Starting my own Shop!!!!!

[EM1Nate]

Ok so as everyone who knows me knows that I will be coming home sometime at the end of the year. I will be coming home with quite a chunk of money and was thinking of starting my own shop. I live in the Houston area on the north side and was wondering if anyone had any tips or know where I should start. What licenses will I need, and how much start up capital I should have etc. I want to do everyday repairs as well as performance upgrades and tuning.

Any tips and opinions would be great.

 

[Mr. Jollypants]

We are in the process of opening our garage. We found a nice place 3000 sq ft for 1500 month. We have most of the hand tools, jacks jackstands, welder, torch etc. We are leasing 2 lifts and some of the more expensive equipment. 2 nice Challenger lifts are about 3700 installed each. Not counting our own tools we are looking at financing about 15000 in tools to start off with. That doesn’t include out waiting room furniture, display cabinets or inventory. If you’re looking for insurance go through a broker – they can normally find you a better deal and more coverage than the larger name companies you see advertising on TV. We were able to get $2mil in liability coverage plus all the normal liability and contents, vehicles and such insured for around $2000/year about hlaf the price of Farmers and a couple of the others.

I agree with the first guy! It is very expensive to get started in auto repair. Shop rental can be from $3,000 to $15,000 a month depending on the size of it. You will need 1 or 2 lifts which are about $20,000 each. A good tool set with all the specialty tools will cost about $15,000. OBD and OBD 2 computer reader and diagnostic machine is about $10,000 and up. Then a business license and insurance. If you want to get into it real good you should also run a wrecker service or at least get a contract with a local wrecker service so they can bring you work.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

You only see to get certified in one thing to be a certified mechanic. One of the mechanics at a local shop here just got certified in brakes. You just take a test and boom you are a certified mechanic. I would just run a shop with one lift. check out the lifts here you can call for a quote. http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/ Get a air ratchet set and you are on your way. Start smaller and work your way into bigger things so you don;t have a bunch of overhead when you first start your business.

 

[EM1Nate]

Ok so Im looking at either renting out or leasing a garage and getting a business license. I also have most of the hand tools etc. and an air compressor isnt that much. So I guess its just the specialty tools I need to worry about.How much does a business license cost and how do I get one? Then I guess there is marketing of some sort and do you have a web address where I can get my ASE certs? What a bout registering trademarks etc.?
I got about $25,000 cash and can get approved for a microloan up to $35,000 Small Business Loan through the VA. Will this be enough?

 

[Kswest]

Follow your dreams man and don't take what I'm about to say negatively.

Don't do it. At least not yet. Everyone is walking on such thin ice that opening something like that in such a heavily populated area may be fiscal suicide. Unless you have a SOLID clientele and can generate profit pretty quickly I would play the waiting game. Maybe invest in some high yield savings, some real estate(buy a rental man, make $$), or something else.

As far as pricing goes, I don't know about Texas but up here in WA it's a little pricey to get your whole business operation off the ground. The 25k + 35k is a great start, that will get you about a year lease PiF with lifts and tools you need. GLWB.

 

[Handlebars]

If you have good credit and good business sense, you should look into buying an established shop from the current owner. You'll need a big loan from a bank, but youll be in a much better position to make a living than starting from scratch.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

Stop by and talk with your local small business association. They can give you good advice too

 

[R3dline]

it would be a pricey adventure. but worth it if you clients like your work and come back

 

[lethal6]

You only see to get certified in one thing to be a certified mechanic. One of the mechanics at a local shop here just got certified in brakes. You just take a test and boom you are a certified mechanic. I would just run a shop with one lift. check out the lifts here you can call for a quote. http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/two-post-lifts/ Get a air ratchet set and you are on your way. Start smaller and work your way into bigger things so you don;t have a bunch of overhead when you first start your business.

I think it depends on what the certification is and whom it is through. Our techs (Audi and Porsche) have a certain amount of credits they have to earn through online training, instructor led training, lectures, tests, etc. Even us in the parts department have to go through schooling to get certified. Ours is 25 credits (online training is 1-3 credits each, instructor led is 3, etc) and we have 4-6 months to get it done or we have to start all over again. Every online course has a test that needs to be passed with an 80% or better. It is kind of like a mini college and it is paid for by the owner of the franchise. If you are doing it on your own you would have to pay out of pocket and I heard it isn't cheap.

The hardest part I would see would be your client base. You don't have any. You would need to get your name out there somehow. Why should they go to you instead of the guy across/down the street? You need to build a reputation. That or like said above, buy a shop that already has a reputation built that is closing or the owner is trying to retire.

