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.