In the life of a modern person, a car plays one of the significant roles. No one is safe from accidents, accidents and other breakdowns. This makes vehicle repair a popular and sought after service. A large number of enterprising people are eager to open their own car body painting workshops. Where to start, what to look for and what points to consider when developing a business plan, we will describe in this article.
general information
A distinctive feature of the organization of the body shop is the fact that repair and painting work are directly related to each other, these are links of one technological chain that does not make sense to separate. After all, the car is painted at the body repair site.
The car body is painted after all the elements that impede the work are removed from it. Then the master fixes all the damage and prepares the body itself. When all painting work is completed, the removed parts are reinstalled in their place.
Before organizing a paint and body workshop, you should carefully plan the layout of the room, because the car will have to be constantly moved between the repair and paint sections during the repair process.
The minimum movement of equipment, personnel and vehicles will lead to the fact that labor resources will be used more efficiently, and therefore, there will be an increase in profits.
Activity planning
At the beginning of their activities, many owners do not pay due attention to the issue of planning. With a small workload of the workshop, this is not necessary. But with the growth of customer flow, the situation may change. Often this happens unexpectedly, the company is not at all ready for a large amount of work and loses part of the customers who wish to receive services efficiently and on time.
Essence of planning lies in the optimal use of labor and production resources. It must be carried out at the beginning of the activity, even if you do not see the real effect of such a plan. In this case, the company will be ready to accept the maximum number of customers, ensuring the loading of all production facilities.
To successfully develop your own business, you need to develop a business plan for the paint and body shop. It will serve as the basis for further growth prospects. According to him, the company will implement specific activities at a certain time, based on specific numbers.
Body repair equipment
Carrying out body repair requires the availability of special equipment: a welding machine, a grinder, a set of keys, a grinder, a lift for a car, a body stock and others. The repair itself consists in stretching and aligning the damaged body on the slipway, in removing cracks, chips, scratches and dents.
Box equipment
As experts advise, the workshop must have a camera for painting cars. It has four body repair boxes. In one of them you need to place a hydraulic electric lift for installing and removing car parts. In the second - install a body building berth. It is necessary to restore the body after major accidents.
A few years ago, this type of work was carried out manually, which complicated the process of restoring the exact geometry of the body.This led to the fact that the car moved as if sideways. Using the slipway avoids such problems. In the third box you need to install equipment for puttying, straightening the body and car parts. It may include a staple, a mallet and other necessary tools. The fourth box is designed for polishing the body.
This is the last step before sending the car to the spray booth. The process is carried out using a polishing machine or manually. Since polishing increases dust levels, all personnel must be equipped with respirators or special masks. Try not to place this box next to another (especially adjacent), this may interfere with the work of other employees.
Equipment for painting
The camera for painting cars is the basis of the entire paint shop. It is an isolated room equipped with an air vent, temperature control mode, good lighting. Any painting chamber operates in the mode of painting and drying. When paint is applied, warm (about 25 degrees) air is automatically pumped into the chamber from the ceiling in an automatic mode.
It promotes sedimentation of suspended matter. After painting is done, the painting chamber is ventilated. Then comes the drying period. The temperature in the chamber is raised to 70 degrees for 1-2 hours. At this point, the system begins to operate in recirculation mode. The intake of air from the street is reduced, thereby significantly saving electricity. Natural gas is often used as fuel.
To avoid the ingress of dirt, oil or moisture onto the painted part from the compressor, use the air preparation unit for painting. They come in different types. The most powerful of them purify the air up to 99%.
Features of spray booths
Today, manufacturers offer various spray booths, the choice of which directly depends on the purpose of their acquisition, the climatic conditions of the installation site and technical specifications. The main role is played by equipment that provides air supply, heating and exhaust. In this case, excess pressure is formed in the box. It is achieved by the imbalance between the exhaust air and its discharge. Cheap cameras when working in harsh climates worsen the quality of the services provided. For such conditions, a camera with good thermal insulation and a powerful burner is required.
Only a small percentage (about 15%) of body painting is associated with full painting of the car. In most cases, medium or minor repair of specific parts is necessary. In order not to waste energy, use special boxes for painting the truncated type.
