Starting your business is both a rewarding experience with lots of benefits and, at the same time, 24/7 hassles of doing everything on your own. Every business owner has to go through both of these stages, but one after the other. You might be thinking of opening up an automobile service station, a quick oil change workstation, or an auto repair shop.
No matter what business model you choose to step in, there will always be some challenges in your way. No business can start, grow, and exceed hurdle-free. That’s where the solutions are devised. It is for sure that “Where there is a will, there is a way.” It means there is always something to sort that issue out. A smart and successful business owner must always keep an eye on overcoming these upfront challenges to run a successful, profitable, and sustainable business. And yes, the failures are always there to complain about things.
Heading into the year, 2021 came to be one of the successful years for the automotive repair shops. However, according to multiple surveys, the following challenges are a top priority from technicians’ point of view. Let’s see what they are:
- Technicians find it hard to get affordable training
- It is difficult to stay up to date with advances in diagnostics
- Pacing up with the advances in vehicle technology
- It is tough to get good, knowledgeable, and motivated technicians
However, in addition to the above-mentioned technical challenges, below, we are talking about the business-level problems at hand that every auto repair shop owner faces.
High technical knowledge but low marketing skills
Yes, we understand that you are a master of your skill, but how can people know this?
This is the BIG problem in this technical industry. Related to the IT industry, repair technicians are really good at what they do, but the dilemma is, the public around them doesn’t know about it. To run a business successfully, you need to have some communication skills too.
Gone are the days when people were connected, and everybody knew whatever was going on in others’ lives. This is the digital age. And this digital age is highly competitive. If a person is good are repairs but bad at marketing, he’ll get less business. But if a person knows how to sell his services and doesn’t provide that quality of work as the first one, he’ll get more business. Why?
Just because he’ll let people understand the technicalities of repairs, in simpler words, for laymen, whatever jargon you use, they have no link to that. But yes, if you tell them what happened to their vehicle and how you will fix it, they’ll definitely be interested in it.
It is something small auto repair shops find very hard to integrate. Most of these repair shops struggle to market themselves as a business in this era of information technology. Therefore, one has to be the ‘jack of all trades to survive and stand out.
Longer payback periods
We know that providing repair services is not something that’ll give you payment instantly. It is about registering a damaged vehicle, running diagnostic tests on it, finding out the problem, making an estimate, and finally start repairing it. But, even when you’ve fixed it, you need the customer to check it and get satisfied with your repair. Only then, you’ll get your payment. One other reason for delayed payments is that many customers are likely to use their car insurance to pay for repairs. It can cause elongations in the payments because you have to wait for insurance to reimburse the repair.
For a business owner who is just starting off, it can be challenging to manage, but one has to deal with it. But there is a smart solution for this. While creating an estimated cost of repairs, get something in advance. It may be 40% of the total payment that you will receive as a deposit amount. You can ensure your customer that if anything goes wrong, this payment will be refunded.
That’s how you can secure your side too. But don’t forget to keep everything on the record. Take the deposit amount, get your customer signatures on the receipt and save it in your auto repair shop software, so nothing goes out of sight. A smart yet easy way to handle delayed payments!
Handling warranties & returns
We all have experienced it. We get our things repaired, and they work fine for some time, but as time passes by, the device or the vehicle starts behaving abnormally again. That’s where you curse the repair shops and their technicians for putting you in trouble.
For sure, this is the mindset of a repair customer stepping into a repair shop. If the repair is a major one, your client will surely ask for the repair warranty. And to be honest, it is their right too. Poor innocent people get scammed by many repair shop owners. That’s why they need something in written form, signed by both parties. So, what to do here?
Simple, maintain a warranty form for different services. Mention the warranty period and get it signed. Yes, you always have control over what to write in the document but keep it fair. Playing fair will keep your game strong in the longer run. If both parties agree on the warranty provided, the repairs will be hassle-free. You know you’ll get the payment, and they know that they’ll get their vehicle repaired.
Manual work & loss of records
After learning how to repair advanced vehicles and cars, you have to record everything. While repair technicians are too busy performing repairs, it is quite a chance that no one supervises records. That’s where you can lose customers.
Losing records means losing sales. If you don’t know the deadlines or even a customer coming back again for the repair, how can you provide the best customer service?
For this reason, get yourself a system that is easy to use, fast, and able to keep records of everything you do. An automobile repair shop software does it all for you. Search for the best one around you, keeping all your requirements in mind, and then invest in it. Don’t go for something fancy as it will cost you a lot more than your budget, but choose the one that gives you a helping hand.
