New Service or MOT Workshop
New service or MOT workshop can be a daunting process we have prepared this page to provide you with some practical advice and guidance regarding becoming a self-employed garage owner.
- Are you a qualified mechanic who is looking into setting up your own motor vehicle repair workshop/garage?
- Are you tired of putting in long hours for little reward as an employed mechanic?
- Are you good with customers and feel that you could provide a better service to your local area?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then becoming a self-employed garage owner could be the perfect choice for your future, why work for someone else when you could be earning a lot more working for yourself.
Finding the Right Premises for your Garage Workshop
If you are seriously considering entering the motor vehicle repair industry then choosing the right space in which to house your garage is of paramount importance, you should consider change of use legislation as this can add to the delays in getting your garage workshop up and running.
You will require business premises that tick certain boxes such as ample parking for your clients, a reception and seating area for waiting customers, office space, hygiene facilities such as toilets, washroom and food preparation area.
It may well be worth considering doing a search for garages for sale in your local area as they already have approval for use as a motor vehicle repair workshop and may even come with all of the required garage equipment included in the purchase price.
Garage Insurances
When setting up a garage you will require various types of insurance in order to comply with your duty of care such as;
- Public Liability Insurance.
- Employers Liability Insurance.
- Trade Plate Vehicle Insurance.
- Building Insurance.
Typical Garage Overheads
No matter what your niche market all businesses have certain overheads costs so it’s essential to have a realistic understanding of your finances properly to allow you to plan and meet with your businesses commitments.
Legislation and the Motor Vehicle Repair Industry
Prospective garage owners need to be aware of the government legislation that provides guidance for self-employed garage owners such as (PUWER) the provision and use of work equipment regulations and (LOLER) the lifting operations and lifting equipment regulations.
These helpful documents tell you all you need to know regarding your duty of care as a garage owner/employer you can view additional information on both PUWER & LOLER on our page.
Vehicle Parts Suppliers
Establishing a good network of parts and equipment suppliers is essential to any successful garage workshop, you will spend a lot of time dealing with your suppliers so having a great relationship with them will help to ease the stress considerably, most large towns and cities typically have multiple suppliers in them so getting the best costs and offers is important, we can help with your equipment needs and help with your initial design and setup, please see our equipment offers.
With the right suppliers and forward planning there is no reason why you cannot have your suppliers do the hard work allowing you to concentrate on your workshop.
Record Keeping & Garage Ownership
It is best practice to keep a firm grip on your garages bookkeeping, typically you will have a lot of single purchases and customers invoices to deal with in a single working week so allowing your bookkeeping to pile up will undoubtedly add to your stress levels.
Organise a structured approach to record keeping by keeping all purchase orders and customer invoices in monthly files and by entering all of these into your accounting software ideally daily, but no more than weekly as this will ease the stress that masses of paperwork includes and allow you to do your accounting in small easy to handle chunks.
Customer Service is King
The service levels you provide to your garages customers is of the utmost importance to any successful motor vehicle repair shop after all this is what separates you from your competitors and is usually the deciding factor as to whether or not your clients use your services again or indeed recommend your garage to their friends and family.
Always be fully transparent with your client’s by showing them the part that needs to be replaced and provide a Lehman’s explanation of its function and what has gone wrong clarifying exactly why it is in need of replacement as this will almost certainly leave a good impression of your garage and the services it provides.
Customers like to be kept in the loop even if they have a limited understanding of how their vehicles work they will appreciate that you have taken the time to explain their particular fault.
Get a Good Accountant
There are many firms of accountants that will help you to pay the least amount of tax possible in any given year, but after all of the cost cutting advice and jargon, they get you to sign a document that clearly states that the companies’ accounts have been prepared using the information provided by YOU.
You want an accountant that will advise you clearly as to your businesses requirements under tax law including PAYE or VAT returns not one who simply tells you what you want to hear.
Garage Equipment Requirements
No matter how good a mechanic you maybe without all of the required garage equipment at your disposal, you will not be able to carry out the full range of repairs that will be requested by your customers.
Getting the right garage equipment for the particular tasks at hand is of paramount importance with the danger of serious injury ever present you need to be sure that the garage equipment selected by you is fit for the purpose for which it is intended.
Things to consider are safe working loads i.e. the maximum lifting capacity of vehicle servicing lifts and jacking equipment and efficiency of use i.e. have I purchased to equipment that is best suited to my needs.
Car Lifts
Most of the major jobs in the motor vehicle repair industry will require the use of some form of car lift, whether it be a 2 post lift, a 4 post lift or a scissor lift you will find that all car repair garages typically feature one or all of these types of lift this is because they each have their set of pros and cons to consider additional information on the use and selection of car lifts in a garage workshop can be viewed here and you can view the full range of all of our lifts on the Lift Selection.
Workshop Tooling and Tool Boxes
It will be necessary to acquire a good selection of hand tools as all vehicles are constructed using a wide and varied selection of nuts and bolts from star drives to flathead screwdrivers you will need them all, if the budget allows purchase the best as they feature a lifetime guarantee and are replaced with no questions asked.
Having your garage workshop tools scattered throughout the premises makes them difficult to locate creates trip hazards and leaves a negative impression of your business to your customers, if you have ever asked to borrow tools from a mechanic then you have most likely been told no this is because the tools are the livelihood and lifeblood of any good mechanic and they like nothing better than to have a perfectly arranged tool box usually in ascending sizes to make selection and use as simple as possible, invest in a good tool box and keep your garage equipment stored in a safe and easily accessible place at all times
Tyre Equipment
Tyre equipment is not just for tyre replacement shops, in fact, they are a great source of bread and butter income for most garage workshops, being able to provide basic tyre repairs to your customers can help to keep your business afloat and make you the go to garage for assistance when your customers really need it.
For those difficult to change tyres such as low profiles and run flats, you will require a tyre changer that features an assist arm to aid in the removal and replacement of these types of tyres. View our range of tyre machines and if in doubt call us to get the best advice
Our range of wheel balancers are available from entry-level hand spin model and Semi-Automatic wheel balancer to Fully-Automatic wheel balancer depending on the output of your garage you should choose your wheel balancer accordingly. See our Wheel Balancing products for more information.
Air Compressor
A must have accessory in any garage is a good quality air compressor for using with a number of applications, the product range is vast, depending on your requirements talk to our specialists and they will calculate the air flow required.
MOT Bay
Providing MOT testing services is a great source of income for any workshops at HJS Garage Equipment we supply, deliver and install a wide range of class I class IV and Class VII MOT Bays for you to choose from, in order to be able to provide MOT testing you will require various permissions from the DVSA and your local council additional information on becoming a MoT tester is available here.
We have Class IV and VII ATL bays, so whatever your requirements maybe we have you covered, our MOT Bay installations come with full project management from call to install. View our full range of Class IV and Class VII MOT Bays here.
