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Modification garage project

1.2K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  XeroX  
#1 ·
Right guys, I have been given a assignment at college to make me own business. I have come up with the idea of a car modification garage, the garage will be based in east sussex with a view to open a few more gargaes across the UK in the next few years, it will be a partnership business with myself and a friend and we will be offering the following services to our customers: Dent and rust removal, fitting full body kits, parts of a body kit or standard bumpers, spraying full cars, parts or touch up work, fitting wheels, air filters, engines etc, window tinting as well as a number of other services.

This is obviously not actually real and just part of my business course but it would be a great help if you could all give me some feedback as to what prices you would pay, whether you think the business would be successful etc. (Please don't be rude, sarcastic or swear as they will be used as part of my coursework) Thanks a lot
 
#2 ·
do you have to go through the whole "establish your business" aswell, because it would probably make it easier if you were just a regular garage aswell, tat would bring in more ÂŁÂŁÂŁÂŁ. i dont have many ideas for prices though

all i know is that quick-fit charged me ÂŁ20-ish to have 2 front tyres fitted to my alloys and balanced then fitted to my car

my step dad is currently spraying a saab 900 from start to finish, so far he has spent ÂŁ200-ish thats for primer paint and lacquer, if you wanted it to be reputable i would probably say you would spend alot more than this on each car, but i dont know whether he has bought good quality or crap quality paints and lacquers and its still a w.i.p so atm i cant tell you what the finish is like :=P:

thats some food for thought, hope i helped :D
 
#3 ·
window tinting costs like 100-150 depending on 3 door or 5 front and rears

spray jobs can range from 600-2000 depending on what paint and labour

engine replacements depending if they are rebuilding my mate spent like 1500 for his redtop turbo to be put into his corsa that isnt including the parts just the labour and sorting out the engine

bodykits well we all know they cost like 400+ thats not including the labour

fitting tyres as joe said he pays 20 for fitting and balancing

but you could allways day

ÂŁ15 for wheel alignment
ÂŁ5 for balancing
ÂŁ20 for changing tyres new valve and balancing

tyres well they range from ÂŁ40 for budget up to like ÂŁ130 for a decent brand

hope that helps :)
 
#6 ·
I think it's a good idea.

Prices are best got from bodyshops/garages because of the diverse nature of the trade. What people are willing to pay will usually be quite different to what is charged. Personally I'd want parts at trade prices and a club discount on labour ;)

As mentioned above, a general garage service would be advantageous as this would be where your main income would come from and your customer base built up from.
The way I would do it is to have a garage and bodyshop that specialises in modified cars/vehicles but not to the exclusion of everything else.



Success would depend, in my opinion, on the quality of the work and the customer service. I generally give a garage one chance.
 
#12 ·
I have to come up with our own business idea, I must then make a powerpoint presentation which will include my idea, why I chose it, my unique selling point, my target market, short and long term goals etc. We will then be having some local business managers coming into our college and we will pitch our business to them in a "Dragons Den" style. I am not completely sure on what else we will be doing as this is quite a new assignment. If you can help that would be a great help thanks :)
 
#13 ·
Seems pretty straight forward, what get you a few bonus marks at this level is doing some secondary research on the size of the market, i.e. worth so many pounds, and try and analyse a trend is it growing or declining, etc...also play off things in the media i.e. the new fast and the furious film will increase the demand, etc...

Do a competitor analysis, wounldnt get to hung up on prices of fitting etc, as they aren't going to be experts in the field! You be best stating that you charge by a certain hour, i.e. ÂŁ45 per hour, which is 'sticky price', if you've ever heard of the kinked demand curve...

Target market is pretty easy, 17-25 year olds, predominatly males. This class tend to have a higher 'disposable income', as less comitments, i.e kids and a mortgage! some secondary research should help prove this...

USP could be a range of certain products that you have the right to sell (sole right agreement) or your expertise in the field, unlike competitors who use college apprentices, lol, giving you a competitive advantage...

Thinking outside the box a little, and they always love a few business terms! wow them...

