Mobile Tyre Fitting
Mobile Tyre Fitting
Author
Discussion

Gilmore

Original Poster:

315 posts

150 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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Afternoon,

Just received great service from a mobile tyre fitter who was able to get to me a couple of hours after Halfords let me down.

Interesting guy but seems like an interesting business?

From what I’ve seen online:

40% Margins
Lots of new cars now no longer have spares
Plenty of low profile tyres
Marketing channels look quite straightforward to me - Google Ads / bit of social etc.

This chap was on his 10th job of the day and it was only 15:00 when he got to me.

Anyone in the business and confirm if the above is about right? Size of the prize for a one-man outfit must be pretty reasonable?

Cheers,
Gilmore

Simpo Two

89,404 posts

281 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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I guess you'd need to keep a lot of stock, which could dent cashflow and take up a lot of room.

Gilmore

Original Poster:

315 posts

150 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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Simpo Two said:
I guess you'd need to keep a lot of stock, which could dent cashflow and take up a lot of room.
Not sure, this fella said as long as he ordered them by 11:00 they’d be delivered to him by 14:00 and he was with me by 15:00.

The Road Crew

4,270 posts

176 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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40% margins? If that is genuine I'd like to know where he is buying his tyres from.....

Gilmore

Original Poster:

315 posts

150 months

Monday 21st February 2022
quotequote all
The Road Crew said:
40% margins? If that is genuine I'd like to know where he is buying his tyres from.....
Just going off what I’ve read online from ‘home tyres’ when browsing their franchise documents.

‘A regular, busy day could see five to eight jobs completed, between ten and twenty tyres fitted, numerous other services delivered and turnover up to £2,500 or even more, returning gross profits of around 40%. These numbers are achievable while remaining competitive and offering service levels beyond the capability of others. A true win-win’

Simpo Two

89,404 posts

281 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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The Road Crew said:
40% margins? If that is genuine I'd like to know where he is buying his tyres from.....
That sum might include a charge for fitting and travel.

The Road Crew

4,270 posts

176 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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Simpo Two said:
The Road Crew said:
40% margins? If that is genuine I'd like to know where he is buying his tyres from.....
That sum might include a charge for fitting and travel.
Has to surely.

I've tried a few of these outfits for prices over the years and they've always been much more expensive than taking the car to a tyre place myself. I guess you pay for the convenience of not having to leave home, not something I'll personally pay extra for.

BoRED S2upid

20,763 posts

256 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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I always use mobile tyre fitters and buy tyres onlind. Tyres get delivered to him he pops around to fit them on the drive and only £15 bargain! But last time he was here he was at it for a good 30 mins add in a bit of travel and it’s not much per hour is it.

Jamescrs

5,416 posts

81 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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I use a local guy who is a one man band type setup but is competitive and is also able to source me track tyres which a lot of local garages aren't interested in for some reason.

Happy to support him.

anonymous-user

70 months

Monday 21st February 2022
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Gilmore said:
Not sure, this fella said as long as he ordered them by 11:00 they’d be delivered to him by 14:00 and he was with me by 15:00.
Needing to have a day's tyres orders in before 11am is a remarkably short window.

What happens if you get a customer that rings in at 13:00 after clipping a pothole and NEEDS to get moving again?

Breakdowns, especially out of hours and on larger/more specialised tyres are going to be the captive market for charging a decent margin on the tyres, but that's entirely dependent on the stock you keep at hand.
If you can only realistically get stock for a customer in a day or two, you're then up against a lot of mobile and local fitters that can do the same time frame wise.

If you're hoping on routine replacements being your bread and butter, you're going to be another face in a highly competitive crowd and famously small margins on the tyres themselves.
You'd make your money on the labour, but then considering the setup costs and travelling time you're offering a service that people will bulk at paying more than £20ish per tyre fitted and perhaps 10-15% margin per tyre if you're lucky. Yes that could extend into as many as 4 tyres, but more often than not you'll be spending all that time procuring the tyre, driving out to fit it and then returning to base to fit one or two tyres.

It can work if you're very busy and booked up in advance, but then you're back to eatting into your margins trying to stay competitive in a saturated market with low product margins.

There's easier businesses to get into imo.



Gilmore

Original Poster:

315 posts

150 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
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WorldBoss said:
Needing to have a day's tyres orders in before 11am is a remarkably short window.

What happens if you get a customer that rings in at 13:00 after clipping a pothole and NEEDS to get moving again?

