Hello! Im asking the wonderful community here for some advice.
Im curious, what do i need to do to be straight and legal?
(im in Quebec, Canada)
I just bought an old car shop, with a lot of tools and 2 car lifts. Its in good shape.
Ive been working on cars in my home garage for 12 years, so i can do just about anything on them.
Can i get a commercial license? What kind of license do i need? What about insurance? Do i get incorporated ? Whats the process? What do i need to do in order to be allowed to put up my big “OPEN” sign up in the window ?
I dont have a high school diploma or DEP diploma. I learned everything on my own (with the help of others)
Thanks!
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I’m in the US, but I would highly recommend creating an LLC for protection, especially with car repair. Definitely get business liability insurance. Contact your local town administrator and county and ask how to open a business. They should be able to guide you about registering, etc.
in canada… its probably different…
in america…
Business license. which is a repair and sales license to sell parts and repairs. … it is also a tax license… in america… you need an account with the IRS …
a business banking account…
just in California… you need a license from the bureau of auto repair. BAR… to operate a repair shop…
this is how to write estimates in california…
https://www.bar.ca.gov/pdf/writeitright.pdf. good info almost anywhere…
you will need a EPA permit for your waste oils and waste coolants…
shop insurance… workmens compensation. perhaps life insurance that covers the remaining if anything happens…
in some locations you need a license for your air compressor tank…
you may also need licenses for your oxygen and acetylene tank
a flammable container approved box and a flammable rag bin with a lid…
you will want a computer with a point of sale program. and an inventory program…
you will need a printer to print receipts…
you will need a cell phone that you can take PDF images of every parts invoice coming in… any bill… that can be emailed to your shop billing email… not a email for anything else. if your images are dated… you can go in and sort the line numbers to where they go… to which repair invoice… stock… and how much the parts cost. you … that may be complex. as you may have different prices from different suppliers…
if your book keeper has access to that account it will make their life easier… be sure to have a second secure computer at home to keep those emails in…
IATN.net used to and probably still has a shop owners section… i have not visited that site in decades…
repair info source… since you are in canada… and models vary. i don’t know what to use… hopefully it is fully stocked with printed manuals … my printed manuals cover 1960 to 1998…
there is a bunch more…
I’m not sure for Canada, I’m in California and we have something called the Bureau of Automotive Repair, which is where I’m licensed as a professional repair facility with the state even though I am concentrating mostly on the performance aftermarket.
Also, insurance. Since you’re a legitimate shop, you should get whatever Canada’s version of garagekeeper’s insurance is (there are a lot of people here who just open “shops” without any license or insurance or anything just because they work on their friend’s cars). I have this in addition to my business owner’s policy. It also covers fire or someone who might get hurt at my business, even fraud issues. I know someone who was in a car accident in a customer car and he had to pay out of pocket to replace it.
Also, check for used oil pickup or disposal, coolant too. You’ll need to comply with local laws depending on what kind of shop you have. If you’ll be having barrels on site you might have to be signed up with a government agency for compliance.
I’ll always advocate for education but you seem to be fine since you’re in the position to buy a shop. Check your local province or county or city to see if they might have requirements. Cities here in LA country normally require business licenses in addition to professional license, like my BAR license, but I know some local small businesses that have not filed for that and haven’t had issues.