Hi I have recently posted on here for information on how to set up as a mobile service engineer and gained some background info on courses etc.
Could any current engineers please tell me what specialist tools are required or even better if you have time and patience a full list of tools required for the job, just to give me an insight to what i may already have and what i would need to purchase.
I wish you all the best, but you'll be wanting someone to sort you out with a business plan next.
If at this stage you don't know what tools you're going to need do you really think that you'll have the skill, expertise, and depth of knowledge to diagnose a problem, service a van or do a competant repair when you have a paying customer breathing down your neck and watching your every move..?
As on your last thread I would seriously suggest that you do the same as what nearly every other time served caravan engineer has done and go and serve some time working at a dealership. That way you can test the waters, learn the ropes and find out if you're cut out for it before you stump up allot of money.
Setting up and running a small business isn't easy, nor cheap, and building a customer base can take years to establish. There's a bit more to it than buying some tools and a van.
I would make an appointment to speak to an accountant and then draw up a full costing sheet of everything that you think that you might need. Then look at advertising, registering for VAT and then lookat registering as a business. I mean, do you go sole-trader, Limited Company or as some might think, just take payment in cash, bung it all in your pocket and then hold your breath until the Tax Man Turns up, and he will, but never when it's cold or raining..!
You'll then need accounts with the parts suppliers, which many won't touch you unless your either a LTD Company or are VAT registered. Phones, web sites, Livery on your van. Then there's the caliberation certificates that you'll need for some of your tools, every year. Public Liabilities insurance. A licence from the Performing Arts Society for listening to the radio in your van. A fregistered company address, which if you make your home you'll then need to arrange for commercial waste to be collected by the council, which costs. The list is endless.
Some lunatic in our area decided to call himself by a name that is already in use and registered to a major company. I dare say that it won't be long before he appears in court to answer up as to why he's trading under someone elses business name. People tend to get a bit techy when others try to hijack their business names..!
Good Luck.
Post last edited on 28/01/2010 15:53:12
Post last edited on 28/01/2010 15:59:28
------------- We have Approved Mobile Workshop Status
Quote: Originally posted by michael on 27/1/2010
torque wrench of a high loading for the one shot wheel nuts,most people would not have one.290+ - 10 Nm , 214 lbs + - 7.5 lbs.
and if it's a BPW chasiss they can be as high as 330nm on certain types
------------- 2003 Bailey Moselle & William the Land Rover
Mobile caravan & motorhome Service Engineer
listed in the company Directory service and repairs section under
I thank you for your advice, however i am fully conversant with setting up and the continued running of a business, as i have over the past 17 years run two businesses sucessfully after creating them from scratch.
I am fully conversant with advertising strategies, website usage, vans and livery, customer bases amongst other subjects you have mentioned, including the dreaded taxman!!!!!!
I will not be jumping into this quickly but at the minute just testing the water and gathering enough info to asess whether it is something i wish to pursue in the near future. I am currently still running my own business of a different nature, but looking to sell this on when i have gained some qualifications and experience and face a new challenge on my own.
I am just weighing up the pro's and con's and getting an idea of courses, set up costs, running costs etc, all which you will agree are required for a sucessful business plan when the time comes. I do appologise if i have made it sound like i was planning becoming a service engineer overnight, although i know people out there will have done, that road is not for me!!
Quote: Originally posted by discoverytdi on 28/1/2010
Quote: Originally posted by michael on 27/1/2010
torque wrench of a high loading for the one shot wheel nuts,most people would not have one.290+ - 10 Nm , 214 lbs + - 7.5 lbs.
and if it's a BPW chassis they can be as high as 330nm on certain types
thanks for that its worth knowing for the future,an expensive bit of kit required for this.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
ACOPS Gas is about £750
Electrics is about £450
Truma core products courses are about £150 each
Dometic products are about the same as above
Alko as well
City and Guilds ? can't really put a figure on it
Plus, as you'll be aware, if you're working when you do these courses you then have to take into account lost earnings, accommodation, travel and food.
For set up I would probably allow for about £20k for initial costs, obviously dependant on the age and condition of the van that you purchase. Plus a big overdraft or credit facility for other first year fee's like your wages.
Going back to the van, don't skimp on some knackered out old transit that leave a puddle of oil on customer's drives, or a huge smoke trail behind you wherever you go. Your van is your workshop, office, customer services centre, rest room, a storage facility and the face of your business that apart from a web site, is the first and last thing that the customer's s of your business.
The BIGGEST KEY ADVANTAGE that mobile engineer's have over Dealers is that you're the one that deals with everything, you're the one with all the qualifications, after-sales, customer care and the one that takes all the bookings and if things go wrong, deal with any mistakes or mishaps. Dealers can hide behind a huge screen of Job Descriptions which means that the customer's very rarely interact with the person who actually deals with their caravan, and never really know that the person who's servicing it has any qualifications.
On that note, any caravanner that's due to take their van to a Dealership for it's annual service are heartily advised to ask, if it's not already displayed, to physically see the workshops 2010 NCC Approved Status compliance certificate. And if they try to give you any waffle that that haven't yet received it, then they are in fact talking bullsh-t as all the assessments have been carried out and all certificates have been awarded.
If they haven't got one, then they haven't met the criteria, simpla as. But as I always say, “It's your money and it's your caravan”.
------------- We have Approved Mobile Workshop Status
Our van is manufactered on the outskirts of London and the manufacturer is also the Dealer.
I live in Argyll in Scotland and clearly it is impractical to expect me to travel that far south to get its annual service done. So, by arrangement with the manufacturer, I get someone local to do this service and the nearest Qualified Service Engineer happens to be a Mobile one. Very handy for me.
The point I am making is that whoever does the Sevicing on my van, has to be approved by the van's manufacturer and I would imagine that Annual Servicing by a Mobile Caravan Engineer would be his Bread & Butter.
And, for me, having had work carried out on my van in both other Dealers Workshops and, in front of me by a Mobile Engineer, I will go for the Mobile Engineer every time. His stamp on my receipt inspires a great deal more confidence and peace of mind than any workshop's.
It would take a long time for anyone to build up a reputation amongst Caravan Manufacturers and Dealers before they would allow their customers to choose you as a reputable and reliable Service Engineer for their vans.
Got a good, newish, reliable van already for my existing business at the mo so thats a good chunk of cash i dont need to invest. I would still be running my existing business on the side, working evenings and weekends whilst i attend courses and gain some experience. When i feel confident enough to go alone, i will slowly phase out my existing business once my customer base has built up enough on the servicing side, although i am prepared for this to take quite a while to establish.
I should be able to cover my wages constantly using this method, maybe a little tiring at times, but you dont get anywhere without effort!!!! Once i feel i can earn enough from the servicing, i can slow down and eventually quit my other business.
Its all a while of yet, as i say just getting a feel for the courses, cost of tools ( i do have an extensive selection of engineering tools, but will need a few specialist tools) and the best way to go about it, which has become much clearer this week thanks to all the advice on here!!!
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Topic: Service engineer - tools required
