Prius Garage in Central Florida

gmcneil05

Yes I agree that you undersold yourself in first couple of comments, that's why people on this board try to help you out based on their perceived your level of experience. I am glad to hear that you learned lots of thing out of school, and did various things in life, probably more than your average peers. That's definitely positive and serve as good starting point for your career and business.

However, in your last comment, you also shows your weakness. You are too eager to prove yourself.

Calm down and read all the comments by all of us, does anyone wants to picking on you and have fun bashing you?

If you don't have the psychological strength to take all information/feedback you can get from anyone surround you, filter the garbage and suck out the nutrition, you are not going to go very far in your career. Say, after you open your business, will you argue with your customer to prove you are right? Or you give them good service and psychological satisfaction even when you know they are wrong?

Good luck!

 

BTW, if I can find a local shop specialize on Prius in Chicago area, or even just an experienced technician working in his own garage, I will check it out and give a good try.

Actually I encouraged my long time mechanics who served all my car's basic maintenance, to pay attention on Prius market. He does not seem to be interested. And it is obvious to me, that he is quite busy serving his current none hybrid customer base, out of his own garage.

 

Another facility to check out is Art's Automotive . Art's is a shop that services a number of different vehicles. They just don't exclude hybrids. They figure that modern cars are adding technology all the time, and if they refuse a job because the car has a technology that they're not up on, eventually there wont be any cars left that they can service. They were already servicing Toyotas when the Prius came out. And when a customer came in with a Prius, they just treated it as another Toyota that they had to learn about. They tell their story better than I do, so check out their web site.

To really service a Prius, you'll need Techstream and an account with Toyota's Technical Information Service. And if you can service a Prius, then you could also service a Corolla. If there aren't enough Prius coming in for service, it would be really good for business to accept the Corollas as well. Just how far you go in accepting a company's product line (Tundras?) is a business decision you'll have to make.

Education is not something you can just do and be done with. Say you know all about how to service a Gen2 Prius. That may be a head start, but you'll have to learn more to service a Gen3 PIP. And a Gen4 will have more computers and a new version of Techstream to get up to speed with. A formal education can open doors, but you'll need continuing education to keep those doors open.

To sort of answer your question, I'd say that there is a market opportunity for service shops that can handle hybrids, particularly the Prius. But a Prius specialty shop only makes sense in places where there are a lot of Prius and few shops that accept them. Luscious Garage is a San Francisco phenomenon. Five miles away in Berkeley, Art's has to service a wider variety of cars, even though they are experts on the Prius.

 

To add to that... Berkeley is the Land of Prius. I don't think you can drive a block in Berkeley without spotting five Priuses. Seriously, that car is everywhere in Berkeley.

 

i say 'go for it!' you'll never know unless you try. if you're afraid of failure, you'll never take a risk. arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can, be prepared to work long hard hours and you should be just fine. all the best! and let us know how it's going from time to time.

 

I really hope you are successful. I love to see local, independent businesses make a go of it. And I really don't think anyone here is trying to beat you up. You are far more likely to be successful if you know going in that running a business takes a lot more than knowing about cars.

Expense and time was one reason I suggested a community college. I wasn't thinking you would want to get an MBA or such. I don't know how community colleges are set up in Florida, but in my area the community colleges offer a wealth of low-coast continuing education classes in any number of subjects, including things like business taxes and accounting, management, etc. Many of these classes meet for a single evening or weekend, so the time commitment is negligible.

Your father could also be a great resource. He operated a business for years. You said you were involved in the shop, but you didn't say in what capacity. Have you talked to your father about the business aspects of it? Stuff like who did his books? How did he do inventory control? What was his approach to customer service; how did he handle a difficult situation? Talk to him over coffee or [adult beverage of choice]. He knows you better than any of us. Make your case and ask him if he thinks you're ready to do this. And then listen carefully to his answer. And consider that if you don't really want to hear it, this might not be the right opportunity for you right now. But that doesn't mean that there will never be an opportunity again. Here's hoping there are many opportunities in your life!