35 years ago, Nigel Mosley went out on his own to establish Mosley’s Automotive, a one-man mechanical business run out of a small shop behind a Caltex garage. Today, Mosley’s Automotive occupies a huge six-hoist workshop in Slacks Creek, south of Brisbane and Nigel’s five-person team is at the heart of a thriving business.
What products and services do you offer?
NM: We offer a one-stop auto shop where a customer can bring their car if it needs anything – whether it be tyres, wheel alignments, brakes, mechanical issues or faults, electrical work, air conditioning, anything. We also have the latest ADAS calibration equipment which calibrates lane change and windscreen cameras. We can do the work and organise it from the one spot. It’s all about convenience and providing a service to the customer.
What’s your background in the industry and how did you come to establish Mosley’s Automotive?
NM: I did my apprenticeship in New Zealand and came over here when I was 23. I worked as a subcontractor for RACQ in Beenleigh for seven months. It was hard yakka because you were under the pump and you had to really work, but that was a fantastic experience.
Then an opportunity came up as a maintenance fitter for a diamond exploration company. I had diesel experience, and that suited the job, so I went and worked for six months at a diamond exploration plant on the Gregory River northwest of Mount Isa.
When I came back, I was working at a shed behind the local Caltex and when I started the business in 1988 there was just me. I then employed a mechanic and then another and we outgrew that shop. In 1995, I bought and moved up to this building, and we have been expanding and growing from there.
Initially, we were located on one side of the building, and I leased the other side to a cabinet company. But we shared one driveway access and it got to a point where they were having massive truck deliveries and we couldn’t even get our cars in and out. It was a massive restriction.
How many staff do you have now?
NM: There are five of us, and that includes two apprentices. I think, in a team situation, five is a great number. Once your team gets bigger than five, you need another team and another manager. In the mechanical industry, a team of five is what works for me.
You have two apprentices in your team, including an MTA Queensland Apprentice of the Month award winner. Is it important to you to take on apprentices?
NM: I’ve had apprentices right from the beginning. I believe we’ve got to give them the opportunity, it’s great for the industry to get young people in, educate them, and give them a start.
What about retaining them and other staff in the business. Is that difficult?
NM: When you’re young, you need to find out where your niche is and what your opportunities are. What I say to the team is that you never know where you are going to go but if you start something, complete it. Then you can go and do something else if you want.
In the old days, you could finish up in a job one day and go down the road and get another job the next day. We’re sort of getting back into that cycle now. The opportunities that are out there, and the desperation from employers who can’t get anybody, means we’re happy to look after who we’ve got and we’re willing to give anything a go.
I’m grateful to have an awesome team. We work hard but also have a chance to socialise in breaks or after work. We’ve built a close bond and you know when something’s wrong. We all work well together and each give each other a helping hand on the tough jobs. Communication is the absolute key.
You’ve been in the industry for a long time. To what do you attribute your success and longevity?
NM: In the beginning, you’re doing it for yourself, and you want to achieve and reach some goals. But you do get knocked down quite a lot, so you have to become very thick-skinned. But doing the right thing every step of the way means you’ll get loyal customers and repeat business.
Also, you can get to a point where you’re burnt out and exhausted. Take a break, come back and ask, ‘Where did I go wrong?’ and make your adjustments. Do some courses too, something like, for example, Money & You – a personal development course which helps you find out what you want and where you are. We all have busy lives and tend to go with the flow and forget about the essentials. That course helps to brings things back to basics and I really recommend it.
The industry is going through a radical evolution with the electrification of vehicles and development of other technologies. Are you keen for you and your staff to train up and learn this new tech?
NM: Absolutely. I say to my apprentices that you can never know everything. And they say, “But you’ve been doing it for so long!” But there are so many models, so many variations, you can never know everything. I let my apprentices have their phones on them and we have a five-minute rule so that if they get stuck, they can try and nut it out for themselves for five minutes. They can use Google if they want but they must run through it with me first and then we go down the path together! That five-minute rule means they can have a go, but not stress out.
As for EVs, I do want to go with that technology. I am really interested in autonomous cars too and can easily believe that in the future we won’t need to own a car – you’ll just have to push a button on a phone and the car will turn up at your door and take you wherever you want. I have done a course in electric vehicles but am yet to do the MTA Queensland three-day course. But I want all my team to do it.
What advice would you give your younger self just starting out in the industry?
NM: The number one thing is you need people around you who you can bounce ideas off. I call it ‘team pooling’ and it is the best tool that you could ever have. We’re all wired different and if you have, for instance, five different ideas that are brought to the table, you’ll grow five times faster.
What does the future look like for Mosley’s Automotive? What are your plans?
NM: I don’t necessarily want to expand but just grow naturally. There is a possibility that demand will become so great that we’ll just have to expand. Actually, with our growing population, I do expect that to happen. I do want to take the team into electric cars, and we want to be trained and move into that area and continue
to be a one-stop shop.
How long have you been member of MTA Queensland and has your membership been a great benefit to you?
NM: I’ve been a member, I think, for about 20 years, and it has helped a good deal with keeping updated with information. The mailouts and the updates from MTA Queensland are brilliant, and you need to have that connection. The Workplace Relations team are very good. I used to ring all the time about wages and so on.
I remember I once had a company that was harassing me that I needed ‘workplace this and workplace that’ and I eventually remembered to tell them I was an
MTA Queensland member and they left me alone!
What do you do with your spare time, if you have any?
NM: I enjoy waterskiing and jet skiing but enjoy the oasis that is my house. I went to Bali once for a convention and was at this palatial location which had a lap pool, a gazebo it had everything. When I got home, I built that at my place. Now, when I get home, I chill and have a couple of beers in my oasis!
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (September 2023)
20 September 2023
