Mobile Oil Change Business Competitive Intelligence Gathering in Business Planning Phase; Case Study - By Lance Winslow

[Lance Winslow]

By Lance Winslow

Whenever you start any type of business, it is a pretty good idea to see what competition you might have out there. Find out what they are charging, who they are and what type of volume they have. If you are planning on starting a Mobile Oil Change business, these rules also apply. Typically, mobile oil change operators do not realize that their biggest competition is really the low-cost discounters that are at fixed sites - like Wal-Mart Auto Center for instance.

Depending on the affluence of the area, this could be a huge issue, but it you are looking for fleet business, it is irrelevant or if you are in a high-end area of wealth, like the Suburbs of West of Chicago, or those areas North of Dallas-Ft. Worth. If you are going to be operating in such an area of high-net-income demographics, then the Wal-Mart or discounting fixed site oil change companies are not important at all.

Most long-time mobile oil change companies that are any good generally do not advertise much, sometimes they are in the phone book, but not all the time. Many of the fleet oil change companies are not in the phone book or they also do other types of truck maintenance, thus are listed in a different section of the phone book, sometimes a little one-line listing, which can be deceiving to the not trained person who is unfamiliar with the industry.

So you cannot tell, but once you start pounding on doors during your blitz marketing campaigns you will find this out, as potential customers will tell that they have it all covered and they are not interested in your services. Generally, folks in the industry will know, who they are or you can always ask the Snap-on-Tool guy, they seem to know everyone who does that type of work in town, it's their job to know. Just do not ask a computer guy, they don't know squat about the industry.



By Lance Winslow