Starting up a garage business from scratch can seem like a mammoth task, you may feel a little lost at times and understandably so as it is quite an undertaking. There are ways to alleviate the stress though and that is through careful planning.
Providing you are financially ready and have already bought or are considering purchasing a building in which to house your operations, aside from the physical act of moving in, there are essentially only a small number of jobs left to get yourself sorted out. So how can you break up your work load into a more manageable set of tasks?
Fully Licensed and Insured
First and foremost you need to deal with administrative side of your business setup; you don’t need a PhD in Management to know that you must be fully licensed and insured before you begin any work or production. Below is a selection of some of the prerequisite certifications and policies:
- Liability Insurance – protects against any liable claims made against you or your business.
- Legal Cover – covers any legal costs or potential pay outs.
- Property Cover – protects you against any damages or theft incurred on your property.
- Trade License – a legal requirement for any dealer, manufacturer or repairer of motor vehicles.
- Motor Vehicle Repair License – another legal requirement to prove your business is eligible to repair vehicles.
- Motor Salvage Operators License – another legal requirement should part of your business be the sale or reuse of salvageable parts.
- Health and Safety – your business needs to follow and maintain legal guidelines and requirements.
The Right Equipment
The next part of your planning is sourcing the right gear and equipment, so you will be in fully working order for when you are ready to start. Obviously, how much gear you need depends on the scale of your operations, but a reliable retailer such as SGS Engineering provides a fantastic range to suit your every need. From basic Hand Tools, to specialist Air Tools to Hydraulic lifting equipment, you can find what you require to fully kit out your garage and have it sorted and ready to go.
Establishing your Brand
A final task to carryout is one you can do should you be waiting on something like a particular license, or a delivery, or even to move into your building; make the most of Social Media to start publicising yourself.
Setting up a Facebook page or a Twitter feed is an effective and free way of establishing your brand name and could potentially line up new customers for you as soon as you open for business.
Photo credit: Joseph / Flickr
