"If you don't know where you are going, any way will get you there." This is a famous quote from someone that I use in my book, so don't attribute it to me. It is an axiom that does a great deal to explain why many business owners live a chaotic and stressful existence.

They haven't set goals!

Why? Fear of failure and the lack of discipline.

Goal setting is a painful process because it involves the potential for failure. Also, discipline is required to achieve goals and it is very difficult to maintain that discipline in a chaotic and stressful shop.

If you set no goals, you will never fail to meet them--you will be free to do whatever you want, but the chaos and stress will continue.

However, setting goals that you fail to meet is better than setting no goals at all. You will, as least, have made some progress toward the ideal shop or job that you dream of and will, perhaps, found another goal to shoot for. Those who set goals get closer to achieving their dreams than those who stagger on without goals.

But what kind of goals, you ask? Two kinds of goals, I answer.

First, personal goals: where do you want to be in two years? five years? Do you want to educate yourself? Do you want to improve your income, or maybe just reduce your working hours? Do you dream of a trip to Hawaii or some other location? Write your ideas and dreams all down--if you don't write them down they don't exist. Writing them down gives them life.

Second, how is the business going to help you meet those goals? Is it the "vehicle" to help you reach your dreams? If it is not, what are you doing there?

More importantly, you can begin to make some changes in view of where you want the business to take you. Your goals should be the "tools" that will help you accomplish your purpose.

In my book, I speak of my business as a boat, because I love boats; and yes, my business allowed me to buy a boat and gives me somewhere to park it.

There you have it!

Set your goals and then move on to the implementation phase.....more later.

Phil...

Don't be a slave to your business. How to use a business to make a great life; the creation of an automotive repair business.

Still holding your hand, perhaps a dollar bill, against the tailpipe to diagnose engine problems? A more scientific method is available and it involves a device called a differential pressure sensor. But we are not talking about your regular old pressure transducer, we're talking about a differential pressure sensor. What's the difference?

THE OLD
Conventional electronic pressure transducers, such as the Fluke PV350, are very similar to ordinary pressure gauges. They measure the static pressure to which they are exposed. Their output is a variable voltage corresponding to this static pressure. This voltage output is displayed using a digital voltmeter and calibrated so that the meter indicates the static pressure. For example, an electronic pressure transducer, such as the Fluke pv350, used with a digital scope would result in an output similar to the one below.

THE NEW
The FirstLook™ Pulse Sensor is a differential pressure sensor. It is designed to look at variations in pressure and ignore the average, or static, pressure in any given environment. In other words, it only sees the changes in pressure from the recent average pressure. For example, the FirstLook™ Sensor in response to the pressure trace in the above example would look like this:

CONCLUSION
It is this characteristic of responding only to changes in dynamic pressure that sets the FirstLook™ Sensor apart from traditional pressure transducers. This feature provides a unique sensitivity not previously obtainable in commercially available automotive transducers. Furthermore, because of the strength and clarity of the signal produced by the FirstLook Sensor, no external power or calibration is required by the user. The FirstLook Sensor's output may be directly observed without any electronic distortion on most modern labscopes.

APPLICATIONS
Use differential pressure sensors such as the FirstLook™ Pulse Sensor to identify weak cylinders, perform compression tests while cranking, diagnose camshaft timing, cylinder efficiency and from idle and power brake testing.

How do you put the 'unique sensitivity' of the FirstLook™ Sensor to work for you?

1. Purchase the FirstLook™ Sensor: connects to most automotive and industrial scopes.