Opinions needed

[moparpoor]

I am seriously thinking of stepping up and spending the money to open my own shop.Basically a shop that caters to the muscle car enthusiast.Metal fab,custom welding,chassis work,headers,turbo setups pipe work,suspension,and finish work including paint.
For a market that is suppose to be so weak,I have been running strong for a couple of years.Now I am out of room and booked for months ahead.
My cliental is from modified stocker to twin turbo,custom in chassis 4link,9second ghetto cruiser.

Well for the name NEW ERA OUTLAWS
I am looking for honest opinions,some critquing,and real world experience thank you.

 

[oneway71]

In Michigan it can be frustrating. The hoops shops need to go through for the permits are a nightmare. Namely monthly water testing comes to mind.

I have a friend here with a 14 bay repair shop and I remember him complaining about all the EPA crap he had to go through; although the only thing I remember now is the water testing. The water testing still takes place years later. Just another extra expense.

I do know that the new paint laws recently took effect and you will have hoops for the paint booth as well.
When you become legit there will be lots of extra fees you will probably need to pay.

If you can handle dealing with the inspectors and testing I say go for it!

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

I am seriously thinking of stepping up and spending the money to open my own shop.Basically a shop that caters to the muscle car enthusiast.Metal fab,custom welding,chassis work,headers,turbo setups pipe work,suspension,and finish work including paint.
For a market that is suppose to be so weak,I have been running strong for a couple of years.Now I am out of room and booked for months ahead.
My cliental is from modified stocker to twin turbo,custom in chassis 4link,9second ghetto cruiser.

Well for the name NEW ERA OUTLAWS
I am looking for honest opinions,some critquing,and real world experience thank you.

I'm going to give you the best advice you'll ever get.
Bigger space,more employees, means more headaches.
STAY SMALL AND TAKE IT ALL!

 

[Redpolara]

I worked for a small shop a few years back, we did mostly hotrods and customs. The biggest hurdle Mark (the owner) found,was by the time the wages,bills and a monthy lease of $2800 (this was in 2005) came off the bottom line...feasibility became increasingly doubtfull. On top of this you have to rely on progress payments(owners run out of money sometimes) on the projects in the shop.In the end he called it a day and shut up shop.

 

[7ate9]

It's always been my dream to setup my own shop and run a business doing basically what you described with muscle cars and hot rods. My dad's done restoration work for 25+ years, most of it on his own. He was always busy but had to keep a pretty constant flow of collision work to put enough food on the table to feed a four growing boys.. He always did top notch work and had a good reputation for himself but it never grew into anything incredibly succesful. I think a major part of that was location and getting people to know about him though. His garage was down a dead end dirt road. But just recently him and I both were just hired at a restoration shop no more than 15 miles away that's really quite successful. It in a business park off a busy main road. There's a full engine machine shop, body shop, mechanic's shop and show room/sales floor. Right now there's 12 customer cars in the buidling being worked on.
So, I guess that was a pretty long and drawn out way of getting to my point, but some important things you might wanna think about are location of your business, the services you offer, advertising and getting your name out there, and getting into the right clientel. You need to find people with deep pockets that are willing to spend their money on their cars.
I hope I didn't put you to sleep with my rambling :sleepy2: and you find it useful in some way... hahaha

 

[7ate9]

I worked for a small shop a few years back, we did mostly hotrods and customs. The biggest hurdle Mark (the owner) found,was by the time the wages,bills and a monthy lease of $2800 (this was in 2005) came off the bottom line...feasibility became increasingly doubtfull. On top of this you have to rely on progress payments(owners run out of money sometimes) on the projects in the shop.In the end he called it a day and shut up shop.

This reminded me to mention, at the place I work now, the owner really cut down on a lot of overhead by being able to buy alll the equipment outright along with the building and everything, he's a very succesful and wealthy business man. Without him being able to do that it may not have been possible, who knows..

I'm going to give you the best advice you'll ever get.
Bigger space,more employees, means more headaches.
STAY SMALL AND TAKE IT ALL!

I agree, to a point. While a bigger business with more employees will be more headache you open the opportunity to make alot more money than you could by yourself. Think about it, pay the employees maybe $15-20 per hour and charge the customer whatever $45-60 an hour? that's a profit of between $25 to $45 every hour. I guess you'd just have to weigh out the pros and cons on that one...

