3 ms·

I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local mechanics I

I used to work with a mechanic that did this and even now I own a site that collects requests in an east coast city and forwards them to some local mechanics I have an arrangement with. It's a great idea and people absolutely love it. Every tool needed is in the mechanics mobile shop, usually an outfitted van, and even fluid collection and disposal is not an issue. The problem is permits and insurance. These expense take a nice chunk out of any margin you have set up that keeps your prices competitive. The other issue is scaling. Mechanics will not work for per-job pay, they all want hourly. Putting a crew with a mobile unit on standby and waiting for a job is very inefficient if you have to pay them while they wait. While YM may have figured out how to make it scale as one large organization, it would be much better to build a marketplace where qualified independent mechanics compete for jobs as they come in, with work certified and backed by YM - like the Uber model.

artag 14y ago
it is like that model. the only difference is that we dont ask our mechanics to compete. we set the fair price for them so that there is no bidding.
- chrsstrm 14y ago
  So then how do you schedule them if they don't compete? Is this more of a "fill your spare capacity" setup or do they work certain shifts? Also, what is your average response time? Same day or scheduled in advance? I don't really mean to reveal all your secret sauce, but since I dealt with this stuff for a couple months I'm curious. The mechanic I worked with wanted to go big time but my partner and I decided he wasn't a good fit to run an operation at that scale.
  - artag 14y ago
    mechanic set their own time. response time really depends on how busy they are. we don't promise a response time yet. our mechanics use our mobile app to do all their scheduling. it is really fill your spare capacity model (work on weekends, evenings, free days during week) etc.

artag 14y ago

it is like that model. the only difference is that we dont ask our mechanics to compete. we set the fair price for them so that there is no bidding.

chrsstrm 14y ago
So then how do you schedule them if they don't compete? Is this more of a "fill your spare capacity" setup or do they work certain shifts? Also, what is your average response time? Same day or scheduled in advance? I don't really mean to reveal all your secret sauce, but since I dealt with this stuff for a couple months I'm curious. The mechanic I worked with wanted to go big time but my partner and I decided he wasn't a good fit to run an operation at that scale.
- artag 14y ago
  mechanic set their own time. response time really depends on how busy they are. we don't promise a response time yet. our mechanics use our mobile app to do all their scheduling. it is really fill your spare capacity model (work on weekends, evenings, free days during week) etc.