Assignment 24

Opportunity

My opportunity revolves around the unmet need of people with cars that they want to fix themselves. This can also apply to people who frequently change parts out of there car like exhaust, body panels, wheels, etc. The difference between, say, someone with a full garage and a set of tools, and my customers, is the fact that my customers won’t have that full garage and that set of tools. The group of customers that would meet this need are car owners with experience or desire to work on it themselves, yet they would most likely be college students or recently graduated. This means that they wouldn’t be able to make the investment on the tools and workspace to fix a car themselves. This is where my business comes in. I provide access to tools and lifts to these people at a rate that is substantially lower than the standard shop rate. It saves the customer money in the long run, and they can learn how to maintain their car at a cheaper rate over time. Forces that create this opportunity might be the increasing complexity of newer cars. With newer cars being less likely for home repair, graduates and car enthusiasts are more likely to buy older, slightly used cars that still hold value and are easily fixable by someone with the right knowledge. My market would start out in the local Gainesville area only. This area has the highest potential market because it contains graduates and students alike. My customer base most likely fixes their own cars my themselves at their home or brings it to a shop that will charge them a labor fee. They would be willing to try my business to see how cost effective it is for them. I believe my window of opportunity is big enough to cover the cost of the business, but not big enough to see huge growth in a short time. It is possible that the window of opportunity will only be open for a few more years, as electric cars are on the rise. I personally believe we are a long way from eliminating older, more fixable cars from the market.



Innovation

My business is relatively simple and cheap to run. It In involves having the necessary capital to purchase or rent a location, buy or rent the lifts themselves, and stock the location with tools and other amenities. For example, if I rented a location with enough space for 2 post style lifts and a wing for bathroom, sink, office, then that cost would only be ($5000 x 2) + (rent/building costs). Since the lifts and building costs are one-time capital expenditures, we can discount that from our variable and fixed costs. So, to make money, we must rent out the lifts to people at a rate that can cover the rent/electric/water costs each month and any other small overhead costs that arise. Standard shop rates globally are around $100 an hour. As a start, I will charge anything under that and calculate how many customers/day I would need to break even. As for how the business functions from a customer perspective, it would start by either calling or driving to the location and scheduling an appointment. If there are open bays on that day, then it is first come first serve. I would probably set up a camera on a website that customers can access to quickly see how many lifts are in use at any point in time. Plus, an accessible calendar. Since this type of business requires little labor as the customers work on their car themselves, I will be the one who stays on location and oversees the operation. Customers can rent a lift on an hourly, daily, or monthly basis, with discounts at each level. If a customer wants to use bay 2 for a weekend, then he/she would pay for the 2 days. Picture renting a storage unit, but that unit can lift your car up.





Venture Concept

Customers that cannot afford to take their car to a shop, don’t have the tools to do it themselves, or want to learn how to maintain their car will utilize my opportunity. Because my rates will be lower than shop charges, my store will be stocked with tools, and I can provide expert help to any customers free of cost, my business will be perfect for the customer type stated above. I believe that car enthusiast will flock to my business in order to see how they can make it work for them. Others, however, will not be so quick to jump on the boat. People that have normally taken their car to the shop won’t think otherwise. This will be the hardest market to penetrate, which is why I am content with a small business at the start. Competitors are any automotive shop that charges for labor. What my business can provide over other shops is a friendly, safe, learning environment. People will want to come to my location, even if their car works fine, just for the opportunity to meet others like them. It will be a location where car people can gather, work on their rides, and enjoy themselves. The customer experience is a key factor to my business concept, which is why I would want to oversee the early operation of the business. Like I’ve said before, employees are almost not needed. If I can be on location, then that is all there needs to be. For future growth, I would need at least 1-2 people on hand to help customers with any technical difficulties, while also being a knowledgeable helper for them.



3 Elements

1. My secret sauce is myself. Anyone can create my business but only I will be able to provide the knowledge and friendliness that will keep my customers coming back.

2. The next step for my business would be expanding to a larger building with more lifts for a higher at once capacity.

3. I want to be working from home, managing the location remotely with only a few employees on my payroll. Assuming that I am still Gainesville located, this is where I want to be in 5 years.