To place individual elements use stands for painting car parts. They facilitate and make it convenient to carry out preparatory and painting work. When compiling a business plan for painting a car, you need to consider all possible nuances and circumstances.
Labor resources
The business plan of the paint and body shop must include the costs of paying employees, the purchase of work clothes and deductions. We will find out what specialists are required for each site. For four preparatory boxes and one spray booth, a different number of workers will be required. To replace car parts that are not repairable, only one specialist is enough. His workplace should be equipped with an electric lift.
Pre-painting works require special skills and thorough implementation. To do this, you need 3 specialist universals. They must also carry out work in the paint box, because the painting process takes no more than 2 hours, so it is not profitable to invite a separate specialist to work.
Acceptance and issuance of vehicles, settlements, purchase of spare parts and other consumables must be performed by a certain person. In a small business, the workshop owner himself can do this. In addition, he can assume the work of an accountant.Thus, the personnel of such an enterprise as a body shop will consist of 5 people.
Cost calculation
In addition to the above costs, the business plan of the paint and body shop should include expenses for the purchase of a cash register, services for opening a bank account, etc. We suggest that you consider a business plan that is designed to work with an individual entrepreneur only in cash for individuals .
So, for the initial purchase of equipment and materials for the organization of the workshop you must purchase:
- welding machine - 15 thousand rubles;
- compressor - 12 thousand rubles;
- slipway - 170 thousand rubles;
- spray booth - 430 thousand rubles;
- spray gun washing - 25 thousand rubles;
- two types of airbrush: primer and finish - 2 pcs. x 3 thousand rubles = 6 thousand rubles .;
- infrared drying - 5 thousand rubles;
- dust removal system - 50 thousand rubles;
- table, racks for painting parts - 10 thousand rubles;
- grinding machine - 2 pcs. x 8 thousand rubles. = 16 thousand rubles .;
- grinder - 2 pcs. x 5 thousand rubles = 10 thousand rubles .;
- overalls - 4 sets x 2.5 thousand rubles. = 10 thousand rubles .;
- other tools - 10 thousand rubles.
Total 769 thousand rubles. you need for capital investment in a business.
The monthly expenses for the work of the paint shop will be:
- electricity - 18 thousand rubles;
- gas - 10 thousand rubles;
- rental of premises - 55 thousand rubles;
- salary - 75 thousand rubles;
- taxes - 37 thousand rubles;
- consumables - 30 thousand rubles;
- advertising services - 8 thousand rubles;
- other - 10 thousand rubles.
Total 243 thousand rubles. you will spend monthly.
Revenue calculation
In the business plan of the paint shop, we’ll include the monthly income with an average load of 2 cars per day:
- preparatory work and full painting of a car - 5x30 = 150 thousand rubles;
- repair and painting of individual body elements - 30x3000 = 90 thousand rubles;
- replacement of parts not subject to repair - 80x600 = 24 thousand rubles;
- restoration of the geometry of the body - 3x20,000 = 60 thousand rubles;
- another minor repair - 30x500 = 15 thousand rubles.
Total 339 thousand rubles.
Profit and profitability
The cost of opening the paint shop will be 1 012 000 rubles. For a month of work, you will receive a net profit of 96 thousand rubles. Equipment payback will take about 8-9 months. It should be understood that all figures are approximate. The specific amount is determined by the size of the workshop, its location, quality characteristics of equipment, etc.
About risks and their elimination
To open any business, you need to develop a business plan, car painting is no exception. Its implementation should be ensured by the reduction of production, financial, commercial and other types of risks. In addition, one must take into account the possibility of force majeure situations.
Violations of production processes, untimely receipt of materials can cause production risks. Their reduction can be ensured by careful monitoring of the progress of production processes. It is possible to reduce commercial risks by constantly studying market conditions and introducing new technologies.
Also, to ensure financial stability of the business will allow flexible pricing, advertising and constant reliable suppliers. Reducing financial risks will allow working with a client in advance. A high level of financial stability and enterprise strength will become one of the measures to prevent force majeure.
The described activity is very dependent on the human factor. Even on the most expensive equipment, an unqualified specialist will not be able to perform the work qualitatively. The experience and responsibility of the employee, together with a high level of production equipment, will allow you to get the maximum profit.
