Love Greendogs quip!! :)) so might add...

Riverina Performance
Mental Ward remedies for Car Junkies

I haven't read the thread mate, but I can make some general comments from an insurance perspective:

1. budget at least $5k for an appropriate insurance program. remember it's a tax writeoff so that's not as much as it sounds. don't cut corners as people always complain when they don't have insurance but nine times out of ten it's because they spent 10 years and tens of thousands of dollars building a business, but 10 minutes and the least amount of money possible to cover insurance.

2. choose a professional sounding name but avoid 'racing' etc as that won't help with getting insurance!

3. find an insurance broker in your local area that can organise your coverage appropriately. they can recommend exactly what you do/don't need but bear the following in mind:

* make sure you have public/products liability insurance

* make sure it includes 'care custody and control' for customers goods including motor vehicles - if your business burns down or cars are stolen you MAY be held liable.

* make sure you understand if your insurance does or doesn't include "driving risk" which is basically comprehensive insurance for any customer's vehicle you happen to drive. you can make all the disclaimers you want but if you're negligent then you may still be held accountable. this even includes if the person has their own vehicle insurance as they may not pay, OR they may pay and then sue your business for the money.

* consider statutory liability / business practices cover. this covers you if there is an inadvertent legal issue - eg if you do something you think is legit but you get chased by the RTA for it. this mostly only happens when you work on a car which is involved in a serious accident but they also do random audits (not financial audits, compliance audits) etc.

* consider business interruption / weekly profits cover. if your shop is damaged, burns down, etc then your income stops but your bills/rent/whatever generally don't!

* make sure your property insurance covers 'tools of trade' to an appropriate amount. some have limits on tools etc so you might have $50k cover but it might be limited to $2k for tools which doesn't far!!!

Don't feel like you're wasting your broker's time, as they'll generally earn 10% or so of whatever premiums you pay (eg. $5k premium = $500 commission for them), plus they'll normally charge you a fee of approx 5% (eg. $5k premium = $250 fee)

in general this is useful info for any business.

Another thing that might be of use to you ishttp://business.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx.

It contains a wealth of info about nearly every aspect of running a business. How to write and what to include in a business plan, a list of grants that are available, lists of seminars/presentations on various apsects on businesses and a list of other Govt agencies that may be of assistance.

Good luck with it all