[Wanted] Commercial Site

jabaroon

Hi All,

Im hoping that I am posting this in the right forum. Basically, I am looking for suggestions on behalf of a friend who is looking to open a small car repair business. He has worked for someone else for a good while and is contemplating going out on his own!

The problem is finding the right site to lease. He has been humming and hawing for a while now and cant seem to find a good location! Hence my offering to help!

The idea he has for the slant on the business requires good traffic volume so a site on a good busy road would be manditory. He also hopes to sell the occasional imported car on the forecourt so parking space would be necessarry too!

The problem is how do you find a site / property? All and any suggestions appreciated. Is there people/agents who specialise in this sort of thing? Can you go to an agent? Do they charge an arm and a leg (remember this is a small start up, so massive agent fees are non runners!)

Or is good auld fashioned leg work the order of the day!!

Any help and suggestions very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Jab

Victor

Most small garages that you see are on side roads and back lanes. Getting somewhere on a main road will cost, possibly much more than he will gain.

Why doesn't he approach a car sales place and offer to do their repairs on a contact basis, in exchange for garage space.

Will he need car lifts, etc. fitted?

jabaroon

Victor wrote:

Most small garages that you see are on side roads and back lanes. Getting somewhere on a main road will cost, possibly much more than he will gain.

Why doesn't he approach a car sales place and offer to do their repairs on a contact basis, in exchange for garage space.

Will he need car lifts, etc. fitted?

Hi there,

Thanks for the suggestion. I dont think much heavy equipment is required as the plan is to do small quick repairs rather than tackle big jobs. Its sorta like the quick-fit equivalent of car repair! His plan is a site with good road frontage to try and get passing trade.

I think the idea of partnering with an existing forecourt could be a runner, but they would probably already have their own garage facilities?

We have spent loads of time going through the various estate agent sites to try and find a lot, but there doesn't seem to be any places advertised. Maybe estate agents are not the right forum? Is there specialist agents or better places to look for this type of service?

Thanks,
Jab

antoinolachtnai

You could ask the agents if they have anything. They know what the market is and what the possibilities are.

If he is looking for something central in Dublin, I think he is going to have a tough time. The margins just aren't there in his business to pay for that sort of frontage. He would be better opening a motorcycle dealership if he did find a suitable site, or maybe just stick to selling imported cars.

I don't think a garage can really make money on passing trade. It's all about repeat business. Cars just break down so little these days. If he wanted to do a 'mechanic on call' business, maybe he would be better to do it out of a van?

I can see planning issues too.

Still, best of luck to him. I hope it works out.