One of the biggest challenges we are still trying to overcome is trust. Customers do not trust car repair shops or an online service like this. With hard work and customer care, Garage will succeed.
Name: Garage – Tu taller a domicilio.
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
Website: http://www.tugarage.mx
Product / Service Offering: Automotive Tune-up, Oil Change, and Diagnostics on Demand
Co-founder Interviewed: Abraham de la Rosa
Other Key Management Team Members: Mauricio Salgado, Abraham Liñan, Pablo Alvarado
This article is part of our Business Startup Spotlight series featuring entrepreneurs and their companies. We hope that these founders’ interviews will inspire and motivate you as you undertake your own entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us a little about yourself with a focus on what motivates you.
I am passionate for design and innovation. I seek new challenges and learning from these new experiences.
When did you establish your company and where did the idea originate?
Garage was established in January 2016, while Mauricio was in the university. We designed the company based on a service design thinking methodology, which has helped us to be competitive among similar businesses.
What need or needs does your company seek to fill for its customers?
Some people do not have time to go to the car repair shop nor do they enjoy it. A perceived risk exists of scamming by paying extra for something that did not need to be fixed in the first place. We thought of a solution to this by offering car maintenance services at your home with trusted mechanics that can do the job with professionalism and care.
What is the one thing that sets your company apart from its competitors?
We are a team of experienced designers and customer service specialists who analyzed and improved the customer’s expectations towards this industry. We look forward to delivering better results along this journey. We know we have strong competition, but we are confident that we are one of the few who can offer better satisfaction in express mechanic services in Latin America.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while getting your company up and running, and how did you overcome it?
One of the biggest challenges we are still trying to overcome is trust. Customers do not trust car repair shops or an online service like this. With hard work and customer care, Garage will succeed.
Are there resources you have utilized that other founders might find compelling or useful?
Yes. Google Analytics and Ads are a huge asset for our company as well as using business strategy and development. We were empowered by the Google Launchpad program months ago. We have applied our learnings, which has significantly improved our efforts on customer acquisition.
What steps have you taken to secure funding for your company and what, if anything, would you do differently if you had to start over?
We were very strategic on the way we set our capital table, leaving a big pool of stocks to find investors who want to join us. The company is funded with the revenue generated by every service we make. We have had several propositions of investment; however, we are still waiting for the right proposal to fund our enterprise.
Have there been any questions you have had as an entrepreneur of a fledgling startup that you had a particularly hard time finding the answers to?
I think the most difficult part was on determining the best strategy to set up our capital table, as well as legal and financial matters. Fortunately we have had several people along the way that have helped us with this effort.
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What challenges, if any, are you grappling with?
Funding is what we have been struggling with most. We believe Mexican investors lack enthusiasm for emerging startups because of the risk they represent. We need to educate them on this matter.
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What is the most helpful tip or “hack” you’ve ever learned, stumbled across, or been given?
How to have productive meetings is one of the most helpful tips we have been given. Using social networks to communicate with our customers has been helpful as well.
Want to learn about other businesses in the spotlight? Check out our Business Startup Spotlight Series.
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Sandra Sloan
Sandra has previous supply chain and business operations experience which she is leveraging as an author with FundingSage focused on spotlighting entrepreneurs and their startup efforts.
