RECOMMENDING MARS
With five years of solid success in the business, we asked Reggie if he would recommend MARS to others.
"I don't recommend this business to just anybody. I would recommend it to a person who can handle owning their own business. Can they work outdoors? In our Florida climate, they'd have to enjoy working outside in the heat.
"I do think that anyone with a little personality and a business head can walk right into it and do well at it.
"You must be a self starter, a self-motivator.
However, I think anybody from any walk of life can do this. It's easy to learn."
ADVICE
What advice would Reggie share with new Operators? "I would tell them that honesty is always the best policy, and they've got top be ready to go the extra mile," he says.
"I also think they should be able to 'think out of the box'. Our dealerships rely on us to fix their problems, and you can't always do that with traditional methods.
"For example, I've learned that the buffer machine is our best friend. We've learned to always try to buff something out first, before we try to paint it. Nine times out of ten, the problem will buff out. Once, a customer had a vehicle in which the clear coat crinkled. The body shop wanted huge money to paint the car. With wet sand and buffing, we made it look like new!"

NOW A BUSINESS OWNER
As Reggie has been a Plan B Owner / Operator since July, we inquired about his future plans.
Reggie says, "I want to stay where we are now. I'm an old believer is the axiom, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it.' Nothing is broken here. We have all the business we can handle, without expanding and adding employees.
"We have time for our son Brandon, eight years old, and with Adam, who is three. Before I got into this business, I missed all the important steps with my first son. I never heard his first word, saw his first step. I was always away, working.
"Now we have time to go to places like Busch Gardens, to cook out, or just to hang out with our family. That's what we love.
"For twenty-two years, I had someone creating pressure and breathing over my shoulder. We don't want to create that situation ourselves. We're happy as we are."
'INSPIRATION TO US'
Reviewing his five years with Don and Wanda Slater, we asked Reggie to sum up the experience of being an Employee sponsored by a MARS FRANCHISED OWNER / OPERATOR team. Reggie told us, ""Don and Wanda worked well together as a team. They were excellent Mentors. Through hard times, through thick and thin, Don and Wanda were there for us. They were a wonderful inspiration.
"It worked out very well. It has been very good."