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

I've been doing my business now for 25 years now. Started small built up a huge business. Just me and the wife.
Got bigger hired a few guys and they almost ruined me. Tried it with a few different guys, it didnt work out. Its still me and the wife making more money than the company with 12-15 employees.

 

[scotts74birds]

Maybe some more land, with a bigger garage, in a township with loose zoning laws? I'm in a township, along the M53 corridor, in the Thumb where the minimum lot size is 5 acres. Theres lots of unemployed wrenches around to take the pick of. People that want your work will travel. And some everyday work on the side will keep the lights on between the big paydays. But there are the other warnings that others have given you.

 

[moparpoor]

I've been doing my business now for 25 years now. Started small built up a huge business. Just me and the wife.
Got bigger hired a few guys and they almost ruined me. Tried it with a few different guys, it didnt work out. Its still me and the wife making more money than the company with 12-15 employees.

I agree with you 100% I am a one man show looking to keep it small.My idea would be 2000sqft. building,just big enough to hold a couple of cars and still retain a seperate work area for fab.Hire someone to answer phones and a helper not much more than that.if it builds bigger I will turn the work away or pick and choose as I do now.The only way to keep the work at my level is to do it myself or atleast babby sit it.
As far as the EPA rules that have just kicked in I have been certified in this,whatever that means.I actully rent a booth to handle the paint work wich in the long run keeps the cost down,but is a little more leg work for me.As for some of the work that needs to be outsourced it is covered with companies I have had long standing workings with.

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

Plus quality control.
Your only as good as your last job. Do you trust your emploees work as much as your own. I don't.
One employee screws up a car and that customer tells 10 people you suck which in turn tells 100 people to stay away.

 

[hunt2elk]

I'm going to give you the best advice you'll ever get.
Bigger space,more employees, means more headaches.
STAY SMALL AND TAKE IT ALL!

I agree. I am a self employed small business owner. I rarely hire help and then only if they are on the job with me. I feel it is better to turn down the work you can't do and keep the high quality I require. Plus you will always make more money without full time employees on the books. Just my opinion.

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

Getting big IMO is a ego thing. Theres a company near me who's my main competitor. 8 vans 20 employees. It makes me a little jealous at times. But when I hear the venders we both use tell me. "they bounced another check and they just filed chapter 7 again, something tells me theres something wrong in paradise. Funny thing they are twice my price and their shop is very very nice. state of the art. Go figure.

 

[Endangered Species]

Chris is making a lot of good points.

I have been doing business with Lawn and Garden Shops for 16 years, so I've seen businesses grow and I've seen businesses go.

I'm not discouraging you from growing, I would like to wish you luck and pray for your success.
If you take any advice from me, it's keep your overhead low. You can't make sound business decisions when you have a $4000.00 a month rent, plus $10,000mo in pay roll, huge insurance bills, work mans comp, un employment, huge heat bills, electric bills not to mention all the government BS.... etc. etc. $60.00 an hour doesn't go very far.
Save and pay cash for everything you can.

 

[oneway71]

I agree with you 100% I am a one man show looking to keep it small.My idea would be 2000sqft. building,just big enough to hold a couple of cars and still retain a seperate work area for fab.Hire someone to answer phones and a helper not much more than that.if it builds bigger I will turn the work away or pick and choose as I do now.The only way to keep the work at my level is to do it myself or atleast babby sit it.
As far as the EPA rules that have just kicked in I have been certified in this,whatever that means.I actully rent a booth to handle the paint work wich in the long run keeps the cost down,but is a little more leg work for me.As for some of the work that needs to be outsourced it is covered with companies I have had long standing workings with.

This sounds good to me. From your original post I envisioned a much larger shop in a business district.

I have been working out of a 24x40 pole barn for 5 years now....and I don't have enough room to do a complete restoration; although I have been making it work.
My biggest problem is that when someone has a smaller project I can whip out quickly and pocket the $; I have no room to do it and have to turn them away.
My second biggest problem is that I have no room to work on my own stuff.
And third the last 5 years I have been doing Camaro's and Vettes not Mopars.

IMO if you are able to build the shop and keep costs down Go For It! As long as you wont loose anything due to a mortgage.

