Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
This article is part of the America's Favorite Mom & Pop Shops series. Read more stories
Key Takeaways One routine purchase made me rethink where small businesses shine — and where they don’t.
I didn’t expect to side with the bigger player, but the experience left little room for nostalgia.
I own a small business. I write about small businesses. My clients are small businesses. And yet, I would never go to a small business to have my car serviced. Small businesses are great — but not for everything.
I’m not saying this without experience. I’ve owned Hondas all my life. I’ve taken my cars to local repair shops countless times. And the experience has been, well, inconsistent at best. I’ve certainly saved money on repairs. But I’ve paid for it elsewhere.
Take, for example, a recent experience I had at a Honda dealership in Philadelphia. I made my maintenance appointment with an AI receptionist, which understood me flawlessly. I received a text confirmation. I then received a call from a human verifying the details. Professional. Courteous. Efficient.
This stood in stark contrast to all the times I’ve waited on hold, reached busy signals or had my call answered by a mechanic in the garage who would say, “yeah, just bring it in” before hanging up.
I arrived at the dealership at my preferred time — 7:30 a.m. — an important detail so I could still get to work on time. And guess what? The dealership was open. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve waited fifteen, twenty, even thirty minutes for the lone guy at the local repair shop to arrive. At a dealership, that behavior simply wouldn’t be tolerated.
Once checked in — by two smiling attendants — I waited in a heated, clean, spacious waiting room with free Wi-Fi, free coffee and work cubicles. Go ahead — find me a small repair shop that provides this kind of accommodation. Rents are high. Space is at a premium.
... continue reading