Motor Ombudsman Announces Rising Costs To Be The Biggest Operational Cost For Garages In 2023

Rising prices are hardly breaking news, so it’s unsurprising that research carried out by The Motor Ombudsman has revealed a significant cost impact on businesses in the auto sector. The research showed that: 

• In 2023, 90 per cent of independent garages expect soaring energy bills, operational costs, and taxes to be the biggest challenge they face.
• Nearly two-thirds of garages have already experienced a significant decrease in their business profitability.
• 59 per cent of respondents cited the rising cost of replacement components because of shortages, supply chain problems, and increasing inflation.

With costs remaining high, particularly in the energy market, many garage businesses anticipate that it will be harder to achieve a positive bottom line, especially as many car owners are opting to postpone servicing, repairs, and maintenance as their household budgets are squeezed ever more tightly.

Futureproofing Your Business By Investing In New Revenue Streams

With garages under financial pressure, it’s important that they remain competitive and profitable. On one hand, cars will always need to be repaired and, with more vehicles on the UK’s roads than ever before, demand for garage services will never stagnate.

Adding new revenue streams is another effective and profitable way to increase revenues. Car key programming, for example, is a service that is traditionally offered by vehicle manufacturers and dealerships but can easily be provided by independent garages and auto locksmiths. When a motorist needs their electronic key or key fob to be replaced, sourcing a copy from a dealership is notoriously time-consuming and expensive, whereas an independent garage can obtain a blank from a supplier of wholesale key fobs and program it on-site with specialist equipment: a quick and easy process that will have the motorist back on the road in no time.

Offering replacement car key programming will boost revenues in several ways, by:

• Attracting new customers who don’t want to incur the expense and delays associated with dealerships.
• Promoting customer loyalty as car owners won’t have to travel excessive distances to obtain new keys or fobs.
• Allowing garages to cross-sell other services from which motorists will benefit, such as servicing, maintenance, and valeting.
• Increasing recommendations and referrals to strengthen your business’s reputation locally.

Contact Us To Find Out More

At Advanced Keys, we provide everything you need to add car key programming to your portfolio of services, including blank keys, key fobs, and programming equipment, with competitive finance deals to help you to manage your costs. To request a free, no-obligation quotation, please call us on 0121 749 5210 or send us a message.

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