Practical people person? Become a Dent Wizard franchisee

Add a touch of magic to your future prospects with a Dent Wizard franchise

Someone with good practical skills, a determined approach and who enjoys dealing with people - that’s how Phil Newstead, managing director of Dent Wizard Ventures, describes the profile of his ideal franchisee. From his perspective, if those three qualities are in place at the outset, the company’s training and franchise support package will ensure success follows.

“Over the years we have developed a very successful franchise business model with three distinctive yet complementary brands - Dent Wizard, Wheel Wizard and Flying Colours - each one offering high quality specialised automotive repairs,” says Phil.

“The market for our services is enormous - there are in excess of 31 million cars on UK roads and at some time or another most will incur damage to their bodywork or alloy wheels. Whether it’s a motor dealer looking to get the best price for a vehicle or a private owner who takes pride in his car looking pristine, our franchisees are there to help out.”

Foundation
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Franchisee training is the foundation stone upon which Dent Wizard’s success has been built. The company’s modern 15,000 sq ft fully equipped training centre is located close to Sutton Coldfield and the M42. It’s here that franchisees spend up to eight weeks prior to business launch learning and refining the specialised skills required for removing dents, painting bodywork or refurbishing alloy wheels.

The training centre also incorporates a drive-in workshop, where customers can bring their vehicles for repair. Trainees can therefore gain valuable experience working on real live jobs, all under the watchful eye of trainers Darren Lowe and Adrian Moore, who are responsible for the franchisee training programme.

Says Phil: “Darren and Adrian are among the best in the business. They work to exceptionally high standards and ensure every franchisee meets those standards before they are approved to work in the business. Our reputation has been built upon a high level of expertise and service and we won’t allow it to be compromised.”

As part of its commitment to the motor industry’s demanding quality standards, Dent Wizard’s training centre is an IMI Awards Approved Assessment Centre, enabling it to carry out ATA Certifications for SMART repair. It also has the PAS125 British Standard for cosmetic repair.

Territory size is a key feature of the Dent Wizard franchise model. Franchisees benefit from an extensive postcode defined territory containing a good mix of franchised and independent motor dealers, car rental companies and fleet operators, together with the potential for plenty of private and insurance work.

Says Phil: “We believe in giving our franchisees the very best possible chance of success and so we carefully analyse each territory to ensure it has the necessary potential. We also like to offer franchisees the option to expand from being an owner-operator to a business owner employing their own team of mobile technicians. This has worked very successfully for us in a number of locations.”

Philosophy
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The Dent Wizard philosophy is to enable franchisees to spend as much time as possible in two critical areas - actual hands-on vehicle repair and developing business in their own locality. Head office support is therefore aimed specifically towards that objective.

Phil Newstead is very active in building relationships with motor manufacturers, insurance companies and dealer groups. As a result, valuable contracts have been won and an increasing level of business is now being referred to franchisees directly from head office. The administrative burden placed upon franchisees is also greatly reduced by centralised electronic invoicing linked to a hand-held PDA device. Cash collection is undertaken by the franchisor, releasing franchisees from time consuming credit control duties and guaranteeing funds are in their bank accounts soon after work is completed.

DWV franchisees operate from mobile workshops equipped with everything needed to carry out specialist bodywork and wheel repairs. Because there is no need for expensive commercial premises, start-up costs and overheads are relatively low.

Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that start-up finance can sometimes be problematic. To overcome this an ‘easy payments scheme’ has been introduced, enabling the franchise licence to be purchased with an initial down payment and interest free instalments over two years.

While some may view this as a risk, Phil takes the opposite view, saying: “We want the best quality franchisees and if this means helping out with finance then we’re happy to do it.”