The consistent customer demand for high-quality auto repair makes a mechanic business a great recession-proof option for aspiring entrepreneurs. Lucky Sing started his car repair business, Lucky’s Auto Repair, with $20,000 in 2016.
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Now, he’s bringing in a revenue of more than $40,000 every month, and in this interview, he’s telling our viewers how he achieved that impressive growth.
Lucky worked a traditional 9 to 5 job before starting Lucky’s Auto Repair. He was looking for a career that would give him more of a challenge, and he found that by opening his own mechanic shop. His ability to build and lead a strong team has been a big driver of his company’s growth. In this interview, he’ll share his strategies to find and hire the best talent, along with his advice for other business leaders on how to get the most out of the team you build.
Something else an auto repair shop absolutely needs to succeed is customer trust. We’ll find out where Lucky learned his car repair skills and how he ensures consistent quality and knowledge depth across his team. We’ll also delve into the nuts and bolts of how much it costs to run an auto shop, and find out if the shop’s 10% profit margins are what a new auto shop should target when setting its rates.
Whether you own your own auto shop or are thinking about starting one, you’ll learn a lot of helpful tips from this video! And make sure you check out our other interviews with auto industry business owners:
Sheepey Race: From Side Hustle to $7 Million a Year Tuning Cars ►
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpaXqc2fbIU
Auto Business interview playlist ►
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaU6uY9Yy7XkECNQPPT_LNAxEghhffqv7
Resources
https://luckyautoshop.com/ – Learn more about Lucky’s Auto Shop at their website
https://mitchell1.com/ – Professional software for automotive businesses
https://www.boltontechnology.com/ – Helpful marketing and workflow software for auto businesses
https://eliteworldwide.com/ – Training and coaching services for auto shop owners
https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ – Financial management software ideal for small businesses
https://www.upflip.com/newsletter – Sign up for the UpFlip newsletter for advice delivered straight to your inbox
https://www.upflip.com/podcast – Hear more business owner interviews on the UpFlip podcast
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:11 How Lucky Got Into The Business
2:38 Most Profitable Services
3:28 Creative Marketing Strategies
4:54 How To Get Started TODAY
6:26 Essentials You Need To Begin
7:50 How To Set Yourself Up For Success
8:54 Deep Dive Into Lucky’s Work
11:03 How Lucky Stands Out Over Competitors
12:27 Systems and Processes
14:19 Let’s Talk Numbers
15:27 Key Factors to Picking a Location
16:31 Advice on How To Scale
18:41 Building a Team
20:26 Learn This Trick with Taxes
21:42 Blitz Time with Lucky!
23:13 Overcoming Challenges
24:16 The Importance of Reviews
25:17 Key To Pricing
26:14 How Lucky Funded His Business
28:17 Necessary Skills To Start
29:14 How To Break Even
30:31 Management Tips
31:18 What Busy Months Are Like
32:42 Why a Website is Important
33:48 Key Resources
35:36 Valuable Training
36:33 The Future of Lucky’s
37:35 How To Avoid This Mistake
#mechanic #carrepair #autorepair
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I build custom engines as a side line to my mobile Repair Business.
One of the things I do when it's slow is I go drive around looking for people who are broken down. Most will at least tip you. Some of my best clients have been the people you put a spare tire on for. But be safe. Car jackings are a real thing so be safe out there. It's about the community then the money will come.
I feel like this video is just brushing the surface. "I'm on my own property" that statement means a lot more than just $20k for sure. Regardless this was good inspirational content.
Thank you for the video! I was patiently waiting for a mechanic video.
Great video
I could never live right next to my job. That destroys any resemblance of a work/personal life balance
If you don't succeed in this country is because you haven't tried hard enough great story i start my business the same way, selling my truck and leaving on the same property
What’s my most outlandish purchase for my business? It has to be the oil change tool that I bought for fun that helps me not to get my hands dirty when I do an oil change. It’s fun to use, but I don’t think I will ever use it in my everyday work.
As a 10 year Audi & Porsche dealer tech this is awesome!!! I’d go back to turning wrenches 🔧🤘🏼 Mad respect how lucky runs the shop!! 💯
31:41 Suggestion for Winter months: A tow truck or car hauler to pickup peoples cars from house to shop for repair then return them for your Winter Repair Service.
No business or automotive technician background, just brainstorming.
I’ve always wanted to startup my own niche auto repair shop. I have all the technical knowledge from 15 years of auto, auto racing, and marine engineering knowledge but don’t know the first thing on how to run a business.
