The auto mechanic industry is one that is often overlooked and avoided. The industry is by no means "sexy," and the rapid adoption of EVs is challenging its very existence. Due to these traits, auto shop management software has also been overlooked by entrepreneurs. Currently, incumbents are servicing auto shops with often crude and clunky systems, creating an attractive, underserved market ripe for new entries.

Despite the industry often being over looked, the auto mechanic industry is significant. In Canada, there are 44,851 businesses in the automotive repair and maintenance industry and in the US, the market is even larger, with 240 thousand automotive repair and maintenance businesses. This brings the total number of auto shops in North America to over a quarter of a million. Given that Auto shop management software often charges auto shops a base rate of $100 per month, with added costs per additional user, a conservative estimate will bring the total annual addressable market to be over $340 million dollars.

Fig 1. Unappealing user experience

Fig 2. Complex interface, difficult to navigate

The market remains fragmented with over 93% of the market being occupied by smaller, mostly mom-and-pop shops. These shops typically have 3–5 employees: one person working as a secretary, the owner managing the business, and 1–3 mechanics to either independently handling work orders or assisting the owner with larger projects. The shop owners are often over the age of 50 and have spent decades in the auto mechanic industry, usually starting as apprentices until they gained enough experience and confidence to open their own shops. They love working with their hands and enjoy tinkering with cars but have little interest in backend operations and customer interactions. This leaves a lot of room for improvements, for a software to come in and streamline their backend operations.

Our aim is to create a software that can integrate seamlessly into the business to save the owner critical time when running their business. Overall, we want to create a software that can excel in a few key areas. We will provide users with a simple, convenient interface that has functionalities that better service the need of auto shops.