Executive Summary
Your executive summary is the first part of your business plan, but you usually write it last because it is a summary of all the important parts.
The point of your executive summary is to get the reader’s attention quickly. Tell them what kind of mobile mechanic business you run and how things are going. For example, are you just starting out, do you have a mobile mechanic business that you want to grow, or do you run a chain of mobile mechanic businesses?
Next, give an overview of each part of your plan that follows.
- Briefly explain the business of mobile mechanics.
- Talk about what kind of mobile mechanic business you run.
- Detail your direct competitors. Tell us about your ideal customers.
- Give a quick summary of your marketing plan. Find the important people on your team.
- Give an overview of how you plan to handle your money.
Company Overview
In your business summary, you will explain what kind of mobile mechanic business you run.
For example, you could specialize in one of the following types of mobile mechanic businesses:
- Auto Mobile Mechanic: This is probably the most common type of mobile mechanic, and they offer a wide range of services to service or fix cars in a certain area. This could mean helping with emergency car repairs, changing the oil in a car parked in a business lot, checking the tire pressure of a car in a customer’s driveway, or replacing windshield wipers on a busy downtown street.
- Heavy Equipment Mobile Mechanic: Even though heavy equipment vehicles don’t break down as often as cars, a mobile mechanic service that specializes in fixing or servicing them usually gets paid more than an auto mechanic and does more specialized repairs.
- Motorcycle and Quad Mobile Mechanic: This type of mobile mechanic service focuses on street and dirt motorcycles as well as all kinds of quad vehicles. Street motorcycles need to have their oil changed and parts checked at regular intervals. Since dirt bikes and quads are often used on farms and ranches, they need to be fixed and maintained often.
- Recreational Vehicle Mobile Mechanic: Most people who use a company that offers mobile mechanic services for RVs don’t service or fix their own vehicles. Because of this, mobile mechanics who specialize in servicing and fixing recreational vehicles usually have a large number of customers. Recreational vehicles are often fixed near a highway, and customers usually have to pay extra for service that is available 24/7.
In the company overview, you need to say what kind of mobile mechanic business you will run and give some background information about the business.
Include answers to things like:
- When did you start your business, and why?
- What important steps have you taken so far? Milestones could be the number of cars that were serviced or fixed, the number of cities where services were added, or the number of customers who made appointments for regular oil changes.
- What is the legal structure of your business? Are you set up as an S-Corporation? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Tell us about your legal structure.
Industry Analysis
In your industry or market analysis, you should describe the mobile mechanic industry as a whole.
Even though this may seem pointless, it has more than one use.
First, learning about the mobile mechanic business makes you smarter. It gives you a better idea of the market you are in.
Second, market research can help you make a better marketing plan, especially if you use it to find market trends.
The third reason is to show readers that you know what you’re talking about. You do just that by doing the research and putting it in your plan.
In the industry analysis section of your mobile mechanic business plan, you should answer the following questions:
- How many dollars is the mobile mechanic business worth?
- Is the market going down or up?
- Who are your main rivals in the market?
- Who are the main market suppliers?
- What changes are happening in the field?
- How fast is the industry expected to grow in the next 5–10 years?
- How big is the market that matters? That is, how big could your mobile mechanic business’s target market be? You can figure out such a number by figuring out how big the market is in the whole country and then applying that number to the population in your area.
Customer Analysis
In the section of your business plan called “Customer Analysis,” you should describe the customers you serve or expect to serve.
Some examples of customer segments are people who own their own cars, people who own heavy equipment vehicles, people who own recreational vehicles, and people who own motorcycles or quads.
As you might guess, the type of mobile mechanic business you run will depend a lot on the customer segment(s) you choose. Obviously, people who own cars would respond differently to marketing campaigns than people who own heavy equipment vehicles.
Try to figure out who your ideal customers are based on how they look and how they think. In terms of demographics, you should talk about the ages, genders, locations, and levels of income of the people you want to serve.
Psychographic profiles explain what your target customers want and need. The better you can understand and define these needs, the easier it will be to find and keep customers. Before writing your plan, it would be best to talk to a few of your target customers to better understand their needs.
Competitive Analysis
In your competitive analysis, you should list your business’s direct and indirect competitors and then focus on the direct ones.
There are other mobile mechanic businesses that are direct rivals.
Indirect competitors are other things that customers can buy besides your product or service that aren’t in direct competition with it. This includes places that fix cars, sell car parts, fix motorcycles, and fix recreational vehicles. You also need to talk about direct competition.
Give an overview of each direct competitor’s business and list their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you’ve worked at one of your competitors’ companies, you won’t know everything about them. But you should be able to find out important facts about them, like
- What kind of clients do they work with?
