Lakerun Commercial Capital in Findlay, Ohio helps auto repair shops request funding for lifts, alignment machines and scan tools, parts and tire stock, technician wages and buying a shop. Partners review bank and card statements and equipment quotes, then set any terms. The Hancock County, OH repair-shop counts on this page are Census Bureau figures.
At a glance
- Repair bays with payroll, Hancock County, OH
42 (CBP 2023)
- Portion with one to four on payroll
52.4% (CBP 2023)
- Auto repair businesses with no payroll at all
62 (NES 2024)
Cash in and out of a repair bay
Retail customers pay when they pick up the car. Fleet accounts, dealership sublet work and some insurance jobs pay on account, weeks later. Parts are bought the day the car comes in, and technicians are paid on the regular schedule either way. A shop that adds a fleet contract can see its billed hours rise while its bank balance falls.
That gap is a working capital gap. Lifts and diagnostic tools are equipment financing purchases; a parts and tire shelf can be inventory financing.
Small Business Loans for an Auto Repair Shop in Findlay, OH
County Business Patterns counted 42 auto repair and maintenance employer establishments in Hancock County, OH in 2023, with 214 employees and $9.2 million in payroll; 52.4% had fewer than five employees. By our arithmetic that is about 5.1 employees and $43,093 of payroll per employee on average. In ZIP 45840, 31 such shops had an address (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate Census program, counted 62 auto repair businesses in the county with no paid employees in 2024, with $4.3 million in receipts. That count is not added to the employer count.
Business Loans for an Auto Repair Shop: What Findlay, OH Owners Should Know
- Recent months of bank and card processor statements for the shop
- An aging list for fleet and commercial accounts
- Quotes for any lift, alignment machine or scan tool
- A list of equipment already financed and the payments
- The bay lease and its end date
Business Loans for Auto Repair Business Around Findlay, OH
The business, not just the bay, is what a partner funds. That can mean buying out a retiring owner, adding a bay, taking on a second location or refinancing equipment payments. A term loan fits a purchase or expansion; a line of credit fits parts and wages that swing with the job mix.
For tow and roadside work tied to a shop, see our article on a tow truck loan in Findlay, OH.
Auto Shop Equipment Financing: What Findlay, OH Owners Should Know
Two-post and four-post lifts, alignment racks, tire changers and balancers, scan tools, brake lathes, air compressors and shop management software are financed as equipment. Scan tools and software can need updates every year, so ask whether the financing covers the subscription or only the hardware.
Illustration only, invented figures: a $14,000 lift and installation financed over 36 months at an illustrative annual rate of 11 percent comes to about $458 a month by our arithmetic, about $16,500 in total.
Auto Repair Equipment Financing Options Around Findlay, OH
| Equipment | Option | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Lifts and alignment racks | Machine loan, or a lease | Long-lived; a loan builds ownership |
| Scan tools and software | Lease or short equipment loan | Ask about update costs |
| Tire and parts stock | Inventory financing | Or a line of credit |
| A used tow truck | Equipment loan | Run the payment in the calculator |
Do Auto Repair Shops Finance Repairs? A Hancock County, OH Business Question
Some shops offer customers a way to pay for large repairs over time through a third-party consumer finance program. That is consumer financing, set up between the shop, the program and the driver, and Lakerun does not arrange it. What Lakerun covers is funding for the shop itself.
Customer financing can still affect the shop's cash: a program may pay the shop a few days after the job. If that timing matters, list it on the first call.
Buying an existing shop in Hancock County, OH
A shop purchase brings a known price, a list of equipment, a customer base and, in many sales, a lease to take over. A partner reads the seller's statements and tax returns alongside the buyer's own history in the trade. Equipment in the sale may be valued separately, and a lift or alignment rack already financed by the seller has to be paid off or assumed.
Ask the seller early for three things: recent statements, the equipment list with any liens, and the lease. With those, a term loan request for the purchase can be framed clearly.
Illustration: a fleet contract and the wage gap
Illustration only, invented figures: a Findlay, OH shop signs a fleet account worth $9,000 a month in labor and parts, paid 45 days after month end. The shop buys about $3,600 of parts for the account each month and pays technicians about $4,200 for the hours, $7,800 in all by our sum. Until the first payment lands, about 75 days in, the shop carries roughly two months of that cost, about $15,600. That is the size of the working capital or line of credit request, not the contract's full value.
By Lakerun Commercial Capital · Updated