Oil Change Fleets

I know a lot of you all are struggling out there. I know how it is. The first two to three years I was in business I do not think I made a dime.

Here is an end of the year treat you might appreciate. I am going to give you a list of some fleets you might want to target. I cannot give you some of my top accounts. First, that would be suicide. My business partner John would kill me. You could open up a mobile oil change business in the same city as me and take all my customers. Good luck in dealing with the winter though. Second, some of my top accounts are not nationwide and would not help you anyway.

I am going to start with Best Buy's Geek Squad vehicles and also their Magnolia home theater install E-350 trucks.

In most cities I have been to I have noticed that they usually have several Volkswagen Jettas for their Geek Squad division, which all take synthetic by the way, and they have several E-350 install trucks for their home theater section.

I believe you have to have an account with Wheels, which is a fleet management system they use for some reason, and its a pain to deal with them. Plus, they take 10% of the gross.

To be honest this was a good account I used to have but I dropped it because I got tired of dealing with fleet management systems after I had all the business I could handle. It was just more of a pain dealing with them when I didn't need the money anymore. Now, when I get done with a job I like to submit the invoice and get a check in the mail no more than three weeks in the future. Anything more is not worth it.

The second company you may want to try is Schucks, O'Reiley, Checker, Kragen, or Murray Auto Parts, all of which are owned by CSK Auto. Each store usually have a couple Ford Ranger parts vehicle that will come due for oil changes fairly fast. They are on the road all day.

Again, for this company you are going to have to deal with a fleet management company. The one that deals with CSK is ARI Automotive. Make certain that you get the coupon from their coupon book in the glove box that corresponds with the oil change interval. It will make things go a lot faster.

The next company you want to try is Staples. Bet you never thought of these guys. I still have them today but I am going to tell you that they are a pain in the butt. They take forever to pay and can be an absolute pain to deal with. They bought out Corporate Express last June so a lot of locations have quite a few vehicles. They have mostly the Workhorse supply vehicles but also have several Isuzu Cabovers and large trucks as well. You may have to start out cheap to get them but after a while I would try to push them synthetic because they only have to get an oil change two times a year versus 3-4 which they will not end up doing and have vehicles 6,000 miles overdue. In my city there are about 12-15 vehicles and there is no more than 300,000 people who live in Anchorage so you can expect your city to have two or three times that number.

I am not going to go into details but you really want to talk to the managers of moving companies. They are going to be hard to get, and most of the time have their own maintenance department, but when you get them they are good. Be prepared to know what you are doing as far as diesels go. That is what they have.

The next company you want to try is the armored companies in your area. Most of them have the big International trucks and these vehicles are on the road from morning till night. Its nothing for these vehicles to average 6,000 miles every month. And if they go by the hours, forget about it! These armored trucks never cut off. The first couple times you do an oil change for these guys, if you can swing the account, be prepared to have employees with shotguns and handguns in their hands. Its policy. The first three times we did an oil change at their yard we had two guys stationed there with guns drawn the whole time. But its a huge pain for these companies to get their trucks in so you are providing a huge service to them.

Other than that try banks, credit unions, distribution companies (ie. fruits, vegetables, bread, ice cream, cookies, etc)

I cannot emphasize enough that you need to have a garage keepers policy of 1,000,000 aggregate and show that to a prospective client when you see them. This will put you above the rest. It will cost you $1,700 per year but you need it for yourself and its something that any legitimate company has. This is one of the first things I show when I talk to a new customer. I want him to know that I'm not a mickey mouse operation that has oil pans in my back truck. I hope nothing goes wrong but if it does I am more than covered. If you cannot afford this than you did not have enough money to start this business. Legitimate companies like to do business with other legitimate companies.

If you need to know which equipment you should start out with read a former post of mine about the best oil change equipment to purchase.

And if you need some sales advice on how to get prospective oil change customers you should definately read this. I think I outlined with fairly well.

Remember that you are selling a premium service and you do nobody a favor, including yourself, but slashing your prices to compete where you make no money. The is the number 1 mistake I see. You hurt yourself and the rest of us. How can you pay your bills on $15 oil changes.

Sure you might get a lot of customers at first but as soon as you raise your prices they will go to Sears or Midas for a $10.00 oil change (and end up getting robbed in the process I might add when they end up with a $400 brake job they did not need). Bottom feeders looking for deals with always be bottom feeders. You are looking for clients be it fleets or individual customers who do not mind paying for decent service. You get what you pay for. Don't be a joke!

You can get 100s of customers tomorrow if you charge cheap cheap oil changes but you will not be able to pay your mortgage, truck note, insurance, taxes, utility bills, accounting costs, printing fees, or yourself if you do.

On a side note I would highly recommend you invest in a waste oil furance when you get some extra cash. If you have a boiler set up you can also get get a waste oil boiler. I purchased mime from Nueraheat which is a distributor of Energy Logic waste oil burners in the northwest.

My business partner John purchased one of these and he heats his whole house for free. Even in the middle of the winter when it is -20 degrees and all of his neighbors have $350 heating bills his natural gas bill is $10.00. Not a bad investment. If you have a mobile oil change business you will most likely have an abundance of used motor oil so instead of giving it away or paying to get rid of it I would strongly recommend you turn it into free heat.

Same Business Mistakes

What is it with people. I set up this blog, give people the information, and they keep making the same mistakes.

How many times do I have to say it!

I will say it plainly.

Do not sell your service with price! I will say it again. Do not sell your service on price. This means STOP OFFERING CHEAP OIL CHANGES.

I know what oil + filter cost a person. Its will be a little bit lower or higher in some places but the average cost is $8-12. That is the range. Thats without factoring in your gas and any extra fluids. If you charge $25 for an oil change you may get a customer but you make barely $10. Are you satisfied with $10 an hour. Even if you could do four cars an hour thats $40/hr. Thats nothing. For a real business thats nothing. You can make that working for someone being an electrician.

Do not tell me that you are starting off offering promotional prices. Thats crap! Cheap customers will always be cheap customers. As soon as you raise the price from $25 to the regular price than your customers will leave you.

In the mobile oil change business barely anyone succeeds. They do not make it because usually they undercut their self. They think they are going to beat the quick lubes by charging less. Guess what? The major quick lubes are not making money off regular priced $40 dollar oil changes. They only make money when someone comes out of there with a $150 and higher bill. The oil change industry is not what you think. A lot of money is made off the back end. Its a lot like the car industry.

Only the smart people make it in this industry. True really experienced mechanics are the first to fail. I know how to do general mechanic work but I never even attempt to do it. Actually I hate mechanics. Hate cars to be honest. Isn't that ironic. But I am a businessman. I know how to run a business (I hope at least). The few people I have seen make it know less than me. Some people who made it in this business could barely open up a beer bottle let only change oil when they started. Why? Figure that part out yourself. I have given you hints and read other posts and I think I give away the answer.

Me. I know this business too well like the back of my head which is why I am freely giving away this info. I have tried my best to monetize this blog but with little success. I have 15 blogs and this one makes the least yet this one is the one I love the best. To be honest the mobile oil change business is starting to bore the hell out of me and I really want a way out. I want to try making movies. Its funny because this business was more fun when I was not making a dime than now. I make about $150-$200 per hour and I cannot stand it. Is that crazy? Sometimes I cannot get out out bed because I dread doing this. Is that crazy? The only satisfaction I get from this business is actually really knowing I'm helping some companies out and making them run smoothly though a lot of them do not appreciate it. I, or we, have caught several potential costly things at several companies and warned them to fix them before they became serious issues. I also love the relationships I have built with several people. But the business itself.....That's is why I'm trying to give you all this information. Hopefully you can reach to where I am. Its lonely at the top. I get no satisfaction making great money and my friends working at McDonalds. Really. Thats why I am genuine when I say I hope a few of you actually make money from this business. Region will determine that as well. Sorry, but its the truth. Those who live in Texas, California, Florida, ect will struggle. Competition everything a $10 oil changes on every block. Have fun.

I'm going to go work on my site about the best filled oil radiator heaters.

Oil Change Competition

Whats the first thing you need to think about when you start a mobile oil change company? Well, at this point you most likely have the van. By now, you have the most common oil filters you are going to need. Hopefully you have a professional looking uniform. Business cards are a must. Have a roll of oil change stickers ready to go. You are going to need rhino ramps if you plan to get underneath smaller vehicles. And you are going to need some type of durable mat for catching spills.

If you have all these items than you have everything you need to operate a mobile oil change business. So what next?

You are going to need customers. This is the part that many people have trouble with. And understandably so. There may not be any mobile oil change company in your area and you might think that you do not have any competition but after buying your equipment you will quickly realize that you have a lot of it. Sears, Midas, Jiffy Lube, Wal Mart, K-Mart, and Meineke Car Care are just some of the larger chains out there that you will have to compete with. They are on every corner, every major strip mall, and spend millions of dollars in advertising to get people into their bays.

