opening your own lube shop

[sxg6]

has anyone ever thought about doing this? i dont have the money, or know anything about how to run a business so i doubt it will ever happen.

itd be nice if there was a shop that offered quality oils like m1, red line, amsoil, and quality filters as well. of course there would be more options, youd have the best dino, best syn blend, and best synthetics. maybe a few other options in each category for more choice and cost options.

educate people about virgin and used oil analysis and offer to take samples, and send them out for a small fee during the change.

offer auto-rx treatments.

all we've got around my area is valvoline instant oil changes, a few jiffy lubes, and other private owned garages. i have seen one gas station/garage offer amsoil, but aside from that theres nothing.

its late and i cant think of any other options even though i know im leaving some things out. maybe im just crazy but id like to do something like this

 

[eljefino]

Among the crowd you'll attract, 10% are sure to be annoying:

"I wanna watch"
"If you scratch my vette I'll sue"
"It's been 3 months and 730 miles; I only drive this on the weekends, but it's time for a change, dump & replace the Amsoil"
"You say you'll use what the customer wants, okay, here's a fram"

But, since it hasn't been done in your area, it might be a niche that'll work...

 

[JHZR2]

at one point I wanted to open either a physical or at least an online store that would provide one-stop shopping to all the greatest lube, filter and other related auto-care products. I wanted to do this so that the average person could get delvac 1 oil, etc. easily, as well as the top brand parts that some people are willng to pay a premium for, but have a hard time finding.

didnt happen, but I still think about it sometimes...

JMH

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I believe the best way to start would be a mobile lube shop, i.e. one that comes to you. A lot of the start up costs could be avoided.

 

[Al]

I think a business like this is doomed to failure IMHO

 

[Pablo]

$9.95

 

[eljefino]

quote:

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I believe the best way to start would be a mobile lube shop, i.e. one that comes to you. A lot of the start up costs could be avoided.

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Now this COULD work! Imagine signing up the busy executive type to service his car at his office 4x a year. Since people come in from the 'burbs and all park in the same garage you could give him referral coupons and get others from his same office. Swing through and do several vehicles in one fell swoop.

Word the contract so it's recurring like a cable bill and always goes on his credit card. You'll need a copy of everyone's keys obviously. One thing that makes money off lazy Americans is getting them into contracts they don't bother cancelling and billing their credit cards...

It's the act of making an appoinment, driving over to jiffy lube, being around those creepy guys, etc., that I bet delays changes for millions of people.

All you'll need is an old van full of tools, oil, filters, drive on ramps, etc....

 

[Pablo]

Insurance.

 

[salesrep]

Three ways it will work. A super busy well populated area though you would have the high cost of the lease. A mobile lube. or what really works with my customers is to offer both. Let the %80 or so do the $19.95 thing. Offer the "premium oil change" for 6k oil change for $39.95. There are enough folks out there like us that get "it" and/or want the convenience of coming in half again as much. Also check www.aoca.org and www.noln.net

 

[Gary Allan]

Most of your quicklubes are franchises ...just like Dunkin' Donuts or Quiznos. The franchise fee is prohibitive and anyone who really owns one doesn't need to make a living at it. If you opened one, with all the capital outlay ...you would have no need for a job. These are tax shelters and your only concern is that your "help" isn't ripping you off stealing from you. If you're an "owner-operator" ...your buying yourself a VERY expensive job. A McDonalds will run you, last time I checked, about 1 million $$$ of available cash before you flip your first burger ($500,000 franchise fee PLUS the same in suggested operating capital). This is all for a "job" that might yield $50k a year "on the books" (McDonalds has the distinction of still being an "all cash" business).


The construction industry might work with a "service". They already have mobile maintenance vehicles that represent a decent amount of overhead just for their operations. One or two mobile trucks (properly fitted) could undercut their expenses enough to make it favorable if you can service mulitple outfits. They save on insurance and worker's comp (a serious expense).

There's no easy route to a living via small business unless you're born into an already moving operation.

 

[Bob Woods]

Most startups fail in the first two years because of poor cash flow, if you don't have a good business plan you can't get the start up capital. If you lack the experience you can't get funding. But if you have a wad of cash there are franchises that will be more than happy to take your money, but then you're stuck with their business plan.

 

[MolaKule]

Bob, Pablo, and others have given you good advice.

The first thing to consider is the business plan; define what it is (in general terms at this point) what you want to do, what growth potential do you see, where you want to be in five years and then refine, refine, refine your idea.

Get money. Most startups need at least $5k, however small, for inventory, insurance, marketing (advertisement), etc. It is best if you save your own money and dump it into the business as seed money, or have someone else come in as a partner to share the risk.

Acquire Libility Insurance. People are so stupid at times they just want to sue for ridiculous purposes, (like here's a gold brick; they're making money, they must have money to give to schiester lawyers and plaintiffs). And juries are so stupid they can't see through those frivilous lawsuits, dumbnudz statements and closing arguments. Expensive: (Minimum of $2k oper year). You can't do without it.

Determine your tax status. Most small businesses can be started as sole proprietorships, but speak with a tax attorney (I know, another societal leach) and have him present the options.

Work your little hiney off.

Don't give up. There will be good days and bad days, but you can define your own destiny.

 

[salesrep]

A great free resource is www.score.org

 

[drm7]

I guess that's why it's called the American "Dream" with dream being the key word. I've so badly wished to do something on my own. Get out from under the morons I work for now. It takes so much money and there are so many roadblocks set up in many industries to ensure you can't do it without licensing and doing it for 10 years prior. BUT, I would never encourage someone not to try. We are all going to die broke (you can't take it with you) so go for it is what I say. Just try to plan the best you can and rolls the dice, takes your chances. I switched majors to get a degree in business so that one day if an opportunity comes up I'll have a better background for doing it. Still waiting.

 

[Pablo]

Got news: It's easier to open a business in so-called communist China than it is in the USA.

Not passing judgment, just an observation.

 

[salesrep]

BS Pablo. It just takes nuts.

 

[medic]

quote:

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Originally posted by eljefino:
"It's been 3 months and 730 miles; I only drive this on the weekends, but it's time for a change, dump & replace the Amsoil"

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I try to talk the customer out of it. If he insists that I dump it, I just put it in a clean pan and then into my vehicle.

Or, better yet - advertise it as "pre-owned, low mileage" Amsoil and sell it for the price of a conventional oil change.

 

[tweeker43]

imo, a boutique oil change place would probably fail quickly. it would be difficult to convince your average customer that $5/qt oil is worth it, and the people who use $5 oil mostly do it themselves.

the mobile oil change has some merit, but doing oil changes in parking lots has its risks as well. you'd have to be licensed to transport and handle used motor oil in that type of environment.

insurance and up-front costs would be fairly substantial as well. it would take a pretty strong line of credit to make it past the first year or so.

 

[Pablo]

quote:

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BS Pablo. It just takes nuts.

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No doubt it does take "nuts". But what I wrote is true and you don't live in WA state.

 

[keith]

Around here, there are places that offer Mobil 1 oil changes. I wonder how many people go for that rather than the cheap oil change? Probably a very small percentage.

My gut feel is that the concept of an "oil change boutique" isn't a good business proposition. You won't know until you try though.

As the old saying goes - the best way to make a small fortune is to start with a large fortune.