Operations
Bay planning, job flow, turnaround and the checks before a car goes back to its owner — plus the two-shift rosters, coverage minimums and paired off days behind it.
Nairobi, Kenya
I run car workshops.
Fifteen years in the motor trade — two branches opened from an empty floor, both still running the way they were set up. I write down what happens on the other side of the counter.
About
Spare parts first, then the floor.
I'm Mahfudh. I came up through spare parts before I ever ran a workshop, which is why I know both sides of the counter: what a part actually costs, and what it gets quoted at.
What I build tends to end up in a tracker rather than in someone's head — rosters, job flow, checks before a car is released. That's the part I'm proudest of, because it means the systems held after I moved on.
15+Years in the motor trade
2Workshops opened and run
Technician capacity building
Training technicians on diagnostics and European systems — and opening the service lines that capability pays for.
Customer acquisition & retention
Bays only stay full if the phone rings. Reviews, follow-up, service reminders, and the satisfaction work that brings a car back next time.
Parts & procurement
Sourcing, negotiation, and closing the gap between what leaves the store and what reaches the invoice.
Branch numbers
The revenue target, the cost line, and reporting that shows where the month actually went.
The guide
Don't Get Played
The next time a mechanic hands you a list of seven faults, you'll know which two are real — and you'll have the exact sentence that settles the other five.
24 pages · PDF · instant download
KES 799
KES 1,199
Launch price
A4 and phone editions both included. Roughly a twelfth of one brake job you didn't need.
Buy the guideThe five tricks
The five ways a bill gets padded — and the one sentence that stops each of them, word for word.
Six questions at the counter
Ask these and the whole conversation changes. Most owners never ask any of them.
Every warning light
Sorted into three piles: pull over now, book it this week, or stop worrying about it.
The 40-minute used-car check
What to look at, in what order, plus ten things that mean walk away from the car.
Three printable checklists
Made to be held next to the car, not read on a sofa. Print them or keep them on your phone.
Written from inside
Not scraped from the internet. This is what the workshop side already knows about you.
A reader, in their words
One WhatsApp message from someone who used the guide and pushed back on a quote. Screenshot it, blur the number, use it verbatim. One real line beats a paragraph you wrote.
A number you can stand behind
Readers so far, or KES saved on a quote a reader sent you. The true number, whatever it is — "41 readers" persuades where "trusted by many" does not.
RidePride
And there's more of it, free
In any garage, one person knows what the work is worth and the other is guessing. That gap is the whole reason I started writing. Everything on RidePride is free — a new piece most weeks.
ridepride.co.keBasic car things every owner should know
What that noise probably is. When a service is actually due. What to check before a long drive. What the quote is really saying. Written for the owner, not the mechanic.
By email
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