And here is the other secret that you will realize about all those businesses. The majority of these chains, besides Jiffy Lube, have a model where they bait millions of unsuspecting people into their shops with cheap oil changes, and I mean cheap to the point where they actually loose money, and subsequently find tons of expensive problems (many of them unnecessary or not even there) to scare the customer.

Here are some examples of what you are up against.

Example Oil Change Competition #1

Midas starts to advertise oil changes for $10.00. Now, anyone in any oil business knows that it costs $10-$13 just with any brand name oil and filter to do an average oil change. Even if you have a national account and can get oil for a far lower price than anyone else and can do an oil change for $10 than at the minimum you are breaking even. Now what about all the overhead, insurance, utilities, and labor (biggest cost) that they have to pay. How are they going to be able to stay in business and make a profit on a $10 oil change? Impossible! But they could care less about the oil change. Truth be told Midas would loose at least $10 per customer if they just got the oil change.

Lets take a fictional person and call her Lauren and she comes to Midas to get a cheap oil change for her Honda Accord. She pulls her car in the shop and sits in the lobby sipping a cup of cheap black coffee and reads a month old magazine thinking this whole thing will take maybe 20 minutes. The service manager comes into the lobby and proceeds to tell her that while they were doing the oil change they noticed a) she needed new brakes b) her timing belt needed to be changed c) her belts were bad or d) her time circuits and flex capacitor needed to be adjusted. Keep in mind this car is just two years old so maybe the most she needed was "1.21 gigawatz" to go to the past an hour earlier to tell herself not to get duped.

She ends up leaving with a $350.00 tune-up bill or new brake pads most likely. Did she need them? Who's to say. She may have or she may not have. But the original reason she had went in was just for a $10 oil change so the system worked.

Example #2

There are some places like Wal Mart, K-Mart, Costco, or Sams Club (if these places offer oil changes) that really do not care that much about making a profit. They just want people to shop in their stores. They want people to come in for an oil change and than buy something else.

Someone comes into a Wal Mart Express for a $20.00 oil change and than they end up buying a new video game they just remembered they wanted to a new iron or $100 worth of cheap Chinese goods.

So this is what you are up against. You have an oil change business trying to make money from doing actual oil changes at a reasonable price that would allow you to make money while a lot of the top chains are using oil changes as a tool just to get customers in so they can purchase other items or more profitable high margin services.

This is the reason why you cannot build your business off price. Never sell any customer on price! You are going to need to appeal to the convenience factor and this especially works with fleets.

This is my motto "We Do Not Sell Oil Changes We Sell Convenience." That should be what you base your business model on. Drive that into fleet managers mind. You take all the guesswork from this part of their job. Every 3 months you come by in the afternoon and take care of it. They may be able to bring their truck down the road for a cheap oil change but it will never get done and they will end up paying more in the end.

Oil Change Advice For European Cars

Here is some advice for when you are doing oil changes on imported cars. This includes BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Lexus, etc. These cars are nice to do because the profit on them can be a lot better than your average vehicle and can be a pleasure to work on under the right settings. But mistakes are costly for these vehicles, parts are harder to get, and fixing a mistake can be very expensive. Keep in mind that several major quick lubes have a policy of not working on these types of vehicles just because of this.

If you do decide to do them here is what you need to do to make sure the job pays well and everything goes smooth. Keep in mind I may just have to buy one of my longtime customers since 2005, the owner of a 2003 Volkswagen Eurovan, a new oil pan because of a mistake that I may or may not have made. So I know from experience what I am talking about.

European cars call for synthetic. Its in all of their owner's manual if you check. The proper oil to put in 95% of these cars is 5W-40. These engines cram a lot of power into a small amount of engine and sludge can easily build up if you use regular oil. Europe makes their cars, unlike the US for some reason, to run on synthetic oil and if the customer does not want to pay the extra amount for this type of oil than do not do the job. They are cheap and if they cannot afford the proper oil change they should never have gotten that type of vehicle. I've only had that problem once though.

Almost all European cars come with a cartridge filter. Rarely, besides some Lexus' and Saabs, do these vehicles have your typical spin on filters. This is good and bad. Its good because you can charge extra for these special filters. Some people mark these filters up 50%. Its also good because you do not have to crawl under the vehicle to mess with the oil filter. The cartridge or canister filter is located on the top of the engine and as long as you have the right tools its easy.

These canister filters were an absolute pain until I bought the right tools to take the filter cap off. You need to go to NAPA and purchase their 3 pc Oil Filter and Canister Socket Set. Its a little kit that gives you three oil filter cap wrenches 27mm, 32mm, and 36mm that make changing the oil filter on any European car an absolute breeze (unless the canister oil filter is upside down under the vehicle like a Volkswagen Toureg).
I should warn you that although Pennzoil and Fram do make canister filters they do not always fit. In fact I have found that half the time they do not fit. They are either too big or too small no matter what the book says. Go to the dealer and buy the filter if you can. It will be more expensive but its worth it. Just charge more to cover your time and cost. I have found this to be especially true on Volkswagen vehicles.

Now here is some more crucial information about doing these vehicles. Extract the oil whenever you can. I will say it again: when doing these vehicles always, if you have the system, extract the waste oil from these vehicles to avoid messing with the drain pan plug. The plugs on these vehicles and the pan are highly sensitive. The slightest over torquing can causing stripping either to the plug or the pan. The oil pan on a lot of these vehicles are aluminum and this even compounds the problem more if something were to go wrong. You really need a torque wrench if you are going to mess with the plug, and extra cooper washers, but they are expensive and you would need many of them. The dealer has them because they work on hundreds of these cars everyday but its not worth it for an oil change business who may do 5 of these vehicles per month to buy them. So do not even mess with the drain pan plug! Do not touch it! Get the vehicle nice and hot and extract the oil.

The oil change lights on some of these vehicles are almost impossible to re set. They make them like this on purpose I believe. I have a manual that tells me how to do each one, have followed the directions to the letter, and have still found myself unable to re set some oil lights. Go figure???

I can't blame you if you do want to do these cars and I cannot blame you if you do not. Do not do these cars for cheap though. If you do not net $50-60 on these cars in your market than you are opening yourself up to a lot of liability for nothing. Doing oil changes are easy on these cars with the right tools but there are a lot of little things that can go wrong and cost you.

Oil Change Specials from Lance

I have often thought of Lance Winslow being an "authority" when it came to advice dealing with the mobile oil change business. He rarely gets it wrong. I feel that one of his most recent articles he wrote several months back hit the nail right on the head. Most people should not start this business. They are going to be in for a rude awakening when they do. There are some markets where this just will not pay. Too much competition and too many $9.99 oil change specials on every block. Do the math first! I am sorry but if you think you are going to be making money from $20 or less profit per oil change without doing 100s of them you are mistaken.
What is the Best Advice For Starting a Mobile Oil Change Business?

What is the Best Advice For Starting a Mobile Oil Change Business?
By Lance Winslow

Most people who start a mobile oil change business have a lot of misconceptions about how things actually work. They see the need and know that people want the oil change business to come to them, but what they may not understand is that logistically the mobile oil change business can be quite a nightmare for a whole lot of reasons such as:

• Stocking Filters for Different Types of Cars
• Finding Qualified Workers
• City Ordinances Against Car Maintenance on the Street
• Traffic Congestion Zapping Time
• Used Waste Oil Disposal Costs
• Long Time Between Intervals for Repeat Business
• Persnickety Customers
• Customers that Ask Too Many Question Taking Time
• Big Box Store Oil Change Discounters
• Competition Sending Out Direct Mail Lost Leaders

With all this considered and all the issues debated, the best advice might be to NOT start a mobile oil change business at all, yes, I am serious about that. However, if you are dead set on starting such a business then my best advice to you is to concentrate on the fleet vehicle customers first and foremost. These commercial accounts will save time, energy and stress and lead to better productivity and thus, higher profits.

Most of the draw backs of the mobile oil change service business model will go away if you concentrate on the fleet side of the business. Plus, the productivity and efficiency of operations will go through the roof because you can line up all the vehicles in a row and most of them will have the same motors, thus, the same type of filters. So, that is my best advice to someone who cannot be convinced to ditch the idea of starting a mobile oil change business. Please consider all this carefully and think on it.

Lance Winslow - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-is-the-Best-Advice-For-Starting-a-Mobile-Oil-Change-Business?&id=1613512

Common Oil Filters

When you get started with your mobile oil change business one of the hardest parts is knowing which oil filters to have on board your truck. There are tons of oil filter sizes and trying to figure out which ones you will need will seem very daunting.

