Ok. So as soon as the HRI in Rapid City SD gets certified to use miltary GI bill I plan to build a shop. My question is is can some of you guys who own a shop or have built some projects can help me. My shop is pretty much designed theoretically but I need ideas for starting out on what the most important tools are. I know the tools I want but most won't be untill later like CNC and water jet. If you could give me ideas I would be appreciative. My goal sooner or later is to have a complete one stop shop for customizing any vehicle including Rods, Bikes , Imports, crotch rockets, pretty much anything. But I know I need to start small. I have restorodded a 1959 Chevy 4 door Bel Air and built a few others. Got a one year cert in auto tech for now and have wanted to build a shop for the last 20 years. Thanks again.
First, talk to someone at the Small buisness Administration. Absolutely invaluable information on rudimentary buisness planning. Usually, there is an office in universities and colleges. You will need a buisness plan to obtain financing and the SBA is a good place to get answers. Detailing plans in a community environment is not a good idea. Keep your ideas to yourself until you are ready to stat up your buisness. locating vendors and tool suppliers is best done in close to your chest.
Also get on http://www.score.org/index.htmllook for a mentor Entrenepure has a lot of free stuff on their site Better research liability insurance and incorporation to cya Logos branding and promotions will cost too Get Quickbooks and a CPA sorted
hope this helps ...good luck 80+ hour weeks get old fast .. set a schedule and punch a clock for each job stick to a regular "shop open" hours .. have time off for "you" ... 4 day week ? start early or stay late to have quality time without interuptions year forcast planning be ready for your own vacation needs(shows, family, holidays ...) .. plan work around that schedule ... know your future!.... deadlines .. be ready for outside forces to screw stuff up have alternate plans to avoid down time work is work do not let friends hang out during working hours and then friends and others wandering around your shop after hours is questionable too is your workplace at home .. set separation rules early .. all lunches and break periods and over time per state laws.. have a separate area for each car and an inventory/record system( cameras ,computers,tags , bags, shelves,parts cars, i.d numbers ) in place to store all the parts ..,new and removed and unusable stuff.. customers do not always believe stuff was unusable save it to show them track all shop materials usage .to each job phone ? answering machine? .. human ?.. service ? phones ringing is distracting, long winded calls are disruptive and cost time ..unanswerd calls lose business and response to your own orders .. how will you deal with that ? materials supply and demand .. have shop inventory bi weekly .. forcast needs so materials will be on hand when ready .. excess supplies will degrade so turn over is important .have a storage area thats clean, organized ,safely sealed up.. as long as you don't run out...some suppliers(napa or others ) have a salesman do this inventory checking , forcasting for you.. oh ya pay your bills quickly talk to local tool truck suppliers .. mac ,snapon etc so you have the right tools set up acct. so you have a good credit line hired help ? forcast and schedule.. retired experienced men needing a little part time work unskilled high schooler shop cleanup and minor dismantleing ,gofer? high paid experianced guys/ gals for short term quality jobs (in -out done) sub contractors know who is doing what around your area .. you will need some one else's skills sometime a few guys that can be there fast to do some heavy moving or cover while your out.. remember your the boss its ok to be a ***** sometimes no one likes to deal with a hard **** constantly... folks remember bad service , workmanship, and talk about it longer than good work.. i love cars and still do ... i hated dealing with some people to the point i had to walk away from work like you want to do ..they were more into the drama and posturing than getting the job done do not let some people get into your head so that your dream becomes a nightmare be careful who you partner with and plan accordingly for a way out. seek legal help if you have questions and tax help best of luck
After 25 years in fabricating custom auto parts my best advice would be have " Deep pockets" to start with and follow all that is posted above. They offered very good advice. Good luck.Tom (Tired Old Man)
I have worked in several shops over the years and every one has had a parts department to help pay the overhead cost. They either produced parts for sale or were a distributor of parts. One shop actually had a full service boneyard and would sell the used parts to help pay the bills. It is very hard to be a build only shop and bring the money in comfortably.
Don't get discouraged by the naysayers. Yes, of course it is challenging, time consuming, frustrating, un-rewarding at times, etc, but what in life that is worth having isn't? As stated, get your ducks in a row, know what you are up against before commiting entirely to it (because you will have to be entirely committed to succeed). Many/most successful business people have started out small, building on each accomplishment. Create a realistic business plan and stick to it. Keep your eyes on the bottom line, a good accountant is your friend. Your business/customers will dictate what tools, equipment, parts etc. you will need. Learn to delegate, life will be much easier. Good Luck.
Talk to Troy(Rad rides by Troy), Alan Johnson, or Don's Rod Shop. They all started out young and made it. See if one of them can give you 10 minutes of their time.
Paper dogs post is dead on ,i would add that if you start with dept and or no personal cash you are done .
