Out of hours garage idea
Discussion
Hi everyone Ive been lurking a while and finally registered.
I have an idea to start my own car repair garage. Im a mechanic with Dealer and non dealer experience, Ive found a unit to work from that isn't too badly priced for rent etc.
My question/idea is to potentially focus on the work lost by other garages by being open later in the day/out of hours. And try to capitalise on the people who are at work all day, flat tyres but no one else is open.
Does anyone think this is a viable idea? What anyone use this type of service?
Thanks for your time
I have an idea to start my own car repair garage. Im a mechanic with Dealer and non dealer experience, Ive found a unit to work from that isn't too badly priced for rent etc.
My question/idea is to potentially focus on the work lost by other garages by being open later in the day/out of hours. And try to capitalise on the people who are at work all day, flat tyres but no one else is open.
Does anyone think this is a viable idea? What anyone use this type of service?
Thanks for your time
great idea a 24/7 garage servicing overnight etc longer jobs getting done when you don't need your car etc. things like punctures and minor running repairs(taxi trade will be your best customers )
one problem though, keeping stock.
unless your going to focus on one marque you wont be able to carry stock for any walk in jobs and your suppliers will be shut
one problem though, keeping stock.
unless your going to focus on one marque you wont be able to carry stock for any walk in jobs and your suppliers will be shut
glasgowrob said:
great idea a 24/7 garage servicing overnight etc longer jobs getting done when you don't need your car etc. things like punctures and minor running repairs(taxi trade will be your best customers )
one problem though, keeping stock.
unless your going to focus on one marque you wont be able to carry stock for any walk in jobs and your suppliers will be shut
yes stock was the only issue I was thinking of. Anyone booking in work would be ok, And I guess sometimes during the day you can't get parts either ha ha. This part I need to research a bit moreone problem though, keeping stock.
unless your going to focus on one marque you wont be able to carry stock for any walk in jobs and your suppliers will be shut
It could work well for routine servicing - drop your car off after work, and pick it up on your way in the next day. That way you could order the service bits in advance. Set up near to a Halfords and you'll have basic parts supply until 8pm too. Might be tricky for emergencies though, where would you get a fanbelt at 3am? If you can solve that though, it could be a viable business.
Incorporate a motor factors into the business or aim to be marque specific ideally target whatever the local taxi trade uses as they are the majority of overnight clients I would imagine for walk in work
Ore booked stuff would be great
offer things like tyres and alignment as well as not everyone wants to use kwik fit or similar and there's very few options after 5pm
Ore booked stuff would be great
offer things like tyres and alignment as well as not everyone wants to use kwik fit or similar and there's very few options after 5pm
The inconvenience of dealership workshops only being open during standard working hours was dealt with, in the main, by the introduction of courtesy cars or collection/delivery services a couple of decades ago.
You may perceive there are thousands of people who need a 24/7 service but in reality how many will be ringing/turning up at 3am needing a clutch? and if they did where does the clutch come from?
My last job at a multi franchised main dealer involved us being open all day Saturday. A ballache as no~one wanted to work and the only "business" it attracted was taxi drivers who didn't want to pay for anything and dump and runs from the AA/RAC with major breakdowns. Not many customers wanted regular service work done as it interfered with their weekend. Waste of time.
You may perceive there are thousands of people who need a 24/7 service but in reality how many will be ringing/turning up at 3am needing a clutch? and if they did where does the clutch come from?
My last job at a multi franchised main dealer involved us being open all day Saturday. A ballache as no~one wanted to work and the only "business" it attracted was taxi drivers who didn't want to pay for anything and dump and runs from the AA/RAC with major breakdowns. Not many customers wanted regular service work done as it interfered with their weekend. Waste of time.
I would have to agree with Hammer. The only people that would use you are those that need the car URGENTLY fixed, and chances are you won't have the parts to fix the car that night anyway. The very few instances where someone breaks down in the dead of night, can somehow get the car to you, you can fix it straight away and get the car back to them before the next day, will be so few and far between that it won't make the idea viable.
Everyone else is happy to accept that it will inevitably take a few days to fix a car, so what's the point in a 24/7 garage?
Everyone else is happy to accept that it will inevitably take a few days to fix a car, so what's the point in a 24/7 garage?
I don't think the OP is suggesting working through the night. I can see the benefit of being there for people after work up until about 8-9pm when they need a quick job like tyres, exhausts or minor servicing.