One of the most frustrating parts of this whole "mobile lube" idea is having the correct oil filter you need for jobs. It drives me crazy when I have to pack everything up and go to the auto parts store several miles away because I either a) did not have the right filter I needed or b) brought the wrong filter. You will find that this is going to happen quite often.

If you do not already you are

going to need some type of shelving units in your oil change van. Mine already came with them and so do several others if you get yours already pre-made.

Here are the filters you need to have in your vehicle. If you get the following oil filters you will be prepared to do 92% of the passenger vehicles you come across. I put them in order of popularity.

Have 8-12 of the following

PZ-42
PZ-48
PZ-45
PO-167
PZ-21
PZ-34
PZ-19
PZ-28
PZ-27
PZ-12
PZ-37
PZ-39
PZ-109
PZ-9A
PZ-58 (Only keep two of these)

Have two of each of the following

PZ-49 Powerstroke Diesel 7.3
PO-156 Powestroke Diesel 6.0
PZ-59 Duramax Diesel
PZ-47 Cummins 5.7 Diesel

If you keep your mobile oil change vans stocked with these Pennzoil filters than you will be ready for almost anything. When you upgrade to the huge diesels than that's a whole other story. There are 100s of choices when you get into that. But as far as average gas engines these numbers will work just fine. I suggest you also keep a filter book in your van at all times. I take mine out to look at it and forget to put it in sometimes.

I also suggest Pennzoil oil filters for two reasons: their yellowish color looks really nice and they have excellent brand recognition. Everyone is comfortable with that brand and they have over half the market share as far as oil and oil filters go.

The other 8% of the vehicles are imports that take canister oil filters and you will have to buy them on a case by case basis.

Your Oil Change Prices

I have heard this question a lot: "How Much Should I Charge for An Oil Change?"

There are two ways to answer that question. You have to consider two things. First whatever you do charge you need to be making $100 an hour. Second, what is the price of an oil change at Jiffy Lube.

I will attack the second consideration because I have already talked about the first one at length. I would like to say, if I have not already, that I like Jiffy Lube model. I have spoken to the owner of the Jiffy Lubes were I live, have been in them, and I love their system. They have created a great assembly line type system for oil changes. I have learned a lot by watching and copying their model and applying that to a mobile operation. Obviously it works. I figure they have to know what they are doing. If they didn't than they would not be in every city and on every block.

So what does what I just said have to do about pricing? Well, what I just said about watching Jiffy Lube applies to a lot of facets in this business but setting your prices for a typical oil change is one of them. Think about it! They know the market better than anyone. Jiffy Lube will always charge what they market will bear. They are never too low or too high. Where I live they charge $54.99 for a regular oil change. They charge $57.99 for an AWD or 4WD vehicle. I know many of you gasp when you hear that but I promise you customers were lined up, some bays 5 deep, yesterday. What does that tell me? Why should I be any lower? If anything my price for an oil change should be at least $56.99 because I am bringing the service to them!

Where you live I can promise you that Jiffy Lube will have already researched the market for you. Set your prices right where they are. Not their seasonal or at times special discounted price but there standard prices. They do the $19.99 oil changes too but only on certain days and for certain times of the day for most places.

No matter where you live I can guarantee that your prices should not be less than $35.00 for a basic oil change. If your market cannot or will not bear at least that I would suggest buying a Taco Bell or KFC franchise. I rarely see a place those two stores cannot make money in.

Do not worry about Wal Mart's prices. They cater to the people who would not use your service anyway. They do terrible service and make the customers wait for a long time on purpose. They want people to shop more. Thats the only reason they have it.

So you have the answer now. For your average price of an oil change your prices needs to be A) at Jiffy Lube's rate or higher and B) high enough where 4-5 vehicles can net your $100 per hour. Its that simple.

Mobile Oil Change Profits Going Up

Mobile Oil Change Business Advice. You want to know it so here it is.......

Today I just picked up a fleet that has six Isuzu Box Trucks. I wish they were all diesel as only one of them is but I guess I can live with that. I set it up to do on a Tuesday because that's when they are not being driven and on a three month interval. I put them into the computer and just go out and do them. I do not even call. The only way they know we were out there is if they see us or the drivers notice a brand new window sticker in the window.

Good mobile oil change business advice is hard to find these days. Its not really a new industry any longer. You have had mobile oil change operators around for the last fifteen years. Most heavy construction equipment dealerships have a mobile service they offer although its very expensive. I have found that the reason why people think mobile oil changes is some "new" service for 2009 is because most operators only last a year. This industry has a 90% failure rate I would say. It may be more.

I was actually talking to one of the managers at one of the busiest quick lubes in town and, wow, did I have an interesting conversation with him. He re-affirmed several things I already knew. We talked for thirty minutes and let me outline some things we talked about that will give you insight in the oil change business. I used to think that we were different but I have come to find out that mobile oil change businesses and fixed oil change businesses are all in the same boat.

Here are two of the many things we talked about.

Add Ons

This is the key to your profits. This is what you take home ladies and gentleman. Oil change pay for the van, building, phone line, insurance, and all the other set overhead you may have but add ons pay YOU.

Without them you will be flailing in the wind. I used to think that we did not need add-ons. We did not have the overhead as Jiffy Lube so we only pushed them if we had to. Nonsense!

You need to push air filters, wiper blades, coolant flushes, radiators flushes, injectors cleaners, and anything else you can think off to get each ticket invoice as high as you can while at the same time being ethical. I firmly believe in God and that you should not sell anything that is false or the customer truly needs. But if the vehicle calls for it or they need it you need to be able to sell it. That's business. If you are doing individuals you need to be able to average one additional service per oil change. That's our business. What do you think Jiffy Lube does? They're always pushing.

Think you are going not sell addition services and make a good living doing this. Have fun....


Don't Offer Discounts

They are a waste of time and do not breed success. The thinking is that you offer a customer a discount now, they become your customer, and then they pay full price later.

Does not work with oil change businesses. The same person who uses a coupon for that oil change today is going to find a coupon in three-four months later for another discount maybe even for less. Cheap people stay cheap.

We offered $20 oil changes at Providence Hospital and got five people (not a lot anyway). Months later when those people called and we gave them the regular price they went someplace else. I will never make that mistake again.

The people who will pay $30-$40 per oil change are out there if you want to do the individual. You will not have to get them with discounts. Let those people go to Midas or Sears and get jacked. They are going to think they are getting a cheap oil change when little do they know they will be leaving there with a $350 repair bill.

Sales Should Be Your Focus

I just closed another deal today on a fleet of several Isuzu Cabovers. It was a nice sized fleet of seven belonging to a medium sized company. I have been lazy the last couple months so I decided to start pushing sales a little bit more before the summer comes. If I was on top of my game I would be out passing put at least fifty business cards daily. I am under the assumption that you should drop as many "seeds" as you can throughout the day because you never know where one may find itself.

I remember talking to a guy about my business while I was at a pizza buffet for lunch and that guy ended up being the superintendent for a nice sized construction company several months down the road and we did all their equipment. The moral of that story is that you, and I need to remind myself of this all the time, to talk to everyone you can. You have no idea who is in what position.

Sales is just all about talking to people. Find something in common with someone. Open up a conversation about anything if the situation presents itself. I started a conversation with that guy over sports. Everyone loves sports. Then we got to talking about what we did and he told me and I told him.

You see a fleet you like go up and start talking with one of the employees who works there. Find out about the company. How many trucks do they have? Who is the boss? Is the boss a cool guy? Is he cheap? What is the company's reputation.

The object is to be talking with the manager or boss with as much information as you possibly can.

"Oh, I saw that one of the tires of your trucks looked kind of low, the license plate is FDR 306." That's the kind of stuff that will make it impossible for him to hang up the phone on you.

Write down everything. I remember the most insignificant details about everything I see. "I see you guy changed the paint on your store sign." Stuff like that.

A mobile oil change service is one of the easiest things to sale once you master how to do it. Everyone needs to get an oil change. It is not one of those items that people have an option of getting or not. The question is are they going to get it from you. There is no doubt they need it. Its all about how you are going to present it.

So this is how I picked up this fleet. I will go step by step exactly how I did it.

1. I drove into the warehouse area and saw a guy getting off the forklift. I stopped him briefly and asked him who was in charge of the fleet maintiance. He told me. I asked him if he was in there and he told him yes but he was about to leave for lunch. I left.
2. I then called the next day at around 10Am and spoke with the fleet manager. I told him that I was passing by going to a job and noticed he had several fleet vehicles. I told him what I did and then asked said in these words "and I wanted to call to see if you could use a service like this since you have several fleet vehicles." He said yes and I told him I would drop some information off around two in the afternoon since I have several oil changes to do in the area at around that time.
3. I made a packet consisting of ) our $1,000,000 insurance policy information b)current customer list c)sample pricing of oil change service.
   
