Starting a Small Engine Repair Shop

Summary: Starting a small engine repair shop is actually a very lucrative business. People are constantly in need of someone who can do repairs on some of the tools they have at home. If you are planning on starting this kind of business, you should remember that small engine repair shops need not be created on such a large scale.

The starting business bid for such an enterprise sometimes only need one experienced mechanic; and you can either establish yourself as a someone who repairs a wide range of engines or motors or more of a specialist. You might be surprised to know that starting a small engine repair shop is actually a very lucrative business.

You do not really need a small engine repair service manual and whatnots to tell you that people are constantly in need someone who can do repairs on some of the tools they have at home. Our lawnmowers are always out of commission, our outdoor generators are always cranky, and that water pump we have regurgitates more air than actual water. How many people have you actually seen trying to do lawn mower repair with a nose firmly attached to a small engine repair book or small engine repair guide, trying in vain to make sense of the diagrams and the instructions within, but achieving very little success?

If you are planning on starting this kind of business, you should remember that small engine repair shops need not be created on such a large scale. The starting business bid for such an enterprise sometimes only need one experienced mechanic. There are of course, small engine repair courses that you can attend to if you are not so well versed in this kind of thing, but experienced mechanics are more in demand and they are really hard to come by. If you are not that a great mechanic, but still would like to pursue a small engine service business, you may want to hire an expert mechanic or two to perform the services for you.

And there are also a wide range of products that you, as entrepreneur can engage in – ATV engines, chainsaws, dirt bike engines, go cart engines, jet ski motors, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, marine vessel engines (i.e. small boats,) mini bike engines, motorcycle engines, outdoor generators, portable heaters, pressure washers, snow mobile engines, snow throwers, tillers, trimmers water pumps, and a host of others.

You can also look at this profession somewhat similar to a doctor’s. You can either establish yourself as a general practitioner or a specialist.

As a general practitioner, you get to treat a lot of ills. This means that you have a wide range of products to service. Probably you get to do a lot of minor repairs, and if you can do home services as well, you can even garner more customers. This also means that your mechanics should have exposure to a wide range of small motors, engines, makes and models – and the most important element of all, your mechanics should be prepared for all the possible repair scenarios. They can perform the most mundane repairs like a lawnmower that obviously has no fuel – to the most bizarre like portable heater with a plastic dinosaur toy melted into its main mechanism.

When you specialize in one or more engine repair, you can also charge clients higher fees, but this also means you need more specialized mechanics, you have more specialized tools, and you have suppliers of very specific engine parts and components.