Then they list seventeen reasons why they can't try them.
[READER POLL]
The market might not understand.
Other shops might laugh.
Customers might be confused.
The approach might fail.
So most shops stick with “what works.”
Except what works… doesn’t work anymore. Because everyone’s doing what works.
Experimental ≠ Reckless
Experimental doesn’t mean chaos.
Experimental means testing assumptions everyone else accepts as fact.
Every shop assumes:
Customers want the cheapest price (that’s because you don’t nurture).
Pricing must match market rates (this isn’t McDonald’s).
Business models follow established patterns (hi… remember COVID?).
Markets behave predictably (have you met AI?).
The shops breaking away?
They challenge every assumption.
They test what happens when you break the rules everyone else follows.
And they discover opportunities in the spaces everyone avoids.
Proof in Action
One shop stopped offering paint correction as a standalone.
They only sell it as part of a full transformation package. AOV jumped above $1,600. Facebook “gurus” laughed. Customers booked.Another shop launched a subscription model for exotic owners: unlimited quick details + priority booking for a flat monthly fee.
Everyone said subscriptions don’t work in detailing. They’re booked solid for the year.A guy I know in the South? He’s pivoting into detail consulting for dealerships.
Doesn’t touch the cars. Trains staff, designs processes. If he scales, he’ll out-profit his detail shop. Nobody saw that coming. Neither did I.
These aren’t lucky accidents.
They’re systematic experiments.
(Because if you execute, you expose yourself to luck more often.)
The Experimental Process
Identify what everyone believes.
Question why they believe it.
Test what happens when you don’t. (Most quit here.)
Scale what works. Kill what doesn’t.
Repeat with new assumptions.
This is what separates shops that adapt from shops that die.
Why Most Shops Won’t Do It
Because experiments might fail.
And failure feels risky.
So they’d rather fail slowly and predictably than fail fast and learn.
Fear of looking stupid keeps you looking like everyone else.
Fear of judgment keeps you judged as average.
Fear of failure guarantees the slow failure of irrelevance.
The market doesn’t remember shops that played it safe.
It remembers shops that tried something different.
Even when different didn’t work, different got noticed.
And noticed > invisible. Every time.
The Real Choice
Every experimental failure teaches you something competitors don’t know.
Every experimental success gives you something competitors can’t copy fast enough.
Every experiment separates you from the pack following the same playbook.
Tomorrow, you’ll have ideas.
Concepts.
Thoughts.
And you’ll list reasons why they won’t work.
You’ll focus on what could go wrong.
You’ll convince yourself safe is smart.
Meanwhile, someone braver is testing your idea.
Someone hungrier is taking your risk.
Someone smarter is learning what you were too scared to try.
Experimental shops don’t always win.
But scared shops always lose.
Just slowly enough that they can pretend they’re not losing.
👉 Pick your loss:
Fast and educational.
Or slow and predictable.
— Gabe