4. I went their at 1:30 PM and gave him the information. I then proceeded to show him that van and all the equipment. I emphasized that we are a "Jiffy Lube for fleets" that comes "on-site." He liked it and told me he wanted all the vehicles done every three months on a Monday because that's when they are not moving.

Its that easy. Put in a little effort and you can make it happen. It was not always this easy. You have the luxury of me telling you exactly what you have to do. I had to learn all this the hard way. I made life so much harder on myself for the first two years. How am I was able to stay in business I have no idea.

Isuzu Diesel Cabovers

Here is some good advice for any mobile oil change business operator. Get your pen and paper out because the information I am about to give you is golden. It can aid you in making the $100/hr mark I was talking about and you can really get a lot of these if you follow my sales advice I wrote in another post.

Target Diesel Isuzu Cabovers. This is a common commercial vehicles for many businesses and over the last five years at least 30-40% of them have switched to diesels. I think they are called the Isuzu NPR Turbo Intercooled Box Vans as well. These vehicles pay.

The great thing about these trucks for a mobile oil change company is they are easy to service. You can perform an oil change on these diesel vehicles in twenty minutes. They usually take about 14-15 quarts of 15W-40 motor oil. When I first started doing these I would get the oil filter from NAPA but then I found out that they get all their filters from WIX and just spray paint their name on them and take off the "5" or "4" for air filters. Anyway if you have a WIX supplier, which I highly recommend, then the number is WIX 57521. If you do not have one and have to go through NAPA then the number is NAPA 7521. The air filter is easy to change on these as well but they last for minimum of two years unless you live in a very dusty place. Any cabover before 2005 will take a WIX 56506, just to let you know.

Here is what I will say about these vehicles. They cannot be taken to your nearby Wal Mart Express Lube or Midas to get an oil change because they will not have an oil filter. All the companies that have these will most likely be taking them into an Isuzu or International Dealer. You can easily charge $120. If they complain about the price explain to them that the oil filter is expensive. It does cost $20 by the way but they can easily retail for $35. Case in point you should be able to make minimum of $60 from each cabover. Thats without any add ons. If you service two in a hour then you make $120/Hr. You might be able to push wiper blades (they take 22"), a coolant flush if the truck has more than 50,000, or a rear end fluid change. I love these vehicles. They are a pleasure to work on.

I just got a call from a company that I did a sales call on three months ago. They have two of these diesel cabovers. This is where effort pays off even if you do not see the results right away. Anyway I was picking up some parts when I noticed the truck, an Isuzu, of a famous brewing company in town that I absolutely love. I followed the truck and spoke with the delivery guy driving it. He told me who to talk to. Then I went to the location and showed the fleet manager the van. He really liked the van which is why I said earlier that its always highly important to have a professional good looking oil change van and equipment. I told him the truth "I was in the area, spoke with one of your guys, and thought maybe you could use a service like this." He liked it. But he didn't need an oil change now so I gave him my card and a magnet and left. It wasn't a big fleet so I did not write it down like I should have. He called me today while I was at my computer sipping a hot cup of cofee working on my waste oil boiler blog asking if we could get his trucks this week. See how a little effort pays off.

The great thing about the mobile oil change business is while I will say time and time again how its not as easy as people think it is....its an easy sell once you get going, are established, and know what to look for. If you are able to make it you will train your eye to see vehicles that pay well for your time and vehicles that will not. Speaking of vehicles that do not Isuzu Cabovers that are gas are not nearly as profitabe unless you were to do at least five of them. They are just as easy by the way, if not more than their diesel counterparts, and take a PZ-45 oil filter and six quarts of 5W-30 or 10W-30. Just don't try and undercut the competion on these because they still are commercial vehilces and you can charge a little bit more than passenger cars. A lot of times companies who own the gas ones still take them to the dealers as well.

Mobile Oil Change Sales Advice

So we have already established where your efforts should be if you are the owner of a mobile oil change business. If you are still trying to pick up individual customers by your sixth month than you are missing the boat. You can make money off them and if you are in business to make $20 an hour than by all means go that route. Quit reading this blog and go do your thing. For the people who want to make some real money keep reading.

You need fleets. I used to be a hound and make cold calls from the yellow pages all the time. It worked some times but it was not efficient at all. I did pick up a couple which proves that any sales you do accompanied by effort will produce some fruit. Just not much. Anyway when you a driving around you need to notice fleet vehicles. Write them down. If you see a nice diesel truck that belongs to a company write down the name, phone number, and if possible the address. Write down what type of vehicle you see. Write down the license plate and the color of the truck. Write down where you saw it. If the truck is parked and you are able to talk with the driver or employee ask him who manages the fleet. What is his name. What is the name of the employee who you are talking to. What time of day is it? Find out as much information as you can. Write it all down. Save it.

Then when you get back to the office you know who to call. You are not blindly calling a company and asking "who is in charge of the fleet maintenance"?. If the guy who you need to talk to is not there do not leave a message. They will not call you back 8/10. Call him at another time like after lunch. I make sales calls between 1-3 PM. That is when I find managers are the most pleasant. After lunch! That's when I am at my best and laid back after woofing down a nice sub, chips, and drink.

If you want to be more effective go and scout the business. If you live in a big city this may be a little more time consuming. Write down what trucks they have. Do they have a maintinance department. Talk with some more employees. They will know if they send their vehicles out to get their oil changed at Jiffy Lube. That is an important question: what are they doing now for their fleet maintenance. Ask the employees if they think their company could use a mobile oil change company to service their trucks.

Ask questions. Most people love to talk. Find out as much information as possible. My business partner is the question king. I have never seen a person who loves to ask questions and drill a person as much as he does. I have listened to him for a whole hour talk to a person and maybe he made one actual statement; the rest were questions. Master the art of asking questions. You want to find out as much about the company as possible. That way when you talk to the fleet manager you know more about his operations that he does. Tell him you will drop off some information about your mobile oil change business, with your insurance information (they really really are impressed when YOU bring this up) on Wednesday when you are in the area doing another nearby fleet. Money in the bank. Information is key. I pay for information. I love information. That's the difference between calling Steve and getting a fleet and him saying "he's fine with what they're doing."

Lets have a short recap.

Target fleets. Target all fleets but especially fleets with diesels if you have the set up to do them. Do research on the company. Find out what trucks they have. Talk to some employees who work there. Find out what they are currently doing. Find out as much information as you can. Call the fleet manager. Tell him that you were talking to "one of his guys" and they mentioned "you might could use a service like this." "One of your guys" told me that you might want to have a mobile oil change service come by after hours instead of having to take all the vehicles to the quick lube or shop. $$$$$

I take donations :) I may need them for all the income taxes I have to pay this year for what our mobile oil change business did. Ouch! Uncle Sam will rape you at every corner. Thats why I try to maximize what I make because paying 22% really really sucks.

Do You Try to UnderCut the Competition

I have seen so many oil change businesses try and do this and it never works. Mobile and fixed companies. They try and undercut the competition. They send out coupons or advertise oil changes for $19.99. A guy tried to start a mobile oil change business up here advertising oil changes for $24.99. What they hell???? How does he think he is going to make a profit from $12 profit per unit. I don't know anywhere where someone can live on that. Even if he were to do ten vehicles per day that would be $120 profit. That's shit. After taxes, fuel, fix expenses, etc that $120 will be more like $80. And is there one, I mean one mobile operator that is consistently doing ten oil change every single day?? Come on, get real. I called this guy up and asked him what was he thinking? He wasn't operating in the same city as me it was in "the suburbs" 30-40 miles away so it was not a competition thing for me. I just wanted to see if this guy was retarded. And his answer was "he just wanted to get his name out there" and "build up a customer base."

Let me tell everyone something. Your business will establish some sort of "brand" for itself. Even if you run a "fly by night" operation, which most mobile oil change operators do, you will establish a name for yourself. You will known as a real business or a cheap discount business that won't be around for long. You pick. I can go out today and advertise $19.99 oil changes and pick up 100s of new customers. But guess what I have learned. Once those customers see that you are willing to work for free.....they are going to come to expect you to keep working for free. They are going to expect that $19.99 oil change all the time. And when you raise your price to your standard price they are going to go to the next guy offering $15.99 oil changes. You can pick up tons of what I like to call "bottom feeders" or people who always want the world for nothing. You can have them. I let those people go to Midas, or Sears, or someplace like that. I love hearing stories of people going in those places for a routine cheap cheap oil change and getting totally ripped off and slapped with a $350 repair bill because they needed blinker fluid and that stuff is really really expensive. Those people never learn and will always go for the cheapest product or service they can find. I do not want them. You cannot build a strong viable business off people like that. Sure you are not going to have customers that will always write you a blank check, though some actually will beleive it or not, but you need customers that are willing to pay a fair market price for good convenient service. That's a foundation.

