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Starting an Auto Repair Service in the UK-A Brief Guide

Starting an Auto Repair Service

Starting an Auto Repair Service

Whether you’re a car enthusiast or just someone who is looking for an evergreen business idea. So,  starting a car repair service can wind up being a very profitable endeavour. However, it’s not exactly an easy business model to become familiar with. Especially if you don’t know anything about cars and the complexities that come with fixing and maintaining them. While you don’t necessarily need to be a qualified mechanic to own a repair service. Of course, it certainly would help to be knowledgeable in the field before you set up shop. Regardless of your skill and expertise level! Here are some of the steps that will be involved in starting your own car repair service in the UK.

1. Incorporate and Insure the Company

Incorporating your repair service as a limited company is generally the best approach. As it will provide the most legal protection by separating the debts of the business from your personal debt obligations. Any business that is going to be operating in the vehicle repair industry. Naturally, should obtain some form of motor trade insurance. This kind of insurance will ensure that your company and staff are covered when working on customer vehicles. You can use Quotezone.co.uk to quickly fetch motor trade insurance quotes from the UK’s top providers. Quotezone provides a convenient, centralised interface where you can compare all sorts of insurance policies.

2. Know the Costs of Doing Business

It’s important to understand that car repair shops can come with a significant amount of overheads and operating expenses, including the cost of paying rent or mortgage for the shop itself, mechanic labour, waste disposal, electricity, equipment purchases, and advertising. You’ll most likely need to obtain a waste carrier license with the Environment Agency in order to dispose of hazardous materials like batteries, tyres, and oil. Mapping out a detailed budget will help you prepare for these expenses so that you’re not caught off-guard later on.

3. Establish Relationships with Suppliers

The suppliers you deal with will have a major impact on your bottom line because they will determine how much of your revenue goes towards purchase orders every month. A typical car repair shop in the UK can deal with as many as 30 suppliers or more on regular basis. The manager of the business should be prepared to deal with suppliers over the phone an average of 10-20 times per day. You may want to use a spreadsheet or contact management software to keep track of all your suppliers in one place.

4. Starting an Auto Repair Service-Assemble a Team of Mechanics

Of course, you can’t repair more than one vehicle at a time if you don’t have a small team of mechanics to help with the labour. Generally, it’s best to start with at least 2-4 mechanics on staff to ensure you won’t be left inundated with work during your first month in business. You should try to only employ experienced mechanics, especially during the initial momentum-building stage, as you can’t afford mishaps or dissatisfied customers in the early goings.

5. Keep Up with Accounting and Record Keeping

Most car repair shops in the UK perform accounting tasks at the end of every business day. So,  keeping a thorough record of outgoing invoices and purchase invoices. It’s also common to use lever arch files. Consequently, that simplify the process of sifting through the records for specific moths in retrospect. Due to the amount of parts and materials that car shops purchase and sell each month, staying on top of the accounting is definitely one of the most challenging aspects of running a business in this industry.

6. Starting an Auto Repair Service-Invest in Local Advertising

Once your repair service is in business, it’s time to start attracting your first customers with an aggressive and proactive local marketing campaign. This can include investing in regional search engine optimisation (SEO) or paying for TV, radio, and newspaper ads. The idea is to spread brand awareness so
that your prospective customers know how to contact you and where you’re located when they have problems with their vehicles.

7. Place Customer Service as the Highest Priority

Any skilled mechanic can repair a car, but not all shops are honest and courteous during the process. Take pride in offering top-notch customer care and you’ll be rewarded with plenty of repeat business. Since most vehicle owners in the UK currently own more than one car or will in the near future, doing a great job the first time is the key to getting them to come back and recommend their friends and family.

The UK Could Use More Auto Repair Services

You might think that there are already too many repair services in your area, but there actually aren’t enough to accommodate the demand. If you’ve ever had to wait weeks for your vehicle to be returned to you by a repair shop, then you know first-hand just how backed up many auto service providers are. You can help alleviate that demand by launching your own auto repair service via the steps listed above.

1 reply
  1. Ryan
    Ryan says:

    Hi Eric, thanks for providing interesting information. Increased customer satisfaction and positive user testimonials on car repair service websites make this business name much in demand by potential clients and current clients. This implies that customer reviews of car repair services are the basis of any business reputation.

    Reply

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