There are many great stores of support and friendship in our industry. This is Mark Bergasse’s story. He owns Marks Auto Service in Oakville, ON, Canada.

Mark encountered chest pains over a few months, did a stress test and found out that he had a mild heart attack and was scheduled for a quadruple heart bypass.  With this, he had no plans of being out of his shop for surgery or recovery. His wife, Sandy knew she needed a plan, that didn’t exist.  What happened next is the story you are about to hear.

As if providence lent its hand, Glenn Colling of Eastside Auto Service in Oakville, ON, Todd Sarson of Stop N Go Automotive, Burlington, ON and Carlo Sabucco of Sils Complete Auto Care Centre in Oakville, ON  came to the rescue. They ran the business for Mark and Sandy while Mark recovered. The strong culture already in place provided a smooth transition while Mark recovered.

There are some very strong and valuable lessons to think about as a business owner when and if you or your business would ever have to deal with a health or some other type of challenge or disaster. You need to have a contingency plan. This episode, I hope, will open your eyes to do something about it because you think it will never happen to you.

The Panel:

Mark Bergasse started in this great trade pumping gas at a full serve station and then moved into the bays to start his automotive training.  He later graduated from Mohawk College and completed my Apprenticeship. In 1995 Mark’s dream came true and he opened his own shop and Mark’s Auto Service was born!  Mark expanded to our present location in 2006 with 7 service bays and a larger showroom. He has been taking care of people and their cars for over 38 years. Every day is a new challenge and every day Mark loves to help people.

Carlo Sabucco started in 1994 after attending several years at Ryerson University for business. Thereafter graduated Mohawk college Automotive Tech Program.  Carlo has devoted a great amount of time surrounding himself with some of the greatest shop owners in the market. Over the years, Carlo attended training from Bob Greenwood to Cecil Bullard, Dave Schedin, Elite and group process with Jim Murphy, thru to Kelly Bennett, now he is with ShopPros. Today Carlo operates Sils Complete Auto Care Centre, a successful 8 bay facility, approx 7,000 square feet on the east side of Oakville, Ontario. Carlo’s own close competitors are his greatest friends like Mark and Glenn from the Podcast.  Mark says that his business would never be what it is without these business owners.

Glenn Colling is a graduate of Northwood University, Cedar Hill Texas. He is the owner of Eastside Auto Service in Oakville, ON with two locations. Glenn created and developed the “Auto Repair Shop-In-A-Box” that is used to teach children a skill and support the Village of Hope in Burkina Faso West Africa. Glenn has a busy home life as he and his wife Lisa have three children of their own, and provide foster care for over 33 newborns to date.

Todd Sarson was born and raised in Burlington Ontario where he attended Notre Dame High School. Todd developed an interest in vehicles and just about anything hands-on at a very early age. With that interest, Todd then went on to trades school at Mohawk college and further advanced his automotive knowledge. Todd then joined the Stop N GO team in 2004 as a trusted service advisor and then worked his way to the service manager, and now the owner.  In his spare time, Todd can be found dirt biking, skateboarding, swimming, or playing hockey.

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