Dr. Raynor teaches finance at the State University of New York at Delhi, and is periodically a visiting professor at Universidad Catholica Santo Toribio De Mogrovejo in Peru. He has worked on a number of projects in other areas of Latin America, and was also a visiting professor in China. He is especially interested in international trade and labor issues, and has previous private sector experience in the banking industry.

When it comes to successful business operations, it often helps to review the basics. There is no business that has the basics down better than Willcox Tire in Cortland, NY.

For more than 30 years, my father and I have taken our vehicles to Willcox for tires and auto repair work. We go there because they are honest, repair cars correctly the first time, and back up their work with no questions asked. They do all of this at a price that is very fair.

This summer when the family van needed new brakes, I started preparing for my Willcox visit. Why preparation just to have auto repair work done? Because I now live in a city two hours away, and the trip over to Willcox and back was going to take most of the day. Thus, I needed to pack up the laptop, work to do, recreational reading, etc., while the repairs were being completed. I know that investing this amount of drive time, not to mention waiting at a repair facility so far away, seems excessive and inefficient. But Willcox Tire is that good, and makes the trip worth while.

Part of my preparation is to get an early start. I like to leave at 5:45 a.m. so I am there at 7:45 a.m. when they open up. Willcox has a simple philosophy about appointments: they don't take them. Work is done on a first-come, first-serve basis, and since they are so popular, you had better get there early. Once you are in line though, they won't start another job until they are finished with yours. Fortunately, they have enough bays to work on about a dozen cars simultaneously.

If you live in the Cortland area of course, you can drop off your car anytime and pick it up later or the following day when the work is done. Since I live a few counties away and waiting is a necessity, I try to get as much done as possible in a single visit. Thus, if I need new brakes, I often change the oil, replace a belt, or whatever else is needed to add even more value to the trip.

When you arrive at Willcox Tire for first time, you may not be overwhelmed. The main building is a converted warehouse. There is a loading dock in the front where you can hangout if the weather is nice. Don't count on it in this part of upstate NY however.

More likely, you will end up in the waiting room with an aging 15-inch TV that carries three channels and a few mismatched chairs. If this scenario is not appealing, you can always find solitude in another part of the building among stacks of tires, and shelves filled with alternators, batteries, radiators, etc. This is a great place to read--known mostly to veteran Willcox patrons--because you can form a cubical with the tire stacks and remain uninterrupted indefinitely. If you want to stretch your legs, take a stroll through the partially-paved parking lot.

The first thing you will notice are the cars from local dealerships, which are obvious from the dealer tags and prices on the windshields. The fact that dealers get more value out of Willcox servicing their vehicles vs. doing it in-house is telling. The second thing you notice are the Willcox trucks and vans: the company vehicles are all $800 "beaters". A 12-year-old rusted and dented van with faded lettering and paint is typical.

After taking all of this in over time, you realize this is why you keep returning to Willcox Tire. Their aging fleet sends a message about getting the most out of a vehicle, and helps develop customer loyalty. Their customers follow this example, because financially it works for them too. This type of dedicated patronage is something most entrepreneurs can only dream about.

Willcox Tire is certainly successful enough to have flashy new trucks and vans in their fleet. They are successful enough to have a brand new facility, with flat screen TVs and leather chairs in an air-conditioned waiting room. If they did this however, all these costs would be passed on to their customers.

More importantly, what type of a message would it send? If I found shiny new Willcox vehicles in the parking lot, I might conclude my older vehicle also is no longer worth fixing. Without saying a word, Willcox reassures their customers they can postpone--at least for a while longer--making that significant cash outlay for a newer vehicle. In other words, they don't just have a business philosophy; they live that business philosophy themselves.

Willcox definitely has the "basics" down, and they understand their customers completely. Their facilities may not be lavish, but that is least important to their customers. We just want our cars fixed right at a good price. So, if your vehicle ever breaks down in the Cortland, NY area, nobody will do a better job of getting you back on the road than Willcox Tire. Just make sure to bring a good book to read if you don't get there early.

Dr. Raynor is a finance professor at the State University of New York at Delhi and a 2007-08 member of the Association for Institutional Research