The big problem with being open late is if you have any residential buildings nearby, they will complain. There might also be insurance issues (although maybe I'm just being overly paranoid)
The big problem with being open late is if you have any residential buildings nearby, they will complain. There might also be insurance issues (although maybe I'm just being overly paranoid)
Problem is company's like euro parts etc who you will be reliant on sending out the correct part for the car during the day.
You then start the job at night when they are closed and then find out the parts are incorrect.
You can't then do anything until the following day.
Car sales business and our workshop regularly do late night working. Would not want to run a business around that model.
You then start the job at night when they are closed and then find out the parts are incorrect.
You can't then do anything until the following day.
Car sales business and our workshop regularly do late night working. Would not want to run a business around that model.
ModernAndy said:
I don't think the OP is suggesting working through the night. I can see the benefit of being there for people after work up until about 8-9pm when they need a quick job like tyres, exhausts or minor servicing.
The big problem with being open late is if you have any residential buildings nearby, they will complain. There might also be insurance issues (although maybe I'm just being overly paranoid)
Yes this is more what I meant open later on a morning maybe and still open till 8/9pm. Funnily enough there is a halfords nearby. Initially I thought that between 5 and 8 would only be booked in work and punctures etc.The big problem with being open late is if you have any residential buildings nearby, they will complain. There might also be insurance issues (although maybe I'm just being overly paranoid)
I understand there are courtesy cars etc but the amount of customers that say doing this is awkward. I guess it's the after work format a mobile mechanic incorporates of going to someones workplace to service a car in the car park
JimmyConwayNW said:
Problem is company's like euro parts etc who you will be reliant on sending out the correct part for the car during the day.
You then start the job at night when they are closed and then find out the parts are incorrect.
You can't then do anything until the following day.
Car sales business and our workshop regularly do late night working. Would not want to run a business around that model.
Yes this is also true, I'm not thinking of solely being open at night, Iam proposing an "ordinary" garage that has a later opening opportunity for customers that are time deprivedYou then start the job at night when they are closed and then find out the parts are incorrect.
You can't then do anything until the following day.
Car sales business and our workshop regularly do late night working. Would not want to run a business around that model.
I run a workshop, and live on site. Effectively I'm open from 7am until 10pm, including weekends.
We get the occasional job on the weekend as an emergency, but bitter experience has taught us to try and do a minimum outside normal hours, as parts and other back up is simply not available.
We do a fair bit of electrics - you want to speak to autodata to see if a particular issue needs a software update? Guess what.
Similarly, we have found that if we make a mistake (and god forbid that people do) the 2 main reasons are - working with someone else, where you thought they did the nuts up, and they thought you did, and simply missing things through being tired. Even with a systematic check, this is really hard to get around, as it's simple human error. I would predict this could be a problem if you are constantly working late.
It's really helpful in my experience for people to drop cars off outside office hours - so generally my role at these times is to meet people, take the keys off them, note exactly what work they want done, and to be friendly and chatty. People seem to like this.
We also run 2 courtesy cars in case of difficulties - and for which we make a modest charge.
I'm not saying we are the most profitable business in the entire universe, but we do OK.
We get the occasional job on the weekend as an emergency, but bitter experience has taught us to try and do a minimum outside normal hours, as parts and other back up is simply not available.
We do a fair bit of electrics - you want to speak to autodata to see if a particular issue needs a software update? Guess what.
Similarly, we have found that if we make a mistake (and god forbid that people do) the 2 main reasons are - working with someone else, where you thought they did the nuts up, and they thought you did, and simply missing things through being tired. Even with a systematic check, this is really hard to get around, as it's simple human error. I would predict this could be a problem if you are constantly working late.
It's really helpful in my experience for people to drop cars off outside office hours - so generally my role at these times is to meet people, take the keys off them, note exactly what work they want done, and to be friendly and chatty. People seem to like this.
We also run 2 courtesy cars in case of difficulties - and for which we make a modest charge.
I'm not saying we are the most profitable business in the entire universe, but we do OK.
bearman68 said:
I run a workshop, and live on site. Effectively I'm open from 7am until 10pm, including weekends.
We get the occasional job on the weekend as an emergency, but bitter experience has taught us to try and do a minimum outside normal hours, as parts and other back up is simply not available.
We do a fair bit of electrics - you want to speak to autodata to see if a particular issue needs a software update? Guess what.
Similarly, we have found that if we make a mistake (and god forbid that people do) the 2 main reasons are - working with someone else, where you thought they did the nuts up, and they thought you did, and simply missing things through being tired. Even with a systematic check, this is really hard to get around, as it's simple human error. I would predict this could be a problem if you are constantly working late.
