If you’re wondering how to become a car dealer, here’s a quick guide to help you get started –
Set up your business goals
As part of finding out how to open a car dealership, start by setting up your business goals. Think of what you want from your used car dealership with these questions –
- Decide how much of your business should be online or walk-ins?
- What are the costs involved in opening a car dealership?
- How much inventory should you start with?
- Do you want to employ people or sell cars yourself?
Apply for a motor dealer licence
In order to sell cars, you will need to apply for a motor dealer licence issued by your state. Most states allow you to do this online once you register your business name and apply for your ABN/ACN number. Click on the links below to head to the licensing page of the state you operate in –
- New South Wales Motor Dealer Licence
- Victoria Motor Dealer Licence
- Queensland Motor Dealer Licence
- Northern Territory Motor Dealer Licence
- South Australia Motor Dealer Licence
- Tasmania Motor Dealer Licence
- Western Australia Motor Dealer Licence
- Australian Capital Territory Motor Dealer Licence
Build your inventory
You will need to source vehicles to sell. Here’s how to start doing that –
- Register with auction houses
- Buy from private sellers
- Buy from wholesalers
Get a dealer management system (DMS) to streamline your workload
To manage your inventory more efficiently, get a dealer management system that –
- Automates all operations, including advertising, accounting, stock management and more
- Updates compliance forms automatically for your state so you don’t do it manually.
- Helps you track leads and sales at the click of a button
- Stores your data securely without forcing you to make any heavy IT investments
- Offers you instant phone support for quicker resolutions
Set up your dealership accounting
Xero and MYOB are two of the most popular and easy accounting packages for dealerships in Australia today. They can help you –
- Record your expenses and income to track your dealership’s performance.
- Easily be integrated with your DMS to give you a solution that calculates GST, BAS reports, Notional Input Tax Credit Entitlements, Trade-ins, Consignments, Floorplan & more.
Build an online presence
Most car shoppers today start research online so make sure you set up your online presence from the start. This includes –
- Facebook page
- Google My Business page
- A website
Make your online presence felt by getting customers to review your dealership on Facebook and Google because online reviews today are the new word of mouth.
Plan your online advertising
Apart from listing your vehicle inventory on your website, you may want to take advantage of the traffic existing online advertisers have. Some of the most popular advertisers for car dealers include –
- Car Sales
- Gumtree
- Facebook Marketplace
- Cars Guide
Your DMS provider should let you easily advertise to all of these marketplaces and more to help you put your vehicles in front of more buyers.
EasyCars is an easy, web-based dealer management system that automates and manages everyday dealership tasks from one central location –giving you complete control without any hassle. If you’d like to know more about software for your car dealership, call us on 1300 473 744.
DISCLAIMER – The content within this blog does not constitute professional advice and is intended to be general in nature.