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So as the job goes quiet and the little grey cells tick over, thoughts go to other aspects of the car job. To be fair it's something I've been thinking about for a while but now the stars and planets seem to be lining up so it's time to start putting some flesh on the bones. I've got plenty of land and it's freehold so no extra costs there but would need to erect new buildings, put footings in etc and obviously kit it out so set up costs are quite high. Ideally, well no it's a must, I want to do MOTs so would need to take on staff as changing a window mech on a renault megane is more or less the limit to my mechanical powers. Obviously MOT's are not the earner they once were but they are still a need rather than a want and that's the type of business I want to get into. So, if you have a workshop, how do you find it? Thanks.

Sparky. If you are planning on an MOT bay, its worth looking at the rules and regs before you start to plan. The rules on new build MOT bays are far more prescriptive than those with grandfather rights. For example, the bay must now be a drive through bay rather than drive in and reverse out.... This may make you consider this and how the build will go

In a lot of areas it's the MoT which drives the rest of the work. Car owners are putting off routine servicing to save money and the annual test is what drives a lot of business, especially as things like ABS and airbag warning lights are now testable items. If you're setting up a new centre then a one man MoT bay is a must-have, it's cheaper to operate and will feed business to the rest of the workshop. Diagnostic kit is where it gets really complex, most of the guys I know run three or more bits of kit to get the coverage they need, so you need to understand your local car parc, and the kind of vehicles you're going to be working on to make sure your equipment allows you to do the jobs in house and not have to send them out to a specialist as this eats into your margin. Courtesy cars are an interesting topic, they can be a big cost and a lot of businesses go down the route of leasing new cars (costs circa £100 per month) rather than running old cars. If you want to do lease company work, which is generally fairly easy stuff (routine maintenance on 1-4 year old cars) you'll need courtesy cars available. Of course, you also then need the diagnostic kit to turn the service lights off, or you'll have to outsource it which will eat all the margin from the job. As other posters have mentioned, there are a lot of low quality parts around, and many companies will quote based on low end bits as standard. This is something you have to deal with, and a really good service adviser will help here, selling the benefits of fitting a Bosch battery against a white-box one year version or Dunlop tyres against their Triangle or Sunny competitors. Talk to a few equipment suppliers, and some other workshop businesses, and take it from there, it's not cheap to set up but if you do it right then running a workshop can earn you a decent living.

Thanks Uncle Jim I might just take you up on that.

Hi Sparky This is a subject close to my heart as we took over a motorsport centre and converted into our workshop & Performance Centre in April 2013, so just over 18 months ago. Now every one will have a different view on how a workshop is to be run but we wanted it to reflect what we did in the Sales Department, which is look after customers 100%, treat them fairly and keep in contact with them continually to ensure they are always kept in the loop. The cost of equipment is high especially finding out what is the best diagnostic equipment to use and what type of cars you will attract. A good CRM/Invoicing system integrated with stock levels and parts and being able to produce reports, job cards and an easy to use booking diary system is a necessity! So once you have the equipment and the computer software and CRM you then need the staff to run the place, now in our part of the world (North East Scotland ) one of the hardest staff members to get and retain is a good technician who is not only experienced and knowledgeable but also capable & efficient, this is mainly down to the fact that most of the go through their training only to move to the oil industry as the lure of offshore work and big money! You will also need someone to run the show a real knowledgeable person front of house who can communicate well not only with customers but also have the respect of the guys on the shop floor, without this you will struggle! We still use a third party for MOT's but organise them for customers and also retain the fail work and the advisories. So as you can see it's not going to be easy, you will have your days when you think what the hell have I done, but the rewards when run properly are fantastic also when you get compliments from customers saying its the best ever experience then you know you have broken the back of it. Just be careful to ensure you have the proper system to price jobs, always give an estimate rather than a quote! and use good quality parts from a good supplier. If you would like any help feel free to give me a call or email jim@jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk .

Most of the workshop guys I know are having problems pricing jobs with 'proper' parts rather cheap crap that lasts five minutes. Customers tend to phone around for the cheapest quote but dont really appreciate the difference in parts quality that comes with it