How To Become A Profitable Car Dealer In Ghana

Cars are the most widely used form of transport in the
world.
Ghana has an incredible population of car owners.
Hundreds of thousands of cars are bought every day.
You
won’t comprehend how profitable it is to become a car
dealer until you go into it.
Some families owns more than
one car in their household, some own one for a few years
and decide to replace them.
While some are buying it for
the first time.
Car dealership in Ghana means buying automobiles from
overseas at a cheap rate to sell at a profit in Ghana.
The
buying sources vary, the most common being auction/
bidding sites.
Then there is the Cotonou market in the
Republic of Benin, where cars from all over the world are
imported there and sold at a very cheap price.
In the
dealership venture both used and new cars are sought after,
you just have to weigh the demand for each specific car
before buying them to resell.
What You Need To Become A Car Dealer
1. Pay For A Car Dealership License
To become a car dealer in Ghana, you need to apply for and
pay the ‘Car Dealership License’ fee.
It certifies you as an
authenticated car dealer which comes with numerous
advantages.
With that, you can become a certain
company’s franchise, i.e. selling only their car models.
There are bidding sites that accept only certified dealers to
their site, where you will come across overwhelming deals.
Lastly, you avoid being prosecuted by the law.
The process of registration and other information pertaining
to the license can be found in the road safety offices in your
respective regions.
2. Buy Your Cars
You may buy your cars at the auction and bidding sites
open to you as a certified dealer.
Cars are cheaper in
auction compared to other sites or you could prepare for a
trip to Benin Republic.
You could hire a driver to deliver the car to your
destination.
When you buy cars from a foreign country, it is
usually through a phone call or completely online as if you
are buying on Amazon.
You will be asked to input your
shipping address, in this case it will be the port because of
custom clearance.
Another way is when you are franchising for a particular
brand of car, they will handle the logistics for you.
Yours
will be just to sell and order again.
However, that
arrangement can only be possible if you are dealing in
brand new cars.
3. List The Cars Online
There are hundreds of popular websites you can list the
vehicles in your inventory as classifieds adverts.
Listing
them in sites like jiji.com, konga.com and olx.com is a
smart move because these kind of sites have a lot of reach.
It is incumbent to list your cars in car sales sites where
other dealers list their cars at a price they want and wait for
purchasing customers.
Although the websites provide form fields you can fill but in
case they don’t make filling some of the fields compulsory
here are a few of the ones you must fill when posting
online.
Add your location. Customers prefer to buy from where the
cars are located to escape paying exorbitant fees for the
car delivery.
Always add quality pictures of the car.
Write a short description of the vehicle, point out its model,
mileage, any defects, and any custom-made additions.
Specify whether its new or old and any other detail you feel
is necessary.
Your contact information, perhaps it is the most important.
There might be other fields that are not mentioned here.
However, these are the most crucial ones when posting
anywhere online.
Most of the sites let you post an ad for
free but it would be wise if you opt for a paid ad if they have
the option.
Your ad would be featured and promoted vigorously in the
site, appearing at the top of search results.
It is preferable
to run your paid ad for at least a week to ensure maximum exposure.
This will enable you to sell quicker.
4. Find A Plot of Land And Garage
A garage where you simply lock up the cars won’t be
enough.
You will need a showroom or a piece of land to
display your cars in the open.
This method is more popular
among car dealers in Ghana.
Garage might have to be built due to shops lacking the
appropriate space and facilities to house a car.
The garage
building could be made of steel with a high rise ceiling as in
a steel warehouse building.
Also, it might be situated in a
different location from the actual place where your car
dealer shop is.
Maybe a short distance drive. The garage
should have good security measures in place to avoid
incidents.
5. List Of Required Items
This business really depends on your capital. You can start
with as little as 1-2 cars to as many as 30-50 cars.
Even
when it is a franchise, the size of the business may vary
depending on the deal that was made with the company.
So. we will list the price of the essential things you must
get to start your car dealer business.
6. Hire One Or Tw0 Staff
If you are running a big place you might need as much help
as a man may need for labours such as driving the cars in
and out of the garage and parking them, cleaning the cars,
and help with sales.
On occasions even repairs of the
vehicles.
Although if the place is small two of you might be
okay for the whole job.
When hiring, consider someone with
experience with cars as this will serve well.
7. Profit Margin
For normal saloon cars after custom clearance and all the
small fees that comes with bringing in a car into the
country, you will make up to 30% From Your Normal Startup.
By which we could surmise the profit
margin at about 30%, but as Ghana uses the rising and
falling of dollar to calculate the import tax, the margin
might change dramatically in a heartbeat.