A Day in the Life: What It Takes to Run a Car Repair Franchise

If you’ve been thinking about making an exciting career change, working in car repairs could be the ideal thing for you. If you’re a newcomer to the industry though, it can be difficult to visualise what kinds of things you actually have to do. So, here’s what the average day of a car repair franchisee looks like.

There are lots of reasons to start a car repair franchise. You’ll always be busy, you’ll be your own boss, you can make some big profits and you’ll have plenty of support along the way. But if you’re new to the sector or have never run a franchise before, it isn’t always obvious what tasks you will be doing from one day to the next.

So, to help give you a better picture of what a car repair franchisee does, here are some of the most common tasks and responsibilities you will be faced with. 

A day in the life of a car repair franchisee 

No two days will ever be the same for you. With as many as 32 million personal vehicles in the UK [Department for Transport], there is always going to be consistent and steady demand for car repairs and maintenance services. But specifically, you can look forward to helping carry out services themselves, as well as taking on responsibility for the running of the business generally.

You can expect to:

• Meet customers face to face and discover their needs
• Help to carry out repairs
• Source parts and negotiate with suppliers
• Market your business
• Recruit new technicians and engineers
• Process invoices
• Attend trade events
• Network
• Speak with your franchisee network

Anyone looking to run their own business needs to have something of a generalist mindset. You will need to be on-hand to deal with lots of different scenarios and situations, so the following skills will also be a big hand to you:

• Organisation
• The ability to multitask 
• Confidence in leading a team
• Good business sense
• A good knowledge of vehicle repairs
• Excellent manual dexterity
• Accuracy and attention to detail

If you’re now ready to start your own car repair franchise, there’s plenty of support to help you make the right career change. 

Advantages of running a car repair franchise

There are also lots of advantages to running your own car repair franchise. From future development to profitability, there’s a lot to like about running your own franchise. There is also:

• Affordability: Most car repair franchises come in at very affordable prices and are usually well below the average price of starting a franchise.
• Be your own boss: Being your own boss gives you lots of freedom and job satisfaction.
• Job security: Franchise businesses have much better survival rates than smaller and more independent businesses. 
• Development: As a franchisee, you’ll receive lots of training and support to push your future development. 
• Mentors: Some franchises have dedicated mentors for development, financial brokering and finding the ideal premises.
• Consolidated supply chains: You will immediately be able to benefit from well-established supply chains

Challenges of running a car repair franchise

Car repair businesses are customer-facing, meaning that while you are sure to have lots of enjoyable interactions with customers, you’ll also likely come across more difficult customers. With training, preparation and experience, you will be able to overcome these difficulties with ease – but there’s no denying it can be a challenge. 

On top of this, you will need to work long hours in the early days of your franchise business. Each hour you work is going to contribute towards a better experience over the longer term though, so while this may be difficult at first, it is all going towards making your business stronger in the longer term.

Franchising opportunities in the car repair industry 

1. ChipsAway

Whether you want job security, want to fit work around the most important people in your life, want to earn more or just want a more flexible lifestyle, you can have it all with the ChipsAway franchise. Innovators of the signature SMART (Small to Medium Repair Technology) process, ChipsAway is one of the UK’s leading chip repair franchises. 

• Becoming a ChipsAway franchise: You don’t necessarily need any previous body repair experience, as there’s lots of dedicated training and support to help teach you everything you need.
• How much you need to invest: You need to make a minimum investment of £15,000 + VAT, with your total investment coming to £29,995 + VAT.
• What you get for your investment: All new franchisees receive all the support and training needed to start a successful paint and bodywork repair business, including technical sales training, marketing support and business mentoring.

2. Optic-Kleer

With over 30 years experience in car repair services, Optic-Kleer is the UK’s leading car repair franchise. As a franchisee with Optic-Kleer, you’ll have lots of repeat customers, so you won’t need to worry about finding customers yourself. This is a trusted, reputable and nationally-recognised franchise, so there’s a lot to like about it.

• Becoming an Optic-Kleer franchise: You don’t need specific experience, as it’s your qualities that Optic-Kleer is most interested in.
• How much you need to invest: You need to make a total investment of £19,950 and, after two years, you could have a revenue of around £65,000.
• What you get for your investment: All new recruits benefit from a mix of classroom and field-based training. On top of this, you will have mentoring with experienced technicians who are on-hand to help teach you everything you need. 

Start your own car repair franchise today

For a busy and profitable sector, look no further than the car repair industry. It’s a fast-paced and challenging sector but, for the right franchisee, there is a lot of scope for growth, development and, of course, profits. If this doesn’t seem quite like the right sector for you though, consult the UK franchise directory for a full range of franchising opportunities elsewhere.