I picked up this fleet two and a half years ago. I am not going to say their name but it was G$@#&#*# Mechanical. They had 20-30 trucks. Nice sized fleet. It took me a month to get them. I did 15 of them. The owner brought me into the office after we did them. She was complaining about the extra quart I charged them (like when a truck or SUV takes 6 or 7 quarts). She claimed that the quick lubes never charged her for the extra quarts over 5 quarts. "HUMMMM" She also said that Jiffy Lube gives her free oil changes after so many. She also said that drivers say yes to too many add ons. I could go on and on..........

I dropped that fleet like a bad habit. I got paid for what I did do never did any more work for them again. That's how I operate. I do not want cheap bottom feeders. I am not going to run a business like that. I do not work for people who nickle and dime me.

I have another fleet that I love. If something needs to be done I explain what it is and why and he 99.9% of the time tells me to "go and do it." I don't add on all the time but when I do he knows its important. He has never complained once of my prices. He sees me freezing my ass off in the middle of winter doing all his trucks and he respects that.

The few individual customers I do have are ones like the guy I just mentioned. I only kept 10 of the 100s I used to have. Guess which ones I kept?

I got off base. My point is that if you are running a mobile oil change business and you are doing cheap oil changes than you are an idiot and when you go out of business do not complain. You work for free do not expect to profit. Remember that your goal is to make $100/hr minimum. So you have to be smart and find your correct customers. Don't waste your time.

Mobile Oil Change Profits

I talk to a lot of people during the day and it is woefully apparent that they have no idea about running a business. They are totally clueless and really should not be in business for themselves.

People any business that you are in has to be generating at least $100 per hour for it to be worth anything. That can be off one job or multiple jobs but if your business is not making $100/hr than you will fail. You may think that is high. Actually that's low. You need to make more than that to afford the average American standard of living, especially with inflation or if you live in California, but one hundred dollars an hour is the absolute minimum.

Think that is being unreasonable. I have to send the IRS a check in the mail for my 2008 earnings. Even with all the deductions its $10,000. So self employment and state taxes could take up to 22% of your income. Than you have accounting fees at the end of the year. Then you have insurance. And you need two types of insurance. You are going to need garage keepers insurance and it should be a million dollar aggregate policy and you need a standard auto insurance policy. Don't even get me started on the insurance you need if you plan to have employees for your mobile oil change business. It can be as high as $10-$20 per hundred dollars in payroll. Then you have fuel. Then you have administration costs like envelopes, postage, paper, fax machine, phone, etc. Then you have all the miscellaneous expenses that will pop up every month. And then you have to account for mistakes, no matter how careful you are, to happen. A year ago we had to buy a 2001 Dodge Neon from a body shop we did the oil change for because we put a PZ-19 on the car when we should have put a PZ-21 and the oil filter got hit and oil came out and messed up the engine and we spent another 4,000 replacing the engine and selling it. And I hope that if you have a mobile oil change business you have a partner. I highly recommend not going into this business without two people who are equally committed to making the business work. Two heads are better than one. All the mobile oil change companies that I have seen with one person went out of business quickly. Sure you have to split the profits but believe me its worth it. So you see that per dollar an hour will actually be more like $35 per hour after you factor in everything.

And making at least $100 an hour in some places can be hard. How can you make decent profits when you are doing $20 oil changes. It does not add up. I am really scratching my head at how some people make it in certain states and cities in the "quick lube" business period. The only way I can see people make a profit is bait customers with one price and then push as many add ons as they can once they have the customer. That's the only way. And even with some of those ad ons the profits do not add up in my mind. Maybe someone can fill me in. I cannot figure it out. I know that if you go to Wal Mart now on 3-20-2009 a 5 qt container of Super Tech 5w-30 is going to cost $10. Then you are going to have to spend another $2.00 on an oil filter. That equals $12 for the oil and filter. That does not include fuel and fluids even though most cars at the most will require maybe a dab of brake or power steering fluid. Some will require a good amount of coolant though. My point is that if you are charging 19.99 for an oil change, you are making $8.00 per oil change!??? You can may more money working at Starbucks once you factor in tips. Eight dollars profit?? That's crazy. Even if you charge $25 per oil change that's $13 dollars profit.

So my point is that if you have a mobile oil change business of any sort than you need to be pro fitting $20 net per oil change and be doing five cars per hour that you are working. If you are not than you are wasting your time. That is the only way this is going to work in the long run. Your wife is going to be really supportive for the first year maybe and I do mean maybe one and a half years but if by year two you are not making decent money than she is going to put pressure on you to get a "real job" with benefits. I promise. Like I said I have spoken with a lot of mobile oil change operators in the last 5 years and I have seen many come and go. I know of websites that were put together really nicely and when you call the number on it its out of service. If you cannot make $100 an hour and cannot figure it out than it will not be long before you will go out of business. You are just prolonging the inevitable.

On a side not I am setting up a mobile oil change consultation service for operators. I have several options available. E-mail me at akoilextreme@yahoo.com if you are interested or want some general advice.

Back to profit margins. Its something you really need to think about. Where do you plan to get your business from? What about profit potential? Can you make $100 per hour? How are you going to do it? Which types of vehicles do you want? How do you plan to get them? Whats your presentation? Do you have to proper tools to service the types of vehicles that actually pay? Can you sell? How are you going to learn how to sell? What equipment do you have? How are you going to survive while you are in the building stages of your mobile oil change empire? Do you realize that it will take minimum 1-2 years before you can make a decent profit that you can live on? Is your spouse aware of the extra burden that is going to be placed on her but that if this works she can relax after/ if it takes off?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself.

From 2004-2007 I made absolutely nothing off my mobile oil change business. I gave myself just enough draws to eat and put gas into my car. I lived with my parents. Now whenever I want I can make $6,000 per month and if its the summertime I can make $8-10 per month. I say if I want to because sometimes I don't feel like pushing it and I barely do any work and make $2,000 a month like last month. It was February, dark, cold, and stayed inside and worked on this website along with several others. This month I want to make a least $3,000 so I can pay my taxes off. I could make way more but like I said its Alaska, its cold outside, and I do not feel like changing oil or doing any fleet work 8 hours a day five days a week in 10 degrees with snow coming up to my ankles. The point is that I could. I have the ability because I paid my dues for several years, reinvested all my profits, and now I have a great business. If you are willing to do what I did than your mobile lube business can work. But still in order to work you must set your sights at making $100 per hour minimum. And you can take that to the bank.

Mobile Oil Change Business Course and Consulting

I have been receiving and sending emails over the last several years to various mobile oil change operators giving them advice and tips on how to make this business work. It really bugs me when I see all these people who have started this business and went under in usually several months. Most people started off wrong from the get go.

Here are THREE crucial mistakes that people have made "starting out" in owning a mobile oil change business.

1) Looks are Very Important! You must have a professional looking outfit.

Half of the people who tried to start a mobile oil change company wanted to go the extra cheap way and buy a beat up van or truck and throw some tool and oil pans in the back and start going. I have seen some ugly looking set ups that just scream "fly by night" "mickey mouse operation" or "ma & pops business". I HATE THAT. We want look as professional as possible people. We want to look like a company that's going to stay around for a while. Not one we just started out of our garage one day. This point cannot be emphasized enough. I have seen over 20-30 people make this mistake. If you do not have enough funds to buy or finance a professional looking van then you are not ready to start an on site lube business. I know that this type of business is advertised as a "low cost" start up business but to do it right its really not. You have to have $50,000 minimum to do it right. I started this business when I was 19 and the only reason why I was able to start so early in life is because my uncle who has a lot of money loves and trusts me and basically put up $60,000 for me to START this business. I say start because those were just the initial costs. But you can add as you go. Most of that $60,000 was financed about $50,000 of it and the other $10,000 was cash. Anyway you need at least a later model van like an E-350 or Express Van or Dodge Sprinter (best option in my opinion) to be successful and have nice graphics and a very clean look.

2) You Must Look Professional. Come Across as A Business Man.

You must have a clean cut appearance for optimal results. Tuck your shirt in at all times. Shave. Have nice standard uniforms with your logo and wear it at all times. Carry business cards. Talk clearly. Do not have oil all over your hands and clothes like many mechanics. Look the part. You do oil changes but that does not mean you have to look like a grease monkey. Look as if you make $100,000 per year even before you do. Wear coveralls when doing dirty work and take them off when going into a building. Always be aware of your appearance and how others including your customers perceive you.

