The 2003 "How's Your Business?" survey builds on a decade of surveys conducted by the Automotive Service Association of its membership. Through the generosity of ASA members and their commitment to the industry, the How's Your Business survey provides an extremely detailed picture of the independent automotive repair industry.

Each year the survey becomes a more detailed and accurate description of the independent automotive repair industry. The survey covers the independent mechanical and collision repair sectors with regard to business profile, business ownership, staff, current sales and expectations for the upcoming year, advertising and marketing, customers, and the impact of various industry issues.

This year the survey improved its response rate by reducing from 2,000 to 1,000 the number of randomly selected mechanical and collision repair businesses. The survey was conducted in August 2003 by postal mail. Although this required more persistence and mailing, nearly 40 percent of the mechanical shops and 37 percent of the collision businesses replied.

With such a large response rate, the survey results have a 95 percent confidence level with a confidence interval of +/- 5. So, one can be 95 percent certain that the responses given are representative of the entire population within 5 points above and 5 points below the stated value.

The purpose of the survey is to provide an accurate benchmark for business owners and those interested in the industry.

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