London is one of the most happening cities in the world with a very high standard of living. Interestingly, it is one of the world’s most populated cities also – a staggering 8 million people lives here with a very high median income. Quite evidently, it has a huge market potential for any kind of business!

The question is – What is the ideal business in London, given that it is a highly crowded city with very high rentals for commercial space? This article aims to talk through one of the several feasible solutions to the problem, with a focus on the economical aspects of the business.

According to official figures, by the year 2020, the number of car owners in the UK will be around 44 million. At the time of writing this article, it can safely be estimated that the current figure is somewhere in the range of 37 – 40 million. The percentage of car owners in London must be above the national percentage, which implies that roughly 5 million Londoners being car owners. It means that the entire adult population of London enjoys at least one car per person if we assume a uniform distribution.

In London and also across the entire UK, franchised or manufacturer managed garages charges the most, with the mean hovering around £300.80 in London. This is followed by the Independent Chains, who charges an average of £224.99 per servicing. In this pecking order, the Specialist Independents and the Fast Fits are cheaper options with average servicing charges of £196.73 and £145.00 respectively. Survey reports reveal that London is one of the costliest cities in the world if you want to get your car serviced over there and cumulatively, the car owners of the UK who goes to the franchised service centers ends up shelling out £500 million extra than what could have been the cumulative charges of Fast-Fit servicing.

If one analyses carefully, there are a few common factors that shoots up the servicing charges so high – high rents on commercial / garage spaces, under-used capacity, power and gas bills, market regulations, unavailability of parts, etc. being a few of them. Definitely, there is little scope of making high profits for major overhauls and genuine part replacements and so, these garages makes up for their profit when people flocks in for minor or routine servicing.

Now if you are looking for an opportunity to float your new business, you can certainly plan to capitalize these loopholes in their structures. All you need to do is to have a van so that you can be mobile and not stagnant, along with one or two efficient and trained technicians. By doing this, you will eliminate rentals, operational overheads, wastage of resources, etc. Combining all these, the cost incurred by you will be very little as compared to established garages. Also, you will be able to reach those who needs professional assistance due to sudden car breakdowns in the middle of the road or during a long trip to the countryside, where there is little chance to get any garage nearby.

From the point of view of economics, you can attractively price your servicing charges – the lower it is, the more attractive for your customers. They will have everything they want – low price, good and fast service and that too at their doorstep. Since your investment and running cost is low with minimal wastage, you profit margins will be high and you will be able to break-even in a very short period of time. So, what are you thinking about? Just transform your van, put a banner with ‘London mobile car mechanic’ written on it and bingo! You are ready to take on the competition with the established players!