Can I start the £100 business start up challenge NOW ?
Discussion
Okay, so I can't find the thread, but I never had a decent idea, so I didn't bother, but I've got one.
Can I tack onto my existing Manufacturing Engineering Freelance Consultancy Ltd company another very small string in the bow.
I've purchased a code reader, which I am going to train myself for to use, by sorting out a couple of issues on my wife's car, for which she is going to have to pay me I think. But then I would happily offer the use of said to other people for a small fee plus return postage, plus unfortunately VAT.
For people local to me, I'd happily charge a small fee, for plugging it in, telling them what the codes are, resetting them, and if they needed to come back a second time, having fixed said issue, resetting it a second time after a proper repair. I'm not offering a repair service, so this would appeal to people who repair their own cars, and don't want to invest in all the right tools.
Obviously I have started small with a reader that is very specific to one brand of vehicle, in order to keep the start up cost below £100.
I don't see demand being particularly high, and I couldn't cope if it was, but I think demand could be generated via the numerous one make forums, of which there are many competing, and A5 leaflets in car parks on the screens of said cars.
In terms of cost/time of providing the service we are talking about 20 mins to plug it in, read the codes, write them down, and reset them, and take a fee.
I don't have a website for my current one man band freelance work, although I have a linkedin account but most work comes via repeat business, and Recruitment agencies advertising for my skills.
As I type it all looks a bit half arsed, but it might kick me into creating a 2 page website, one detailing the freelance skills, and projects completed, and the other offering the plug, scan, reset and run service.
Lets say I only achieve sales of £30 a week, this would add up to £1500 a year, which could be used to buy more sophisticated equipment. Even if sales were £30 a month, it paybacks in 3 months.
I look at the idea and think "amateur, no vision, no competitor understanding, no understanding of the market" ..
But the positive me, says "start small, learn risk free, see where it goes"
Can I tack onto my existing Manufacturing Engineering Freelance Consultancy Ltd company another very small string in the bow.
I've purchased a code reader, which I am going to train myself for to use, by sorting out a couple of issues on my wife's car, for which she is going to have to pay me I think. But then I would happily offer the use of said to other people for a small fee plus return postage, plus unfortunately VAT.
For people local to me, I'd happily charge a small fee, for plugging it in, telling them what the codes are, resetting them, and if they needed to come back a second time, having fixed said issue, resetting it a second time after a proper repair. I'm not offering a repair service, so this would appeal to people who repair their own cars, and don't want to invest in all the right tools.
Obviously I have started small with a reader that is very specific to one brand of vehicle, in order to keep the start up cost below £100.
I don't see demand being particularly high, and I couldn't cope if it was, but I think demand could be generated via the numerous one make forums, of which there are many competing, and A5 leaflets in car parks on the screens of said cars.
In terms of cost/time of providing the service we are talking about 20 mins to plug it in, read the codes, write them down, and reset them, and take a fee.
I don't have a website for my current one man band freelance work, although I have a linkedin account but most work comes via repeat business, and Recruitment agencies advertising for my skills.
As I type it all looks a bit half arsed, but it might kick me into creating a 2 page website, one detailing the freelance skills, and projects completed, and the other offering the plug, scan, reset and run service.
Lets say I only achieve sales of £30 a week, this would add up to £1500 a year, which could be used to buy more sophisticated equipment. Even if sales were £30 a month, it paybacks in 3 months.
I look at the idea and think "amateur, no vision, no competitor understanding, no understanding of the market" ..
But the positive me, says "start small, learn risk free, see where it goes"
You could do it for sure but it takes time and knowledge to give a complete diagnosis and the cars fault codes. Just clearing them is not enough to fix an issue and malot of the time the codes together indicate the problem. Fair play if you do give it a go but it's competitive out there.
You could offer to record things like windows up on key fob press and doors lock when moving etc as part of the service?
You could offer to record things like windows up on key fob press and doors lock when moving etc as part of the service?
I needed some codes reset on my car - I bought a £30 dongle for my laptop and used free online software. Speaking for myself as someone who fixes their own cars this will likely be the case for cheap £100 tools. I suspect the market is a bit too small unless you're talking about serious manufacturer specific diagnosis tools which are usually £1000s not £100.
