Hands On

Things in Longmont Colorado seem to revolve around the number of cars on the road during rush our, and those have not returned to anything close to normal yet. School is not going to re open this year which is cutting back on a lot of driving around here.

I got a few responses but nothing overwhelming. FNGJWS I do wonder if the parts are going to stop rolling. I know the dealers around me let go of every single car salesman, and half their service center staff, half or more of the parts staff.

I posted an ad offering to pick up people's cars so they do not have to leave the house and suggested it is a great opportunity to get that service done while they are self quarantined. We shall see if it generates anything.

My answer to the what is your rate question: We bill fairly for each job depending on how difficult the issue is to repair. Please stop by and let my ASE certified technician take a free look at the vehicle so we can build you an accurate quote."

@Joe Marconi

I lost my leg in November so I know what your talking about. Feel free to donate to my GoFundMe. https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-tom-and-laura&rcid=r01-156647799231-359535eb9d244bde&pc=ot_co_campmgmt_m

I am hoping to have enough rental properties that I do not care what happens to the business for my own personal financial reasons. Then I hope to pass it on to a young person In the industry that wants to make a go of it. I will work out a deal that will make it easy for that person to succeed and wish them the best. I will then sail the world.

I know this is an old post, but I show my techs news articles of mechanics that went to jail for negligent homicide for missing safety items on inspection that ended up killing someone. I know this was a state inspection mechanic performing a state safety check, but it tends to get the point across, and it makes them think about what could happen to the customer. https://www.mynbc5.com/article/licensed-car-mechanic-charged-with-manslaughter-in-customer-s-death/3324536

It has been a while, are you still with them? I shut off my google adwords last month and have not seen a difference other then a drop in phone price shoppers.

Anyone using Mechanicsnet? Better yet, anyone using Alldata manage online and have one of these CRM programs integrated?

Your insurance agent will answer these questions they are supposed to let you know about potential exposures, liabilities ect. There are also OSHA consultants out there you can make an appointment with to go over those requirements. There is a lot of leg work to do for sure with starting any business. It will be hard to do while deployed, but you could start reading business self help books. If you can get your hands on a business planning book this will help. Good luck on your deployment, I am ex Air Force. Thank you for your service.

Anyone else have experience with RO writer?

Get the local desperate tool guy to float you or sign up for credit. My scanner costs 24 a week. If you are unable to do that you need to change something and maybe should ask for more help here.

Shop around best thing to do, every market is different. If I was not so lazy I'd get my stuff off Amazon, but too easy to pick up the phone when I run out of gloves. I do get my ink from Amazon. World pac for wipers. Shop towels are uniform company. Sam's club for paper products and cleaning stuff. This is a great place to cut some costs. I supply tech gloves because I insist they use them and some will skimp if it is out of pocket. A local private parts store supplies my filters I use percolator. Another area i could probably save a ton online if i took a minute.

I keep several things handy. A wax stick will take off tar and scuffs without damaging paint. A very good polishing cloth and some machine polish will remove light scuffs and scratches. Anything deeper then that needs to see a body shop. I always try first and am able to remove most anything but a scratch you can feel with a finger nail. A 3M headlight polish kit has everything you need to remove light scuffs and scratches.

I raised my labor rate and split the cost with the employee

Your to focused on the words garage and mobile. Focus on the word business. It's all the same, resteraunt, barber, garage, mobile, gas station, retail shoe store. Stop thinking like a worker if you want to be a business owner. Cost is the easiest to figure out. Make the insurance agent your first call, then report back, I'll walk you through step by step.

Not sure why you say folks are hating you, so far everyone has simply posted about realistic roadblocks and environmental concerns. Have you called an insurance agent to see what that costs yet? Please do so, then report back. One step of business plan will be done.

First step to any business is laying down a map to profitability. In other words, show on paper how you plan to make your money. I do not think anyone thinks mobile mechanic is blasphemy. Just show me, with numbers, how you plan to make your money. What do you figure will be your operating expense vs what you think your income will be, and why.

If you can get away with charging $200.00 per oil change you would make some money. These guys are right too, what happens when you miss the coolant bucket and drop coolant or any other hazard chemical in the street, on their drive way, at the parking lot where they work? Also can you get insured being mobile? What would your garage keepers policy look like? My policy replaces the car if we cause a total loss, and covers their medical up to 2 million.

I tried a partnership once and it did not work out well. One person will want more of something, control, money, time off ect. Buy them both out. If you can not afford that move on.

What I can tell you is, you might make more money doing uber or lyft. I occasionally get a call from someone looking for a mobile mechanic. I tell them I can tow the car to my shop for $60 and guarantee a fix here, or I can drive to them for $114.79 an hour and maybe be able to fix it there. The clock starts when I leave and continues to run as I obtain parts. I get one of two responses, they go for the tow, or they call around for a cheaper mobile mechanic. The people seeking a mobile mechanic are looking for a deal. They want the oil changed for less then 50, the starter or fuel pump replaced for half of what it should cost. They want to supply you the parts. Assuming 100 hour labor rate. What if your lucky, and you score 3 oil changes and two starters in one day. The starters pay .8, the oil changes you make 10 each on. You spent all day driving around but made out with $180 for the day. Let's say you get this lucky every day and at the end of the week you have $900 in your pocket. Let's say you score this big all month and made, let's be generous, let's say you got a few extras sold and made like $6500 at the end of the month. Insurance 600 = 5900 Fuel 700 = 5200 Truck payment 300 = 4900 Tools 100 = 4800 Income tax ?1000? = 3800 Misc 100 = 3700 Truck maintenance 100 = 3600 If your hustling, have a steady amount of gravy work, maybe you can make a living depending on where you live. Am I missing expenses? Being to generous with the amount of gravy work you might lend? What happens when that 2 hour fuel pump becomes 6 hours on the ground? Or you do oil changes all day every day for a month? You can make over $6,000 a month driving Uber BlackSUV in Denver 40 hours a week. https://www.ridester.com/driver-income-calculator/

I agree with Carolina. That being said, with 5 lifts I would suggest two techs and one tire/lube guy. Buy lifts for the other three bays as you go and try to grow into three techs and two tire lube guys. The problem is we don't know your expenses. The amount of labor you 'need' should be based off of how much money you need to produce to survive AND make a profit. If it costs you $60,000 a month to stay open you will fail first month using bantar's suggestion of one tech to start, and you would struggle real hard with my suggestion of waiting to get those extra lifts. Further more you should have a .marketing plan in place that will fill bays from day one. Promote a big grand opening, hit local chamber of commerce, ect. The question is not how many techs you need to start, it is how much money you need to generate to make it. Then divide that number by how much you think the techs can produce to get total techs needed. Money needed/money tech produces=techs needed.