3) Trying to Undercut the Competition.

By trying to undercut the competition you cheapen your service. If your customers are not willing to pay a fair price for a great service then screw them. You are not ripping anyone off. What is your time worth? You call a plumber and they come to your house for 30 minutes and you get a bill of $120. Its a service. Why would you charge $15 for an oil change and not make money. If the going rate is $30.00 then at least charge $30.00. If you are smart then you will charge $35.00. This is a premium service. Think of the hassle factor you are saving your customers. If they are smart they will be able to see the benefits in maybe paying a little bit more.

Mobile Oil Change Business Course

I am several weeks away from completing a mobile oil change business book/ course I have been working on. I am not going to sell it cheap. It has taken me months to complete. When you read this book you will know everything there is to know about the business. I will show you exactly what to do to make this business as much of a success as you possibly can. The price will be $599. It will include advice via e-mail or phone.

Email me at akoilextreme@yahoo.com if you want to be put on the waiting list for this course. I will only give out so many per area depending on the size.

Oil Change Profit Margins

The oil change business whether fixed or mobile is hard to succeed in. Its not impossible but there are many problems associated with the business model that I find disturbing at best. One of the main problems I see is the lack of profit in the service that most quick lubes are selling. I was down in Atlanta for two weeks and was surprised by the number of establishments offering $16.00 oil changes. One place, I think it was a Toyota dealership went as far as offering a $20 synthetic blend oil change. All I could think to myself is "this is crazy". Those places are actually loosing money off oil changes. Why would any business be in business to loose???

The answer is simple. And this is the flawed business model that I mentioned. The oil change is bait. Like a fisherman baits his hook with a worm or fish eggs so do most quick lubes. They are in the business of pushing extra things you do not need. Many of the extra items that they push you do need but I question the extent. And if the place actually does more than basic maintenance, watch out! Your basic oil change will quickly turn into a several hundred dollar break job, CV joint repair, timing belt replacement, belt replacement, etc. Sometimes you really do need those items. But many times you do not. But those places are obligated to sell you unnecessary items because they are not making money off the main item you came there for.

If places would sell oil changes at a reasonable price then I think the consumers would benifit immensely. If most quick lubes set their prices at a rate that they were making at least 15-20 per oil change than they could make money off 40-60 oil changes per day and then they would not have to resort to less than ethical practices. But you see all it takes is one guy trying to low ball everyone else asking $10 for an oil change and then people flock to him and he rips them all off. Great you got a $10.00 but that was followed by a $350 repair bill and your car is less than two years old. HA HA suckers.....

I say this because its sad but in reality there are only a few states where the market allows quick lube operators to actually make money off oil changes. What I just said is golden. There are 5-7 states that you can make a decent profit from oil changes and nowhere in the south do they lie. Too much competition and cheap labor. I know a person who started an oil change business in Missorri only to find out that the market he was in only beared $15.00 oil changes. The oil and filter were $12.00 Its hard to make money when you make $3.00 profit.

If you listen to this advise it will save you much time and money. For those potential mobile operators who think they can charge a lot more than the going price I say if you can sell...yes but generally no. If you can really sell your service and are a big talker and can instill value to fleet managers I say yes you can charge $10 more than the market. But if you are not than forget it. Most mobile operators I know try to do it for less.

Know your market. Know what it bears. The oil change business do not have high profit margins. They relie heavily on vollume and selling lots and lots of additional services to people even if they do not need them or are unnessary. Remember this. You will be no exception if you live in most parts of the United States. I run my business as honest as one can. Guess what...I can afford to. I happen to live in one of those states I mentioned. There are no $15 oil changes where I live. I pay for it with 6 months of dreadful freezing negative twenty conditions though so do not think its a cake walk. Ever try changing oil in 5 degrees and feel your hand going numb trying to get an impossible oil filter off. I do. But for that trouble I have way higher margins than most people. What does your state, city, area, income level, total market bear for an oil change. Find out and think about picking another business for be in if its under $30-35.

Mobile Oil Change Business Reminder Stickers and Branding

Getting the perfect oil change reminder stickers for my mobile oil change business was extremely difficult. It was one of the hardest pieces of information to find.

We started out with NEBS like I bet most people do. Do not use this company. They will a) almost always mess up your orders b) mess up your mobile oil change logo if you do have one or c) come out looking really bad and cheap. I had several NEBS stickers that came in a light blue that you could barely see.

Then I went from the static cling stickers to the oil change reminder stickers that actually stick to the windshield because the other ones keep falling off especially when it got cold. The problem is that these still looked "cheap" and with these you couldn't get them to come off especially when it got really cold. They were almost glued to the windshield.

It took me three years to find the perfect company to supply my mobile oil change business with the stickers I wanted. I wanted my reminder stickers to look just like the ones at Jiffly Lube. In my NOLN magazine they did a poll to see what oil people recognize the most or feel most comfortable with. (Note that these study did not mention the best) Surprise surprise Pennzoil and Quaker State were first in line with Pennzoil owning a little more that fifty percent of the marketplace. If you did not already know BTW Pennzoil and Quaker State are the exact same oil and just come in different bottles and you will see both oils used interchangebley at all Jiffy and Xpress Lubes. Anyway, if most people feel comfortable with the Pennzoil brand guess what logo I want on my oil change stickers for my mobile oil change business........you guessed it.....Pennzoil.


This is the site I use to get the best brand name oil change stickers at the lowest possible price. You can get a roll of Quaker State or Pennzoil oil change reminder stickers for an extremely cheap price. They are the static cling oil change stickers. Here is the contact information that I used:

Sherry Caudle

Administrative Assistant

Communication Graphics Inc.

1765 N. Juniper

Broken Arrow, OK 74012

1-800-331-4438 ext. 235

You can try and call that same number. If she does not work there any longer ask who is in charge of that department. That company does a lot of things including making the actual printer that prints the oil change stickers. They problem is that they will most likely work in your mobile oil change set up. The power needed is going to be too much. It is not impossible to do just most likely not worth it. Once they send you the order form all you have to do is give them your business name and phone number. They will imprint your business information right underneath the brand logo be it Shell, Quaker State, Pennzoil, etc... It looks really professional.

Okay so now you know where to go. This ties right into my other topic: branding.

You do not have enough capital to reinvent the wheel. The wheel can be made better but none of us have the capital to do so, or at least likely to have it. Go with things and brands that people already know and trust for your mobile oil change business. This is one of the main reasons I should have never went with the Oil Extreme brand. Nobody knew about it.

I used Pennzoil and Quaker State and Mobil 1 for my oil. Those are the top three oils that everyone knows and trusts. If you are talking with any customer who uses synthetic oil and they ask you what oil you use say "Mobil 1" and 99.9% of people will be 110% satisfied with that. Everyone loves Mobil 1. Everyone is comfortable with the other two. These companies put 100s of millions of dollars into adversting. Ride them. Don't go with XYZ oil, no matter how good it is, who do not have any brand recognition. You would have to spend millions in climbling that hill. Maybe if you win the lottery.

Again, go with the three major players. Go with Quaker State, Pennzoil, or Mobile 1, whoever is cheaper for your oil change sticker and oil needs. Nobody will complain.

When you are doing diesels go with Rotella 15W-40 or Chevron Dello. Rotella is always the best though. I have found that people who love Dello are equally okay with using Dello if they have to. But I have found that Rotella fans ONLY use Rotella and there is NOTHING you can say to convince them otherwise. And I do mean nothing. Even if they look like they are listening to you they are not and you are wasting your time. "Rotella is the only thing thats ever been in my engine and thats how its gonna stay" I've heard.

The mobile oil change business is hard. Having said that all the obstacles associated with it can be overcome. Low profit margins, weather, cheap customers, market forces, income levels, competion are all things you will have to face. I hope that I have led you all who are serious about this in the right direction. Remember that if you are in business in the US and you do not make at least $100 per hour, and I do not care where you live, you are wasting your time. That may seem like a lot but at expenses and taxes that 100/hr will not be anywhere close to there. Shoot for $30/hr for your mobile oil change business and you are working for free. You just will not realise it until the end of every month when your credit card bill comes or every April when you have to pay 22% taxes.

BWT, this mobile oil change website is complete bullshit and is an example on what to believe or follow

Mobile Oil Change Business and Wrong Profit Numbers

I was just on Lube and Location's Wesbite and noticed the following.

This is dangerous. Watch out for this crap. I am sorry for saying this but these figures are what cause people who get into the Mobile Oil Change business to go bankrupt. These figures are pure wishful thinking. I like Lube on Location, almost bought my van from them, would have way better if I bought my set up from them than Oil Extreme, but even they provide false figures. How are you going to make a decent profit on 10 oil changes per day at $30.00. Please explain to me how??? I really get made about this!! I am dead serious. Anyone who is in the Mobile Oil Change business and is successful can tell you that the following figures are nonsense.