Good luck in what ever you do. It is a tough economy still and starting a new business, especially one in the auto trade (we are the ONLY audi and porsche dealer in the area and we are still fairly slow right now considering) is going to be a nightmare.

 

[31dev31]

If you have good credit and good business sense, you should look into buying an established shop from the current owner. You'll need a big loan from a bank, but youll be in a much better position to make a living than starting from scratch.

What he said.

 

[EM1Nate]

Thanks for all the tips guys and gals. What would be a great way to build a reputation in the Auto industry? Should I attend more meets and car shows?

http://www.honest-1.com/franchising

If you read the bottom where it says why auto repair? It makes sense. People are not buying new cars as much and there are Millions of cars out there. I may not be the best starting out but I am confident the people will like my work. I worked at AutoZone for a year as a Part Sales Manager and I had customers that would come in and request me specifically. I cannot say whether I did some side work but my friends and family all have me look at their vehicles when they need something.

Should I just start off doing side work to build a customer base? The problem is I need a place to do the work which is why I could start off leasing a garage. Start small then Build. I cannot get enough money together to buy an established shop plus I feel like it will be over my head.

 

[lethal6]

Thanks for all the tips guys and gals. What would be a great way to build a reputation in the Auto industry? Should I attend more meets and car shows?

You need to figure out how to get them to want to spend money in your shop instead of the next guy or the local franchise.

Should I just start off doing side work to build a customer base? The problem is I need a place to do the work which is why I could start off leasing a garage. Start small then Build. I cannot get enough money together to buy an established shop plus I feel like it will be over my head.

That would be a great start. Tell them that you are planning on starting your own shop and if they like the work to spread the word. That is exactly how my good friend's dad started his shop. He has since retired and sold the shop just before the economy tanked. He started doing tune ups and repairs in his parent's driveway, moved into his first house, did the stuff in his new garage, then started his business a couple years later. He had the small shop for something like 40 years before he sold. It wasn't a huge business but he did just fine. Great guy.

I would think that buying an established shop would be less overwhelming than starting an unestablished one, with no reputation, from scratch. That's just me though.

 

[EM1Nate]

That would be a great start. Tell them that you are planning on starting your own shop and if they like the work to spread the word. That is exactly how my good friend's dad started his shop. He has since retired and sold the shop just before the economy tanked. He started doing tune ups and repairs in his parent's driveway, moved into his first house, did the stuff in his new garage, then started his business a couple years later. He had the small shop for something like 40 years before he sold. It wasn't a huge business but he did just fine. Great guy.

I would think that buying an established shop would be less overwhelming than starting an unestablished one, with no reputation, from scratch. That's just me though.

You wouldn't happen to know if when he was doing work out of his parent's driveway he registered a business name and reported his income on his taxes or if he just waited until he started the actual business would you?

 

[mymmeryloss]

I would rent a shop and catch side jobs til u know u can handle it and get a clientele then go from there. Find talented guys that u mesh well with and go from there, but don't jump into a shop right off the bat!

 

[joe7987]

I'd recommend making business cards, then hit up car meets and shows like you said. Go up to people and say

"That's a really nice ride... My name is Nate - *pass business card* If you need to do any work, give me a call and I'll hook you up with a discount. Pass the deal onto your friends too."

Then hold true to your word and give him discounts. It might sound weird to talk about cutting people deals before you ever open a shop, but this is the way you get customers. This will get people in your shop, get money flowing, and more importantly, get word of mouth flowing. The car community is a social community. The guy you meet is going to go back to his club and say "I got this sweet deal from Nate at "Car Shop". He said he'll give our entire club a 5% discount on any work we need done.

Now when they come in, you make sure you show them what they would have payed, and what they're now paying so they're reminded, once more, how badass you are.

Once you get a little money, it's time to advertise. HIt up the radio. Not advertising is a huge fail on the part of many business owners. If people don't know about your business, you can't get customers. It's difficult to sustain your business on word of mouth alone. Spend some money to make money.

One last point - Before you open up your own shop, go visit other shops that will likely be your competitors. See their customer service, their decor, their pricing, their deals, their products, etc... Then think "This is a nice shop, but it would be cool if they had ____". Find that special something that can make your shop stand out from the rest... whether it's an attractive logo, a catchy slogan, deals on parts/labor, decorations, rare parts that are in high demand (I know it's impossible to find JDM parts in my area), whatever. Just figure out what it is, crunch some numbers (Important!) and find out what can set you apart.

