New shop start up.

[statrepair]

Hello all, I stumbled across this forum while doing some research on starting a shop. I had some questions to assist in guiding me in the right direction. For starts, what is the general thought on being some what specialized? I’m master certified with Kia and Hyundai as well as hybrid certified. So I was wanting to try and stay toward those three as my main focus. Or has this been proven to not be a solid business model? Also for my shop, we are going to be building it from scratch, so was curious about some input. We are wanting to start with three bays. What would be the minimum building size? We were thinking a 30x60. Which would give us an office/waiting rooms and a little storage. Or would this be to small?

 

On another note, if anyone on here is in the Charlotte-greensboro area that would like to grab some coffee, I would love to pick you brain for a bit.

 

 

 

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[Hands On]

I don't have any research to back this up but I think you will need more then 3 bays to break even on new construction.

[statrepair]

I don't have any research to back this up but I think you will need more then 3 bays to break even on new construction.

Thanks for the input. We already own the commercial lot. And we’ll be the general contractor on it. And for the budget the 3 bay is about all we can do for now.


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[Hands On]

Will you owe when it is done? Any idea what your monthly rent/mortgage ect would be when all said and done?

[statrepair]

Will you owe when it is done? Any idea what your monthly rent/mortgage ect would be when all said and done?

Will be leasing from a different LLCs for roughly $1000 a month.


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[Hands On]

Can not beat that for rent. There have been other posts about specializing in a make or model. General consensus has been why start off limiting your customer base. 

[gandgautorepair]

You can market to attract those brands, but I'd work on everything. I also found out from experience starting a new shop that when you position yourself as a specialty that becomes your image in more minds than you would ever think, and ends up limiting you later when you really do want to work on everything. Build with as much capacity as you can, you'll want to have it later. I would hope that longer term you don't want to be the main guy, and that means you will need more capacity. Your own business should be more than just a glorified job, at least you should be working for it to be more of a business than a job long term.

[statrepair]

Your own business should be more than just a glorified job, at least you should be working for it to be more of a business than a job long term.

That’s my long term goal. Starting will just be me. Then later as work load allows a service advisor/office employee, then another tech. Then eventually that staffing that I can put down turning wrenches.


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[Hands On]

I would start off with at least one helper of some sort. I thought the same way when I started out, but you can not support big boy shop expenses with one person, and it is not safe to work alone all day. Bottom line you will not make any money unless at least two people are producing repairs; unless you plan on living in the shop, taking cash only, and paying no taxes.

[JustTheBest]

Hi statrepair

I can't steer you well on the size of your shop because I've not had my own shop for a while - but I CAN address your question, "what is the general thought on being some what specialized?"

First of all, I totally agree with other comments. As an example, gandgautorepair said "...but I'd work on everything. I also found out from experience starting a new shop that when you position yourself as a specialty that becomes your image in more minds than you would ever think, and ends up limiting you later when you really do want to? work on everything."

I agree. But the one important thing is, NOBODY have a crystal ball. 

Here's what you should know and do. 

1) When you specialize, you can charge higher prices. After all, you're "The Specialist".

2) I've done a video about this - How to Stand Out in Your Market. In short, when you drill down on a particular niche, you stand to win. You can see that video here:

3) You can easily TEST this. You can create simple OFFER CARDS or BUSINESS CARDS with different "Titles" for you, the owner. You said "I’m master certified with Kia and Hyundai as well as hybrid certified."
So (as an example) a title to focus on Kia could be "Certified Master Kia Tech - All the service without dealer pricing"... or something like that. You can do the same for Hyundai and Hybrid too. 

4) Create BRAND SPECIFIC OFFERS. I talk about that here in this video:

As an example, you could do "KIA OWNERS ONLY"... or "HUYNDAI OWNERS ONLY". Printing is cheap. You can do this on your own computer (really cheap - but effective) when you use these printable business cards.

They work with Laser or Ink Jet - and this way you can make different offers - and then test! 

Hope this helps!

Matthew Lee
"The Car Count Fixer"
Join the conversation today on YouTube at Car Count Hackers!