Your First Week on Garaje: A Setup Checklist for Shop Owners

You've created your Garaje account. Now what? The difference between a listing that quietly sits there and one that brings in bookings usually comes down to the first week. Whether you finish every step or stop halfway. This checklist walks you through it, day by day, so nothing important gets left blank.

You don't have to do it all in one sitting. But aim to complete each stage within your first seven days, because a half-finished listing is a listing customers can't find, trust, or book.

Day 1: Complete your business profile

Your profile is the foundation every listing sits on. Fill in the essentials fully and accurately:

• Business name. Use the name customers actually know you by, spelled consistently with your signage and Facebook page.
• Business address and contact details. A real, findable address, plus a phone number and email you check. These are how customers reach you and how Garaje verifies you're a legitimate shop.
• A short business description. Two or three sentences on what you do and who you serve. This same description often doubles as the blurb customers read first, so lead with your services and your location's nearest landmark.
• Profile and banner images. A clean logo or storefront shot for the profile, and a wide, well-lit banner. Avoid screenshots, watermarks, or blurry photos.

If you run social pages, add your Facebook and Instagram handles too. Customers who find you on Garaje often check your socials before booking — make it easy for them.

Day 2: Create your listing and pick the right type

A listing is the actual thing customers browse and book. When you start the listing builder, the first decision is the type, because it shapes every field that follows:

• Car services — for “talyer”, casa-style shops, detailing, car wash, PMS, and repairs.
• Parking — for parking spaces you rent out, whether on-demand or by subscription.
• EV charging — for charging stations.

Pick the one that matches your core business. If you offer more than one — say, a shop with its own parking — you can set up separate listings so each shows up cleanly in the right search.

Next, set your exact location on the map. Drop the pin precisely; a pin that's off by a few streets sends customers to the wrong gate. Then set your operating hours honestly; the days and times you're genuinely open; so nobody arrives to a closed shutter.

Day 3: List your services clearly

This is where customers decide whether you're the shop for them. In the builder, tag the services you offer: car wash, maintenance, repairs, inspection, detailing, and so on. So your listing surfaces when someone searches for exactly that.

Be specific and honest. If you don't do transmission work, don't tag it. A tightly accurate service list brings you the customers you can actually help, and spares you the ones you can't. If your builder lets you note the number of service bays or whether you offer home service or at-location service, fill those in too. They set expectations before a customer even messages you.

Not sure how to phrase things? Our guide on writing a shop description customers actually read goes deeper on wording that converts.

Day 4: Add photos that build trust

Photos do more selling than any paragraph. Customers want to see a real, working shop before they hand over their car. Add several clear, well-lit shots:

• Your storefront or entrance, so customers recognize the place when they arrive.
• Your work area or bays, clean and tidy, showing you have the space and equipment.
• Work in progress or finished results, like a freshly detailed car or a neat parking area.

Then choose your cover photo; the one that leads your listing in search results. Make it your strongest, most representative shot. Skip the blurry, cluttered, or dimly-lit frames; one bad cover photo can cost you the click.

For framing and lighting tips, see listing photos that get your shop booked.

Day 5: Set your pricing

Clear pricing removes friction. Whether you charge fixed rates, per-service prices, or parking rates by vehicle type, fill them in so customers know roughly what to expect before they book. Uncertainty makes people hesitate; a visible price range makes them commit.

If you're unsure where to set your numbers, our Metro Manila pricing benchmarks guide shows what shops around the city typically charge for common services.

Day 6: Switch your listing on

A finished listing does nothing until it's visible. Once your details, services, photos, and pricing are in place, set your listing to active so it appears to customers. Give it one last read as a customer would: is the address right, are the hours current, does the cover photo look sharp?

New listings may go through a quick verification review before they're fully live. That's normal, and it's there to keep the marketplace trustworthy for everyone. If your listing is pending review, your setup work is done; it will surface once approved.

Day 7: Upload your BIR 2303 to accept bookings

This is the step that turns a listing into a bookable business (for exclusively for Philippine Businesses). To accept online bookings and reservations on Garaje, you need to provide your BIR Form 2303, the Certificate of Registration the Bureau of Internal Revenue issues when you register your business.

The 2303 confirms you're a registered, tax-compliant business, which is exactly the assurance customers want before booking and paying through a platform. It's the same document you'd present when applying for permits or opening a business bank account, so if you're already operating properly, you likely have it on hand.

If you don't have your 2303 yet, it's worth sorting out early. It's a requirement for legitimately running your shop, not just for Garaje. Once it's uploaded and confirmed, your listing can start taking bookings, and that's when the platform really starts working for you.

Why the first week matters

Momentum matters. A profile that's completed in the first week tends to get finished; one left half-done tends to stay that way. Customers can't book what they can't see, and search rewards listings that are complete, accurate, and active over those with gaps. Finishing every step early is the single highest-return thing you can do; everything after this is refinement.

It also builds trust at exactly the moment it counts. A shopper comparing two shops will almost always choose the one with real photos, honest hours, clear pricing, and a bookable button over one that looks abandoned. The week of setup work pays for itself the first time a customer picks you because your listing simply looked more complete.

Your first-week checklist at a glance

1. Complete your business profile eg. name, address, contact, description, images.
2. Create your listing and choose the right type, location, and hours.
3. List your services accurately with the right tags.
4. Add clear photos and pick a strong cover image.
5. Set your pricing so customers know what to expect.
6. Switch your listing to active and pass verification.
7. Upload your BIR 2303 to unlock online bookings.

Ready to get set up?

Every step above takes minutes, and each one makes your shop easier to find, trust, and book. If you haven't started yet, list your business on Garaje and work through this checklist in your first week. By day seven, you'll be fully bookable.