Claire and Aaron Hills outside their automotive repair business in western Sydney.

‘If it’s right, it’s right’. Claire Hills is describing how she came to meet her husband Aaron when she was just 17 years of age. But she could just as easily be describing the couple’s positive approach to life, and their business in particular.

On paper, Claire and Aaron Hills are a writer’s dream: both have an infectious zest for life, are warm, friendly and articulate, and eager to share their insights into how they have made their Indigenous owned automotive repair business in western Sydney a success. The ‘problem’ is that as husband and wife, business partners and best mates, they finish each other’s sentences, thoughts and stories with an energy and humour that frequently turns our interview into a game of verbal tennis.

That same energy drives Claire and Aaron in raising a young family, running an award-winning business, mentoring young Indigenous people from their community, and throwing themselves into almost any outdoor adventure activity you can think of.

Together for 18 years, married for 13, and business partners for 10, the couple share a long-standing enthusiasm for cars and motor sports. ‘Cars actually bought us together’, said Aaron. ‘We met through friends, and that same day I met Claire’s dad. He’s a mad motorsport nut like me, so I reckon that helped strengthen my case with Claire from the word go!’

Of beginning a life together at an early age, Claire said: ‘I met Aaron when I was in year 12, he was 19 and a third year apprentice… So we grew up together and experienced everything together. A lot of people ask how do we work together too…but we’re friends as well… And we have defined roles–Aaron has his jobs, I have mine and we respect that’.

The couple say that respecting those roles is vital in blending their personal and working relationships. ‘Being in business magnifies the good and the bad of your relationship’, said Aaron. Claire agrees: ‘It’s about giving each other leeway, allowing each other to have faults and not taking each other for granted… We’ve learned a lot about boundaries as well.’ Those boundaries include acknowledging each other professionally at work as colleagues. ‘If Aaron’s having a bad day in the workshop, I ask if I can help’, said Claire, ‘and if not then I leave him alone… Sometimes he needs to let off steam, and it’s nothing personal’.

The couple’s respect and belief in each other was put through its paces when they decided to start their own business in 2006, purchasing Angus Mechanical Repairs with a loan through IBA’s Business Development and Assistance Program. ‘Claire and I knew that we were capable and good enough to do the work’, said Aaron. ‘We had business experience…and we were happy to back ourselves 100 per cent’.

A widely respected mechanic who started his apprenticeship in Penrith in 1991, Aaron manages staff and the running of the workshop. Claire applies her previous experience running a home-based business to the workshop’s administration, finances and–a core focus of the business–a comprehensive customer care program.

Aaron Hills in the workshop at Angus Mechanical Repairs.

With more than 30 other automotive repair workshops in the immediate area alone, Aaron and Claire have worked hard to establish their reputation for quality work, and to build trust, loyalty–and many genuine friendships–amongst their ‘community’ of customers. But in spite of their skills and energy, they have still found themselves on the nail-biting ride that can accompany the early years of business ownership. Operating in a service industry prone to fluctuations in demand during economic uncertainty, the couple have had to make tough business decisions in order to meet loan repayments and ensure staff get paid. ‘Many times we’ve had to put some of our own money into the business as well, just to keep afloat’, said Claire. ‘At times we don’t pay ourselves for a month… But we don’t live beyond our means personally, so we can do that’.

Other early challenges involved scheduling work and undercharging for their services. ‘Claire and I have always lived by the old business adage that it’s easier to go broke sitting on your bum than it is working your butt off’, said Aaron. ‘But when you start a business and you need the money you can go stupid and try and take on everything… Also what a lot of people don’t know about mechanics is, the way they do their invoices is to add up all the parts, and then add the labour last. But in this business the only place you make money is on labour… And the interesting thing is that the only person who actually really cares about the final bill is the mechanic…we undersell ourselves because we don’t want the bill to be too expensive for the customer’.

With assistance from IBA, Aaron and Claire began working with a business coach to challenge that thinking. Aaron said: ‘We had to change our mentality to ‘we are worth what we are worth’. Then we started charging the right hourly rate…and working smarter. And instead of rushing around trying to get everything done in one day, we’ve got enough courage to trust that yes, we are good enough now, so the customer can wait, and will wait and not go elsewhere’.

Their business coach also assisted Claire to create and implement a customer care package. By sending service reminders, and following up to ensure satisfaction with the work, the business has a current customer return rate of approximately 80 per cent.  ’First off I was phoning people’, said Claire. ‘But I found it was annoying or frustrating for them at times because I was maybe calling at a time that wasn’t necessarily convenient… I did an industry course a while ago and learned about sending text messages instead. And I find it works much better now–people are more responsive, it’s less intrusive’.

Asked how they keep the pressures of work from interfering with their family life, Aaron said: ‘We pull the door down on a Friday, and it’s done… And every day I have a 40 minute drive home that gives me time to switch off… The only time we’ll talk about work at the dinner table is if either of us absolutely needs to know something. In the early days though we used to talk about work every single minute, because we were worried about it every single minute’.

In steering through the ups and downs of business, Aaron and Claire draw inspiration from their hero, former champion Australian racing driver Peter Brock. ‘Peter had a saying I live by daily’, said Aaron. ‘He said his greatest mentor was adversity. So when things are adverse or things are ordinary I think, well, this will be defining…how can I be better than the situation’. Claire meanwhile is a fan of another Brock saying: ‘Bite off more than you can chew, and chew like hell!’

Whether working out with a personal trainer, trying their hand at a new adventure sport, or attending workshops and seminars on e-business, industry trends or networking marketing, Aaron and Claire are continually looking for ways to develop both as individuals and business owners. ‘It’s about developing your brain’, said Claire. ‘Things are always changing, ways of doing business–customer service, marketing–you have to keep up with it… We’re always looking to change things, to evolve. We maybe take on too much information…but you can always filter out what you don’t need’.

Claire Hills at work in the office of Angus Mechanical Repairs.

Of  ’biting off’ innovative business and marketing practices, Claire said: ‘We quite often try stuff which is stepping off the edge a bit, but we always make it happen. We call it ‘having a Brock moment’.

Wherever possible Aaron and Claire also share what they learn with their staff. ‘My poor apprentice’, said Aaron. ‘I try and keep him open-minded and he’s exposed to a lot of stuff. So I’m saying maybe we should do this and that, and even if we don’t do anything different at least he understands the process, that this is how you think in business’.

Five years after first lifting the workshop door, Aaron and Claire are proud of the community they have developed around their business. ‘A lot of our clients have become good friends’, said Aaron. ‘My mechanic says to me, mate how many friends have you got? But I think we work 180 degrees different to where the industry is at these days. We’re more like a café that knows just how you like your coffee. And when you find that cafe, you don’t go anywhere else… And we’re proud of the level of service we offer, which is reflected in the way our customers come back to us. We’re grateful that people choose to come through these doors every day. We work hard at that, though, and don’t take that for granted’.

From worrying every single minute, Aaron and Claire are now able to be more future-focused in their business planning. Claire said: ‘Now when we talk about business it’s more dream-building stuff; where we want to go, what we want to do… We’re just working towards making the business as good as it can be. It’s a business built around our lifestyle and our kids, and the goal is to have enough money to travel when we’re older, and lead a good life together…that’s enough for us’.