What if you had a FULL garage at your disposal... - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

scottigee · 06-04-2005, 10:36 PM

I'm whipping up a business plan for my MBA and trying to guage interest...who knows this might actually come to fruition.

The idea:
You join an auto club (kind of like a gym) where you pay monthly dues and you get to use the garage. Lift, tools, welder, paint bay, dyno, everything. And there would be pros coming in to give specific seminars like "how to tune your turbo" or even just "how to bleed your brakes." It would also be a place just to hang out, check out other peoples' cars, swap knowledge, play PS2, or meet up for drives.
Do me a favor and click your level of interest above. I'll be happy to answer questions and I'll keep you all posted on what happens with this. It's something I've been tossing around for a little while.
Thanks
-Scottigee

Shiba-Kun · 06-05-2005, 08:55 AM

A lot would depend on the location. It wouldn't be feasible for me if I had to drive 1-2 hours just to use a lift. I know a few peeps that use their local community college's auto body, or car maintainence classes for the same purposes.

The seminars would interest me.

In a way it sounds kinda like the setup Super Autobacs in Stanton is setup. ( I know you're in SoCal Scottie so tha's why I dropped a local reference.)

What would you do if the guy was up on the lift at closing time and couldn't/wouldn't get his car down because it wasn't operational?

scottigee · 06-05-2005, 09:22 AM

Good input guys -thanks.
Like Shiba-Kun said, location is going to be key. (I'll have to check out Autobacs.) Right now the plan shows the AutoClub setting up in vacant bays next to an existing performance parts retail store and in the vicinity of stores like Pep Boys and Autozone. And the idea would be to have a bunch of friends there hanging out, some of whom could take you to pick up special parts if you needed.
But in reality there will be problems like people hogging the lift and you guys are right there should be some kind of limit or cost icentive to get off it.

As for tools, I know they might get stolen now and then but I'd still want to provide them so people don't have to lug everything down there. Plus I'm aiming to create a community where you'd be less inclined to steal from your buddies.

You guys mentioned some good ones - hogging the lift and stealing tools were up there on my list of issues. The biggest one is getting insurance for the place which I still have to look into how much that would be.
Thanks again for the input...tell more people to vote here!

the kid · 06-05-2005, 09:39 AM

not a bad idea but i shared a garage wit a buddy who had barely no tools.
when he moved out and i stared my teg i noticed half of my tools missing ,and he used my tools to make money for himself .left the tools laying around in other peoples cars and never charged the battery drill.even buddies can rip you off

UltraMagneticAL · 06-05-2005, 10:53 AM

sounds interesting.....and i know the PERFECT place for it. the old puente hills dealers right by the mall. The mitsubishi dealer is still there, but nissan, toyota, mazda, ford all moved across the freeway. you could use the old service bays.

the biggest problem i can think about is the insurance. most shops don't let customers into the service bays for insurance reasons, let alone WORK on their own cars.

esp4p3 · 06-05-2005, 04:35 PM

Scott,

I think it would be cool to have it set up so that you can use the garage in an al a carte manner. Like if I wanted to do some mainentance or fix something on my car, I could come in (or make an appointment) and pay like 10 bucks an hour or 40 bucks for 5 hours. And I could bring in my own tools that would fit in my trunk. Anything else I could rent from the shop for the day for say 5 bucks a day per tool. That way I wouldn't be stuck to a monthly membership fee even when I am not using the garage.

edit: You could also have a membership plan for those who might want it, so they can take advantage of the seminars. Or maybe you could charge for the seminars you want so you could pick and choose.

scottigee · 06-05-2005, 04:36 PM

Good tip on the puente hills dealerships...I'll have to look into that. Bays with lifts already in them would help out a lot.

And yes, insurance is the #1 potential dealbreaker I've identified. So far I'm pulling numbers out of my ass for that on the business plan but if I actually do this I'll need to do some good research. I want the thing to train members too so hopefully with approved training it will take some of the liability off of the shop. We'll see...

scottigee · 06-05-2005, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by esp4p3

Scott,

I think it would be cool to have it set up so that you can use the garage in an al a carte manner. Like if I wanted to do some mainentance or fix something on my car, I could come in (or make an appointment) and pay like 10 bucks an hour or 40 bucks for 5 hours. And I could bring in my own tools that would fit in my trunk. Anything else I could rent from the shop for the day for say 5 bucks a day per tool. That way I wouldn't be stuck to a monthly membership fee even when I am not using the garage.

edit: You could also have a membership plan for those who might want it, so they can take advantage of the seminars. Or maybe you could charge for the seminars you want so you could pick and choose.

Thanks John - you're addressing all of the pricing questions I am addressing in the plan. It's tough...I want to incentivize people to stick around the shop even if they're not working on the car...that way there are knowledgeable people around all the time that can help you - kind of like a real life SHO!
I think I probably will end up with a piecewise pricing scheme...pay per tool and pay per seminar, or pay per hour ... the trick is getting the pricing right so that if they're there 2 or 3 days per month they're better off getting the membership and staying for 5!

Thanks for the input. I'll put your ideas in the "Old married guy who isn't in my target market" column

ezeedee · 06-05-2005, 04:55 PM

theres something like this on base, but ive never used it. i would definatly use this though. i dont know how their insurance works though, being military and all

i do all my work at school now, lots of tools and i usually get a lift, 1/2 off parts, and its free

esp4p3 · 06-05-2005, 04:55 PM

I'm not married yet! Yeah it sounds like there would be people who would totally go for a membership and those who like the pay per scheme. With both you cover all your bases. So do you actually have to start a business or just do it on paper?

scottigee · 06-05-2005, 08:32 PM

thands ezeedee. I'm not sure how insurance works either but I bet the military gets a fat discount.

espy - we just have to do the business plan, not actually create the business. Jeebus that would be one hell of a class....
this is the business plan proposal I wrote for that competition back in December; not sure if you remember. If I had won that I'd have 20 grand in my pocket right now to start this thing...well, I would have had 20 grand in december...I'd probably have an Evo right now instead of a business...

esp4p3 · 06-05-2005, 08:44 PM

yeah thats what I figured....slacker

spray004 · 06-06-2005, 08:15 AM

Cost would out weigh the return. There are places like this already out there, cept you have to bring your own tools. The amount of initial capital it would take to furnish a shop (with half way decent tools) would be pretty high. You would have to charge a HIGH monthly premium and have to regulate how long you could have your car at the garage. It would almost be like making an appointment each time you work on your car. You would have to have high premiums (not very attractive) or lots of members. If you had lots of members you would have them bitching to you non stop about never having an empty work bay or someone taking too long in which case you would lose business. Its a good idea, just not really a profittable one.

scottigee · 06-06-2005, 08:25 AM

Thanks Spray004...definitely some valid input.
Part of running the numbers for this plan will include an assumption that we have some online resource scheduling (sign up for a bay or certain tools from home before you come in) that would optimize bay use for the number of members needed to make this thing work. I'm doing this survey to help figure out what a good price point is for basic service to see if it makes sense.
So far it's not going to make me a millionaire...I'll need to keep working with it.