Whenever I went to a garage, I got ripped off. A lot of mechanics saw a young girl driving a nice Volkswagen Beetle and decided to charge really high prices for simple things. But I didn’t know any better and paid them the money.
I spoke to some of my girlfriends and they felt the same way. It inspired me to set up the My Car Gossip website four months ago to give women advice on cars so they are not so dependant on other people. The blog even advises women on driving in heels.
It’s really popular and grew with the help of social media — especially Twitter.
The website has thousands of views everyday and now functions as a business directory for UK motoring services —I knew I could turn the website into a female-friendly service.
If a member is searching for a specific motoring deal in a particular area — such as a female driving instructor or a local garage in London — they will be able to find it through my website.
I charge each motoring service £50 for a full profile on the site – it is similar to what yell.com does, except it is cheaper and more focused on a specific industry.
Car dealerships are also able to sell products through my website and I charge them a commission of at least 10 per cent.
We’re like the middle-man for our target market — women aged between 17 and 35.
I can’t stop men signing up to the website, but it is targeted at women because we attract advertising for girly cars like the Beetle.
I want to give women a more powerful voice in motoring with the best information and deals out there.
They’ll be more informed and able to save money.
