A lot of people and vehicle owners have been frustrated by the level of available manpower and quality of service obtainable in the automobile service industry in developing countries. It is for this reason that many enthusiast wish to own a workshop in order to alleviate the delays, recurrent repair problems and damages experienced by customers.
Would be workshop owners usually think in terms of finance or the funds required for such a venture , forgetting that the funds required is actually a small part of the overall problem to overcome.
Just as having a CAT (Computer Axial Tomography) scan machine is useless unless you are an experienced neuro- surgeon, also having the latest in vehicle diagnostic equipment does very little in providing efficient service if the technical manpower is not available.
There are several levels of manpower available in the automobile repair business in developing countries, from the capable but illiterate road side/shade tree mechanic to the incapable but educated university graduate engineer, to the experienced but static company trained technicians. Each of these types have their various issues that has to be coped with should you want to incorporate any of them in your business
Most illiterate road side mechanics are totally resistant to education and are distracted by the little sums of money they rake in daily. Their various abrasive character traits combine to make an already bad situation worse. You are also likely to encounter a large dose of carelessness, stubbornness and duplicity when managing this type.
The main reason why most of road side mechanics did not go to school is that because they simply could not pass through primary school successfully or dropped out of secondary school due to poor performance though their universal alibi is that they did not have anybody to help pay their school fees.
The incapable graduates are nice to work with as customer support personnel or Public relations persons but on a purely technical level, many of these people were not just prepared by their education to function autonomously and usually find it difficult to cope with the fact that they need to produce tangible results – in this case fix the vehicle- in order to earn a very good salary.
The experienced technicians can be used to set up a workshop but these guys are like sole proprietors, they want to be their own boss, set their own time table which is commendable.
The main problem is that they neither teach nor share knowledge with the less experienced people. It is not uncommon to hang around this type for years and learn nothing from them and because they will not teach the little they know, they end up knowing less.
Using this type as the ‘main man’ is not recommended for a small owner shop as they ensure the whole business revolves around them while positively de-schooling the employees they are supposed to empower.
This leaves the educated car enthusiasts as the main option for a small independent workshop. Most of these educated enthusiasts are non mechanics or engineers and usually have better working knowledge of the vehicle than the average graduate engineer.
They are usually around when a vehicle is being repaired (theirs or others) and are likely to be seen tinkering with vehicles over the weekend .
A lot of them have been know to change fan belts, tires and replace vehicle batteries on their own and their interest leads them to read articles or technical publications related to automobile technology. In contrast, a lot of engineering graduates do not even have a drivers license which enthusiasts usually obtain by the age of eighteen and do not have a basic knowledge of automobiles.
Enthusiasm is worth more than five years of education, therefore, by encouraging an already enthusiastic person with adequate training, it is quite easy to get the best kind of technical manpower needed for your small independent shop. Such a person can be easily paired with a road side mechanic in order to achieve a cost effective service for the customer.