Starting a Tire Shop

Know-how about tires and vehicle servicing

Wheels and tires are more complicated than they look. They come in different sizes, shapes, utility and prices. There are tires for commercial or industrial trucks, and for sports vehicles. You should be knowledgeable and conversant about them to be able to interact fully with your customers, and be able to give them good advice on their tire needs – services that are of value in this kind of business.

Often, to get the most of a location, tire store owners not only sell tires but also offer services such as oil change, alignment and tune-up. And so, aside from being a tire expert, you should also be a vehicle servicing expert. A background in tire sales or vehicle servicing is advantageous if you want to open a tire store.

Strategic Location

The ideal location for a tire shop is near a busy road or a high traffic area with good visibility, an interstate highway, near some truck stop or gas stations.

Tire Supplier

You can buy tires direct from manufacturers, from tire distributors or be an authorized distributor of popular tire brands such as Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Bridgestone or Michelin.

Substantial Space

As mentioned, tire stores are usually not just a mere tire store. It would have bays for servicing, an office, client lounge, and showroom. It would also need space for storing inventories and substantial parking space for customers and for suppliers.

Substantial Capital

You’d need this particularly to buy inventories, diagnostic and service equipment and buy or rent a property for the location of the store, servicing bays, and parking. This business requires considerable space to operate, which translates to considerable capital requirement.

Business Strategy

If you are directly competing with another tire retailer, you’d need some strategy to get ahead of the competition or at the least, to survive. If you are competing with a larger store, it would be difficult for you to compete directly on price. To meet this challenge, find a way to enhance and expand customer service, for example by offering home delivery or discounts on customer referral.

System to track and manage payables, inventories, and sales

You also need to keep yourself updated about the happenings in the industry, which is very dynamic and changeable. Most importantly, you need to know information such as tire recalls, and changes in governance policies that affect the tire business.