Tyre Devotion Just Keeps On Rolling

Tyre Devotion Just Keeps On Rolling!

Established in 2008, Tyre Devotion provides mobile tyre repair and replacement services in the North East of Scotland. With superior service standards, they promise to show up at home, at work, or on the roadside, to get you moving if your tyres have stopped you in your tracks!

They take pride in the fact that they deliver on their promises 100% of the time, so if they promise to turn up at 10 am, they will be there. It is their exceptional service and outstanding reliability that has enabled them to not only win but keep so many loyal customers.

In their early years of trading, they experienced rapid growth, with three mobile repair vehicles on the road by 2011. Their obsession with customer service and desire to reward loyal customers led to their FREE Priority Customer Card launch, providing even more complementary services and discounts to customers who stay with them over time. Their business model requires them to be agile, so customers who call before 10 am are assured of same day service.

Fast forward to 2018, and Tyre Devotion had built a loyal customer base of almost 700 Priority Card Customers, but they were turning down up to 3 jobs a week due to stock limitations. Stocking low volumes of common tyres and limiting the number of specialist tyres held in stock meant they couldn’t serve every single customer that came their way.

Business owner Norman knew that to broaden their reach and improve their service, they needed to increase stock levels, but he was concerned that sinking capital into stock that might not be used would affect cash flow. 

In an effort to mitigate the risk of stocking tyres that might take time to roll out to customers, Norman decided that a merchant cash advance would be the ideal way to experiment with a new business model that meant stocking higher numbers of standard tyres, along with lower quantities of unusual but regularly requested tyres for high end or unusual vehicles. With a merchant cash advance, you pay back the advance as a percentage of turnover, and whilst interest rates are higher than alternative sources of lending, this means you only pay when the work is coming in.

The initial cash injection from RMS dedicated funding provider YouLend, was used to purchase higher volumes of tyre stock at better rates, thus improving the profitability of each job. Tyre Devotion no longer turns away jobs due to stock issues, and as the advance is paid back based on sales levels, repayment only occurs if stock is moved. For small businesses who want to buy stock, improve cash flow, or spread the cost of capital purchases, a merchant cash advance can facilitate growth, act as a buffer, and give business owners much needed peace of mind.

Merchants can benefit from multiple rounds of funding, with around 85% of merchants taking advantage of further funding that is unlocked when their current advance is almost settled. Norman of Tyre Devotion has enjoyed six rounds of funding at different levels and often plans capital expenditure for when the next round of funding becomes available.

After using a previous round of funding to cover the VAT on two new vehicles while he waited to claim it back, and another to buy specialist wheel straightening equipment, Norman anticipates the next round of funding will be used to buy winter stock, giving him the security of knowing that he can continue to deliver on his service delivery promises.

The merchant cash advance facility has meant that Norman could react to service limitations, negotiate better rates on stock, increase sales, improve profitability, and save himself the stress and uncertainty of investing in stock that might not have sold.

Whatever vehicle you drive, if something goes wrong with your tyres or alloys and you are stuck in North East Scotland, Tyre Devotion can help you to get back on the road safely. You can also find them on Facebook.

If your business might benefit from a merchant cash advance, use this link to access funding from our funding partner YouLend.

“RMS has been our payment partner since the business started, and we are very happy with the service they provide. As we are in a remote part of the country, we utilise a virtual terminal to take payments from customers, so we don’t have to worry about connection issues. Introducing us to their funding provider has helped us to improve our business in a way that feels less risky and manageable. Repayments are manageable and linked to turnover, and funding can be used for whatever I need meaning I am in control.” Business Owner, Tyre Devotion.