Ummmm. no one mentioned the elephant in the room ?? With a mustache like that who wouldn't want to give this guy business…. He's cool A F
He hit every point most of us mechanics struggled with. Flat rate wasn't too bad but quality would take a hit, people would stress when they were under, working a 70hr job and warranty only paying you 42 was rough. Getting paid on days we couldn't even drive to the shop was un heard of. Getting paid hourly with a bonus system is a major plus. Love to see it! Keep on rocking on Lucky!
He reminds me of Charlie Day from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Great story.
Im in the same field for seven years , start my wage from $10/hr till it gets better , I’m that guy who really cares and did a lot of extras , but I felt like the boss did not sees it and I’m under paid , that’s when I left this field and try something else, still this kind of work is my favorite work. It’s funny , I also gave up my WRX ( of course not as great as a GtR) to fund my house , then later sold the house to fund my GFs business. Our shop actually gets wayy more busy during winter being a collision shop , since people drives recklessly in my city .
Awsome video!!
Fiance and i run an auto repair shop, we are on year 3 and hope to make a profit this year!
I personaly invested at the startup 850k, it sounds ridicilous but ive got 3 lifts i paid 50k just for 1 everything i have is from wurth so it is quality shop. I am making 125 dollars a hour + i am flipping cars. Every second month i am at sea as a boat mechanic where i am making nearly 150k a year and i am working there 6 months per year
Not sure how anyone makes money with 4 guys only doing 40 k a month. My boss is an amputee and him and I did 29,000 our first month just two guys in the shop 40,000 after 7 years raises some serious questions.
This video is so wrong! His margins and idea of costs to start a shop are unrealistic. There's so much he's not making enough to cover. I challenge Lucky to come to ASTE at the end of September! Also talk the people at ASOG, you need to know there's so much more about this industry. I guarantee you that you will awaken to the realities of the auto repair industry.
Well this was trippy, this shop is really close to me!
I take issue with his start up cost estimate. To outfit a garage to repair modern cars from bumper to bumper is going to be closer to 60K in tooling – factory scan tools for your top three car lines, AC machines, wallet flushing machines, a variety of timing alignment tools and the like plus another 40 to 80 in shop equipment like lifts, air compressors, fluid dispensers, jacks, snad blasting cabinets and parts washers, service information systems and such. Add another 40K if you buy a used alignment rack and new Hunter or John Bean system.
I also have some issues with his thinking his high margin jobs are the engine swaps. They are massive time sucks with low profit margins on the parts as well. Give me half a dozen brake jobs and scheduled maintenance services any day of the week. The bay turns over faster and that drives up effective labor rates and gross profit.
A 10k somewhat quality lift is 5000+ , a r134a machine is 4000+, a 134a machine is 600”+. A decent scan tool is 4500, a box full of tools is well over 20k. I have no clue where he got that number from as I own/operate a shop.
Please send me your email address 🙏
Why would you want to stay as close as u can to zero profit???
Lol. Cost more than 20k in tools.
I've spent $25,000 on scan tools and a picoscope last year.
🅿🆁🅾🅼🅾🆂🅼 😡
THE MOST OUTLANDISH PURCHASE I MADE FOR MY BUSINESS WAS…Buying the Dodge Charger (on my channel) To use it to start my YOU TUBE CHANNEL! Also I Rented 2 Yachts to use for the opening video for my channel !
2012 Dodge Charger-$20,000
Yacht rental (2)- $25,000
TOTAL COST? $45,000
I DID THIS IN S.E. ASIA WHERE THE AVERAGE INCOME IS 5X LESS THAN IN THE U.S.!!..A year later I bought a yacht and using it for rentals because i saw it made so much money in one day! e.g. $20,000!!! in one day..ouch!
Awesome video.
17k miles and cv boot leak?? dodge is some quality shit bro
Weird I found this video. I am fixing to do the EXACT same thing Lucky did. Buying a new house with a ton of Acreage. Adding a HUGE shop and acquiring my Rebuilder license. My biggest hiccup is I am NOT qualified to do it professionally. So hoping to hire the perfect person to run it and actually have ME as his apprentice/employee. But man I tell you what, I have tried hiring for my other business and here in Southern GA, it's super rare to find good employees.
20k???? That's way less than I'd expect
That nice rivian with blue paint!!!!!!!
Their strategy: First of, higher your prices,!
I have hit so many websites for a quote and they never get back to me or tell me "next week we can get you a quote" which goes for months. I finally found one that took on my business. It was 4 hours away. It was the best decision I made. Mike Gerdes Hotrods in Space Coast, FL.
Lucky: "For me, since I already owned the property, $20,000…. These days probably double that because of inflation, etc."
UpFlip: "Yeah well I'm going to put 20k in the title anyway so it gets views"
Bad hires are in every industry not too many people want to work at all and you end up paying for it.
Announcer asking redundant questions