Whether you’re young and are looking to kick start your career in mechanics, or you’re older and are looking for a change of pace, you can rest assured knowing you have a skill that’s always in demand. Whether you choose to work for yourself or for someone else, this is the start of something exciting for you.
Whilst finding work as a mechanic isn’t too difficult, if you want to go it alone and start up your own business, things can get a little confusing. You’ll most likely find it helpful to start thinking about these four main considerations to begin with.
Define Your Services
Defining your services is a good place to start when considering what your business might look like. Are you going to open a garage and offer a full range of repairs, or will you specialise in a few things instead? Will you join a franchise? Maybe you’re thinking of opening up a website selling car parts, a bit like small business success story SGS Engineering? If so, who will supply you with the parts?
Market and Competitor Research
Depending on where you’re going to open up shop, you’ll need to do some competitor research in the area to see what other mechanics businesses are offering. Is there a gap in the local market you could fill? If your business is online, don’t forget that this step is just as important.
It’s also a good idea to gather some feedback on what mechanics businesses people are already using. How do they feel about the service? Are they happy with the pricing? Would they consider trying somewhere else for a better price?
Start-up Costs
One thing is for certain if you’re going to start your own business: you need money behind you. If you’re serious about getting started as soon as possible, the chances are you’ve already got your finances sorted. If not, look into how quickly you could save the amount you need, or even look into getting a business loan.
Marketing Yourself
If you’re setting up in your local area, word of mouth is a great way to let people know about your services if you live in a small community. Traditional marketing like flyering and newspaper adverts can be effective for a repairs garage, but having a website is still important as a point of reference for your customers. If you’re setting up an ecommerce business though, digital channels like PPC (pay-per-click advertising) and even social media can help bring in business.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but all these points should get you thinking about how you can utilise your mechanics qualifications to set up your own business.
