The Ins and Outs of Opening a Garage
As a person that is made up of equal parts car tinkerer and entrepreneurial genius, you should consider starting your own vehicle repair business. Before you open up the doors to your garage, however, you should know the ins and outs of the industry. If you don’t, your venture will soon find itself on the road to nowhere.
To unearth the ins and outs of opening your very own repairs garage, make sure to read on.
Obtain a property
First things first, you need to obtain a property from which to base your car repairing operation. You can’t just pitch up in any old place, though. You simply have to consider how your customers are going to reach you. They’re not going to want or even be able to drive for miles upon miles to find you when their cars are in need of fixing, which is why you can’t afford to go off the beaten track. Instead, you should pitch up in a high traffic area — alongside a motorway or in a densely populated city area will do just fine.
Get insured
Before you open your garage doors to your first client, you have to get insured. Motor trade insurance is the first cover you should seek to obtain, as this will see you protected in a number of important areas, some of which include:
- Personal accident
- Public liability
- Road risk
- Combined premises
With this kind of extensive coverage in tow, you will be free to perform your day-to-day work activities without having to worry about being held liable for a number of motor-related mishaps should they accidentally occur. Another type of cover that you should take out in order to see yourself remain completely covered is tool insurance. If the tools that are vital to your daily operations were ever to become broken or stolen, with this cover, you wouldn’t have to worry about the heavy financial ramifications of fixing or replacing them.
Hone in on your niche
If your garage doesn’t offer a specialised service, it won’t stand out from the crowd. If that’s the case, then you’re going to have a hard time when it comes to attracting customers. It is for this reason why honing in on your niche is of the utmost importance.
A few money-spinning niche services that you should consider offering include:
- Repainting
- Detailing
- Collision repair
- Hybrid or plug-in electric vehicle servicing
Hire great employees
Your garage is going to need great employees if it’s going to get the best possible start in life. For this reason, though it may be time-consuming, you should scour through the pool of available mechanics thoroughly in order to find the very best and most accomplished workers. If you feel that you have the time and patience to do so, you could even consider offering apprentice positions — doing this could see you unearth a real diamond in the rough.
If you want to combine your passion for cars with your entrepreneurial streak, then you should definitely consider opening a car repair garage.