And six days a week?? Hum?? If you get into business to work six days a week than you are stupid. Go work for the school district and you can work 5 days a week with the summer off. Six days. That is not the reason I started my own mobile oil change company. Look at the following figures and totally make a mental note in your head that they are wrong. Sorry if you were excited. I just saved you thousands of dollars.

Again, I am not trying to just be negative. But I am trying to chop up the crap. And there is a lot of crap in the mobile oil change arena. I helped a potential competitor of mine a year ago. He was in the Valley offering oil changes for $25.oo. I sent him an e-mail basically calling him an idiot and asking him to reconsider. He upped it to $40.00. That is still cheap but at least he is not working for free. If your area does not support at least $35 oil changes reconsider this great business opportunity.

SERVICE JUST 10 VEH. A DAY 6 DAYS A WEEK
AVERAGE OIL CHANGE TAKES 10 MINUTES
YEARLY INCOME AT $29.95 PER OIL CHANGE AND INCLUDING OTHER SERVICES. (WIPER BLADES, AIR FILTERS, AND TIRE ROTATIONS)
TOTAL INCOME FROM SALES $121,856.00

EXPENSES:

VAN OR EQUIPMENT PAYMENT IF FINANCED
$4,188.24
INSURANCE, VAN AND OR GARAGE LIABILITY $2,200.00
OPERATION SUPPLIES, FLYERS, INVOICES $900.00
TELEPHONE, PAGER,CELL, OFFICE $1,080.00
UNIFORMS $300.00
ACCOUNTING $960.00
LICENSES $60.00
FUEL $3,600.00
WHSE SPACE 10X10 STORE&LOCK $900.00
COST OF GOODS SOLD $9.00 PER VEH. $24,720.00
OTHER SERVICES WIPERS & AIR FILTERS $7,020.00
WASTE OIL DISPOSAL 10 CENTS A GAL. $936.00
TOTAL EXPENSES $49,864.24

NET PROFIT $66,991.76 PER YEAR

VAN OPERATOR WOULD BE 25% COMMISSION OF GROSS SALES IF MUTIPLE VEHICLE OPERATION

SERVICE 20 VEHICLES A DAY AND NET OVER $100,000.00 PER YEAR AS AN OWNER OPERATOR

Mobile Oil Changes for Corporate Campuses

Save your time with this one. If you plan for your mobile oil change business to get big off corporate campuses then you better think again. You'd better change directions really fast quite honestly. You cannot build a "profitable business" and I wanted to highlight that just for emphasis off corporate campuses. That is what I was sold on. We would start this a mobile oil change business with a great no fantastic looking van and have a great service and a really great product and after doing just several people at a hospital or big building the phone would be ringing off the hook and we would not be able to keep up with the demand. Our mobile oil change company would grow soo big soo fast that we would need the second van within the first year.

I tell you I was really sold on the whole "corporate campus" idea. And I know now that not only doesn't it work well for my type of business but others as well. It sounds great. You have a building that is comprised of one huge company or hundreds of small to medium sized companies. They are all under one roof you could say. There are can be anywhere from a few thousand employees to over ten thousand employees. Now all those people need oil changes. You I was sold on the fact, and many of you might have been as well, that all you have to do is talk with the human resources manager and find a way to get your name out there to those 1000s of employees. They would love to get their vehicle serviced by a mobile oil change business. Why wouldn't they?? All those employees are going to need several oil changes throughout the year, why not make it more convenient....

I wish the mobile oil change business was that easy. It would have been very nice. Let me cut to the chase and tell you why it did not and does not work. First, when you talk to the building or HR department you are going to have to literally pull teeth to get them to work with you. They are going to think your mobile oil change idea is "cute" but they get people asking them to promote their business all the time. If they promoted every business that asked them then it would turn into a full time job. The most you may get is a mass system wide e-mail sent out that barely anyone reads. And you will be a really good speaker and salesman or saleswoman if you get them to do that. What most companies have is a "work life" program or "discount book" where people like you get into this coupon book that they give out annually to everyone and your coupon would be for like "20% off any oil change" or "$19.99 oil change to all employees and family of XYZ Hospital". And not many people look at their company coupon books. Only the really cheap people will call you, won't want any add ons even if they really need them, and as soon as you raise your prices to the normal rate they will not want to pay it. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, and professionals are some of the cheapest people when it comes to that stuff. They want that really cheap oil change and then they go 6,000 miles on regular oil. They do not care because rarely do any of those people keep their cars more than 2-3 years. Maybe 4 years if they are feeling thrifty. So they Oil Extreme Synthetic was worthless for us as far as they went. In addition to this, many companies or campuses will get very uptight about "oil changes" being done in their parking lot. You can show them or tell them out your mats, how you suck it out, safety procedures and they do not care. Your mobile oil change business is seen as a potential liability to them that they do not want to have or think is worth it. Especially if they promote you. We live in a sue happy world. If they put up fliers, send out e-mails, and actively promote you then they are in way either directly or indirectly partners with you. And if anything goes wrong including damages or accidents while you are doing or have done an oil change then not only can your mobile oil change business be sued but they right high priced lawyer could go after them as well. Which would produce a better settlement you and your 1 million dollar insurance or that company with a 100 million dollar insurance. They have a whole department whose only job is risk control and your "cool service" is not worth them getting sued in the future. And most people do not care about oil changes. Its sounds good but unless the campus really worked with you and advertised you everywhere then people will not be looking for an oil change service especially a mobile one. They will see Jiffy Lube one day, look at their sticker, remember they are 2,000 miles overdue, and go there. You will get a few but most will be cheap and many of them will not turn into repeat business.

And I say this with confidence and two and a half long hard years of going after the corporate campuses. I got a hospital with 10,000 employees, made a deal with Alaska Airlines that went through but was peacemeal and never really pushed, got several deals with other buildings with 4-6,000 people where they send out flyers and e-mails to every company, and Merryl Lynch. None of it ever paid dividends. I really have to thank a friend at Meryl Lynch he really did try. He sent e-mails to all his friends. And we did get 2 or three. But at the end of the day it was not worth it. Do not try to build your mobile oil change business off the individuals or corporate campuses. If you do want some none fleet customers go for construction works or tradesmen. They are very busy people and appreciate a good service. Most of them can do it themselves but do not have the time and are willing to pay a decent price to get it done. Plus a lot of those guys have trucks that they love and keep for years.

So let me say this again. Repetition is the mother of skill and success. As I stated in a previous post your mobile oil change must get 95% of its business from fleets. No buts about that. Do shoot for a 50/50 split. You are a business to business mobile fleet services business. I really want to rename my company. I say mobile oil change but we are really a mobile fleet helper. I see what fleets need, whats hard to get or coordinate and then try to make that as easy as I can while charging reasonable prices but not trying to undercut the going market rate. I love to please but only fleets. I have done the individuals. It used to be fun but its not. I have gone through so much trying to please them and it never paid off in good dollars. My fleet accounts did. And I go out of my way for them. That's why they like me. I try my absolute best to get whatever they need or make whatever I can easier. Oftentimes I have thought my prices for something was high and they thought I was undercharging b/c it was so valuable.

Do not let anyone or any company or any franchise sell you on a stack of cards. Your mobile oil change business is a niche business and it caters to medium to large fleets. You really want diesels but we will get into later. Let me know what your experiences have been in this area. Has anyone go any profitable corporate campuses. ONE???? The owner of the franchise Oil Extreme, though its not a true franchise in any sense of the word, lied to us about having a Microsoft and Boeing contract that never existed through another BS company called DOC 1. HA HA. I was such an idiot. When I think about all the mistakes I made at first its amazing I was able to survive. I must have been blessed big time. I was set on a course for failure but I hope that through this blog I can help other people who are starting or thinking about starting a mobile oil change business succeed and actually make money.

Mobile Oil Change Equipment

All the mobile oil change business advice posts I have been writting have had a negative slant to them. I have done that on purpose.

I have highlighted five negative aspects to every positive I have mentioned when it comes to owning a mobile oil change business or mobile oil change franchise. I have done this 100% on purpose. Its not so much that I am not a negative person but I feel that it is my sworn duty to start real negative and stay negative for a long time.

Why is that? So I can show you how hard this business really is and you can honestly make an assesment if you want to get into it.

That was not done for me. Oh, if I had just a little insider information when I started off! When I started in 2004 all the information I recieved about owning and operating a mobile oil change business was complete "BS." I have to be honest about it.

