There were a lot of people who came and went into the mobile oil change business. It always looks easy from the surface and is relatively inexpensive to start with a minimum investment compared to most other businesses. But most mobile oil change operators rarely do this in the first year. In fact, most of them do not pass by the first few months. One wonders why such a good idea ultimately ends in failure. Let's take a closer look.
At first, profits from changes in oil are not enough to maintain a healthy business. After you calculate the cost of the goods from the total bill, you rarely get more than twenty-five dollars in net profit from your typical oil change. And this figure does not include the gas used when driving to the actual location. You have to make a lot of oil changes a day to make a decent profit to support your business and your personal expenses. The fastest lubricants do even less because of their significantly higher overhead costs, but they bring it in large volumes. The most successful fixed locations make 60 oil changes on a bad day. A mobile oil change company, in which one or two people work most of the time, does not have this luxury. Ten typical oil changes per day can be the most typical for your usual mobile oil change, after which the operator is exhausted. And even if a person can consistently make ten oil changes a day, he still needs to generate these oil changes from somewhere. They do not magically appear. Do you have a plan for how to do this? Most beginners think that corporate campuses will provide tons of business, especially if they are sold by companies there. In fact, it rarely works as advertised, and you are lucky if you get 10 customers in one year from a huge corporate campus. The final conclusion is that the net profit per oil change is too low to make it a viable business without a huge amount.
Secondly, many mobile oil change operators are not very good sellers. They are usually very honest people and those who are very passionate about what they do and you need to love it, but I found that most owners of mobile oil changes are terrible at the end of sales. They are usually the type who are trying to charge less than the current market rate, and I think they can tell a few people about their “awesome service” and wait by phone. It never works. You have to go and get them. You need to make a lot of cold calls. You should talk to a large number of fleet managers and sell your service first. Most in the oil changing business do not fully understand this or never apply themselves to this side of the business. This is probably the most important part, not only in the field of mobile oil change, but also in any business. I will go out on a limb and say that if you are great salespeople, you will succeed in business or franchise for mobile companies. If you know about cars, but not about sales, I recommend working for a new or used car dealer for 2-3 months and get experience. It will not be easy and terrible, but it is the fastest way to get good net sales without a lot of fluff. Then open your oil company.
Thirdly, the weather should not be underestimated, limiting the possibilities of mobile oil change operators. There are several states that have decent weather throughout the year. Half the states are very cold a few months out of the year, and the other half get really hot for 3/4 of a year. Both are equally discouraged. A fixed location may include air or include heat. Their operators work in a controlled environment. You don't have that luxury. You may have several fleets scheduled for one day, and that day it may rain. You were thinking about changing the oil to 0 degrees. Your hands will not be able to grab this oil filter or a scoundrel as hard as a stone, or you will not feel them. Or changing the hot engine oil to 150 degrees in a 100-degree wet weather on a vehicle, where its oil filter is in the middle of a hot engine, and you have to burn yourself to get to it? Do you remove it and skip it or burn it to get to it? It will happen.
Having mentioned these three main obstacles, and there is more, I will say that this is impossible. I achieved success. But I want someone to be right in front of me, and my partner has spent more than 80,000 dollars to enter the mobile oil change business. We were sold on a variety of unrealistic hopes and dreams from Jet Set Life Technologies about great wealth, using a damaged model with extreme oil. They set us up with a good van, and their product is good, but their whole system is spoiled upwards. We have found a way to make it work, but unfortunately, 90% of mobile oil change operators do not. The chance of success is very small. Understand what is really connected, and if you think you can grind it and not make money for 2-3 years, go for it.