So yeah I figured not to have debt and some money. I have very little debt and some credit. I also talked to the VA and they are pretty positive I can get an SBL and SCORE herd in Bismarck screwed me around. They wouln't put effort forth. I have been extensively researching this since I was 15 just wanted some good imput. I have had about 4 different shop designs but finally settled on an expandable Service station style starting with two stalls. I am also thinking a specialty towing service specific to custom cars and bikes. But this was just an idea for extra income sincE I know most people don't trust an average operator when they break down. I have been smart enough to think in the long term an have yet to buy a house or expensive new car. I am 32 and am as sick now as I was whEN I was 15 of working for other people. I have nothing going on tht is holding me here just need to get to college. Thanks you guys for your info.
i was a unhappy camper when out of the service and floundered in business for a few years, went to work and paid all off, then decided to do college that helped and did SCORE in Fargo and did not like all they told me , but adopted a few of their ideas like branding and getting confidence in my brand and it worked and I was wildly sucessfull for 10 years,also had a wild economy then
Welcome to the Black Hills when you get to HRI, I ran the front end of a local shop for a few years and can tell you how not to do it thanks to my old boss. We have quite a nice little hot rod community growing here. I get folks together for breakfasts in the winter and have been known to do some reliability runs and such in the summer
I think the only thing I can ad to paperdogs post is to start from your house , work somewhere for money and do side jobs to pay for tools before you open a shop. At least the tools will be yours and not a dept of the new company . You can do your incorperaton papers and so forth while operating out of house garage as well.
My best advise is to keep your debt load LOW. Intrest on debt is what kills a lot of dreams. I have been self employed for over 30 years and watched to many fail from debt even in the good times.
On another plus side my Dad offered me most of his hand tools for starters which range from small to 4" sockets and wrenches. Ratchets, pipe wrenches saws, lathes etc. Including a set of brake lathes and a drill press. Figure it is a good start. I figured one lift, welder, torch and possible tire machines for starters. I am gonna hit up auction sales and other sales to get used if ossible that are in good condition.
There are some things most folks like about running their buisness and some folks do not like. An absolute essential for any buisness to succeed is acountability. This is where visiting with a Small Buisness Administration representative is your first move. You will need as I mentioned a buisness plan, tax law fundamentals, aand how to set up a system for tracking casj outlay, income, accounts recievable, etc. etc. You will have to budget your buisness funds to keep the buisness afloat, live while you are starting up, and continue the buisness. You will want to budget for growing the buisness. If you do not grow the buisness, it will flounder. Nothing stands still. It either moves forward or dies. And, you will have to pay taxes and file tax reports. If you hire help, then there is social Security and other withholding. More reporting to the city,state, and federal governments. Unlocking the doors, servicing customers ordering supplies and lining up reliable vendors is where most peop;le have very little trouble. It is the fundamental buisness reporting and taxation where folks falter. When we began our buisness, the Small Buisness rep said we did not have to report all cash, but checks were recorded and must be reported. Back to an earlier comment, you will have to live while starting up and operating the shop. Set your self a salary and pay it from the buisness, reporting it as a buisness expense, hence it is a deductible expence. KEEP accurate records. Write it down in a proper reporting manner. Lots of good structured record keeping materials available. the worst thing I have seen is throwing reciepts, notes, and other materials in a box, thinking you will sort it later. KEEP it organized as you go on a daily basis and the most reliabel, on a item by item basis. On the tools of your dad's. get him to set a monetary value on them, provide you with a reciept and report them on your taxes as a buisness decudtable expence. believe me, you will want to deduct all you can. Even keep track of the milage you put on your vehicle, separating accurately the buisness miles and pleasure miles. all the miles traveled for your buisness practices is deductable. believe it or not it is possible to make money on taxation. Or waste it without proper recore keeping and reporting. Keep in mind it is not whether it is the right thing to do, it is whether it is legal.
I am eating this up. I can't thank you guys enough for the advice. The reason I asked here is I figured you guys would be one avenue of good insight. Not to worry I am also checking other avenues. I already am pretty organized so I don't think that will be a problem. Already got some ideas on software I want to use. My wife plan's to take accounting cl***e so she can be my secretary and book keeper. She is the one who has pushed me for the last 15 years to go to college and build this shop. This is the first time I have had a good chance at it though. I guess good thigs come to those who wait.
I used QB in last year. Didn't have a good experience. Their interface doesn't seem user-friendly to me. I am using online accounting services software ZipBooks. You could mention sage otherwise. Sage is better than qb.
Whether you succeed or not also depends on your personality. Car guys are notorious time wasters, they will hang around and brag all day about nothing if you let them, if you're an ***hole and send them on their way, they will badmouth you to anyone who will listen, it's a tough thing to deal with, lots of guys want work done and think you're gonna do it for two cents because they're such great guys, or they know a ton of guys who will frequent your business on their say so provided you give them a deal, and get mad as hell when you don't. In my case, I've worked hard to build a reputation, and I'm quick to dismiss time wasters, have developed a reputation as being hard to get along with as well, not true, those that deal with me fairly find the opposite. I DON'T WORK FOR FREE. It took me forty years to learn what I know, and the customer benefits from that knowledge, they don't pay just for the shop and tools, they pay a guy who knows what he is doing. If you repair others poor workmanship, do it in a way that becomes obvious, something that can either be seen or felt, I do a lot of repair work, stuff my customers have paid some guy cause he was cheap, don't be that guy. Turn out good work, you'll struggle a bit, but if you're the best you can be, you'll succeed. Good luck.
Thanks for your reply y'all. I have gone a different route. I am going to college for Architecture for my masters to finance the shop. I get along with most everybody. Have the habit of getting in conversation so I will have to watch that. But yeah, no favor discounts.
Haha...and so life changes yet again. My wife p***ed in February 2018 and I been a lost soul since then. But, finally got everything setup for HRI January 3rd. Thanks again for your replies.
My opinion is, nothing leaves my shop any worse then what is done to my vehicles, and I am picky. Safety will never be an afterthought either.
Sorry for your loss. Feel free to PM me when you get to town if you have any questions about the area.
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