- What kind of business are they as a mobile mechanic?
- How much do they charge (high, low, etc.)?
- What can they do well?
- What do they do wrong?
For the last two questions, try to answer them from the customers’ point of view. And don’t be afraid to ask the customers of your competitors what they like and dislike about them.
The last part of your competitive analysis section is to list the ways you are better than your competitors. As an example:
- Will you offer options for emergency services that are open 24 hours a day?
- Will you offer services that your competition does not?
- Will you give free amenities as part of your customer service?
- Will you offer special discounts for packages, such as a service plus cleaning?
Think about how you will do better than your competitors and write them down in this part of your plan.
Marketing Plan
Usually, a marketing plan has four parts: the product, the price, the place, and the promotion. Your marketing plan for a mobile mechanic business plan should include the following:
Product: In the “Product” section, you should say again what kind of mobile mechanic business you have, just like you did in the “About Us” section. Then, explain what products or services you will be selling. For example, will you change the oil and check the tires on every service visit? Will you keep certain tools and parts for fixing heavy equipment vehicles in your vehicle? Will you keep RV quick-fix parts in your car in case of an emergency?
Price: Write down the prices you’ll be charging and how they compare to those of your competitors. In your plan, the product and price sections are basically where you list the services you offer and how much they cost.
Place is the location of your mobile mechanic business. Write down where your business is and how the location will affect your success. For example, is your mobile mechanic business in a busy area where people buy and sell used cars, at your home, or in a small garage in a city? Talk about why your site may be the best place for your customers.
Promotions: The last part of your mobile mechanic marketing plan is where you write down how you will bring potential customers to your location (s). Here are some ways you could promote your business:
- Advertise in the local newspapers, radio stations, and/or magazines
- Get in touch with websites
- Put out flyers
- Engage in email marketing
- Place ads on social media sites
- Improve your website’s SEO (search engine optimization) for specific keywords
Operations Plan
In the other parts of your business plan, you talked about your goals. In your operations plan, you talk about how you will reach those goals. Your plan for operations should have two separate parts.
Everyday short-term processes include everything you need to do to run your mobile mechanic business, such as answering calls, setting up appointments for regular maintenance, keeping supplies and equipment stocked, and keeping an eye on emergency service calls 24/7, etc.
Long-term goals are the goals you want to reach in the future. These could be the dates when you expect to service your Xth car or make $X in sales. It could also be when you want to open a new location for your mobile mechanic business.
Management Team
To show that your mobile mechanic business has a chance to be successful, you need a strong management team. Showcase the backgrounds of your key players, focusing on the skills and experiences that prove they can help a company grow.
You and/or other members of your team should have direct experience running mobile mechanic businesses. If so, talk about your experience and skills. But also highlight any experience you think will help your business succeed.
If your team is missing something, you might want to put together an advisory board. A two-to-eight-person advisory board would help your business by giving advice. They would help answer questions and give advice on how to plan. If you need to, look for advisory board members who have run a mobile mechanic business or a car repair shop successfully.
Financial Plan
Your 5-year financial plan should include a monthly or quarterly breakdown for the first year, then an annual breakdown after that. Your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement are all parts of your financial statements.
Income Statement
A more common name for an income statement is a Profit and Loss statement, or P&L. It shows your income and then takes away your expenses to show if you made a profit.
You need to make assumptions in order to make your income statement. For instance, will you service 100 cars a month, fix 20 recreational vehicles, or handle 10 emergency calls a month? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% every year? As you might expect, the financial forecasts for your business will be greatly affected by the assumptions you choose. Do as much research as you can to try to make sure your assumptions are true.
The Balance Sheets
Balance sheets list what you own and what you owe. Balance sheets can have a lot of information, but try to boil them down to the most important parts. For example, if you put $50,000 into building up your mobile mechanic business, you won’t start making money right away. Instead, it is an asset that you can use to make money for years to come. Also, if someone gives you a check for $50,000, you don’t have to pay it back right away. Instead, you will have to pay that back over time.
Statement of Cash Flow
Your cash flow statement will help you figure out how much money you need to start or grow your business and make sure you never run out of cash. Most business owners and entrepreneurs don’t realize that you can make money but still go bankrupt if you run out of money.
When making your Income Statement and Balance Sheets, make sure to include some of the most important costs of starting or growing a mobile mechanic business:
- The cost of your mobile mechanic’s car, tools, and parts
- Payroll or wages given to employees Business insurance
- Taxes
- If you’re starting a new business, you’ll also have to pay for legal fees, permits, computer software, and equipment.