Advice for independent garage owners

Things worth knowing.

Straight-talking advice on running a garage business, from someone who ran one.

Pricing and profit

Cost of doing business: the golden ticket most garages never work out

A garage sells one thing: time. If you don't know what an hour costs you to open your doors, you'll never set your labour rate right.

Andy Savva · 20 October 2026

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Pricing and profit

Pricing like the garage down the road? Why the average price is a trap

Setting your prices by what everyone else in the area charges feels safe. It's the most dangerous place a garage can be, and it starts a cycle that's hard to break.

20 October 2026 · Read it : Pricing like the garage down the road? Why the average price is a trap

Pricing and profit

The MOT fee: why a rise is overdue, and why it isn’t the whole problem

The MOT fee has been frozen at £54.85 since 2010 and a rise is finally being talked about. It's long overdue. But the fee isn't the only thing holding the MOT down. We are.

20 October 2026 · Read it : The MOT fee: why a rise is overdue, and why it isn’t the whole problem

Pricing and profit

Put your labour rate up £10 tomorrow. You won’t lose a customer.

Most garage owners are scared to raise their labour rate. Here's why I tell every owner on my finance course to put it up by £10 the next day, and what happens when they do.

20 October 2026 · Read it : Put your labour rate up £10 tomorrow. You won’t lose a customer.

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