You don’t need to be handy with a jack to own an automotive franchise, you just need a drive to learn, a positive client-first attitude, and the support of a strong franchise network
by Georgie Binks
Master Mechanic
The Master Mechanic brand is built on the principle that customers should be able to build a relationship with a technician who not only knows their name but also knows their vehicle inside and out. “The idea that you can talk to a mechanic is so important because that’s where the foundation of trust begins,” says Todd Wylie, president of Master Mechanic.
“Kindness is the number one value in our chain, whether it’s our team at head office or our franchise partners,” says Wylie. “When we took over the company four years ago, I spoke to one of our highest volume stores, and I asked them how they were doing what they were doing. He [the franchisee] told me the key was kindness.”
Wylie says Master Mechanic’s kind approach to business is what guides interactions between franchisees and their customers. “Usually, unless it’s a maintenance visit, the customer might be kind of stressed, because a visit to a mechanic is often bad news. It’s about how you treat people. So, kindness is key. It’s so important to our success as a brand that it’s a major consideration in our franchisee selection,” he explains, adding that franchisees need to be trustworthy, respectful, positive and reliable and give 110 per cent to the business.
Master Mechanic started with one location in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in 1982 and has now grown to 43 locations. The franchise has opened five locations in the past 11 months and will be opening eight to 10 locations throughout 2024.
The benefits of franchising with Master Mechanic are its strong business model and branding, which stand out in a growing industry. The company is also Canadian controlled and focused on multi-unit growth. The first couple years of the business, including staffing and securing real estate, can be challenging due to regional automotive use zoning lawns. And that’s where having a supportive franchisor like Master Mechanic can make all the difference.
You don’t need to be a licensed mechanic to own a Master Mechanic franchise. “One of our highest volume stores is owned by a former accountant,” Wylie says.
He notes that “an ideal franchisee must possess, at minimum, our core values of kindness, reliability, and the drive to maintain a strong commitment to team development and ongoing training.” Initial training consists of one week at head office and up to two weeks at the corporate location followed by ongoing support provided by the head office operations team.
His advice to potential automotive franchisees is to “learn the system and then follow the system. Focus on building a strong team and have an unwavering commitment to providing amazing customer service. Connect with your community every day.”
And of course, be kind.
Pro Fleet Care
Greg Lawrie says you’ll likely get your hands dirty if you’re a franchisee with Pro Fleet Care, but that’s about the only downside to his on-site mobile rust control franchise. As president of the automotive franchise system, Lawrie says, “It’s unique because in the past, fleet owners would have to go to a shop, sometimes with really large vehicles we couldn’t even fit in the shop. It was a total waste of time for them.”
That’s why Lawrie’s father, who had a rust-proofing shop in Hamilton, Ontario in the 1980s, realized there was no reason he couldn’t go to customers—and the franchise began.
Pro Fleet Care specializes in servicing heavy-duty equipment, from emergency vehicles and tractors to buses and RVs. As the name suggests, they specialize in serving fleet owners.
The franchise now has 60 locations from Canada’s east coast to Alberta. In the U.S., there are locations throughout the northeastern states from Minnesota to South Carolina, and even some as far south as Florida. Lawrie expects to add 10-15 units next year.
Franchisees are owner-operators and usually don’t have employees. “The challenge is it’s not easy work,” says Lawrie. “It’s not hard in heavy lifting, but can be dirty. They’re lying under vehicles. It’s dirty, it’s oily.”
The benefits to a franchisee are limited overhead, average to high profits, and they can write off their home office expenses. Lawrie says Pro Fleet Care also has a low barrier to entry. “For less than $50,000, they can be operational and have good margins.”
Pro Fleet Care’s initial training is a week long. “It’s really not that difficult once they understand the basic concepts. We put them together with other dealers from time to time to work with them.”
COVID had a positive effect on the franchise, as the majority of activity happens outside. “We could just spray vehicles out in the yard, versus going to a shop where you had to come in contact with somebody,” says Lawrie. Also, the shortage of new vehicles made fleet owners look for ways to prolong the life of their existing vehicles.
Lawrie says franchisees don’t need experience in the automotive business. There’s only one thing that’s important: they must be ethical. “When you’re lying underneath a vehicle, you’ve already sprayed seven or eight, you’ve got another one to do, you could cut corners and nobody would really know. But when you are under there you need to say, ‘I really need to do this, and I need to do it right.’ That’s the quality I am looking for.”
Simplicity Car Care
With most franchise systems, each business owner is considered a franchisee. But at Simplicity Car Care, a franchisee is called a “simplifier,” which is what the franchise is all about—making collision repair after an accident as simple and stress-free as possible.
Co-founder Paul Prochilo says the Simplicity Car Care concept involves supporting independent collision repair operators across Canada by providing unrivalled operational support.
The franchise was founded by Paul Prochilo, Domenic Ieraci, and Domenic Prochilo, who decided in 2017 to rebrand into Simplicity Car Care from Prochilo Brothers Auto Collision. The system has grown to 90 locations in six years, with locations in six out of 10 provinces.
Prochilo says helping franchisees/simplifiers meet their personal and professional ambitions is exceptionally rewarding. “Seeing our simplifiers grow and develop personally and professionally as the organization grows brings great satisfaction.”
Benefits for franchisees include best-in-class operational support navigating the supply chain, inflation, and labour shortage issues. “They’re joining a proven system that generates significant impact on same-store sales development, as proven by our contracts with national insurers,” explains Prochilo.
The franchise faces any operational challenges head on. “Given the nature of zoning laws that govern collision repair, we are typically focussed on conversion franchising versus new store development, which can limit new store growth potential,” says Prochilo. “It’s a fine balance to ensure we have empathy for all simplifiers converting their business.”
The pandemic allowed Simplicity Car Care to put the strength of the system to the test. In addition to lockdowns, Prochilo says some franchisees had a lot of trouble navigating government relief programs, so the franchisor took steps to set up support for them. “We established a committed 1-800 line and email, where franchisees could request support in filing for subsidies, grants, or any other support required. This was a tremendous success, and I am thankful to all simplifiers for their courage and commitment to our vision, even in the darkest days.
Prochilo says franchisees need to have a growth-versus-fixed mindset, be able to handle the dynamic changes common in the collision repair business, and be able to understand the repair segment process. For training, the franchise hosts biweekly calls with the entire system, weekly operational calls, and regional training workshops.
“The ideal franchisee is an individual who has a high proficiency in keeping a growth mindset and the ability to be coachable,” says Prochilo. “These are skills that are very difficult to train, but top performers in our system possess both characteristics.”
It’s as ‘simple’ as that.