Cordell Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Since Dover's thread got me thinking, and starting my own small auto shop is something I'd like to do in the future, how would you go about starting one? Would you start off really small in your own garage at home? Take more risk right off the bat and get a small place? How would you draw people to it? This is just a brainstorming thread, I'm not going to run out and do it this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson1647545504 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 (edited) Start working as a tuner Build a network of connections and references Start doing installs in home garage Get a shop Get a bigger shop Buy a car dealership Build a nascar team win bristol win daytona 500 hookers blow death #winning Edited February 28, 2013 by Jackson forgot to make 'hookers' in the plural Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Alex- Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 If you had enough of a customer base and the room to handle a couple cars at a time, I'd start off at home and see where it goes. I think you would need a decent looking shop though eventually to draw in new customers and secure more/bigger jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Bastard Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I would start at home to start building a small customer base, then when funds allow I would start with a small shop and build from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergwheel1647545492 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 i would start off at home like others have stated. mostly just doing stuff on weekends/nights, as you will obviously still be working your day job at first to supplement funds. once you get busy enough then you tell your current employer to GFY and you are now your own boss and all responsibility lays with you. I am not sure how insurance works for something like this, but that is one thing that you will definitely want to look into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyFKINPowerz Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 My buudy built a larger garage next to his house and runs his shop from there. Does some fleet work on top of regular customers and drop offs and clears 90k a year after paying his bills taxes and 2 employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigOxley Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Centrally located. A place like Covert is a great location and still a nice area. 15 from everywhere in Columbus area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Start working as a tuner Build a network of connections and references Start doing installs in home garage Get a shop Get a bigger shop Buy a car dealership Build a nascar team win bristol win daytona 500 hookers blow death #winning http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/pwoodland/anch_zpse1f4c70c.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderboy Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 My lady and I are planning on moving to a new house in the next couple years and my main concern is a 4 pplus car detached garage for just this reason. I know enough people to keep busy from there. But, there are also lots of small shops out there for purchase or rent so that wouod be my other option. I wouldnt want to do it out of my 2 car garage im stuck with now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwishiwascool Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I'd have lunch with Tym Switzer and/or Jeff at IPS and really dig into the challenges they faced at the very beginning. From 30,000 feet running your own business looks a hell of a lot different that on the ground or in the basement, as the case may be. Get a mentor and if you can, someone else's money to fall back on if you run out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffro Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Wouldnt recommend doing it from your garage, unless you have a pole barn or something. I know 2 people that have their own shops. Person A runs his out of his attached garage and gets no business. He tries to promote It on facebook but looks like a shit hole and there is no room to park cars inside it, or on the street. Person B has a pole barn, with a lift. He sees 5-10 "clients" a week. Word of mouth is his only source of advertising. He tried to put up a sign but zoning restricted the idea. Also, don't forget the liability aspect of things. Waivers, forms, etc.. Just some food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbs3000 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Personally, I would start by owning a car wash. From there I would attach/convert some bays to work stalls. This way you would already have the traffic numbers and the land would have steady income that paid for itself. Also, the shop would only need to break even and/or would open the door for write offs for the car wash. Anything above and beyond would be icing on the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwishiwascool Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Personally, I would start by owning a car wash. From there I would attach/convert some bays to work stalls. This way you would already have the traffic numbers and the land would have steady income that paid for itself. Also, the shop would only need to break even and/or would open the door for write offs for the car wash. Anything above and beyond would be icing on the cake. If someone on here would want to start a car wash, one of my companies sells one of the more expensive components to the operation. I'd sell to CR members at near cost pricing. /plug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 I am in my 3rd retail space in the last 20 years. You could literally start a garage in a week given there's not much buildout needed. As long as you can sustain your bills and make what you require to live off of your golden. Starting a business is easy, sustaining a business is the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewhop Posted February 28, 2013 Report Share Posted February 28, 2013 Organizing is what I see as most downfalls of small repair shops. You need someone dedicated to tracking all incoming and outgoing bills. Scheduling repairs. Handling books. Most mechanics are not designed for that type of work. (not saying some cant do it) but if you spend 4 hours a day doing paperwork that is 4 hours your not wrenching and making money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I would stay where I am, continue accepting side work until it got the point that it was consistent on a week to week basis. From there I would start looking at what that income is on average and use that as a basis to start looking for space based on over head. My thoughts are a joint venture would yield the best result. I see so many people looking to go into fabrication and modification, but my feeling is that maintenance is where you want to be starting out since it is quick in and out and somewhat consistent. You need some sort of money flow while you work on that 1 car that will take 1-3 weeks to prepare pending part availability and difficulty of the desired work. The issue is the time wasted in a small shop setting keeping cars mobile and shuffling them around depending on parts or waiting on second party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossle Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Organizing is what I see as most downfalls of small repair shops. You need someone dedicated to tracking all incoming and outgoing bills. Scheduling repairs. Handling books. Most mechanics are not designed for that type of work. (not saying some cant do it) but if you spend 4 hours a day doing paperwork that is 4 hours your not wrenching and making money. +1 damn near need this right off the bat if you are in a dedicated shop space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TurboNova Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 yup just stick to side work out of your home garage. Keep it low key so no one bitches to zoning about you running a repair shop out of your residential home. Easy to make 4-500 a week doing bs or do a few cam swaps and performance upgrades and make a bunch more. For what alot of shops are quoting to do cam swaps in SBF/LSX/SBC stuff and people are paying it, you could really come in under these numbers to provide the exact same service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattsv8 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I currently have about 1200sq ft of personal garage space. I've betn thinking some side wrenching would be nice. Ill have my lift soon too. I'm thinking some tunning carbs and some power upgrades. I already have a few. One wants a twin turbo s10. So some will be sort term some long. Mostly to just have fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 Obtain Russian Mafia Financing. Open tuning shop. Profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2highpsi Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I am going to be the contrarian here and say go all in. Do it right or don't do it at all. I do however agree with Ken's advice of talking to other shop owners before hand. The planning stages should take months (sometimes years), and you should have hundreds of pages of notes. Meet with people from the SBA (it's free) and they will give some good direction. From there you should meet with an attorney and an accountant. Personally I like using a huge dry erase board to organize pieces of my notes and draw up a game plan from all the info gathered from everywhere, but everyone has their own way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted March 1, 2013 Report Share Posted March 1, 2013 I can tell you from experience that if you over think it you will find a million reasons not to. People will tell you to have financing, a business plan and half a dozen other things but really you just have to be smart, be realistic and approach it from a sustainability standpoint. I look at business like most guys around here think of cars. There are things I cannot wrap my head around when it comes to vehicles that guys around here see as second nature/commonsense, for me small business is like that. I can give you my perspective of your interested in discussing this at somepoint Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS69 Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 (edited) I agree and work from your house/garage in the evenings and work up from there. After you have a customer base you could build a bigger shop/pole barn. You want to stay low key to avoid the zoning issues/etc. Once you step in the commercial arena, stuff gets expensive and can eat into your profit margin and the bigger headaches. My belief is to do this as a hobby as to supplement your income, picking and choosing your projects. If you were near my area, I have a nice pole barn with a lift....... Edited March 2, 2013 by RS69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 If you were near my area, I have a nice pole barn with a lift....... Is it for sale or for rent or simply for showing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTQ B4U Posted March 2, 2013 Report Share Posted March 2, 2013 Talk to the guys at IPS. I remember when they first started out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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