What to Look For When You Have to Find a Metro Detroit Auto Body Shop

By Parker Herring

Like cars, and like doing something with your hands? Tired of working an office job? One of the places where a lot of small entrepreneurs are carving niches for themselves is in the auto body work field. One of the hot beds of this is Detroit, and Detroit auto body shops are a thriving business, largely because of the ability to get spare parts, and because more people in Detroit are holding onto cars until they literally stop running.

Starting a business isn't a small thing, and that means you're going to need to formulate a business plan and figure out where the money is going to come from. Your Detroit auto body shop isn't going to start functioning on it's own! When you create your business plan, you need to make sure it has the basics, and this is the most important part of all.

The Market

Detroit is highly populated. Many of the people there tend to drive, and that's where you will come in. You will need to deploy your Detroit auto body shop in an area where there tends to be lots of traffic, because residents there will always be in need of repair.

In the area of business, you must always choose the proper location. Even in a city that needs an auto body shop won't have much use for one that it cannot seem to find. Fortunately you'll be able to find several different commercial properties for sale. These are normally placed fairly well, so you'll be able to attract a good amount of traffic.

Outreach

When you have finally launched your business, it would be a good time to do some outreach. Your business can thrive, or it can disappear overnight. One way to ensure return customers is by doing quality work. Quality work will keep people talking, and it will keep them coming back to your store day after day. It will also cause your customers to refer others to your shop, which is the most important part of all.

Marketing is yet another critical part of your business. You need to make sure that everyone knows who you are and what you do. You can even offer sales so that customers will come in looking for something specific. In addition to that do TV, radio ads, and make sure you spread your name as much as you can.

Another form of outreach is to insurance carriers. Getting insurance companies to refer your business to their auto insurance clients is critical; it's often the first word-of-mouth advertising you get. It's also important that the job be done at a high quality level to keep those referrals going. Most insurance carriers will ask you to fill out extra paper work in addition to the usual invoicing or billing, and while nobody likes paperwork, it's hard to stay in business without that regular supply of insurance company traffic in this field.

Supplies

Detroit auto body shops have a huge local advantage. They can usually get parts for most American makes of cars much less expensively than anywhere else in the world. You also have an advantage in getting Original Equipment Manufacturer parts compared to the rest of the world. Lining up your parts supplier(s) is the most important foundational element of running a Detroit auto body shop. - 21392

About the Author:

Nine times out of ten, it's not good news that brings you to the body shop. However, if you choose a reliable and reputable company, the experience doesn't have to be awful. Detroit native Parker Herring writes about his experiences with multiple Detroit Auto Body Specialists. Follow the link to find out what YOU should know before choosing a Detroit Auto Body Specialist.