Hope this is some help, needed anything else give me a shout
 
#14 ·
Thanks a lot mate, that is really good information and a lot of help to me, your idea about including the new Fast and Furious film is very good as that would deffinatly inspire people to want to "mod" their cars.

I will be using some of your ideas and I am sure it will help me a lot! :D

Thanks once again mate!
 
#15 ·
i would also offer things like puncture repair - ÂŁ5-ÂŁ10
electronic tracking -ÂŁ45

like everyone has said, i would agree that you would need to offer standard services, so maybe service and MOT's aswell.

you could look at parts sales aswell, so if you had a trade supplier, then you would have the mark up from whatever you sell, which would be easy money.
 
#16 ·
Thats way too many services in one go to make any real money and you would need to consider how you would hold your stock or if you want to drop ship your items from a warehouse. If you choose to keep items in stock, thats money tied up and just sat around until it is sold. It would also be best to offer a unique selling point. By offering people everything your are specialising in nothing.

You will also need to take into account the costs of hiring or buying equipment. Tools arent cheap and 4 post lifting equipment is expensive and would all factor into your costs. It will take too long to break even just opening a shop selling modification products. Look at AAautosport, they started off in a smallish garage specialising in MGR and turbo conversions and because of that, they managed to build up a great reputation and managed to move into a much larger premises very quickly yet they are still doing conversions as thats what they do best.

You also need to decide on the image you want to project to car modifiers. Whether your a serious tuner or just a bolt on sales shop that does some car work. TBH, I think your idea is v ambitious and needs to be toned down and focussed on something specific.
 
#17 ·
The above can be acknowledged...

What you were refuring to via the purchase of stock sitting around is a 'sunk cost' ;)

But at this level, its a very basic understanding needed, and any idea is good idea. Examiners just want you to gather an in-sight into what considerations are needed when trying to start a business, and the idea of a partnership, therefore shared start up would more than justify the start up cost as far as the examiner is concerned. Also as you've decided on a partnership also look at the other advantages of it and state them.

But you dont want to get bogged down with thousands of services, stick to what you initally wanted to do, just a modified car garage, therefore a garage that specifies in modifiying cars, not doing MOT's and all sorts...as it will be too complicated and no doubt end up being too large for the purpose of this assignment. I act like peters & waterman and 'stick to your knitting' here, once a modified car garage, always a modified car garage...not doing general repairs.

Like I say your best saying your USP is either a sole right agreement from a manufacturer supplying you parts that no other garage can get their hands on. But there is no harm in targeting a specific 'niche market', such as rovers and MG's , you could also us the demise of the company as another reason for start up...also within a niche higher than average prices are paid, as often the product on offer it deemed to be of better quality or bring synergistical benefits than others already offered in the market. This goes hand in hand with your target market, as they too have more disposable income to spend, on these percieved better products!

Best of luck :)
 
#18 ·
Avoid unnecessary storage costs/excess stock by implementing a JIT system - Id imagine its easily possible to order a part and have it the next morning.
Generally speaking a business studies project like this doesnt need to be 100% factual in terms of details like pricing. So long as you provide profit/loss accounts and balance sheets to back up the financial aspects of the business, and offer some evidence of where your figures are coming from you should be ok.
If I were you, Id take on board what people are saying about offering to many services or becoming too niche. However, by beginning your project with this niche approach and showing development into the more financially stable offering of a general garage offering additional services you are showing a good business mind.
Be sure to offer plenty of appropriate business ideas such as price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand to back up the 17-25 target audience as stated earlier and how your prices would be based on the limited demand for the product. Remember, you are definitely offering a luxury good here so it should be somewhat inelastic.
Perhaps another possible approach would be to suggest your idea as a franchise. If it were to work in your original garage, you could have several garages around the country offering the same services with the same suppliers therefore increasing your potential market.

Bit tired now since its fairly late so Ive probably said some things that make no sense, but hey I tried :p if you need any more suggestions regarding the business side feel free to ask mate :)