End-of-life tyres and what happens to them is something we want to look at more deeply. About 54 million tyres are disposed of each year in Australia and we are recycling only about 30 per cent of those. That is high priority for myself and for our division.

As I mentioned earlier, the importation of tyres that aren’t necessarily made for Australian conditions is also an issue. The question is ow do we stop that from happening? That is something we do want to work on too.

What plans do you have for your future in the tyre sector?

BC: We have thought about expanding and maybe buying another shop, but we are very busy at the moment, doing well and providing quality service to our customers. We have talked about expanding but that it won’t happen in the near future, although there is always a chance something might come up. We are keeping things open.

What do you do with your spare time, if you have any?

BC: Spending time with my family. I do also love working on classic cars and have an old Pontiac, a Kingswood and a Torana that I tinker about with. but mostly it’s about spending time with the family. I can spend 60-70 hours a week at work, so relaxing and spending time with them is very important.

Source: https://dev.mtaq.com.au/motor-trader-september-2018/
10 Sept 2018