Independant testing market research

[Hertfordshire Merx]

Hi all, nice to find a forum like this where everyone can find out ample information about a fantastic car.

I am due to be opening an independant in my local area very shortly due to being fed up with working for a very ungrateful ignorant dealer. I know we can do a far better job than we are allowed to do against the clock at work, and for cheaper than over £100 per hour!

My concern is that if I opened it would customers actually make use of an independant rather than a dealer? We can aquire the same diagnostic equipment as main dealers and use genuine parts.

Any comments welcome please - just for 'market research' at this stage.

 

[television]

In answer to your question, if an indie does a good job, then we recommend him. Some indies join the forum and answer some questions, 6 at present offer help on questions on faults being asked, but not all seeking work.

Its the old story, do not cheat, for some of us know the cars well,so easily caught out, do not over charge.

You should do a search "indies" and read the post, it would be worthwhile

We do recommend people

 

[Juddian]

Agree with Malcolm there.

Number one priority is trust, and honourable fair priced trading, mind you that works both ways, customers should pay their bills and not try to fleece the indy either, it does happen.

Most of us are happy to pay for good knowledgeable, and conscientious service.

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

Thanks Malcolmm, will do.

I have been in the trade for 20 years now and been working for Mercedes for 14 of them. I have been a workshop foreman and Diagnostic Technician since 2004. Personally I am shocked at the greediness of mainstream dealers, not just MB ones, and their rates and basically how the Technicians get treated for doing the jobs we do. I am involved in heavy electrical diagnosis (which is my forte) I enjoy it immensly. I see invoices flying out of our place at extortionate rates (even for North London) which I find quite frankly an embarassment!

I am all up for an honest wage for an honest job and in my opinion dealers I have worked at are over the top. For instance 0.3hr (£35) for replacing a brake light bulb taking 2 minutes is horrendous!!! Thank God for BER standards and I take heed from your comments. Like I said all welcome. I am very interested in what Mercedes Benz customers would like to see in an independant that they feel the main dealers are missing. And essential things an independant can do to entice custom away from dealers to make them feel happy to use a specialist Mercedes independant, apart from honesty and transparency when work and invoicing is done.

 

[television]

Thanks for filling in the details, dont forget though when you are changing a brake light switch, you still have to pay for the car to be booked in, the time for the phone calls,time talking to the customer, and the rent of the building, I am not in business in the motor trade,but I have been self employed all of my life, so it is still better to make a reasonable charge, to cover all of your contingent liabilities so that you are still around to do the other jobs. On the forum we have Ollie, of Prestige, in Portsmouth, he started some 18 months ago and is holding an open day in May, you should come along to that. In the north in Warington we have MB tech who is just moving into new premises. We have S-A-M an MB techie, there are many other good guys whos help in invaluable. If I have missed someone please tell me.

Herts is a wide open area with no one that we recomend

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

Perhaps I'll call down to Portsmouth in May if someone can send me some definate details, I am very interested and hope he wont mind me coming down, afterall we'll hardly compete! With luck will have my business open by then although that might be overly optimistic. If I can be of any help on this forum then I'll be delighted to help out. I am passionate about MB and want to head out on my own as soon as possible. My employer knows nothing of my plans at present, I dont think it will go down with them too well either particularly during recession. I have agreed with my parts manager to be a customer of theirs, think they will be silly not to trade with me.

 

[television]

I will let you have the details and can put you on the list for the meet on the 16th of May.

I am sure that you will do well, no need to worry about competition, There is one firm in St Albans where I have sent people, but I know nothing about them,they are BM and others Some awful tales have come from MB direct in HH, MB Watford I know many that will not go in there. I think that Reading is the nearest recommended indie by us,on the west side, on the Harrow side, there is a hole and no one good , I will have a word with ollie this week. It could be worth a phone call

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

I was thinking about opening it in either Welwyn Garden City or Stevenage. There is a dealer in Stevenage just off the A1. Welwyn would be central to Hertford, Stevenage, St Albans etc. All affluent areas and a dealer close by for parts and accessories. Trouble is unit overheads are high in WGC opposed to Stevenage, my choice I know! Lots of Mercs around those towns and surrounding villages. Could pull work from Watford and North London too as they are charging in the region of £140+, +VAT per hour, truly shocking!

 

[television]

Ollie pulls in work from London and all along the South Coast, Stevenage will pull in work from the east cast and Cambridge and Northamton, it sounds very good, I know the area well as I was born there.

The unit rent is your biggest expense, if you start off with one lift, you can add another later, and Ollie did that. I think that his place will hold 4 cars including the lifts, and that is enough to get going on

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

You think people will travel as far away from Northampton? Thats over an hours drive away from at least Stevenage to hazard a guess. Then again Cambridge would be a 40 odd minute drive and London 30 minutes so hopefully I'll find somewhere around that I'll be able to set up. I have seen Star Diagnosis machines advertised in the States with latest software and online updates available for 'reasonable money'.

Wouldnt mind talking to Ollie, always good to hear from someone who has been through similar situations.

 

[television]

You think people will travel as far away from Northampton? Thats over an hours drive away from at least Stevenage to hazard a guess. Then again Cambridge would be a 40 odd minute drive and London 30 minutes so hopefully I'll find somewhere around that I'll be able to set up. I have seen Star Diagnosis machines advertised in the States with latest software and online updates available for 'reasonable money'.

Wouldnt mind talking to Ollie, always good to hear from someone who has been through similar situations.

