He decides to make his existing building strictly body shop and offices and to build a 6,000-square-foot addition to house a new paint shop that will be fully equipped with two downdraft booths, two double downdraft prep stations and a paint-mixing room. Now suppose Joe decides to expand his shop in an effort to grow his business. The shop’s end-of-the-year profit-and-loss statement looks as follows (see Figure 1): Joe’s Body Shop is 8,000 square feet in total size and employs six technicians and three office personnel. Consider the following hypothetical example: So, before proceeding with any construction plans, sit down with an accountant and prepare a detailed financial plan for the project. A sudden increase in overhead and operating expense without an increase in cash flow can produce disastrous results. All of these buildings make unlikely homes for thriving collision repair businesses, yet that’s exactly what they are - thriving businesses.Įxpanding a marginally profitable business can be a less-than-rewarding proposition.

Others have body shop operations isolated in multiple buildings, making the repair process seemingly disjointed. Some of these buildings, which were never intended to be repair facilities, are filled with columns and are divided by load-bearing walls. Many of these shops are found in aging structures, which are often the result of incremental expansions that occurred with gradual business growth. Evidence of this exists in the number of successful shops throughout the country that seemingly defy the laws of collision repair.

The truth of the matter is, productivity and profitability are just as much functions of management as they are functions of physical capacity.

While these elements can increase capacity, they simultaneously increase overhead and operating costs. A common misconception among many shop owners is that more equipment and more square footage will automatically yield more profit. Before taking on any design project, some important planning stages should be considered.

Simple tribal body paint design