I have a graphic design professor that is a bit of an ***hole and has kick my enthusiasim for design in the ***. I love hot rods and customs and have for a long time. I think that I have some ideas and concepts to offer the rodding and custom communities. Because of this, I've been thinking of opening a shop instead of persuing a design career, just side note I will follow through with the degree though. Not a shop were customers come in and pay me to build stuff but one were I buy the cars and fix them up and sell them. If someone wants something done I wouldn't send them away but that wouldn't be my focus. So I guess the point of this post is what recommendations do all of you have? What things do I need to watch out for? What things do I specifically need to do? Anything else that you might want to add, even nay sayers can chime in. In fact, I would really like to hear from both ends of the spectrum. -Panelrodder
You will almost always sell a car for less than you have into it. It would be hard to make money just building what you want and then trying to get someone to pay what you want. If you build for customers, you charge time and materials. This way youd be sure to make money on the build. Its hard to sell someone else your dreams. But they'll pay for theirs.
Have you ever worked in a shop before...not your own garage, I mean a shop that has customers? If not, I would say experience is king. Before you jump into your own deal, get a job working at a garage, work as many different positions you can so that you understand every aspect of the business....especially the book keeping. You've gotta know that or you can get into big trouble owning any buisness. It is a tough way to make a living, but if you love it and it's what you really want to do, go for it. Make sure to be realistic with yourself about the $$$. It's tough to make a buck in this business. Might be better to do as a hobby and let your day job pay the bills..?..until you get that feeling that you can't be happy if you're not building cars. I've killed a few hobbies of my own trying to make a living at them...know what I mean? With some things it's not as fun to do them on the weekend when you HAD to do them all week long. Glad you're going to get your degree though. Don't let a professor get you down. There are a whole lot of different places that design can take you. Let us know what you do, John Joyo...
If you want to build cars to sell, you have to have DEEP pockets, patience, and reputation. as far as repair goes...Make sure you are willing to live on rice and beans until your reputation gets right. (took a little over a year and a half here.) don't expect to see ANY money for about 4 or 5 years-that said, if your shop is self sustaining by then, you will be in high cotton before it's all said and done. 60 hours is an average work week. 80 means busy, 40 means get ready to close the doors. You are only as good as the guys you hire...Here's where you find out your friends ****. patience is everything. Just cause you have 20 grand in the bank right now doesn't mean there will be 20 grand in the bank come the slow season. DO the research on your locals. trends? better stay on top. and you had better get multi faceted fast. (either that, or be really,really good at one thing in particular.) Learn how to fire people. IT ****S. BIGTIME. There is no easy way to do it, and it makes everyone involved lose sleep. Sleep. kiss it goodbye. sleeping in...only a warm, happy memory... Got a wife? Girlfriend? "significant other"? guess what. they will never understand why you are at your shop at 1 a.m. on a wednesday. ever. I love this work. I would reccomend it to anyone. it's ****ing hard work, but it beats the hell out of anything else, except perhaps "bra adjuster" at victorias secret. Just be ready to be the boss. That's the hard part.
I totally understand. Killing a hobby is what has happend, in essence, with my graphic design work. I actually run a bussiness with my father right now offering some graphic design services and building a couple lines of products. But this professor has almost killed any desire for any part of that. I don't think that I have the required experience to run a shop for building other people's dreams.... besides, some peoples' ideas of what looks good don't jive with my own and I would have a hard time building it. As far as getting my money out of the builds, I was thinking more along the lines of only slight modifications. The extreme stuff is were most people differ in their opinions. As I read these threads, and other forums' threads, there are certian veins that run through them with modifications that are often made. One can make these types of mods without crossing into the realm of a personalized vehicle... right? I don't know, maybe I am just making up excuses. I know that it is only one man's opinion of my work and when I get into the graphic design field things will be at lest slightly different than school. I like the idea of doing in on the side and more than likely that will be the way I go. Unfortunantly, until I am done with school there isn't hardly time to finish my own project! Ah.... time.... what a novel idea!
Man, step up and tough it out! Just because you ran into one ***hole of a professor your ready to throw in the towel? You will NEVER make it in bussiness! Frankly, you will meet a huge number of ***holes that are worse then this professor will ever be. Sounds to me like you need to grow up a little. Grow some tougher skin. What you are considering doing is going to be way more stressfull then some professor will ever be. Just a side thought, maybe you are having a problem with this professor because he is trying to teach you something new or different then the way you have always done something? Are we calling the wrong guy an ***? Look in the mirror and be sure the guy looking back at you is the guy with all the answers. Do a reality check. Gene
Hey dude, no matter what you do, finish getting that degree. Its worth every penny and every minute spent on it, whatever its in. Even if you end up opening up a shop, you'll still have something to fall back on. I am working a regular job right now, and dream one day of building cars for a living too! But in reality, I know I am making more dough doing my regular job (and am probably much better at it then building or modifying cars anyways). But then when I get home I heat up the garage and go grind/weld/cut/etc for a few hours and get my fix. Once you're out of school there will be a bunch of time for both your ****ty day job and your kick *** activities in the garage after work. Plus you'll have money coming in to play with. I also know some folks that work a good day job and are developing a trade after hours that may eventually turn into a business. I am thinking of doing the same, just gotta figure out what that trade is gonna be!! Good luck man. Mike
Sorta off topic, but professors are like drill sergeants. They don't really care about the right answer, they care that you follow their lead. When you get your degree, or get out of boot camp, then you can laugh. Hate and pride are guardrails of the American education system. Thousands go off the cliff every year. There's only one way to make money with cars: quan***y over quality. If you want to focus on quality, you won't make as much money (or any money) unless someone pays you to do the work.
those who cant do teach, dont wory about the profeser. your a hotrodder, we make cool **** from what we have laying around, dream big
Don't quit your day job. Try working some extra hours at night in your garage and see how viable your idea really is. If everything goes good then extend into a small space and start working weekends. When you get to where you are booked for a couple of months in advance, give the boss your notice. My two cents.
I didn't say anything about throwing in the towel.... in fact, I recall typing that I was going to get the degree no matter what. My father worked to get a degree in geology and went on to head up the consulting office for Micrsoft in both Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah. Absolutely nothing to do with his degree. Since I was a kid he always told me to get a degree in anything but just get one because of it's worth. I WILL be "tough(ing) it out." I understand that the tendency might be either to inflate the problem or to blame one's problems on someone else and trust me sir, I have looked in the mirror and sat in his office discussing what I need to do. I apparently am not capable of meeting his requirements. Interestingly enough, I mentioned to this professor about my asperation in hot rod/custom design and he told me that people that are involved in that market have problems "evolving" which he further described to mean we just get stuck in one style and are not capable of getting better or furthering the market. He has his head down and only sees his way. Many students feel he is overly harsh. As for my question about starting a shop, it seems that my course of action should be to first finish school (obviously), then move on to doing some jobs on my own time and build experience and a reputation. Then maybe, if I am successful at those two task, I can explore opening an actual shop. Thanks for the suggestions. I dream of building cars but I know deep down that it isn't right for me at this point in my life. I think I was mostly interesting in the logistics of this type of venture. What kind of longevity does the typical shop have? The comments on the hours was very helpful as was the comments on quality vs. quan***y. Even if I don't start a shop anytime soon, this kind of information would be great for anyone exploring the idea as well. I guess it might have been better to start the thread without any mention of school and my professor since that was not the important part of the post.
The Jalopy Journal
