A high schooler’s impassioned idea turned entrepreneurial reality will result in a unique DIY shop to accommodate affordable car repairs for locals and a dream workshop for car enthusiasts.
Pandemic startup Open Bay Autos has received tens of thousands of dollars in funding toward scaling from need-based mobile car detailing and repair service to pursue mobile app capabilities and the pursuance of a DIY brick-and-mortar in 2023.
24-year-old founder and CEO of Open Bay Autos, Kameron Seabrook, said his company currently operates as a mobile car detailing business. Mechanics are scheduled for a visit and appear to fix and detail cars under a subscription platform.
But Seabrook has bigger plans for the company. As Open Bay Autos scales, building a subscriber and worker clientele, Seabrook has his sights set on utilizing the relationships to expand his company into a physical location, pivoting into a DIY mechanic shop.
“Through this process, we really get to learn our customers and understand what our customers need,” Seabrook said. “The reason why I chose detailing is because any car lover wants to have their car looking good. So it gives me an opportunity to provide a service directly to the customer that I know down the road I'll be targeting so I really can understand them on the ground level.”
With his passion for cars rubbed off from his father and stepfather, Seabrook said he recognized the community need for an affordable DIY mechanic shop from his own experience repeatedly fixing his first $800 car.
“Affordability is very important,” Seabrook said. “I have first-hand experience with how expensive car repairs can hinder your ability to move forward in life. Cars are still very much a part of day-to-day life. So, providing another solution with my company not only provides me with personal fulfillment but it gives much-needed access to those who have less.”
Since its founding, Open Bay Autos has raised over $50,000 in funds with a recent injection of $30,000 for seed money from an angel investor. The company is currently conducting customer surveys with a handful of people to perfect offerings and continues to actively raise more money toward the selection and opening of its first brick-and-mortar location sometime in 2023.
Seabrook described Open Bay Autos’ grand future as a need-based DIY business which provides tools, space and on-site mechanics for car enthusiasts or local residents looking to perform their own small repairs.
“I have never witnessed something like Open Bay Autos in the Dayton area, although they offer a DIY service by the Air Force base," he said. "For me, OBA differs because we want to make this service available to mainstream consumers and target a community that needs it the most.“
Subscriptions will operate on three tiers with the lowest accommodating those looking to complete their own simple repairs such as headlight replacements, while higher tiers will provide more time and resources, appealing to car enthusiasts.
Open Bay Autos anticipates its official app is also set to begin development soon, with Seabrook anticipating completion within the next four months.
In additional preparation for 2023, on employment growth, Seabrook said he has placed an emphasis on paying workers “exceedingly well” in the current workforce market.
“Being a young person, seeing how the job climate is and how these businesses are struggling, I think what people in my generation really value is flexibility,” Seabrook said. “They want to feel valued and and you want to be paid a livable wage. With my company, as we're scaling, that’s something that's important to me, with everybody I work with.”
Outside of his work with Open Bay Autos, Seabrook also founded Real Ones Create, a creative agency that helps businesses build an online presence with content curation, web/app development, and digital advertising. The company supports marketing for Open Bay Autos.
Seabrook said running two companies at 24 is far from easy, but his support system of workers and loved ones has enabled him to push through the long hours and execute his vision.
“Self-expression, creativity, and faith are everything to me,” Seabrook said. “That combination helps me balance the challenges of growing two companies. Hence, why I create music regularly to inspire others, vent, and tell my story. I have found walking on water is possible when your focus is in the right place. In the moments when I feel weak, doubtful, etc. is when God comes through in the 11th hour.”
Open Bay Autos
Founded: 2020
Service: Car detail scheduling and at-home service, expanding into a DIY car mechanic shop
Team members: 5
Website: https://www.openbayautos.com/
