Located about 150 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, Waikerie Crash has serviced the motorists of its rural community and surrounding regional towns for 44 years. The business was created when the local Ford and Holden dealers united to set up a panel repair business where they could send their used cars to be tidied up ahead of being offered for sale.
In 1979, Kym commenced his panel beater apprenticeship and perfected his craft over the next 10 years, before being offered to join the team at Waikerie Crash by a former manager who had been suitably impressed with Kym’s skills and work ethic.
Thinking ahead for his future and wanting to have more control over the running of the business, Kym became a 20% part owner soon after, increasing his ownership to 50% as the years progressed and by 2010 he and his wife Rose became the sole owners of this successful, customer focussed panel repair business.
“I like to be in control of what we do in this business and being the sole owner enabled me to run the business how I believe it should be run. I was thoroughly excited about taking this next major step in my career,” Kym stated.
Since becoming the sole proprietor, Kym has continued to grow the business by focussing on specific areas, while maintaining high quality repairs for its loyal customer base. He first came across Capricorn in 1994 while he was a part owner in the business.
“We were approached by a Capricorn Area Manager and asked to pay $500 to be able to buy products that we were already buying - so you could imagine our scepticism. It seemed really weird to us at first, but once I took a deeper dive into it, I explained to my partners that this was a good thing to get involved with.”
“While we were buying the same parts that we always bought, we reduced our paperwork to one single monthly statement for all of our purchases, we gained an annual rebate and we also had the ability to re-invest in Capricorn shares that earned dividends as well.”
Gaining the same purchasing power as businesses far larger than Waikerie Crash was another key advantage to joining Capricorn.
“By joining Capricorn, we gained instant credit with every supplier listed in their Purple Pages directory. So, whether the business is large or small, every Capricorn Member is treated the same way by Capricorn’s Preferred Suppliers. This is what I loved the most about it, because being a relatively small, rural panel repair business, we had the same buying power or capacity as any larger panel repair business or group with Capricorn.”
“Most of all, we, the Members, own Capricorn - that is the best part of it,” Kym added.
Celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2024, Capricorn’s growth has resulted in even more benefits for its Members and this comes as no surprise to Kym Webber.
“Cooperatives are just such an excellent concept and this makes Capricorn’s exponential growth over the years very easy to understand. The cooperative structure works extremely well and it is particularly suited to the automotive repair industry, which is a great family to be involved with.
“I am so proud to be a part of Capricorn and look forward to being a part of its success well into the future.” Kym stated.