How to Start Your Own Car Repair Franchise

Cara Squires, writer

Published at 24/10/2021, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

How to Start Your Own Car Repair Franchise — Photo © How-to-Start-Your-Own-Car-Repair-Franchise.jpg

If you’re good with your hands, patient with customers and a big fan of cars, you might well thrive as a franchisee with a car repair company. There are so many opportunities available to you in this industry, and if it’s something you want to pursue, this article is a great place to start. Read on, and find out how to start your own car repair franchise.

Opening an auto repair business with the help of a franchisor is a great way to enter a thriving industry, still going strong despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. The motor vehicle maintenance and repair market is worth £27 billion in the UK and employs over 200,000 people. If you’re interested in becoming one of this number, here’s how you can successfully make a career change with a car repair franchise.

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What happens when you become a franchisee in the auto repair industry?

Before you take the plunge and start your journey towards becoming a car repair specialist, it’s important that you develop a full understanding of what, exactly, the role entails. Though there are many sub-sectors and specialisms available to you in the industry, from windscreen repair to wheel replacement, you’ll likely find yourself completing some of the following tasks on a daily (or at least regular) basis:

Communicating, negotiating and talking with customers
Estimating timeframes and costing out repairs/replacements
Finding and diagnosing faults
Repairing and replacing
Servicing and maintaining
Road testing
Managing a team of employees
Checking and managing stock
Updating service records

Why start a car repair franchise?

Beyond the variety evidenced above that you’ll enjoy on a day-to-day basis, and the demand clearly expressed by the industry’s impressive market share, there are plenty of advantages to investing with one of the top car repair franchises in the UK and starting your supported business ownership journey. These include:

The many opportunities to help others and solve customer problems
The ability to create a flexible working schedule and set your own hours
The ability to prioritise work-life balance (for you AND your employees)
The access to an existing customer base and a proven business model
The option to turn to your franchisor for training/support/advice at any moment
The chance to enter a largely recession-proof and essential industry

More independent small businesses fail each year than succeed. With franchising, you get the freedom of owning a business, but with support systems in place to help you succeed, starting even before you open your doors and ongoing throughout the life of your business. Because there is a blueprint for success, investing in a franchise versus opening an independent business helps eliminate inherent risk. - Barb Moran, Small Biz Club

How to start running a car repair franchise

1. Find your niche

When you correctly choose your niche, you set yourself up for long-term franchise success. In the car repair world, there are many, many options available to you. Look into each one, and think about which would be most appealing to you. You could invest with a windscreen repair franchise like ChipsAway, for instance. Or a tyre franchise like Etryes. Or a SMART repair franchise like Revive!. Or any number of other options. Narrow this process down for yourself and come to a conclusion by asking questions like:

What am I most interested in?
What do I want the shape of my career to be?
Do I want to be managerial or hands-on?
Where would I like to be in five years?

2. Complete lots of market research

When you know where you’re heading and which kinds of car repair franchise opportunities you find most interesting and appealing, you can dive more deeply into the market you’re entering, and the current situation. Is demand rising? Is the sub-sector thriving? Are there gaps in the market that you could use to the benefit of your franchise business? Ask crucial market research questions, like:

How large is my target market?
What does my target market look like?
What does my target market want?
What might my target market want in six months’ time?
Are there opportunities for growth in my target market?
Who are my competitors?
How will I appeal to my target market and stand out from my competitors?

3. Evaluate your finances and do your due diligence prior to investing

Finally, when you’ve found that opportunity that feels perfect for you, it’s important that you don’t skip the boring stuff. This step could make or break your investment. To give you an idea of the type of financial commitment you’ll be expected to make, here are a couple of franchise opportunity costs from the car repair sector:

Screen Rescue - You can become a Screen Rescue franchisee for a minimum initial investment of £19,750, with a total investment cost of £35,000 and an operating fee charged at a rate of 10%.
Autoglym - You can become an Autoglym franchisee for a minimum initial investment of £50,000.

When you know you’ve found a financial fit, do you due diligence prior to making any legal commitment to the franchise you’re planning to invest with. Without doing your due diligence, you risk making an uninformed decision and paying for something you won’t really get. Review the fully disclosed financial situation of the company, understand when you can expect to recoup your investment, and ensure you’ve got a clear idea of the level of support and training that will be provided to you.

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