It's really helpful in my experience for people to drop cars off outside office hours - so generally my role at these times is to meet people, take the keys off them, note exactly what work they want done, and to be friendly and chatty. People seem to like this.
We also run 2 courtesy cars in case of difficulties - and for which we make a modest charge.
I'm not saying we are the most profitable business in the entire universe, but we do OK.
wow, thanks for that insight mate, I guess the occasional late booking but only as and when maybe?We get the occasional job on the weekend as an emergency, but bitter experience has taught us to try and do a minimum outside normal hours, as parts and other back up is simply not available.
We do a fair bit of electrics - you want to speak to autodata to see if a particular issue needs a software update? Guess what.
Similarly, we have found that if we make a mistake (and god forbid that people do) the 2 main reasons are - working with someone else, where you thought they did the nuts up, and they thought you did, and simply missing things through being tired. Even with a systematic check, this is really hard to get around, as it's simple human error. I would predict this could be a problem if you are constantly working late.
It's really helpful in my experience for people to drop cars off outside office hours - so generally my role at these times is to meet people, take the keys off them, note exactly what work they want done, and to be friendly and chatty. People seem to like this.
We also run 2 courtesy cars in case of difficulties - and for which we make a modest charge.
I'm not saying we are the most profitable business in the entire universe, but we do OK.
The other issue we have is people asking for 'unsocial' hours and then not turning up. This really boils my piss. (Good PH expression). We have started making a modest charge if you wish work to be done outside normal hours - but really I'm not sure how this is going down. It's rather against the trade ethos, but it really does cause us a load of irritation and hassle when people don't turn up. Grrrr.
A GOOD workshop in the area I live (west yorkshire) would be stacked out busy with trade work if you wanted it..the skill set is getting thinner as the older generation pack up/retire, most of the "workshops" are now employing fitters rather than experienced mechanics, thus the ones with the good experienced staff are mega busy.
I had a small workshop bolted onto my retail business, mainly to prepare my own cars..with 1 technician the cost to me was £22 per hour x 6 days x 8 hours per day to pay for itself, as you will know with 1 tech you end up not charging out anything like 8 hours per day. (didnt matter to us as was for mostly our own cars, but gives you a picture)
Nice idea in principle Swash.
My personal experiences :
Was a taxi driver for years mainly working nights.
As Rob suggested there is potential there for keeping taxi drivers on the road.
However any time I had a car problem at night the majority of issues required parts, which as mentioned are not readily available at night.
Snapped coil spring, burst power steering hose are failures I have suffered meaning car off the road till motor factors are open.
Take a look at your local taxi firms and see if there is a certain model of car they all use and keep a small stock of relevant parts. Maybe discuss with your local motor factors about possibility of stocking common parts on a sale-or-return basis i.e Skoda Octavia stocking perhaps PAS hose, brake hoses, alternator, starter motor etc.
I also was a manager of a fast-fit centre for 4 years.
Normal closing time was 6pm, but 1 day a week we stayed open till 8pm.
To be honest apart from the occasional decent money job there was never a lot of visitors.
Get a few 'mates' wanting silly little jobs like swapping tyres etc for a few quid, and the local boy racers appearing with big exhausts expecting them fitted on.
My personal experiences :
Was a taxi driver for years mainly working nights.
As Rob suggested there is potential there for keeping taxi drivers on the road.
However any time I had a car problem at night the majority of issues required parts, which as mentioned are not readily available at night.
Snapped coil spring, burst power steering hose are failures I have suffered meaning car off the road till motor factors are open.
Take a look at your local taxi firms and see if there is a certain model of car they all use and keep a small stock of relevant parts. Maybe discuss with your local motor factors about possibility of stocking common parts on a sale-or-return basis i.e Skoda Octavia stocking perhaps PAS hose, brake hoses, alternator, starter motor etc.
I also was a manager of a fast-fit centre for 4 years.
Normal closing time was 6pm, but 1 day a week we stayed open till 8pm.
To be honest apart from the occasional decent money job there was never a lot of visitors.
Get a few 'mates' wanting silly little jobs like swapping tyres etc for a few quid, and the local boy racers appearing with big exhausts expecting them fitted on.
Id like a local cheap tyre place to be open on a sunday as i always seem to get a puncture then, leaving me with quick fit as my only option. There price is a bit steep for my liking. A local guy has a mr clutch van or the like. Just goes and fix's cars at the side of the road/house. No garage payments etc and says he earns more than just being a mechanic in a garage.
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