Opening up your own garage is the perfect opportunity to build a business with the chance of making a considerable amount of profit. The great thing about this kind of business is that with more and more cars taking to the road each day, and more people passing their driving tests, there’s always going to be room for a garage and an enthusiastic mechanic. The problem is, if you’ve never built a business like this before, it can be difficult to know where to start, who you can turn to, and how to best launch the business of your dreams. So, we’ve compiled this guide on how you can successfully open a garage.
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By Ewelina Wachala
Calculate your space
A very common blunder that many budding mechanics make when they’re opening up their own garage is not taking into consideration how much space they are going to need. You will need to think about how many cars you’ll be able to store inside of your premises, alongside any equipment and tools that you’ll need to purchase too.
A great idea is to consider buying land rather than a building so that you’re able to make use of the space in the right way for your business. Building your own premises on this land means that it can be catered to exactly what you want and will need. Don’t forget that it’s recommended to use a company such as clinton aluminum and stainless steel to source the materials you’ll need to help build your premises and any other structures you may need. Buying land and building the premises yourself may even save money in the long run, and you’ll be able to have control of everything from start to finish.
Do some marketing
While there are indeed a plethora of cars that need servicing, repairing, and MOT-ing every day, you can’t expect people to simply come to you because you’ve just opened up. As a mechanic and a garage, you will need to earn the respect of people before they decide to give you a go. That’s where marketing comes in, and believe us when we say it plays a very large role in the custom that you will receive. Here are some tips on how to best market your new business:
- Spend some time marketing before you’re going to launch. You can do this by handing out flyers around town, in local shops, and even sticking up posters for the general public to see. Letting them know that you’re opening will spark interest and lead people to find out more about you.
- You will then need to create a reputable online presence so that when people do begin researching what you’re about, you’ve got something ready for them to read. Create a professional website that shows what you’re about, your plans if you’re not open yet, and any other relevant information that your potential customers might want to know.
- Make use of social media to help build up your online presence, and make sure you’re using multiple social media platforms to help spread the word! It’s important to also make sure that you’re posting regular content to keep fans engaged, giving people a reason to read, like, and share your posts (such as a competition), and also linking back to your website to send as much traffic as possible.
- Create an advert for your local radio station. You’ll be surprised at how well radio adverts work, and also how many customers you’ll have when you first open. It might be a good idea to create a catchy jingle to really ensure that your name sticks with potential customers.
Work out your availability
Once everything is in the pipeline, you will need to work out your availability to your customers. If you’re going to be the only employee, or at least only run a small team, you won’t be able to take on as much work as you may have thought. Set time limits for certain tasks, and also have a pricing sheet ready for interested people to look at so that they can decide whether or not to use you as their garage. It might be a good idea to look up local rates for mechanics to ensure that you’re not charging too little or too much.
Send staff on training courses
No matter whether you’re going to be running a select team of a couple of people, or a large amount of staff, it’s important to make sure that you’re lining up training courses for yourself and members of staff. Safety rules with using equipment and machinery changes all of the time, as well as techniques for repairing vehicles. Having regular training courses means you won’t fall behind as a business.
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Find the funds
If you don’t have the money saved to open your garage, have you thought about where you’re going to obtain the funding from? Luckily, there are many lenders that are happy to loan to new business owners, which means that you’ll be able to get your dream on the road sooner rather than later. Just make sure you can afford the repayments!
Obtain the insurance
Finally, as you know being a mechanic means driving a lot of different cars as well as working with many dangerous pieces of equipment. It’s imperative that you obtain the right insurance for mechanics so that if the worst does happen, you, your staff, and your business are covered.
