Fueled by passion
OAKOS Automotive may have a small team (four full-time employees and a contract mechanic), but the company has earned a big name for itself in the Subaru and automotive parts worlds.
The company, founded by David Kearney in 1999, offers a selection of more than 15,000 automotive products, both aftermarket and original equipment manufacturer (OEM), available online and at its Sterling Heights, Michigan, location. Recently, the company began providing on-site automotive service.
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At the heart of the company is David’s deep love for Subaru cars. It wasn’t this passion alone that drove David and his wife, Joy Kearney, to build a business with more than 25 years of staying power. Joy believes their success is also due to the business’s knowledgeable salespeople, Subaru fans themselves, along with the quality products and a company-wide commitment to integrity.
Building trust with customers is part of the company’s DNA, she says.
“We take care of our customers; we make returns easy; and we’re honest about product availability and ETAs. We make buying from us a nice experience.”
Another key strategy includes stocking parts onsite instead of relying on supplier shipments, which allows for faster deliveries and convenient on-site pick-up.
Accelerating customer satisfaction
One satisfying aspect of running OAKOS Automotive is interacting with happy customers, Joy says.
“It’s their excitement. Usually, they're buying parts, not because they have to or have a problem, but a lot of times, just to make their car more fun because they're Subaru enthusiasts.”
Now, Joy and David are working on getting the word out about their mechanical services so customers know they can pick up their parts and have them professionally installed at OAKOS Automotive.
The SurePayroll Difference
Joy’s advice to other microbusiness owners?
“Take advantage of tools, things like SurePayroll. Then you won't have to spend the larger portion of your time on that day-to-day stuff to make sure everything is perfect, whether it be payroll taxes, running the payroll, or other things. Using tools like SurePayroll helps make the day a lot smoother and more efficient.”
Side-stepping payroll headaches as the business grows
Joy, whose responsibilities at OAKOS Automotive include office management, didn’t find paying workers especially challenging at first. That’s because everyone was a contract worker, so they invoiced the business directly, and Joy simply issued checks. There were no taxes to deduct. She only had to submit 1099 forms to the government once a year.
That changed in 2014. As the business grew, keeping it running successfully required a staff: employees who would work set hours. It was an exciting company milestone. And a daunting one.
Now Joy would have to carve out considerably more time for paying people, including accurately calculating and withholding federal and state income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. She’d also have to make timely employer payroll tax payments. And, she’d have to navigate the company through a maze of state and federal regulations.
If she made a mistake, it could result in unhappy employees, penalties, or legal troubles.
Joy was not comfortable with that. When her brother told her about SurePayroll® By Paychex, she signed up almost immediately. SurePayroll offers easy, affordable payroll service for small business owners. For more than 25 years, it has been helping small business owners from across the country simplify payroll and payroll taxes.
Easy and smooth payroll
For Joy, working with SurePayroll was a positive experience from the beginning.
“I reached out, and getting set up with SurePayroll was smooth. I don't remember having any issues or anything like that. It was just easy and smooth.”
SurePayroll lifted the time commitment and stress of running payroll and managing payroll taxes off her shoulders.
“SurePayroll quickly became a trusted part of how we ran our business,” Joy said.
One plus that Joy didn’t anticipate was how helpful the SurePayroll onboarding forms for new employees would be.
“Setting up new employees is nice because there are forms that collect the information SurePayroll needs and information I like to have on hand. I print out everything for my employees to fill out: the W-2, information for direct deposit, contact information, birthdays, and things like that. I think it even asks for emergency contacts. I haven't had to use that, but the first time I saw it I thought, ‘Oh, that's a good idea.’
“Being able to depend on SurePayroll to run payroll and handle payroll taxes gives me tremendous peace of mind.”
All Joy has to do is review the end-of-year reports once a year, and she can file W-2s with confidence.
“Everything always looks great, and I just print it out when the time comes.”
Free to focus on growth
Joy also finds herself smiling at the message the SurePayroll system displays after she runs payroll.
“I really appreciate it,” she said. “I don't remember exactly what it says, but it says something along the lines of, ‘You're all done. You can go back to running your business, and we'll take it from here.’ I like that message.”
The message is encouraging, she said, and it’s true. SurePayroll frees her up to focus on the company. It gives her more time to focus on promoting the company’s new mechanical services.
“SurePayroll allows me to have more time for everything else I need to do.”
