We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Harmon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

John, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

ObiiGO was founded from the experience on both sides of the automotive repair industry. One as a shop investor and a car owner. I saw frustration on both side of the industry. Car owners feel that they are being taking advantage of, getting ripped off, profiled, and how do we know the work is actually being completed or is actually needed. From the shop owner side. 99% of independent repair owners do it right. They are not out to swindle anyone but, they also know how they are viewed. Plus, they were many hats as a small business owner and it can be a lot.
ObiiGO is the first to market auto repair app built so drivers can receive multiple quotes from quality shops in real time. You’re sitting on the c0uch and you need new brakes…You pull up ObiiGO select the shops in your area and send a quote request during normal working hours. You’ll then be able to schedule based around your time and what you feel is a good price. You might pay more to have it done when you need it. We let the free market work for both sides. A shop may have had a slow week and price out a brake job under what is the norm. That’s their choice. It’s not an app to drive prices down but, to create transparency, better communication, and a better time value add for both sides.
ObiiGO is the also the first to market with “repair now pay later”. We offer two of the best “buy now pay later” companies in the world and now car owners have a zero interest, no credit check payment option.

One of the best features of ObiiGO is that we have made the app “gender neutral”. When you submit a quote request the shop does not see who it is. All they see is the repair and the make and model of the car.

The average household in America will go into debt with a $500 repair bill. With obiigo, the driver will have up to eight weeks at zero interest to pay if off. The average car on the road is 12.5 years old and getting older. We feel we are changing the way auto repairs are done for the better.

John, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

ObiiGO was founded from the experience on both sides of the automotive repair industry. One as a shop investor and a car owner. I saw frustration on both side of the industry. Car owners feel that they are being taking advantage of, getting ripped off, profiled, and how do we know the work is actually being completed or is actually needed. From the shop owner side. 99% of independent repair owners do it right. They are not out to swindle anyone but, they also know how they are viewed. Plus, they were many hats as a small business owner and it can be a lot.
ObiiGO is the first to market auto repair app built so drivers can receive multiple quotes from quality shops in real time. You’re sitting on the c0uch and you need new brakes…You pull up ObiiGO select the shops in your area and send a quote request during normal working hours. You’ll then be able to schedule based around your time and what you feel is a good price. You might pay more to have it done when you need it. We let the free market work for both sides. A shop may have had a slow week and price out a brake job under what is the norm. That’s their choice. It’s not an app to drive prices down but, to create transparency, better communication, and a better time value add for both sides.
ObiiGO is the also the first to market with “repair now pay later”. We offer two of the best “buy now pay later” companies in the world and now car owners have a zero interest, no credit check payment option.

One of the best features of ObiiGO is that we have made the app “gender neutral”. When you submit a quote request the shop does not see who it is. All they see is the repair and the make and model of the car.

The average household in America will go into debt with a $500 repair bill. With obiigo, the driver will have up to eight weeks at zero interest to pay if off. The average car on the road is 12.5 years old and getting older. We feel we are changing the way auto repairs are done for the better.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We are at our best when we are visiting with our clients. They drive what changes we make. They drive what direction we piviot to and they also have confirmed future options that we were already thinking about but, haven’t done them.

Listen to the clients and start small. If its only two clients per week that’s a good start. After 52 weeks in a year you’ll hear about what your product needs and you’lll be more successful for it.

We never miss an opportunity to gather info from clients.

Any advice for managing a team?

You have to hire smart. Resumes these days are filled with so much fluff. A new hire needs to be able to take action and stand up to power for their convictions. Two often people have criticism but, they have no solution. We will not keep people like this around. If you have an issue, solve the issue. We let leaders lead. If you’re waiting for direction on how to make our product better when you’re a consumer and own a car then we will not be a good fit. We don’t like long presentations and we do not like powerpoints. If you have to put together a PPT then you have not solved the issue in an efficient way. You should be able to go from point A to B within a few minutes. 95% of any idea that is brought to my table is given a “yes”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.obiigo.com
• Instagram: @obiigo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obiigo/
• Twitter: @iwantmyobiigo
• Other: tiktok @obiigo

Image Credits
we own all copyrights and images. John Harmon