4 Tips for Running a Car Repair Franchise

Cara Squires, writer

Published at 29/10/2021, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

4 Tips for Running a Car Repair Franchise — Photo © 4-Tips-for-Running-a-Car-Repair-Franchise.jpg

If you’re interested in running a business and you love cars, why not consider starting an auto repair franchise? You’ll have all the freedom of business ownership, with all of the support of your franchisor. Here are four tips for running a car repair franchise that will help you reach your destination: Franchise success.

UK cars are some of the best kept in the world, with British motorists spending over £20 billion cumulatively on car maintenance and repair each year [Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders]. If you’d like to capture some of this huge, recession-proof demand and successfully make a career change with a car repair franchise, this article is a great place to start.

Why become a franchisee in the auto repair sector?

The growth rate of the motor service and repair industry is strong, and the market’s estimated size exceeds £27 billion as of 2018 [Hallidays]. Despite the negative impact of the pandemic, it’s still a great time to invest in an auto repair business. The sector continues to be viable and welcoming of new franchisees, thanks to steady and growing demand. Every car on the road needs care and repair, after all. Even beyond demand, there are many advantages to running a car repair franchise, including:

The availability of low cost investment options
The huge amount of room for growth and development
The varied, dynamic working life
The job security of working in such a necessary field, providing essential services to motorists
The chance to be your own boss and set your own hours
The access to franchisor support and training

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4 tips for running a car repair franchise effectively

With a strong understanding of why you might want to start your own car franchise in the crucial repair sub-sector, it’s time to figure out how, once you’ve made your investment, you’ll make your franchise business a success. With high demand comes high levels of competition, but these four tips will help your business to stand out, grow rapidly and quickly achieve profitability...

1. Create and regularly update a business plan for your car repair franchise

If you’d like to become one of the top car repair franchises in the UK, creating a business plan (and updating it on a regular basis) is extremely necessary. A strong franchise business plan offers you a place to check in, affirm your intentions and ensure you stay on course for success. Make sure it’s something you’re actively updating to reflect new information, either about the market or about your own intentions for the franchise. Include all of the following in your car repair franchise’s business plan:

An executive summary
A business description
Service descriptions
A management summary
Automotive repair market analysis
Operational details
Business premises details (van based, out of a garage, etc)
Sales and marketing plans
Financial projections and requirements

2. Build a strong team of employees - and trust them

Creating a well-oiled workforce isn’t just about hiring the right people. Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to invest in them. Offer growth, training and development opportunities so employees don’t feel stagnant. Make work a positive, uplifting place to be so employees stick around. Finally, if you really want to ensure that your car repair garage is running smoothly: Get out of the way. Grant your employees the trust they’ve earned, and the space to do the work correctly.

Becoming too involved in your employees’ work means that you’re not concentrating on your own workload. Creating a workplace dynamic where employees confront and solve problems on their own can be much more conducive to productivity. Your staff can handle improvising without you, and you’ll be able to concentrate on running your business. - Business Partner Magazine

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3. Consider customer wants and needs every step of the way

Customer experience is everything when you’re attempting to run a business that can be successful in the long term, because a good experience equals lasting loyalty (and referrals to other customers). As such, you should always be thinking about your customers when you’re running your car repair franchise. What would be most convenient for them? What would they respond to, if they saw it in a marketing campaign? What would make their lives easier?

One example of offering customer convenience would be to develop referral partnerships with other local automotive businesses. Say, for instance, that you’re running a franchise of Screen Rescue in your local area, but a customer needs a recommendation for tyre services. If you can recommend the local branch of Hometyre, knowing that this franchise will do the same when the roles are reversed, you can create passive business and satisfy your customer simultaneously. Everybody wins!

4. Don’t forget the benefits of franchising over going it alone

There are many different ways to become a car repair specialist, but if you’ve invested in an auto repair franchise network, congratulations are in order: You’ve chosen one of the smartest routes out there. As a franchisee, you’ll enjoy the best of both worlds in business. You’ll be your own boss and call your own shots, but you’ll still have your franchisor team to turn to if things get tricky and you’re in need of support.

As you’re running your repair franchise and handling the day-to-day, don’t forget that your franchisor is on hand to help. Struggling to market your brand effectively? Your franchisor can help. Finding it hard to generate leads? Your franchisor can help. Looking for growth and development opportunities? You guessed it - your franchisor can help. Their success is your success, and it’s worth remembering that.

Combine a passion for cars with running your own business and start a car repair franchise today

If these tips have left you raring to go and ready to find the perfect car repair franchise investment opportunity, don’t let anything stop you. From windscreen repair with ChipsAway to SMART wheel repair with Revive!, there are a million different options in this sub-sector of the automotive industry just waiting to be discovered.