Starting a home Based Mobile Oil Change Business
by Eric Johnson
"Bring it to me" service business is rapidly becoming a business of high demand. A
business that was once only provided to major fleet owners has now become more mainstream.
My wife and I were motivated to start this business in 1999 while working in a
manufacturing plant.
Myself, as a supervisor on salary (means being paid for 40 hours - and working up to 80)
and my wife, an hourly worker where overtime was required. We always had a ton of "to do"
items on our list that we couldn't find time TO DO. Of course most things just kept getting
put off because we simply didn't have the time. We kept wishing that we could find a way to
start our own business that would help others in the same "no time" boat as we were in.
After much searching we heard of one company that offered on site oil change services. We
kicked that idea around and mentioned it to various friends, family and co-workers and
everyone thought it was an excellent idea! The list of who could benefit from a Mobile Oil
Change Service continued to grow. Fleet owners, apartment complexes where people aren't
allowed to do their own oil change in the lot, as a benefit that human resource managers
could provide to their employees, even the average individual who simply didn't have time
or the knowledge to do it themselves, the list was endless!
The start-up costs for this type of business are very low. It could be run from home using
our own garage for product so there is no added overhead for a "shop". We were able to
fumble our way through getting our trade name, business license, insurance - all of the
"legal" things. All we needed was a van, some equipment to do the job, our garage,
inventory (oil and oil filters) a computer to print brochures, fliers, and price lists. We
had some business cards and invoices that we designed made up by a local printer. We used
a free site to build a website (low cost to have banners removed) and we were on our way.
The first couple of years were tough, no denying that, we had no idea of how to advertise
and no one to turn to for help. With much determination and prayer we learned what worked
and what was a waste of time and money. Eventually we found our "niche" and our business
became such a success that we added a wider variety of services. From tire rotations, air
filter and wiper blade replacement, to bulbs, headlights and serpentine belt replacements also.
Our customers love the service and we were glad that we were able to leave our factory
jobs and start helping others save valuable time. Word of mouth is the best way to promote
this type of business, so we started out by telling family, friends, our insurance agent,
dentist and other businesses about our services we now offered. Once we had our foot in
the door with some fleet owners word of mouth then spread to other fleet owners also.
Starting our own business was challenging, there was no info out there to tell us what we
needed to know so we learned the hard and costly way. However, we are living proofthat if
you set your mind to it, you can do it.
Eric Johnson co-owner with wife Melinda started their Mobile Oil Change Business in
Oct.1999 and found no resources out there to help them with their questions. After finding
out on their own by trial and error they started helping others via email. Since then they
have written their own copy-written version of "How To Start A Mobile Oil Change Business"
manual. To read more about this business please visit their site at
Starting a Mobile Oil Change Business
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