A body shop earns this case's revenue from productive bay-days, not from every day a vehicle occupies the premises. Fictional Juniper Bodyworks has 132 available bay-days per base month and sells 72.6 at 55% utilization. The six-bay, four-production-worker forecast remains loss-making from January 2027 to December 2029.
Validate productive bay occupation against the actual paid roster and repair sequence before committing the shop.
A parked vehicle is not automatically a productive bay-day
Juniper Bodyworks is a collision and paint shop in the Columbus suburbs. Its fee unit is a realized amount per productive bay-day, rather than a full repair ticket or a technician-hour rate. A vehicle waiting for parts can occupy space without generating another modeled sale.
Two body technicians, a refinishing technician and a preparation/finishing technician must deliver the work within the bay calendar. A paid owner estimator and paid customer administration support production without becoming additional technicians. Available positions alone do not establish a deliverable repair sequence.
Allocate repair occupation without double-counting paint
The selected base mix earns $69,151.50 at a weighted $952.50 per productive bay-day. Dent, bumper, panel, collision and standalone paint work are exclusive allocations. Paint already inside a panel or collision repair is not another standalone sale.
| Service | Base sold volume | Fee per bay-day | Base revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dent repair | 10.89 bay-day | $600.00 | $6,534.00 |
| Bumpers | 14.52 bay-day | $800.00 | $11,616.00 |
| Panels | 18.15 bay-day | $1,050.00 | $19,057.50 |
| Collision work | 18.15 bay-day | $1,250.00 | $22,687.50 |
| Paint only | 10.89 bay-day | $850.00 | $9,256.50 |
| Total selected mix | 72.6 bay-day | $952.50 weighted | $69,151.50 |
Separate parts waiting from purchased work and paid labor
Direct purchases consume 42% of revenue. Only parts and paint enter physical goods holding; outside repair services are not stock. Separate processing, warranty/rework materials and job transport costs leave 55.5% for fixed payroll and shop overhead.
The productive occupation assumption needs a schedule of workers, bays and repair stages. Track active repair, parts waiting, approval waiting and rework separately. Counting every occupied position as productive would conceal the source of the shortfall rather than explain it.
The shop pays skilled payroll before every invoice is collected
The saved opening year forecasts $760,666.50 revenue, -$107,080.39 EBITDA and -$143,897.07 net income. EBITDA is before depreciation, interest and income tax. Final-year EBITDA remains -$23,103.00, so later volume assumptions have not removed the operating loss.
The model assumes 9 physical goods days, 16-day payment and 21-day collection. Proposed equity is $510,000.00, including $350,000.00 owner funding, against $252,200.00 launch uses. External capital is uncommitted. Lease/utility deposits and unquoted installed-site requirements are excluded.
Test productive throughput before committing to six bays
Build a repair-stage log that follows each bay from available space through active work to release. Reconcile that log with actual worker time, accepted repair scope, parts purchases and collection.
If parked work blocks the production sequence, address parts readiness, estimating or scheduling before raising the productive bay-day target. More floor space and more proposed reserve do not themselves produce additional accepted repair work.
Make the next decision with your own evidence
Collect active-versus-waiting bay records tied to worker effort, parts readiness, accepted fees and payment; obtain configured facility and equipment quotes before revising capacity.
Explore published business plan examples ↗Juniper Bodyworks is a fictional prelaunch scenario prepared with AI assistance. Inputs are illustrative; forecast results come from the matching saved financial model. Funding is proposed. The diagrams explain the case and do not depict actual premises, established demand or promised earnings. Replace the assumptions with evidence before committing.
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