Re:
ha! lol! i saw the thread title, started reading then saw the link, clicked on it. apparently i'm a great guy!
yeah, tough one, obvs i don't do mobile, i see issues with it but i see people make a go of it and seem to be successful
this guys lives about 10 miles from me, and seems to be doing a good job, i supply him with certain parts for products he doesn't have an account for, in return i know he sends people to me.
https://www.velo-care.com/
i know him, but not that well, now he aims more at high end customers, we got talking a while back, now here's where my relationship with other shops can differ to other shop owners. basically i do my best to be on good terms with every shop around me, the logic being that if a customer needs something i can't do or can't supply then i will punt that customer to the appropriate shop and ideally a specific person, the logic being that they will do the same with me, in my case i know this works as i do get a lot of referrals. as VeloCare are trying to deal with higher end customers i am aware that sometimes he will say "sorry i'm too busy/booked up" etc if they don't want the work (usually meaning the bike is basic or in a state!) but then suggests they come to me. my point is don't treat those shops as enemies, maybe get to know them and suggest they send any overflow or undesirable work to you.
having spoken to the guy that owns velo care, he says he needs 2 £50 services a day to be viable, thinking about that, that means obvs him supplying the parts cover the costs of those parts, and probably a bit more, like fuel etc, then 100 a day you'd lose 25ish to the tax man, which would mean you'd be earning potentially 400 a week in your hand, but that sounds optimistic to me, because 400 a week is a lot, i don't earn that, but then i have alot of stock and i pay rent etc on unit, so i have higher overheads but then i sell a lot more accessories. basically you need the parts profit to cover your costs so that the labour rate can effectively be your wage.
regards qualifications, yes ideally you need them, one because you can promote it, and two because you should have liability insurance, and they may ask if you are qualified, and if not you may find it hard to get cover. i don't think it's a legal requirement though, i'd check though.
now here's where i point out some pitfalls, some people think that mobile is the best way, i don't think this is ideal, if i was doing it i would collect, service and drop off, and here's my reasoning. if you collect then you can collect several bikes at an agreed time, and try and work a few collections in to one trip, obvs saving fuel money across the bikes, take them home to a fully set up workshop, as opposed to working on someones driveway without access to everything, for example cleaning etc, not always easy without a full cleaning set up which would be hard and expensive to fit in to a van. once the bikes are serviced you then drop them back at agreed time. i think if it was me it would be collections/drop offs around 4 to 7 pm, that gives you the day to do the work. this is what i was doing at the start of the pandemic when initially we thought bike shops were not gonna be allowed to open, frankly it worked.
the other reason i am not a fan of mobile is what if you need a tool/part that isn't in your van? you have to go home or you have to order it, not ideal, if you are already at home then you have everything you need, well ideally you do.
my advice would be set up a website, and a facebook page, take bookings via those, and FYI, facebook is defo better than twatter for this, instagram only for pics, not useful for bookings etc, it just doesn't get you anything.
the other reason i think collect/drop off is better, especially to start, is that you won't need to spend out much to set up, if you have a car then you can transport bikes, roof or tow bar, or obvs in side the car, long term get a van though. if you have a reasonable amount of tools then i suggest buying specialist tools as and when you need to do that job and not before.
the only jobs i would consider on driveways would be small jobs, tyre fitting etc, gear cables etc, small stuff, and if it looks bad when you get there point it out and say "this needs more work, i really should take this back to the workshop", customers quite often are unaware how bad their bike is.
other issues will be getting accounts to get parts, some suppliers simply won't deal with you, others are happy to deal with mobile guys but quite often limit their accounts to spares and workshop products only, basically they are worried about any old person phoning up and conning the suppliers in to trade price.
get a good accountant, i started as a "sole trader", went VAT registered 18months later, that was right for me, but it may not be right for you. also if you are doing it as an extra to another full time job then i don't know how it works tax wise as obvs the government will always want their cut. the bastards!
another potential bonus of having a home workshop is tax benefits, my understanding is that if you donate a portion of your home to work you can claim a percentage of house hold bills as work related, obvs i don't do this but i know it can be done, so electric/water/phone and i think council tax can all be partially claimed back.
that's my view on it, take from that what you will!