Take me for instance as Many other, I can go 30 miles west to MB, or I can go 125 mile East to ollie, so I will go East, to be sure of getting a good honest job done, and there are many that do the same.

Re STAR many use the USA versions and they are OK,and under £1k, and anyway for the next few years you will not be doing 1 and 2 year old cars.

Leave it with me and I will see what I can do.

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

Haven't seen Star machines that cheap, can you point me in the right direction please???

 

[television]

Haven't seen Star machines that cheap, can you point me in the right direction please???

These are the ones that work with the IBM laptop,cost about £850 and still very good, I know 5 who use them in business, and in a way still better than the Autologic,Launch X431 and the Car soft

 

[popuptoaster]

If your worried about being to far away from people maybe offer a collection and delivery service? get a lad in and send him on the train to collect cars? he can always valet them for a lil extra cash.

 

[kth286]

By the very nature of a specialist forum, the members on it have an interest in their cars with probably the primary reason to get value for money and to gain sufficient knowledge so as not to be ripped off.

There will be a lot of members cars that are well out of warranty and indeed be very old in comparison to those you have probably been working on in the dealership.

So, be prepared for a culture shock and start honing your skills on the jet tronic fuel injection systems which you are likely to see a lot of.

There will also be the classic cars such as 107 models which were likely made before you were born and you need to consider how you will gain the knowledge to service and repair those, including the budget for purchase of the appropriate special tools.

In conclusion, you will be in a different market to that you work in now.

 

[Dosco]

New Business

This maybe a granny and eggs comment and if so I am sorry, but take it as is offered 'in the spirit of helping'.

When you have done your 'market research' and you are sure that you have a market for your service and can identify your unique selling points (USP's) spend some time on writing a sound and sensible business plan. If you need help doing this then do get help eg contact your local Business Link who will provide you with free help and start-up support ask if there are any grants available, who knows you maybe lucky. Be really open minded and address all of the what if's, assess everything and above all be honest.

Could go on but suffice to say if you are honest with yourself, open minded and fully risk assess what could go wrong then you will be in the very best position to succeed. Hope that is helpful and the very best in your venture

 

[Rory]

I am due to be opening an independant in my local area very shortly due to being fed up with working for a very ungrateful ignorant dealer. I know we can do a far better job than we are allowed to do against the clock at work, and for cheaper than over £100 per hour!

Just my thoughts from the tone of a couple of your posts - it's probably not a good thing to sound a bit bitter and angry. Stand on your own reputation.

Sure, 0.3 of an hour to change a brake light bulb sounds like a rip-off, but many Merc owners are business people and if you accurately timed that job if it was done on its own, all the paperwork, stand at stores to get the bulb, perhaps drive the car in and out of the workshop if it can't be done outside, empty the boot etc etc, then it probably really does take that long.

OK, you could grab a bulb and pop it in and send a happy customer on his way with a cheery wave. But don't forget that if you're working for yourself then even that is probably 10mins when you're not earning money.

 

[Dosco]

Rory makes a good point and have to say such 'favours' do not always guarantee a return visit when other (major?) things need doing

 

[Alex M Grieve]

What would "float your boat"?

Rory makes a good point and have to say such 'favours' do not always guarantee a return visit when other (major?) things need doing

It is a great skill, especially in a small business which offers a more personal service, to be able to balance bon homie, efficiency, staffing, skills mix, inventory, cash flow, work scheduling and blend these with the progressive changes needed to grow the business over time.

Amongst these things, "knowing what you can afford to give away" is certainly an issue. A publican will know how many "drinks on the house" they can afford - indeed, they know roughly what return in loyalty and reference sales to expect from so doing.

I would surmise that "give aways" for a small Indy trying to get established would centre round small cost items, which the customer can not fit, or can not easily fit. Bulbs are a good example. The reverse is true of a MAF - high cost, though low fitting time.

Seems easy, but a lot of skill and experience goes into even these "off the cuff", apparently intuitive decisions. But done well, they do differentiate the Indy from the impersonal approach of a larger supplier.

If a dealership manages to achieve this effect, and couple it to discounts (parts & labour, servicing) for older vehicles, for example - then the Indies will struggle.

If, on the other hand, the dealerships try to blackmail the customer with issues over warranty, stamping or not stamping the service book, etc, then the Indies will capitalise.

Spot where you are in this spectrum in your area. What other variables would influence you?

 

[television]

Having been self employed for 58 years I agree that there is a trade off on free or cheap jobs, once you have gained the confidence of the customer and know that you will be getting more work from them, little jobs done cheap or free do pay off.
The service / repair trade is rotten in that people only ever come when something has gone wrong, so not always very happy, unlike say an ICE shop where people come happily to buy toys and goodies, not caring that much about the cost.

I had a rough count up of repairs that I have done, and that comes to well over 300,000 repairs, and more like 400,000, and if I made out of 90% that cannot be too bad.

You cant charge the moaner who comes in for the ½ hour or so it takes for him to explain the fault, and book it in, but by putting £10 or £15 on the bill if it is a service is neither here nor there, you just do not write that down.

One has to earn on spare parts, as you have to drive out to get them, and this helps offset any stock that you may be left with on a job that does not go too well.

When it comes down to advertising, the only worth while one are the local papers, all of these things like "we are printing a calender to hang in the rose and crown are rubbish. A web site with Mercedes in the tittle will bring in hits, Yellow pages cost an arm and leg and is not worth while having an expensive box when you can get a free entry, the same in Thomson.