The advancement in Automotive industry comes with the advancement of auto technicians, and the need to specialise in particular areas as well.
One area of specialties that has been so popular and very lucrative when it comes to automotive is car gear. To become specialist in this area, one must be able to diagnose and fix the gearbox or transmission of an automatic car.
While one does not need to go to a special university to learn the skill, it thus requires training. “It requires full attention and patient to be able to learn the job, and once you are a specialist, in the repair of car gearbox in Nigeria, then you should consider yourself a millionaire,” an auto gearbox specialist in Lagos, Sunday Ayorinde, told LEADERSHIP.
Learning Process
The first step of becoming a gearbox specialist is to learn the skill. There are many well known Auto mechanic shops in Nigeria, especially, in Lagos, where one can be trained.
To him, “with less than N200,000, you can register with one of the well known mechanic shops and start the learning process. The secret to learning fast, is to always be with your boss. Be humble and loyal to him. Always show the eagerness to learn.
“Be warned; you may be distracted by other unserious trainees, so keep off from them. Your boss will never force you to come to work, you have to make it as a priority to not miss a day and to learn something each day you go to work. Don’t focus on making money sharp sharp, rather focus on learning all the nitty gritty details of repairing gearbox,” Ayorinde advised.
One cannot remain a boy forever, as he needs to move to the next stage, which is becoming a boss himself, by opening a automotive mechanic shop. After one is confident that he can fix car gearbox, without calling on his boss for advise, then, he is good to open his own shop.
“After successfully completed your apprenticeship and getting the necessary certificate from your boss to operate as a gearbox specialist, then you can move to the next stage of being your own boss,” Ayorinde fittingly puts it.
The next step is to raise funds to buy the necessary tools used in repairing car gearbox. For instance, one needs the transmission jack, to lift and lower a transmission; output shaft seals, to prevent you spilling transmission fluid; a flywheel wrench; computer diagnostic tool to diagnose the exact issue with the gearbox; spline alignment tool, to align the splines on the clutch plate with the transmission’s input shaft and socket set, among others.
After getting the necessary tools, it is time to open a guarage or automotive shop. “It is advisable to open your shop at a busy place like Owode in Lagos, where they repair cars and sell automotive parts. You may decide to join other mechanics that specialises in other areas,” the car gearbox specialist advised.
The next step is to market oneself. “Gone are those days when one will wait for cars to pull over. You have to market yourself by selling yourself to companies and car dealers. You need to print a business card, specifying your specialty. Your should open an account with all the social media platforms, that is the cheapest and easiest way to market oneself,” Ayorinde stated.
