ChipsAway Franchises
Discussion
I've a mate who took a franchise from neither of the firms mentioned - cost him £35k to get in on a deal that includes a van lease. About 18 months later he's jacked it in.
Made a living on some months but to be honest even with the training provided he just didn't feel he was that good at it. Certainly wouldn't work on his mates cars. And the work was neither regular nor in the £60k pa region.
So on cashing it back in he's walking away without the van and £17k.
My take on this - work out if you are good at the repair jobs and carefully check out the exit terms and conditions. You might not plan for failure, but it's quite likely and you should know what you're in for.
Made a living on some months but to be honest even with the training provided he just didn't feel he was that good at it. Certainly wouldn't work on his mates cars. And the work was neither regular nor in the £60k pa region.
So on cashing it back in he's walking away without the van and £17k.
My take on this - work out if you are good at the repair jobs and carefully check out the exit terms and conditions. You might not plan for failure, but it's quite likely and you should know what you're in for.
The problem is you will be undercut by these guys, http://www.sprintfinish.co.uk/ and http://www.directfinish.co.uk/ especially in the West Yorks area, plus any number of one man band operations. Its a bit like becoming a taxi driver, every man and his dog is at it.
I offered my Detailing services to a local supercar dealership and was undercut by the above companies doing it for peanuts, so not financially viable for me personally.
I offered my Detailing services to a local supercar dealership and was undercut by the above companies doing it for peanuts, so not financially viable for me personally.
Edited by BIG BAVARIAN on Monday 26th August 09:02
It's probably worth phoning up some of the franchisees and asking them directly what they think.
I looked at a ChipsAway one some years ago, but was put off by the fact that the people doing the selling were misleading us about their products.
Just little details like they'd say 'oh, the paint doesn't contain anything harmful/dangerous at all, you don't need a respirator/filter when using it', yet I looked on a paint container in their head office, and it contained Xylene, which very definitely needs an organic filter.
I think if you can get an established 'round' you'll do alright, my local guy seems busy.
However, as I've been stung by a franchise operation before, albeit not this particular one, I would be very careful where I sink my money if I were you. Look at what your franchise fees are buying you, and decide whether you could do it yourself for that cost.
There's training, branding, and your first batch of materials and equipment, but you can buy training at any of the big paint suppliers, materials and equipment isn't that expensive, so you're left with the branding and marketing. It's up to you whether you think that paying a franchisor to help you with that is good value for money, or whether you'd be better off spending the cash on either doing it yourself, or paying for professional help.
I looked at a ChipsAway one some years ago, but was put off by the fact that the people doing the selling were misleading us about their products.
Just little details like they'd say 'oh, the paint doesn't contain anything harmful/dangerous at all, you don't need a respirator/filter when using it', yet I looked on a paint container in their head office, and it contained Xylene, which very definitely needs an organic filter.
I think if you can get an established 'round' you'll do alright, my local guy seems busy.
However, as I've been stung by a franchise operation before, albeit not this particular one, I would be very careful where I sink my money if I were you. Look at what your franchise fees are buying you, and decide whether you could do it yourself for that cost.
There's training, branding, and your first batch of materials and equipment, but you can buy training at any of the big paint suppliers, materials and equipment isn't that expensive, so you're left with the branding and marketing. It's up to you whether you think that paying a franchisor to help you with that is good value for money, or whether you'd be better off spending the cash on either doing it yourself, or paying for professional help.
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