Mobile tyre fitting services

[francisgane]

I've seen a couple of these vans around that fit tyres at your home or place of work. It seems to be a growing business.

I've also seen Transit Vans equipped with all the necessary equipment to start such a business for a shade under £10k.

Does anybody on here know of anyone already doing this? Do you need to be a qualified mechanic to balance wheels/repair punctures/change tyres?

Thanks!

Francis

 

[iainbo]

Hi, you don't need any particular qualifications - as long as you've been trained to use the equipment - and it ain't rocket science, and have the right insurance - about £2.5k for traders ins - covers van, contents, you driving customer's vehicle and liability if something did go wrong.

There is a market there - there's a few decent sized local companies, sole traders and national companies doing it. It's the usual thing of getting your name known, marketing, building up a customer base etc.

I guess you could earn a living from one van, but would need 2 or 3 to start making good money.

Iain.

 

[francisgane]

thanks. may well look into it...

 

[smo]

Tyre fitters are trained and do have qualifications, they may be nothing more than an NVQ or a tyre manufacturer scheme but it does mean they know what they are doing, i'd imagine this has an effect on insurance too!

 

[KJL126]

I've met a smashing guy who does this through Networking in Chorley.

I believe he's part of a franchise operation, but have seen him collect business at breakfast meetings, the service is good place of work or home and there's value too

he was invited to a ladies only group to introduce himself and picked up loads of business by offering free tyre checks after the session finished

Keith

Finance 4 Business all types of Finance for all types of Business

 

[TheGuru2010]

You should be able to source the insurance for much less than £2,500 if its just yourself.
You should be looking more around the £1200 mark as a rough figure (sometimes cheaper dependant on circumstances)

 

[francisgane]

so i'd need to do an NVQ just to do this job?? hope not!

thanks all. now to look more closely at local competition.

 

[iainbo]

You should be able to source the insurance for much less than £2,500 if its just yourself.
You should be looking more around the £1200 mark as a rough figure (sometimes cheaper dependant on circumstances) 17th June 2011 15:07
I've been quoted £2356 for traders insurance, covering comp ins on van, drive any car on biz, contents of van and £2.5m public liability. This is from a broker who normally gets me good deals and it's with aviva.

If you can get me that for £1200 guru2010 then please PM me.

Re qualifications - there's no legal requirements - think all the tyre fitters in all the small back street shops have NVQs etc? As long as your trained up by someone competant your fine, or you could go on one of the tyre fitting 2 day courses if you want a bit of paper, but you'd learn lots more by working in a tyre fitting bay for a week.

 

[rickyhyde89]

so i'd need to do an NVQ just to do this job?? hope not!

thanks all. now to look more closely at local competition.

Just like people have said in previous posts, there are no qualifications you need to fit tyres.

I worked in a garage for 2 years and changing a tyre is probably the easiest job by far. We used to get the work experience lads from schools to do them and there are not many jobs you would let them do on their own! The only hard part is if you are fitting a low profile tyre onto a large rim.

To gain some experience why dont you contact trye centres outside your target area and ask them to teach you how to use their machines in exchange for payment or offer to work for them for free for a while?

 

[elecpack]

Just like people have said in previous posts, there are no qualifications you need to fit tyres.

I worked in a garage for 2 years and changing a tyre is probably the easiest job by far. We used to get the work experience lads from schools to do them and there are not many jobs you would let them do on their own! The only hard part is if you are fitting a low profile tyre onto a large rim.

To gain some experience why dont you contact trye centres outside your target area and ask them to teach you how to use their machines in exchange for payment or offer to work for them for free for a while?

I think it's a good idea,to exprience is better..

 

[IANL]

There are a couple of franchises avaialble that offer all the training and are big names in marketing

Etyres is one just such company.

If you go the franchise route do get proper legal advice as some terms and conditions can be onerous in some agreements.

Good luck

 

[francisgane]

Yes I looked at the etyres franchise. Apart from their presence in the market place I don't see why I couldn't do just as good a job on my own but it's still a good option maybe.

 

[francisgane]

Yes I looked at the etyres franchise. Apart from their presence in the market place I don't see why I couldn't do just as good a job on my own but it's still a good option maybe.

Also, to make this a success it would all be about the price of the tyres and therefore the suppliers would be crucial. Any ideas as to where to go to source cheap tyres?

 

[Slartibartfast]

I worked in a garage for 2 years and changing a tyre is probably the easiest job by far. We used to get the work experience lads from schools to do them and there are not many jobs you would let them do on their own! The only hard part is if you are fitting a low profile tyre onto a large rim.

Hmm, maybe that explains why it's almost impossible to find somewhere that can both balance a wheel properly and manage not to scratch alloy wheels whilst changing the tyre. Or maybe I'm just unlucky and all the places around here are sh1t! I used eTyres in the past when I lived in an area covered, and they were great, but at the end of the day it comes down to whether the fitter gives a damn and is any good at their job.

Cheers,
Slarti.

 

[IANL]

Yes I looked at the etyres franchise. Apart from their presence in the market place I don't see why I couldn't do just as good a job on my own but it's still a good option maybe.

Also, to make this a success it would all be about the price of the tyres and therefore the suppliers would be crucial. Any ideas as to where to go to source cheap tyres?

I know that etyres source their tyres from the same place as my local garage. It depends where you live as to who the wholesaler is I guess and what you can negotiate

 

[britmandev]

I would suggest to avoid paying a franchise fee and set up on your own. For £4000 you can buy the equipment and training. There is a lot of money to be made in this business.

Brand name is key, your leaflet marketing does need to stand out from the pack.

there are some good tyre related brand names on sedo.
https://www.sedo.co.uk/search/searc...olio=c0de3f7de7f84230cb1800054e000ac0eaf90768
A few may strike your fancy. Good Luck.

 

[Tyrefitter]

Hi,I started off mobile tyre fitting in Jan 2011 & now I have my own workshop with mot bay & I also do servicing & repairs,I've now packed in mobile fitting as its not all what it is made out to be.
Please don't fall into the trap of these franchise's.you need to put about 35k down & they promise you the earth.if you are going down the mobile tyre fitting route then get your own van,tyre machine with assist arm for low profile & runflat,a decent balancer & compressor.Dont buy those cheap chinese machines off eBay as they are crap,get something like Corgi as they will last,I've got corgi machines in my workshop & the tyre machine is 3 years old & changed about 20000 tyres in 3 years & it still works like the day I got it new.
Andy

 

[garyk]

A good friend of mine has been doing this on his own for many years. He is always busy, he had many years as a tyre and exhaust fitter in the family business before branching out on his own.

AS @Tyrefitter says you don't need to do this as part of a franchise, you can do this on your own.

 

[M1ke Brown]

Hi Tyrefitter, my name is Mike, I have been running my own mobile tyre business now up in Yorkshire for around 15mths. I funded it myself and do it on evenings as I supplement it through my full time job. It ticks over but is not producing massive results yet. I advertise through social media, leaflet drops and word of mouth. Just advertised in my first local publication also.
I would be very grateful if you could give me any advice on how to grow the business more rapidly?

Kind Regards

 

[Kat Haylock]

Please don't revive threads more than 3 months old (especially if they're 5 years old!) - you'll get a better response if you start a new thread.