Thunder Body Shop: Probable Reasons for Starting the Business - Essay Example

THUNDER BODY SHOP Probable reasons for starting the business With increased advancement of the technology specifically those in the automobile industry; ignition systems, lighting, engine overhaul among others. There is need for automobile body shop to meet the needs of the people. At the moment there is an increase the number of vehicles in the street and the need to make money to cope up with the high costs of living. After careful market research, there is an indication that automobile body shop can do well in the street and its neighborhood. The most encouraging this for this business is the specialization it offers because ones you offer good services to your customers, the business automatically grows. It does not require a lot of skills or special training to start your own body shop, but the success will depend on your ability to go the job well and serve the customers to their satisfaction. With such reasons, the following information will help in starting your own body shop. Registration of business The best start of a business is to have all the legal regulations and licensing requirements met. To register the body shop with the state, the state clerk can help in its registration. The second thing concerning the registration is to obtain the following permits; council permits, police license, state license, industry standards and adoption etc Strategic planning Strategic planning will involve the development of programs that are intended to guide the auto shop management on marketing strategies, location choosing, advertisements, promotions etc. Body shop location The following considerations are to be observed while choosing a location for the shop1; Space-availability of office, storage, workroom, parking and retail space is critical for the owner. Infrastructure i.e. transportation and communication, accessibility is important for marketing purposes. The location should allow trucks, Lorries, buses and other vehicles to safely reach it. Security is a factor to the motivation of both the owner and employees. It will also help in decision making for crime insurance policies Lighting systems- if there is need for special lighting Advertising- it is usually difficult to advertise in remote locations which are not known by most people Population density-customer availability is important for the business growth Visibility-customers should be able to see the body shop when driving along the street Advertising Run an advert in the media; in the radio you can place the ad. FOR QUICK REPAIRS & AUTOMOBILE FIXING come to the THUNDER BODY SHOP king street In the newspapers, run an ad. ‘QUICK IN-QUICK OUT ’@ THUNDER BODY SHOP KING STREET, London Prepare business cards for the company which shows the name of company, address, and services offered. These cards are taken to shops around and placed on the doors. Also, these cards can be taken to auto body stores in the neighborhood and if people the owners can be asked to be distributing them. The business cards should be handed over to all the employees to distribute everywhere they go and to everybody they meet. A good approach to spreading business cards is to give some to close friends who then write their names on the back of the card. If customers bring these cards with them, the friend who gave out that card can be rewarded with two dollars or free service at the shop. The next thing is to check out for major auto- parts distributors in the area and other sources of wholesale priced equipment parts. Services and products to be offered Collision repairs of cars, trucks, motor homes and other automobiles, accidental related mechanical work, engine diagnostics, airbag system replacements, paintings, baked-on finishes, regular maintenance, tire and wheel mounting, alignment, oil changes and other tune-ups. They need to be stated depending on the available capital, technicians’ skills, and size of business. Employees Qualified (skilled) employees are a boost to any business. It starts with interviewing potential employees, selecting and training them further to suit the organizations requirement. Frequent monitoring of the employee performance is important to improve productivity Target analysis Demographic survey research is designed to obtain the necessary information about the customers’ preferences, location, ages, ethnic group, occupations, and income levels, size of market, interests and social affiliations of the customers. Competitive analysis For any business, competition is the main challenge to its development. A competitive analysis will help the managers understand where competition will come from. It will also guide the firm adjust prices for its products and services. Competitive analysis is done by visiting these competitors and noting a few important details of their prices, employees, marketing strategies and product varieties. This information will help in the strategic planning of the organization Organizational structure Financial analysis Sources of funds The following are the sources of money which help the owner of the business get started with its capital2; personal savings, credit cards, personal assets, home mortgages, private investors such as the ‘angel investors’ in the US’, Commercial finance companies such a banks and equipment leasing companies, friends and relatives, real-estate assets, life insurance, development agencies etc. if one decides to obtain a loan, then it should be a written statement which will fully describe the body shop and its business plan strategies. When the application is already written, shop around for the bank rates and that there is an advisor to guide in the application process such as an accountant or lawyer. Budget A good budget will incorporate a balance between what is available as capital and the main materials and equipment needed to jump-start the company. Priority should be on those items and services that are crucial to the company only. A sample budget will look like this; Activity Amount ($) Capital injected 150,000 Equipment 80,000 Brochure expenses 1,200 Registration, legislation and licensing expenses 1,500 Advertisements 1,700 Training of employees 500 Staff payments 30,000 Miscellaneous 10,000 Cash control systems Research has shown that almost 2-5 % of the auto shops revenue is lost due to misuse, mishandling and corruption. The owner therefore needs to adopt check-up systems to monitor any such vice and also train the employees to check criminals and fraud-specialists very well because they can con the company of its profits and money Product and service pricing To estimate your sales, comparisons between what is being offered by other neighboring body shops is made but a market penetration price is needed. It is also beneficial to maintain an overall net profit while making decisions for the prices. A right price will most probably influence the quantity of various items that customers will buy. Record keeping It is usually good to adopt a proper record keeping system which must be simple to use, reliable and accurate. It must be readily understandable and consistent for the body shop to keep up to date references and sales records. The following methods can be used in this case; double entry bookkeeping, commercial record keeping systems, computerized systems and single entry books. Any of them is suitable although computerized systems are better due to its efficiency. Equipments3 For the body shop to operate fully, it is necessary that the following equipments and materials are obtained as start-up. Computer soft wares- they have been developed as integrated automotive service management programs with advanced features to help the shop management in operations such as; location of vehicle history, work orders and invoices. Other soft wares enable customer and vendor tracking, complete inventory control and marketing planning. Examples are; Alliance Automotive soft ware, Genesis Four, AutoS2000, and ARSIS 76 among others. Power tools, cooling systems, battery and charging, fuel systems and hand tools Body and collisions, exhaust and muffler, engine repair tools and diagnostics Measurement tools, torque wrenches, drive train and transmissions Emissions, brake systems, diesel and petrol reserves, and air conditioning systems Tool boxes Choosing a Franchisees Franchisees are an important part of businesses today. It is a system of distribution utilized in order to sell or offer services to its customers. The established company offers some technical expertise together with operational support to the new company. The first thing to do is to weigh the opportunity costs of engaging franchisees and other factors such as availability and experience. Associations There are many organizations that can assist in guiding the development of the business in terms of technical advice, business opportunities, sector policies, legislations and other marketing strategies for the auto shop business. Most of these organizations are online but others can be available within your state. The international associations are; www.iatn.net, www.asashop.org, www.aspro.org, etc Finally, if everything goes on as planned, then all systems should be set up running and the business can now be set up. Reference: 125aday.com Publishing Inc. (2007): Business Plans: Auto Body Shop: A complete guide to help you plan, start and manage your Auto Body Shop, Retrieved from www.125aday.com, on May 23, 2007 Read More