Out of hours garage idea
Discussion
If it was me I would just have a facility for drop off and pick up early/late, or pickup/dropoff to cater for people who work 9-5
Ive often thought about just a large premises with 5+ ramps just doing MOTS, allowing both turn up and wait, or booking, non nonsense straightforward work, giving excellent customer service. Simple clean branding, decent waiting room and polite staff.
Ive often thought about just a large premises with 5+ ramps just doing MOTS, allowing both turn up and wait, or booking, non nonsense straightforward work, giving excellent customer service. Simple clean branding, decent waiting room and polite staff.
Jakg said:
On the parts angles - don't HGV garages work nights to service the units so they can be out working during the day?
Yes but they also carry massive parts stock.Parts is the hardest bit, there is a way around it but you will need an awesome credit line.
Order EVERYTHING that could break, and every part in the process, every option. Return what you dont use.
Thats how I work on my stuff out of hours, have all the possible combinations of bits lying about.
You still can't do drop ins.
OP, you don't need to reinvent the wheel here, if you can run a workshop efficiently, do the job competently and treat your customers properly, you will get plenty of work and make a decent living during normal hours.
The customers that "need" out of hours service don't need it at all, they would just prefer the world to be turned upside down for them. They are the same customers who will then not understand when a job needed an extra part and will cost more or be delayed, they are the ones that have had a problem with their car for months but when they decide to get it sorted it has to be NOW, they are the ones asking if they can pay next month, they are the ones who would like to supply they own parts to save a few quid but still expect you to cover any warranty labour when their cheap part fails.
They are the customers you don't want to work for.
Sometimes gaps in the market are there for a reason.
The customers that "need" out of hours service don't need it at all, they would just prefer the world to be turned upside down for them. They are the same customers who will then not understand when a job needed an extra part and will cost more or be delayed, they are the ones that have had a problem with their car for months but when they decide to get it sorted it has to be NOW, they are the ones asking if they can pay next month, they are the ones who would like to supply they own parts to save a few quid but still expect you to cover any warranty labour when their cheap part fails.
They are the customers you don't want to work for.
Sometimes gaps in the market are there for a reason.
Steve H said:
OP, you don't need to reinvent the wheel here, if you can run a workshop efficiently, do the job competently and treat your customers properly, you will get plenty of work and make a decent living during normal hours.
The customers that "need" out of hours service don't need it at all, they would just prefer the world to be turned upside down for them. They are the same customers who will then not understand when a job needed an extra part and will cost more or be delayed, they are the ones that have had a problem with their car for months but when they decide to get it sorted it has to be NOW, they are the ones asking if they can pay next month, they are the ones who would like to supply they own parts to save a few quid but still expect you to cover any warranty labour when their cheap part fails.
They are the customers you don't want to work for.
Sometimes gaps in the market are there for a reason.
+1The customers that "need" out of hours service don't need it at all, they would just prefer the world to be turned upside down for them. They are the same customers who will then not understand when a job needed an extra part and will cost more or be delayed, they are the ones that have had a problem with their car for months but when they decide to get it sorted it has to be NOW, they are the ones asking if they can pay next month, they are the ones who would like to supply they own parts to save a few quid but still expect you to cover any warranty labour when their cheap part fails.
They are the customers you don't want to work for.
Sometimes gaps in the market are there for a reason.
Totally agree.
bearman68 said:
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.
Speaking as a punter, I would have to say this would be all I would look for. If it was only a quick job like a tyre or a battery, all the better but there are options for that.If I'm booking in for a service or an MoT, I'd be much happier dropping off the car with a person instead of putting my keys through a letterbox which I have had to do several times recently - it gives me another chance to mention anything I might have forgotten when I was on the phone. I've also ended up having to leave work early to get back to the garage before 6 to pay up and get the car back.
If I did need a car for the next day (my commute is on the train at the moment) ideally, I'd like a courtesy car but I could manage without. If there was a reliable garage that offered a service like this local to me, I would use it. Would have to do decent work though.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff