The automobile industry is ever evolving, but tires have remained consistent – and the tire shop is a proven and effective business model. Many different niches exist within the tire business, ranging from retail to repair. You can fill a single niche or multiple, depending on your capital investment abilities and marketing.
These are two critical components to opening a tire shop: location and licensing. While you have the option of making mobile repairs, the business model is limited and is often better suited to one service in a suite of service offerings.
Your location will require space to house vehicles. At least one garage bay is required but multiple bays with high clearance increase your earning abilities. Purchasing the space is ideal as an investment, but leasing is common, especially for a new business with limited capital.
The business will come to you in a high demand market – especially with advertising – but a high visibility location increases natural foot traffic.
Always do your market research before investing in the location. Assess the population base, vehicles on the road and the competition. The tire business is often safe because every vehicle on the road requires tire service. It is however important to understand dynamics in the local economy.
For example, a small town with a staple tire business is a difficult market to penetrate while an urban or growing area with high traffic has more potential.
While conducting market research, assess the pricing offered by competitors and work through your pricing strategy. Determine the margins and profits from each service offered. Based on this information, you can calculate the number of customers required to reach income goals.
Additionally, you will require business licensing and liability insurance. A retail location requires a business tax license in many states.
After securing your state license, check the local ordinances for city or county license requirements.
You will also need to create and register your company. The corporate structure for a single-owner tire shop is most commonly an LLC and an LLP for a partnership. Speak to a business attorney to see which makes the most sense for your needs.
After obtaining the licenses and liability insurance, you can acquire the equipment needed and begin marketing your tire shop business.
The tire business has niches that include repair, retail, mounting, and balance and alignment. Some shops even offer mechanical work to varying degrees. Focusing on front end work is a good up-sell.
Brakes, U-joints, idler arms and front end parts are often in need of repair, and the shop can quickly examine and quote the additional work while increasing billable hours and profit margins.
Many shops do not work on engines or transmissions but they will handle suspension-related parts.
If you want to expand into mechanical services, you'll need basic mechanical tools like screwdrivers, socket wrenches, and even a torch and welding equipment.
Overhead for simple tire repairs is minimal. You will need plugs and patches and the ability to pull the tire off the rim and remount after completing the repair. You also need weights to balance the tire on the rim. A mount and balance machine is the primary tool here.
Like every automotive shop, you'll require floor jacks and jack stands to lift the vehicles. An air compressor to operate an air gun for the lug nuts is useful. You can do this manually with a lug nut wrench, but the air gun can set to the pressure specifications and tighten the lug nuts perfectly.
This equipment covers the basic repairs, mounting and balancing requirements for a tire and repair shop. For retail, you need floor space to display tires and storage for bulk inventory. Alignment is done on a computerized machine that requires a significant investment or lease option.
The returns are also increased, however, and many customers want their alignment done alongside tire mounting.
When the business is set up, licensed and launched, you may receive some traffic organically, but marketing will increase traffic, sales and revenue. Advertise locally, set up a website and get the business listed on Google's local business search. Customers can find you, utilize your service and leave reviews through this platform.
Run first-time customer specials, offer free diagnostics and focus on customer service to drive repeat business and referrals. Like mechanics, a tire shop can build a fiercely loyal customer base. The word of mouth aspect of the tire business is extremely valuable.
There is more to starting a business than just registering it with the state.
We have put together this simple guide to starting your used tire business. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.
Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.
A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:
Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.
The startup costs for a used tire business go to three primary areas. Business owners need:
A good location will have a storage space for inventory, a small retail area and a garage for working on cars.
It’ll also be in a low-rent district so that overhead can be kept minimal. Good locations include old auto shops and warehouses that are no longer in use.
Business owners that want to reduce equipment costs can look for used equipment that’s in good condition. Purchasing used, high-quality equipment is preferable to getting new, lower-quality tools because high-quality equipment is often more efficient to use. It’ll save time and reduce labor costs associated with installing purchased tires.
When purchasing tires, business owners should get a large, varied selection. The inventory gathered should include many sizes of car, truck, low-profile and high-performance tires. Good places to purchase tires include junkyards, tire shops and retreading centers.
It’s also a good idea to forge a relationship with a wholesale supplier of rims, but rims can be purchased on an as-needed basis.
In total, these expenses may range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands.
The range depends on how much a space costs, what type of equipment is purchased and how large an inventory a business opens with.
The ongoing expenses for a used tire business are manageable. They include lease payments, utilities, employees’ salaries and inventory expenses.
The target market of a used tire business is anyone who owns a vehicle and wants to save money. All vehicles need tires, and many drivers are willing to consider used tires because they provide an excellent value.
A used tire business makes money by selling used tires to customers. Most tires are sold individually, in pairs of two or in sets of four. Tire Business reports that the average sale at one business, Drakes Tire’s, is a pair. Sales at another business, Rob’s Used Tires, are evenly split between individuals, pairs and sets.
Used tires cost much less than new ones.
Gently used tires sell for up to half their initial cost, while more worn tires sell for much less.
Despite these low prices, businesses can still earn a handsome profit. Used tires can be purchased wholesale for very little because other businesses must pay a fee to dispose of old tires if they don’t sell them to a used tire business.
For each tire sold, many businesses charge an additional $15 to $45 to mount and balance the tire.
Because there is such demand for tires, a used tire business can bring a significant profit. For instance, S & S Distributors, LLC moves 10,000 tires each week. Even at a fraction of the cost of new tires, that amounts to a sizable weekly revenue.
A used tire business can increase its profitability by also selling rims and new tires, and by offering tire repair service. Some businesses may get into more significant automotive repairs.
Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Used Tire Business Name Generator
If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.
When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:
It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.
The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation.
Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your used tire business is sued.
Form Your LLC
Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC
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Two such reliable services:
You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.
Recommended: You will need to elect a registered agent for your LLC. LLC formation packages usually include a free year of registered agent services. You can choose to hire a registered agent or act as your own.
You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.
In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!
You can acquire your EIN for free through the IRS website, via fax, or by mail. If you would like to learn more about EINs and how they can benefit your LLC, read our article, What is an EIN?.
Learn how to get an EIN in our What is an EIN guide or find your existing EIN using our EIN lookup guide.
Depending on which business structure you choose, you might have different options for how your business will be taxed. For example, some LLCs could benefit from being taxed as an S corporation (S corp).
You can learn more about small business taxes in these guides:
There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.
Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.
When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.
Additionally, learning how to build business credit can help you get credit cards and other financing in your business's name (instead of yours), better interest rates, higher lines of credit, and more.
Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:
Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.
Net 30 accounts are used to establish and build business credit as well as increase business cash flow. With a net 30 account, businesses buy goods and repay the full balance within a 30-day term.
NetMany net 30 credit vendors report to the major business credit bureaus (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business Credit). This is how businesses build business credit so they can qualify for credit cards and other lines of credit.
Recommended: Read our best net 30 vendors, guide and start building business credit.
Getting a business credit card helps you:
Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from Divvy and build your business credit quickly.
Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.
Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.
Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.
All businesses involved in automotive vehicle maintenance must comply with federal and state-level environmental regulations.
A checklist for compliance with federal environmental regulations can be found here.
In most states, it is necessary to obtain an appropriate business license. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.
Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses.
Used tires businesses may also wish to look into applying for a resale certificate, which allows retailers to purchase goods intended for resale without paying sales tax.
For more information about local licenses and permits:
A used tires shop business is generally run out of a “garage,” a retail location uniquely equipped to store and repair cars.
Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.
Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.
There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.
Learn more about General Liability Insurance.
Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.
Recommended: Learn what business insurance for your Used Tire Business will cost.
Business Insurance for
Used Tire Business
Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.
If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners, we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.
Recommended: Get a logo using Truic's free logo Generator no email or sign up required, or use a Premium Logo Maker.
If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator. Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.
A used tire business is best marketed through inexpensive marketing tactics that don’t increase how much a business must charge.
Radio and online ads work well, as do Craigslist postings.
One of the challenges of getting customers is convincing drivers that used tires are a safe alternative to new ones. Businesses can do this by telling customers about their pre-sale tire inspections and offering a warranty. Rob’s Used Tires offers two-, four- and eight-week warranties based on tire grade.
Still unsure about what kind of business you want to start? Check out the latest Small Business Trends to help inspire you.
After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business.
While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.
Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:
Using our website building guides, the process will be simple and painless and shouldn’t take you any longer than 2-3 hours to complete.
Recommended: Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders.
Other popular website builders are: WordPress, WIX, Weebly, Squarespace, and Shopify.
Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.
There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2022 to find the best phone service for your small business.
Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com
Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.
with social needs – everyone definitely needs your tire fitting.0003 But how to make money on it?
Taking a closer look:
Typically, a tire shop earns over 80% of its income during high demand seasons - by changing tires before winter and a second surge in spring.
In this hot time, there really is no end to customers and the owner, rubbing his hands, comes up with something else to buy from equipment to speed up the process and let more cars through the season.
The rest of the time (if you don't think of anything else) tire workers have a rest: pumping wheels, express puncture repair, less often - serious side cuts of tires. Sometimes straightening disks, and then, if you are actively engaged in this service.
In general, there is no download and no money either. At such a time, the owner wants to close his business.
As a result, we draw the first conclusions for ourselves: How to earn the main money on tire fitting?
To discuss with you the question - what else to load your workshop during the off-season? - now we won’t do it yet - but by the end of the article we will advise, based on the accumulated experience, what services can be offered additionally.
There is one more main feature of the provision of tire services:
Of course, times are changing - and in the age of the Internet, everything can be fixed. But this business is still weak in this:
for example - type in a search engine request:
"tire fitting in Kyiv" - in Zhytomyr - and in your city?
So far, there are few - and only large centers.
Although there are already such requests: "tire service around the clock." Think.
New communications only give chances to the new and the young, the advanced.
For a normal European level, this is a room for a mini-service station for 2-4 posts, with cars driving inside.
These are standard modern approaches for tire centers and, if you wish, we can calmly work out the layout with you and make a technological project for such a service (Automechanika designed something else).
But that's another story.
The topic of our article is more real from the life of those who start their own business, and therefore we land:
There is a separate list of questions related to the design of the premises and official business permits. This is a separate topic not for our article, but you will have to solve these issues too.
A well-organized business is always under control. Trust but verify.
There are many tricks on how to organize accounting and control in your business, and therefore learn.
The technical part with staff training can be solved very calmly:
Ready-made tire fitters already have minimal skills, and therefore sellers of tire fitting equipment will help you teach how to work on new modern stands - and do not be shy with questions and requests.
It's also easy to teach more advanced professional tire repair techniques.
It is necessary to contact importers of tire repair materials, for example: the official representative of the company TECH (materials and technologies for tire repair) is the company AM-Technology Kyiv www.
amtech.com.ua.
Large serious firms conduct regular free trainings and training courses in tire repair technologies, and therefore it is easy: contact directly: they are waiting for you and will be happy to.
Determine the number of tire fitters according to your project.
At least one shift - one competent main pro and 1-2 assistants with lesser requirements and skills.
For the wheel re-shoe season (1-2 months in autumn and 1 month in spring), it is advisable to provide for the possibility of additional involvement of staff for peak load - you will earn more.
For a first approximation and a correct economic assessment of our project, we will draw up a budget for the purchase of equipment. First - the most necessary from practice.
Prices are not junk (so as not to be mistaken), but at the average cost of proven Italian machines.
According to the list - the list of the main equipment:
1200 euros The minimum total is 7500 euros.
This is a fairly standard worked out list of customer requests.
There are several bottlenecks in it:
But many not only save, but do not even know it. As a result, the initial settlement amount may increase by another 2000-3000 euros.
For more advanced tire centers with high load and more expensive car wheels, the required technical and price level of equipment is several steps higher:
There are questions about choosing a good tire changer for working with heavy, hard, low profile tires and higher standards for high speed tire balancing accuracy, from disc and tire imbalance optimization to full wheel diagnostics.
But this is the topic of our next articles: Top-level tire fitting.
We buy wisely.
Proven for decades: Tire fitting equipment is your main investment in your project. And you need to do them with a confident expectation of a good and successful business - otherwise you don’t even need to start.
Our long-term experience shows that the main equipment for standard tire fitting is bought almost once every 10-20 years.
And therefore, even having saved at first on cheap China, do not count on the fact that you can change it later “when the business gets on its feet”:
, believe someone else’s experience, it won’t - and you will still be on your knees all 10 years in repairs. And everything will break down exactly when the most customers are ready to pay you for the service.
Based on real practice, we advise you to choose the technical level of equipment based on its maximum load and performance during peak periods - where speed and reliability are important.
In order:
What to buy: cheap Chinese machine or reliable Italy?
The answer is very simple - 15 years ago this question simply did not arise, but why? It's just that in China at that time tire fitting equipment was not produced.
Everything is fresh and just recently made. Moreover, (if you understand a lot about equipment) everything is 100% copied in China - and not always good and not always good. You want to double-check it - then this is your conscious choice.
If you buy for yourself (and not for rent), we recommend starting with a good proven Italian machine: it will last a long time, believe us.
A note for a businessman - like all cheap, used equipment from China, after 2 years it costs nothing, and a normal German or Italian stand can work for decades and loses little in price.
We know this for sure: in Avtomekhanika there is one of the directions - the sale of used tire changers.
Hofmann stands from the 80s came to us for repairs and, after a small repair, they are still working for many years.
Due to the specific nature of the pronounced seasonal load, each owner of a tire shop asks himself a reasonable question about an additional set of services, especially for the summer period, when there is no load at all.
, simply do not take. A rhetorical question for the authors of the article, although the answer will not be so unambiguous:
Equipment must be purchased from the importing company and not from intermediaries.
This is the smartest choice and here's why:
As you understand, it's all about Automechanika.
We are a responsible company and offer tire fitting equipment only of an average price level - Sicam Italy and the highest TOP class - Hofmann Germany.
We value your investment and will help you choose the best value for your money. We advise and advise, train and support.
All that we have in the program on this topic you can find on our website autom.com.ua in the section "Tire fitting equipment from Automechanika".
Get in touch.
Always glad to see YOU.
The dream of any novice businessman is to find a source of constant profit with little capital investment. Today we will discuss one of the areas of business that seriously claims to meet these attractive conditions - opening your own tire service.
The automotive services market is in demand and highly profitable . The number of cars is growing every day, and this is the best proof of the guaranteed prospects of this business.
Balancing, vulcanization and tire fitting itself are the most popular services among vehicle owners. Some disadvantage of such a business, according to experts, is quite pronounced seasonality , however, if certain points are observed when starting a business, this disadvantage can be quite successfully avoided. What are the most important nuances?
Determine for yourself the need to follow all established rules.
Do not forget the folk wisdom about the fact that “the miser pays twice” - work without registration and payment of tax payments will cost you more.
You do not need to go through the licensing and certification procedure, register as an individual entrepreneur or open a legal entity. We also recommend choosing a simplified taxation system for yourself. If your locality has introduced a single tax on imputed income (UTII) for tire fitting, then you can apply it. With UTII, as well as when providing services to the population, you can do without the use of a cash register.
For a more civilized image of your future enterprise, you can go through a voluntary certification procedure. The received document will serve as your additional recommendation for consumers of services. However, in the absence of the necessary funds at the stage of opening a tire service, certification can be postponed until more favorable times.
A word of advice: make your workshop universal, ie.
designed for both new and old cars, foreign cars and representatives of the domestic auto industry.
This postulate is suitable for almost any enterprise providing services. The location of the tire shop has an extremely large impact on the level of his income . The owner of a tire service located on the outskirts will not have to rely on receiving a constant profit.
True, the other extreme is also possible, if your enterprise is located near a major highway, but surrounded by several points for providing the same services, incomes are unlikely to please you very much. In order not to miscalculate with the choice of a place, follow the following rules:
Choose a location located:
A good location is important not only for tire fitting.
If you decide to open a beauty salon from scratch, the choice of location is also crucial. Restaurants, cafes, shops are also better to open in busy places.
You can learn more about how to open a clothing store on this page.
The room in which the tire shop is located also matters.
Tire workshops open in various locations. These can be:
Wherever the chosen location is, keep in mind that the location should be dry, warm and bright, and that there should be good access and parking for waiting cars. According to reputable owners of car services, a room with an area of 10 to 40 sq.
m. is required to accommodate a tire shop.
There is also such a possibility of organizing a business as mobile or mobile tire changer . Its organization is possible in the form of an additional service, or an independent enterprise.
The essence is simple: if a trouble occurs with the wheel while driving, the driver contacts the operator on duty and calls the mobile crew, which in a short time eliminates the rupture or puncture of the tire. To organize such a service, you will need an operator, two cars and two qualified specialists.
Tire shop services cannot be rendered qualitatively without the following equipment:
By the way, you will need a lot of consumables in tire fitting. These are tools for surface roughing, and vulcanizing liquid, and sandpaper, and rollers for rolling.
For the purchase of these necessary details, we advise you to conclude an agreement with one supplier. So it will be easier for you to control the amount of materials needed.
Quality customer service is the key to the success of the company, so the search for personnel must be given sufficient attention. The search for personnel for a future enterprise can be organized with the help of advertisements in newspapers.
Given the specifics of the provision of services, if you do not plan to personally control the actions of employees, pay attention to the circle of your relatives and friends. Workshop maintenance can be handled by two people - they can be found among their loved ones. Later, when the business begins to develop and grow, it is these people who can become your assistants in management.
If possibilities allow, it is possible to combine a tire service and a car wash. Read how to open your own car wash in our article.
And if you are not interested in automotive topics, then there are many other business ideas on our website. For example, if you are interested in how to open a hairdresser, read here. Or, for example, about opening a hostel, detailed information on this page http://predp.com/biz/idea/kak-otkryt-hostel.html.
As soon as the workshop is ready to receive the first clients, start your own advertising campaign. Believe me, not the most expensive methods can bring excellent results. For example, take advantage of the Internet .
Create groups on popular social networks, send out emails, make yourself known on car forums. These methods will bring great returns and help expand your customer base. Over time, your customers will become regular, bring their acquaintances and friends. But at the same time, you still should not forget about the constant monitoring of the quality of work and the courtesy of the craftsmen.
