As National Write a Business Plan Month winds to a close, it’s time to start your journey toward planning excellence. With a detailed business plan in hand, you can approach banks and investors for funds. Plus, all your business planning materials will serve as step-by-step directions on how to build your enterprise. Ready to get started? Here’s a look at the four steps to follow in creating a personalized business plan from the ground up.
1. Get Planning Tools from AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching
To create a business plan that speaks to banks and investors, you need to start with compelling and well-organized data. After that, you must effectively compile it all to tell the story of your auto repair shop’s potential for success.
With that in mind, it’s clear that starting from scratch is not the best way to go about things. Instead, you can look to your team at AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching for all the right resources.
Upon contacting our team, we will provide:
- Auto Repair Shop Capability Calculator
- Complete Business Planning Spreadsheet
- Auto Repair Shop Business Plan Workbook
You can then move through the business planning steps with ease and personalize each document for your auto repair shop. Although it might seem like a lot of work, each step builds on the next. It’ll feel much easier to write up a business plan. As a result, allowing you to secure enough startup funds to launch your auto repair shop.
2. Use the Auto Repair Shop Capability Calculator
The Auto Repair Shop Capability Calculator clearly spells out what level of success you can expect from your shop. You just need to fill in the variables, like total number of bays, number of days open each week, hours open per day, and your labor rate. Want help figuring out your ideal labor rate? Just look to your auto repair coach for the inside scoop.
After inputting the variables, the spreadsheet will let you know your total number of weekly sales possible at 100%. If you put in your current or projected productivity rate, it’ll show you the weekly sales figures at the indicated rate.
Below that, you can input your current average repair order to get a look at:
- Cars needed to generate 100%
- Labor hours per ARO goal
- Labor hours needed per week
In addition, it’ll show you the total number of techs and service writers needed at 100% and 60% to achieve your goals.
After putting in all your figures, the bottom section of the spreadsheet will give you a glimpse at your projected annual sales at the current rate. Then, it’ll go into the expected cost of technicians, service advisors, parts, operating expenses, profit hold, and debt repayment.
3. Fill Out the Complete Business Planning Spreadsheet
Upon understanding the potential profits and expenses for your auto repair shop, you can move on to filling out the Complete Business Planning Spreadsheet. This document will help you fill out your business plan and serve as the roadmap to success, so it’s well worth taking the time to fill it all out.
To start filling out this spreadsheet, you’ll go to the one-year plan tab and fill in the anticipated annual sales for your first year in business. You’ll also want to enter the percentage of your annual, monthly sales figures for each month to account for the normal fluctuations in demand. Then, use the data from the previous step to fill in your cost of goods and operating expenses to project your potential profits accurately.
Upon finishing that step, you can use the data to project your second-year plan while accounting for increased profits as your shop attracts more customers. Once that’s done, you’ll want to continue filling out all the other tabs to create your roadmap.
4. Write Up Your Auto Repair Shop Business Plan
With your spreadsheets filled out, pull up your Auto Repair Shop Business Plan Workbook in your word processing program. The workbook features all the sections you’ll need to fill out with your unique business info, plus instructions on how to do so effectively.
When complete, your business plan will have all the following sections:
- Executive Summary
- Company Description
- Products and Services
- Marketing Plan
- Operational Plan
- Management and Organization
- Startup Expenses and Capitalization
- Financial Plan
- Appendices
There are many subsections within each section as well. Each one helps create a prescriptive document that enables you to secure funding and achieve great success through the years.
Before you fill out any sections, read through the workbook in full. In the end, you’ll find ways to alter your approach to best speak to the interests of banks and investors, so you can build a plan that wins you the right level of funding.
After that, start writing out your story using the data compiled in the previous steps. Create an accurate yet engaging tale of your path to success, including challenges you might encounter along the way.
If you’re having trouble seeing the way, let your auto repair coach help you through the steps. You can also rely on your coach long after the early days of running your shop always to keep your business operating at its best.
Need Business Planning Help? Contact Your Auto Repair Coach Today
On your own, you can expect the business planning process to take about three months. If you’d like to speed up the process and get straight to seeking funding, enlist the help of your auto repair coach, Chris Cotton.
To get started, simply call 940-400-1008, fill out the online form, or email chris@autofixsos.com. No matter how you reach out, you can count on getting the help you need to launch your auto repair shop and keep it profitable and truly rewarding to own and operate.
At AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching, we’ve helped many prospective auto repair shop owners create their perfect business plan and secure funding for their startups. We’re also always available to help optimize day-to-day operations and keep your business generating excellent revenues.
