Alas, it's virtually impossible to make big money 'doing' something. Entrepeneurs might have made millions out of the plumbing industry but it'll from licenced franchises, business deals, and patent laws. You don't make a fortune wielding a torque wrench.

When you pay £50/hour for a mechanic to fix your car, the mechanic doesn't see half of that. There are also big costs in terms of diagnostic equipment required for advanced repairs/MOTs etc. Self employed mechanics obviously keep a higher proportion of their hourly rate-but it's unlikely they can have enough regular work to work a neat 8 hours/day-5 days a week. There's a lot of dead time involved which reduces the rate considerably.

Hi Bill, if you look at some of the dealer groups you will see that many were formed by one or two people, who were able to grow the original business by aquisition many times over, thus making a small fortune. In many cases this was turned into a large fortune when they sold out.

Names like Arnold Clarke, Smith Knight & Fay, Brindleys, Reg Vardy, Bramhalls, Quicks - all family owned start-ups & I wish I was a penny behind all of them. So it can be done, but for every one who makes it, there are thousands who slave away 44 hours a week on the job plus another 10 doing the books.

I think there is more money to be made writing a book about how to become a millionaire!

My old boss in Geneva certainly did, he retired after nearly 50 years in the motortrade, had multiple agencies, and sold his business to a consortium, and is enjoying a well earned retirement. He was also one of the kindest people I have ever met and had the privilege of working for .