 

[Propwash]

Never ran a resto shop (worked at one), but a few tips I can give you from my current job of managing an Engineering and Inspection lab....

Surround yourself with good people...Besides yourself, they are the backbone of the company and dictate your reputation.Treat them well and they'll treat you well. Remember, morale is a direct reflection of management.

Stay on top of new technologies and equipment... Usually a pricey initial capital investment up front, but almost always a long term payback. Gives you an edge over your competitors. You will be more time and cost effective, as well as extending those characteristics to your customers.

Quality...In a face to face business, reputation will be one of the pinnacle advertisements for your business as well as drawing return customers.

Training...Kind of falls under the same dividends as technology and equipment. Why wouldn't you want your employee's and yourself having more cards in your hand?

Organization in accounts/receivables...By far one of the most important factors in truley being a professional business. Having a structured administrative platform will allow you to fluently plan and follow through with projects, give you the tools to evaluate costs and savings, monitor vendors and have a grip on part/equipment trends. As well, it will identify deficiencies in all the different arena's of your business.

Organization of commodities...You need to have inventory of the tools of the job at hand or you will not be able to properly guage your shop's or your employee's capabilities. This obviously includes your facility. Biting of more than you can chew can be several nails in the coffin. Too much fat can be an unessesary draw from your bottom line.

Advertisement..Being a small business in a competitive market, reputation will only be one of your businesses advertisement tools..A website, yellow page ad, news paper ad, a billboard, flyers at a car show/swap meet are just a few ways to help put and keep your name out there.

Finding a nitch or a specialty in the market... You would probably be suprised how many other places perform the same or similar services in your area. Being you will be a small business, you'll need to have a consistant draw of revenue, especially in those hard times. Larger businesses have the beef to back up the revenue roller coaster, but being small, you won't have the capital to back up extended dry streaks. Having a proprietary
foothold will typically provide with consistant revenue if marketed correctly. It seperates you from your competitors not by price, aggresive sales pitch, convenience or reputation, but by being the the only one around to provide a specialty service.

Wish you the best of luck on your quest to start up your own business. It's been a long dream of mine as well. Glad to see you're in a position in life where you can take that leap and push forward with making it come true. This country was built and runs on entrepreneur's like yourself..

 

[moparpoor]

As far as shop size I work out of a 22x32 garage now.I spend 40 hrs a week in there along with my full time job of 40-65hrs a week.I have a12x16 storage loft,the equiment takes up alot of room,but still manage to weasel three cars in and work on them.Process and organization helps,but is maxed out.2000sqft would be a palace to me!One of the biggest reasons for a small shop low overhead,I can still manage purchases and have many contacts to help,and still survive during lean times.My biggest factor is still having some time for my boys.The only buisness that survives is the one the owner is involved completely,just like a good restraunt.Face to face contact with a hand shake means alot to me as probably alot of you as well!

 

[Endangered Species]

As far as shop size I work out of a 22x32 garage now.I spend 40 hrs a week in there along with my full time job of 40-65hrs a week.I have a12x16 storage loft,the equiment takes up alot of room,but still manage to weasel three cars in and work on them.Process and organization helps,but is maxed out.2000sqft would be a palace to me!One of the biggest reasons for a small shop low overhead,I can still manage purchases and have many contacts to help,and still survive during lean times.My biggest factor is still having some time for my boys.The only buisness that survives is the one the owner is involved completely,just like a good restraunt.Face to face contact with a hand shake means alot to me as probably alot of you as well!

You have the right idea, you'll do fine. I had a very wise dealer of mine tell me.. "The best time to start a business is during a bad economy". You learn how to work smart and cheap so you'll thrive in good times.

Go for it!

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

You have the right idea, you'll do fine. I had a very wise dealer of mine tell me.. "The best time to start a business is during a bad economy". You learn how to work smart and cheap so you'll thrive in good times.

Go for it!

Kev, isn't cheap your middle name? :bootyshake:

 

[moparpoor]

Wich Kev are you calling cheap.I'm not cheap I am a tight ***!!Your lucky I'm a tight *** you wouldn't be sportin that bad *** coronet.That black bitch would be in my garage.:bootyshake:

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

Kev, isn't cheap your middle name? :bootyshake:

This Kev,KD Belvedere I i don't know you but you I guess another kev is a tight wad! LOL.:bootyshake: