The Auto Body Shop
A paint booth, a frame machine, and a stack of insurance estimates: collision repair is an auto trade that runs on direct-repair programs, where the carrier is the real customer and cycle time decides profit.
Read the launch plan: every step from deciding to opening, free →The Snapshot
Is this worth your attention?
Estimated Typical bands for this kind of business, estimated from adjacent public data where no direct benchmark exists; treat them as rough. Estimates, not forecasts; a specific business varies with its location, lease, equipment and owner. Last reviewed 2026-07-07. smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice.
A good fit if you
- Have real capital or financing; a paint booth, frame machine, and lifts are expensive
- Know the trade or will run skilled body techs and painters closely
- Can build relationships with insurers and earn into direct-repair programs
- Are comfortable managing cycle time, parts ordering, and a thin gross margin
A poor fit if you
- Are undercapitalized; the booth and frame equipment alone are a heavy bill
- Want a low-skill, hands-off business with simple pricing
- Resent the carrier setting rates and calling total losses on your estimates
- Underestimate cycle time; a car stuck in a bay is revenue you cannot turn
Step Inside the Layout
A live look at one tool inside
This is the actual 3D floor from the full model. Drag to explore it. Inside, you configure the space yourself and watch the economics move with every choice.
Sources and method13 public sources, with the year and a link where the source gives one. The benchmark bands on this page are estimated from adjacent data and labeled as estimates.
Sources & Method
Figures are estimated from the public sources below and from adjacent data; the bands are labeled as estimates
How these numbers were built: body repairer pay comes from BLS OEWS 49-3021; industry structure from Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 811121); sale prices, owner earnings (SDE) and multiples from BizBuySell’s 2021 to 2025 auto repair and service benchmarks, a group that includes body shops; SBA loan performance from an analysis of SBA lending records; repair cost and calibration trends from CCC’s Crash Course; cost targets from a collision consultant’s benchmarks in FenderBender; and survival from BLS Business Employment Dynamics. The plan splits its monthly costs into labor (about 26% of sales, close to those targets for technician plus office labor), rent, marketing and other overhead. DRP mix, cycle time and total-loss figures are planning estimates from collision industry sources. The opening kit prices each line from dealer listings, cost guides and Maaco’s franchise disclosure, checked in October 2026. Verify cycle time, DRP mix, total-loss rate and equipment age against any specific shop before relying on these numbers.
Labor pay is grounded in BLS OEWS data (SOC 49-3021) and industry structure in Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 811121), both cited in this file. Cycle-time, DRP-mix, total-loss, and margin figures are compiled from secondary collision-repair industry sources referenced as "repairAnchor" in this file rather than a single audited benchmark study; treat these ratios as informed industry-typical estimates and verify against a real shop P&L and carrier scorecards.
This is just the surface
The full model is the complete, interactive deep-dive, and every business here is built to the same standard: a live economics simulator you tune to your own numbers, an interactive 3D walkthrough, a location scorecard, an owner-fit assessment, a buy-versus-build comparison, and the full breakdown of how it makes money and what quietly kills margin.
then $29 a month
Time to choose and start, then month to month.
$99 today for your first 3 months, then $29 a month until you cancel.
about $17 a month
The best price: a year to decide, open and run it.
$199 today, then $199 each year until you cancel.
Renews until you cancel. Cancel any time from your account; you keep access to the end of the period you paid for, and your saved plans stay in your account. What membership opens
smbnest is a self-assessment tool. It does not give individualized financial, investment, legal or tax advice. Figures are estimates and benchmarks, not forecasts. Speak with a qualified financial adviser and a licensed attorney before you start, buy, finance or sign anything.