The ultimate question is "Why would people choose my shop over the one they've been going to already?" This could be as simple as - They have attractive deals; Nate introduced himself to me and now I know the owner personally; I can buy JDM parts without having to buy online and wonder if I'm getting scammed, etc...

Think. Plan. Crunch numbers. Analyze. Decide. THEN Act. Business aren't doing so hot these days. The more prep work you do, the better chances you'll have with success.

 

[toneekay]

If you're real knowledgeable about tuning, I would start off in my garage... Have a good set of tools (to tackle on almost anything besides alignments, tire rotating, and etc).

This guy I know started off open source/road tuning Subarus in his garage (and out in the streets), did some bolt on installs, and a little bigger projects. Got his name out into the Subaru community, and after 5+ years later, he's now in this huge ass shop and WELL KNOWN in the DFW/TX Subaru community. He doesn't just tune Subarus either, he can tune anything from Civics to Vipers!

So with that being said, start off small, work your way into big bucks until you have saved at least 50k+ cash, YOUR CASH... Then think about getting a small business loan so you can be amongst the professionals in the field.

 

[lethal6]

You wouldn't happen to know if when he was doing work out of his parent's driveway he registered a business name and reported his income on his taxes or if he just waited until he started the actual business would you?

No business name until he started his own shop. I don't think he got his license until then, but I could be wrong. I do believe that he was reporting the income though, but I could be wrong about that as well. I know that he started it as part time on just the weekends and evenings when he had the extra time and ended up making it full time as he was getting enough to not need the second job (after less than I year, I think).

I don't know a lot of the major details, but if I see him sometime soon, I will definitely ask him some questions.



I quoted Joe's post because it states in good detail a lot of what I was thinking. He is definitely better at putting it down than me. Well said, Joe.

I'd recommend making business cards, then hit up car meets and shows like you said. Go up to people and say

"That's a really nice ride... My name is Nate - *pass business card* If you need to do any work, give me a call and I'll hook you up with a discount. Pass the deal onto your friends too."

Then hold true to your word and give him discounts. It might sound weird to talk about cutting people deals before you ever open a shop, but this is the way you get customers. This will get people in your shop, get money flowing, and more importantly, get word of mouth flowing. The car community is a social community. The guy you meet is going to go back to his club and say "I got this sweet deal from Nate at "Car Shop". He said he'll give our entire club a 5% discount on any work we need done.

Now when they come in, you make sure you show them what they would have payed, and what they're now paying so they're reminded, once more, how badass you are.

Once you get a little money, it's time to advertise. HIt up the radio. Not advertising is a huge fail on the part of many business owners. If people don't know about your business, you can't get customers. It's difficult to sustain your business on word of mouth alone. Spend some money to make money.

One last point - Before you open up your own shop, go visit other shops that will likely be your competitors. See their customer service, their decor, their pricing, their deals, their products, etc... Then think "This is a nice shop, but it would be cool if they had ____". Find that special something that can make your shop stand out from the rest... whether it's an attractive logo, a catchy slogan, deals on parts/labor, decorations, rare parts that are in high demand (I know it's impossible to find JDM parts in my area), whatever. Just figure out what it is, crunch some numbers (Important!) and find out what can set you apart.

The ultimate question is "Why would people choose my shop over the one they've been going to already?" This could be as simple as - They have attractive deals; Nate introduced himself to me and now I know the owner personally; I can buy JDM parts without having to buy online and wonder if I'm getting scammed, etc...

Think. Plan. Crunch numbers. Analyze. Decide. THEN Act. Business aren't doing so hot these days. The more prep work you do, the better chances you'll have with success.

 

[Mr. Jollypants]

Here's the deal.

You start giving out discounts, and everyone will expect a discount. It's always harder to RAISE prices than it is to lower them.

People also base you off your prices, if your cheap, then they expect cheap service, half-assed jobs, you ask for a competitive price, they expect competitive services with great jobs.

 

[EM1Nate]

Thanks Joe, that is some righteous advice!!!! I am going to "Think. Plan. Crunch numbers. Analyze.and Decide". You have been most helpful!!!

 

[EM1Nate]

Here's the deal.

You start giving out discounts, and everyone will expect a discount. It's always harder to RAISE prices than it is to lower them.

People also base you off your prices, if your cheap, then they expect cheap service, half-assed jobs, you ask for a competitive price, they expect competitive services with great jobs.

I think you have some truth in that. I will definitely take that into consideration. Thanks