First, I bought that utterly useless Melrics oil change guide which was the worst $35.00 I ever spent. Do not buy that guide if you want to succeed in the mobile oil change arena. They will give you a lot of nice fluff and nothing that I at least deemed useful. They give you a lot of "duhh" advice. Its advice like "when you brush your teeth in the morning make sure you put toothpaste on your brush." Oh brother.

As I stated in an earlier post we started with a "franchise." Unfortunately you will find that a franchise means little unless its name is backed up by something valuable. Its kind of like the US currency thats becoming worthless with each passing day. Me and my uncle just bought into a awesome name.

It was Jet Set Life Technologies with their worthless Oil Extreme. Another piece of advice that will save you thousands!!! Do not believe a word they say.

They do have a great product. Oil Extreme is great. It is some of the best motor oil you can put inside your vehicle besides Amsoil. If you like it so much go to Mr. George French's website and buy the oil. Its $8 per quart plus shipping but do not start a mobile oil change business from it. You will fail.

I promise you that his system does not work. I am not bitter or hateful but he is delusional and thinks that Oil Extreme is the best thing known to man and while I cannot fault the old man for his passion and he does have some good and likeable qualities, he will sell you the world and will not deliver.

We thought that we were smart and asked him for referrals and he gave me two people who were already a part of his mobile oil change " empire. The first guy was the one who fabricated his vans, which are nice BTW but highly impracticable. The second was one who had just bought into Oil Extreme several months before us. We find out a year later that he had leveraged himself to the hilt and had barely done any oil changes during his period of ownership. It turns out that later he sold all his equipment dirt cheap to another guy who found window chip repair to be more lucrative.

They both told me that no only staring a mobile oil change business was a great idea, and that I was going to make tons of money, but that Oil Extreme was the only way to go!!

"Wee, I'm going to get rich," I thought after getting off the phone with them.

I still can remember me and my uncle meeting for breakfast at Arctic Inn Restaurant talking about what we were going to do with all our money made from our mobile oil change business. How could we loose? Great product with a great service.

Here is a big lesson that I am going to give you right now. If you have read through this post and what to gleam some crucial information take out a notebook and rewrite the following sentence and burn it into your mind: 90% of people know nothing about oil, in fact they just think that if wait too long (meaning 5,000 miles) to get an oil change that their car will blow up.

Besides that even less individuals know or care about specific brands no matter how good it is. You could put cat piss in their car and as long as it ran they would care less.

They only thing that will motivate most people to even switch a higher priced oil is maybe the extended drain intervals meaning that instead of going every 3,ooo miles they can do 6,000 miles.

So as a mobile oil change operator your job is to get the right oil at the least possible price. Let me say this again, and re-phrase it a little bit. As a mobile oil change operator you want to get the cheapest oil you can find and a lot of times I can tell you it will be at Wal Mart. Hate the store with a passion but love their prices. In fact I can guarantee that nobody, not even the jobbers or distributors, will beat Wal Mart's prices on motor oil. They buy so much oil that on a national level they recieve the best prices and are the only store that has 5 quart containers. If you are a mobile oil change business operator you know how important that is.

So I will repeat. Do not go with Mr. French and his Oil Extreme franchise. Learn from my mistakes. Going with Mr French set me back two years and put my uncle in a massive amount of debt that was never necessary. He lied to us, told us about contracts he never had, and did worse to other franchises. I just have to be honest. A part of me still has great respect for Mr. French. A heck of a salesmen. If I could have the salesmanship of him and my father, who in the past I despise but admire, I would be rich man. He knows what to say and exactly how to fire you up. But his superior product isn't even his own. He re-labels someone else's product. Its called EP Lube and they are the real makers of the famous Oil Extreme. Sorry I had to say it. I consider myself an honest person and never try to lie to anyone and yet as much as I really do like Mr. French he lied to us and everyone of his franchises.

The mobile oil change business is hard enough but when your "franchise HQ" is not telling you the truth and selling you overpriced product that makes it impossible for you to compete then you have to say something.

There are some others like Lube N Go and Oil Butler but they really just sell you a fancy overpriced van with fancy pumps that are worthless. They are not like Oil Extreme and I am not saying they are bad but you will have less of a chance of success if you go with those guys for your mobile oil change business.

I wish I would have went with Sage Vac. I have handled their equipment and can say they are the best. I actually contacted them and tried to get them to pay me for saying this. I really like their product but I figured I would make some money off this website. They never responded to me but I still love them nevertheless. In the process of trying to buy some equipment with them right now.

They offer the best mobile oil change set up equiped to deal with FLEETS. Remember I said that in one of my first posts. You want fleets and not individuals. The other mobile oil change fabrication companies make a system that is worthless to an operator as far as general practicality. They focus more on looks.

People see your van and are amazed but none of the pumps and equipment on your mobile oil change van are easy to use and in fact they are more trouble than they are worth. Try sucking oil with a diaphragm pump and see how long that takes you vs draining it. Sage Vac offers mobile oil change devices that are vacuum pumps, which is what you will need to quickly pump 15W-40 out of a truck, and their equipment is especially good for vehicles that actually pay well to do an oil change on.

I am not getting a kick back to say this. You can call our business at 907-677-8175 and I will tell you in person. I may not answer the phone but leave a message as I may be working or writing this blog and hate to be disturbed.

It is my hope I have been as negative as possible when it comes to the mobile oil change business. I have other blogs that I just write for money and don't care about. Those blogs are ones that I write for money. I did crunched the numbers and if this particular blog ranked well on all the major search engines I would make a wooping $30 a month. This blog is my baby and one I own where I am brutally honest. My mobile oil change business is my main business, it pays all my bills, gives me a lot of money, but most people are not cut out for it.

That is the truth. There is only a select few that will succeed in this business. I live in a state that has winter for 6 months out of a year. How do you think I feel that it is now February and I still will be dealing with heavy snow come April.

It sucks. I spent the first part of January changing oil in -15 degrees. Think that is any fun. My competition fades quickly. There has been 4-6 other guys to try this. They all failed. I dare anyone to try to start a mobile oil change business in Alaska. But I dare anyone to start a mobile oil change business in Texas or California or Missouri. Oil Changes there go for $10-15. Good luck having a mobile oil change company in semi pleasant weather but with no net profit.

There is no money in oil changes alone.

Again, and I will repeat it, Jiffy Lube makes their money from shear volume. I mean 100s of oil changes in one day. They attempt to make their money on transmission flushes, coolant flushes, fuel filters, battery replacement, belt replacement, air filters, tire rotations, emission tests, and a lot of other "add ons". They make no money from changing your oil.

Again, most quick lubes make very little to no money from changing your oil alone. They have to add on to a person's bill like there was no tommrow. If you leave their bay with just an oil change then the service manager has not done his job.

Oil changes are one of the least profitable businesses out there. Do you believe your mobile oil change business is any different. You might want to believe it is but its not. You will have to add on too. Not as much because your overhead will be significantly less but also keep in mind you do not have the large volume either.

I just gave you another secret.... I planned to tell you this much later. I do this 100% honestly but I push add ons as much as I can. Oil Changes represent 40% of my mobile oil change business. Oops gave away another secret....

I have to be careful. I want to go into detailed plans but I have to resist. My goal is to tell the truth and lead you into the right area. I will not tell you exactly what fleets to go after. Thats very valuable information and I am sorry if you want me to make sales for you but I will need top dollar to disclose that information. If you pay me I will drum up 1000s of business for you but some things you must do by yourself.

But for free I will lead your mobile oil change in the right direction. I hate fluff. I will not be easy or talk in smoothing talk that will "tickle the ears". I try to be real. I want to start negative and end positive. The mobile oil change business does work. I know everything involved. I have done everything and seen everything related to the mobile oil change business arena.

Nothing is new to me. If I told you how much I make you would faint. I hate to be cocky but I have figured this business out and am confident that I know what works and what does not. I love hot weather love basketball and would rather live in CA or some other place than Alaska.

I am not a huge fan of this state by any means. But I love the business I built with a lot of sweat and cannot leave it. I know what will work in the mobile oil change business and what will not. I am an authority. I am the authority. Ask me any questions and I will tell you. I know what works while trying to make money changing oil as a mobile outfit and what does not. I have done television commercials, radio, yellow pages, fliers, Val Pak, direct mail, doorknob stuffers, ect. I have done it all. I can tell you what worked for me in the my mobile oil change business and what only costs me money with no return.

Are you making good money changing oil? Tell me about it. I can tell you how to make better money more easily. I know exactly what I am talking about. I am not going to sugar coat it and say start a mobile oil change franchise and make $100,000 a year. It easy. Minimal start up costs. Thats nonsense.

How about making $4.50 an hour in your mobile oil change business. Does that interest you? Well if you do not know what the heck you are doing that is how much you will make and will sell all your equipment to someone else who doesn't know what he/she is doing.