by Edgar Arold

Created on: November 18, 2010

Many very, good mechanics choose to go into their own business at some point in their life.  Some go on to become very successful and some don't do as well.  This article will explain how to start an auto body shop and give some hints to the whole process.  How you start often indicates the future of the company, so you want to start right.

1.  Start with a small shop!  Many mechanics open their auto body shop in their garage and ten years later, they have a big shop making a lot of money.  The mistakes many business owners make when starting an auto body shop is they put too much money into their shop and they end up losing money.  Starting your auto body shop is a trial run and therefore, it is not necessary to spend loads of money renting a shop when you already have a big garage that you can begin in.  If you have no access to a garage, then it would be best to open a small shop and begin your work from there, but whatever the case may be, spending loads of money is not necessary in deciding where to open your shop.  Make sure you have enough tools in your shop to be able to do many of the basic jobs and a few complicated ones.

2.  Open your auto body shop with only a few employees.  It may be best to start your business with you!  If you want to ask your family to help a little, that is fine, but if you hire a bunch of employees, and you have no customers, you lose money fast.  Many business owners think that because they own the business, they don't need to get their hands dirty, but this is not the case in the first phase of the business.  When the business begins to grow, then there is more of a need for employees and you can start to look to hire someone to help you.  You need to have a formula such as two workers for every twenty customers, or something similar to that.  Then, you understand the number of employees needed to get the job done in a timely manner and at the same time good quality work.

3.  Advertise!  Your shop is brand new and chances are, most people don't know about it.  You need to advertise so you can get more business.  Putting an ad in the paper, online, and handing out fliers would be three good steps to take to start advertising and you would spend a minimal amount of money doing it.

These are the three basic steps to starting your body shop!  Putting these into motion will ensure you save money and leave a lot of potential to grow.

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