If I could hire one for a week for say £50 while I do some work on the car I'd probably be interested (as i could get codes read by a manufacturers dealer for not much more and have a nice coffee while they do it) but you have a lot more issues of getting them back from people on time, £50pw probably wouldn't cover it either if the tool is say £2000 - thats 40 weeks before you start seeing a return and obviously you'd have shipping to take out of that.
Nice idea though but I don't think the economics work out.
If I could hire one for a week for say £50 while I do some work on the car I'd probably be interested (as i could get codes read by a manufacturers dealer for not much more and have a nice coffee while they do it) but you have a lot more issues of getting them back from people on time, £50pw probably wouldn't cover it either if the tool is say £2000 - thats 40 weeks before you start seeing a return and obviously you'd have shipping to take out of that.
Nice idea though but I don't think the economics work out.
I hear you. Just knowing what the fault code means may not be enough, but I'm told this is pretty comprehensive list that it can kick out.
I am yet to use it, but my first job is to work out why the airbag light is on.
I'm told it should indicate which of 6 airbags, 2 seat belt pretensioners, and various sensors is(or was) at fault.
As you say, it's a competitive market, but room for a little niche.
I am yet to use it, but my first job is to work out why the airbag light is on.
I'm told it should indicate which of 6 airbags, 2 seat belt pretensioners, and various sensors is(or was) at fault.
As you say, it's a competitive market, but room for a little niche.
renrut said:
Nice idea though but I don't think the economics work out.
But isn't that the point of the £100 challenge?...start some niche, with no real start up cost and see what happens ? 2 versions of this idea then :
a) post it out...but at £50 a week the customer may as well buy his own - remember this is the £100 challenge, so my investment is quite low.
b) people come to me.....or better for my neighbours....I pop round to their house as long as it's local...I have a midweek base and a weekend base, so I'm can effectively operate from 2 bases.
(Followed link from the post in New MINIs)
I bought a code reader/deleter for £20 off eBay and was able to record and reset every light as and when I needed it. What would your service offer over and above this? And also, OBDii won't give you manufacturer specific codes that may be stored in the ECU without flagging a ECL - this happened in my case. Took the car in for diagnosis of an ECL but their opinion was that the real culprit was a superknock code which is BMW specific, and invisible to OBDii code readers.
Sure, a ScanGauge type device will give you live readouts of sensor data, and laptop connected dongles could give you more of the same, but you would need to know what each manufacturer's recommended figures are for each and every item.
I bought a code reader/deleter for £20 off eBay and was able to record and reset every light as and when I needed it. What would your service offer over and above this? And also, OBDii won't give you manufacturer specific codes that may be stored in the ECU without flagging a ECL - this happened in my case. Took the car in for diagnosis of an ECL but their opinion was that the real culprit was a superknock code which is BMW specific, and invisible to OBDii code readers.
Sure, a ScanGauge type device will give you live readouts of sensor data, and laptop connected dongles could give you more of the same, but you would need to know what each manufacturer's recommended figures are for each and every item.
New POD said:
I hear you. Just knowing what the fault code means may not be enough, but I'm told this is pretty comprehensive list that it can kick out.
I am yet to use it, but my first job is to work out why the airbag light is on.
I'm told it should indicate which of 6 airbags, 2 seat belt pretensioners, and various sensors is(or was) at fault.
As you say, it's a competitive market, but room for a little niche.
Be VERY careful when using OBD diagnostic software for Airbag module reading as some of the old ones can trigger the airbags, this is well documented on t'interweb.I am yet to use it, but my first job is to work out why the airbag light is on.
I'm told it should indicate which of 6 airbags, 2 seat belt pretensioners, and various sensors is(or was) at fault.
As you say, it's a competitive market, but room for a little niche.
The little launch colour obd reader is good value with some graphing function and quite a lot of protocols but if you want full access to vehicle systems you need to up your budget . I spend 3k per year on diag kit and my coverage is ok but still some Marques that I can't get into very far . I use a mobile guy when I get stuck and he has £40k of gear to do pretty much any vehicle
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