Breakdowns, especially out of hours and on larger/more specialised tyres are going to be the captive market for charging a decent margin on the tyres, but that's entirely dependent on the stock you keep at hand.
If you can only realistically get stock for a customer in a day or two, you're then up against a lot of mobile and local fitters that can do the same time frame wise.

If you're hoping on routine replacements being your bread and butter, you're going to be another face in a highly competitive crowd and famously small margins on the tyres themselves.
You'd make your money on the labour, but then considering the setup costs and travelling time you're offering a service that people will bulk at paying more than £20ish per tyre fitted and perhaps 10-15% margin per tyre if you're lucky. Yes that could extend into as many as 4 tyres, but more often than not you'll be spending all that time procuring the tyre, driving out to fit it and then returning to base to fit one or two tyres.

It can work if you're very busy and booked up in advance, but then you're back to eatting into your margins trying to stay competitive in a saturated market with low product margins.

There's easier businesses to get into imo.
Thanks for the insight.

My situation was two flats after hitting a pot hole on Friday night - so was very much ‘in need’ rather than routine so tally’s you with what you’re saying.

TwistingMyMelon

6,451 posts

221 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
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There's a chap near me thats built up similar - Rubber Lou (Swindon) - got a quirky van design and hammers the social media, always seems busy. Fair play to him, looks a decent operation

I notice he does 24 hour call out and trucks as well, which must be hard/dangerous doing truck tyes on the M4 @ 3am

40% margin - Ha!! More of a race to the bottom prices, hand car washes fitting part worns for £3 and everyone having a mate who wants cash

On the plus side, everyone needs tyres and from my observation the work is there.

Usually people like your fitter who are making "easy work" out of it are switched on shrewd grafters with a bit of experience behind them.

It does seem appealing being your own boss and being out and about, people appreciate good service and home/mobile visits

Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Tuesday 22 February 13:09

Gilmore

Original Poster:

315 posts

150 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
There's a chap near me thats built up similar - Rubber Lou (Swindon) - got a quirky van design and hammers the social media, always seems busy. Fair play to him, looks a decent operation

I notice he does 24 hour call out and trucks as well, which must be hard/dangerous doing truck tyes on the M4 @ 3am

40% margin - Ha!! More of a race to the bottom prices, hand car washes fitting part worns for £3 and everyone having a mate who wants cash

On the plus side, everyone needs tyres and from my observation the work is there.

Usually people like your fitter who are making "easy work" out of it are switched on shrewd grafters with a bit of experience behind them.

It does seem appealing being your own boss and being out and about, people appreciate good service and home/mobile visits

Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Tuesday 22 February 13:09
Plot twist…

Rubber Lou was the guy who came to my rescue!

He didn’t mention 40% margins - that was my research from franchise claims etc.

48k

15,356 posts

164 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
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What's left from the 40% margin after you've bought / rented a van, fueld it, insured it, insured yourself for liability, bought/rented tools, PPE and uniform/overalls, advertised, got a website, got a mobile phone, paid an accountant.....

monkfish1

12,158 posts

240 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
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The Road Crew said:
40% margins? If that is genuine I'd like to know where he is buying his tyres from.....
It wont be genuine. It will be some made up best possible case scenario. And probably working 20 hours a day.

Back in the real world however. Just no.

anonymous-user

70 months

Tuesday 22nd February 2022
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WorldBoss said:
Gilmore said:
Not sure, this fella said as long as he ordered them by 11:00 they’d be delivered to him by 14:00 and he was with me by 15:00.
Needing to have a day's tyres orders in before 11am is a remarkably short window.

What happens if you get a customer that rings in at 13:00 after clipping a pothole and NEEDS to get moving again?
Same as what someone who rang me after hitting a pothole at 8am yesterday morning, just about limped it into ATS then had to leave it overnight as rarely do ATS carry regular stock anymore it seems.

No spare and only a can of tyreweld gunk won't fix it.
The Joys of the modern way.

Same when i hit a bad one but at least i had a spare as ATS had nothing in and had to order in next day.

VEX

5,257 posts

262 months

Wednesday 23rd February 2022
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Our local guy is ex Redbull Tyre man!

Always a great chat and we use him for everything tyres wise across Motorhome, work van, family car and toy. Both supplying tyres and sourcing ourselves.

Great guy, local tyre wholesers supy him, but i doubt he is hitting 40% margin.