Until about 18 months ago I ran a car modification/restoration/customization business here in the Dallas area, had more work then I could handle with my 5 employees and life was good. But the stock market correction of October 2008 changed all that and I decided that was time to cut my losses. What I understand from my insurance broker and from other posts on here is that many companies in the same position made the same decision. Either on time, shutting down safely or because they couldn't pay the rent anymore. Over the last few months, and increasing in the recent weeks I've been getting several requests to work on peoples cars, some small and other very big projects. Ranging from a basic maintenance job on a classic Porsche to a crazy street rod build from scratch. What is everyone else seeing? is business improving? or maybe it never got bad for you?
good thing i've got a full time job, everyones still got what they want me to paint but nobodys got the dough, if they did i'd have a yrs work ahead of me
i hear ya on beeing slow my buddys shop has all but died hes the only one left and cant even keep his self busy
The well established shops here in Southern California always are busy. The guys that have lots of money don't get as big a hit as everyone else....if at all. I know the monied guys around here that just used everyone else's less insulated situations to their advantage...keeping the shops busy and buying up other guy's stuff. For everyone else, life was OK as long as you didn't have any debt other than a well thought out mortgage. Those who got in over their head had the trouble. It'll always be that way, always has been. Nothing new there...
The last half of '09 was slow...things are picking up a little now. Locally, unemployment is like 12%...most of the guys I do work for are retired and can afford to play.
Its been pretty good really cant complain. Most of the "car people" around here are retired and can or have planned on having some work done for a while. Course business always picks up when the sun starts shining.
not so bad/ not as big as 08 but has been stable, used some cash to buy some sweet deals. most customers continue to buy but go a little slower, and then some are really cheap. some of our dealers are going broke and some are selling a lot more, and there are new shops that start up and seem to do well. they high quality shopd never seamed to slow down.
Well it looks like its going on everywhere. I was busy until November or 09 and then the phone stopped ringing. All areas of the Automotive trade is being hit. First thing that goes are the toys. Things have picked up a bit now but I had two guys cancel for this week. so I work 3 days instead of 5. We have 1/10th the population so things can get a little thin. One must be flexible. Now were are those 1000 gas pump covers I painted years ago??? They must be due for a repaint!!! The Old Tinbasher
It's a bit slow here. Funny thing is, all my customers are friends and aquaintances. But, since I moved to a very slightly remote location 2 lousy miles away 6 yrs ago, I got quite a bit slower. I still see these people, but not their cars as often. I get stories like, oh, a guy owed me money and fixed my brakes, or oh, my neighbor came by and offered to help me out, etc.
Same here! It's very slow here. I'm hoping the car show season starts to bring more business. I barely have enough to keep myself busy.
ive got work, but i think alot has to do with being versatile and being able to paint many different styles. from mini trucks, to hot rods, to bikes, watercraft and so on.
a little over a year ago i had customers bitching about progress being slow (full blown customs and total restos). now i've got the same customers telling me to ease up a bit. i've still got a shop full and more to come but dang, i'm not a storage facility. if you don't want to pay me for labor at least pay some lot rent, i could get paying crash work in if the shop wasn't full. danged either way it seems.
We're not in an auto related business but for us business has been on the upward climb since the begining of the year. We had only been in business for about 10 months when the bottom fell out at the end of '08 so we were pretty worried but we really didn't feel it until mid '09. Higher end spec homes and custom homes are not selling like they were and banks are not loaning builders money for entry level spec homes so we deversified. We started doing more remodels that we would have hired out before and a lot of insurance work. We have had the best 1st quarter this year since we have been in business and haven't broke ground on any new construction this year. Our next new isn't scheduled till July. We have also cut our expenses way down this year. No more driving new trucks that are trashed after a year. I'm driving the good ol Ford I started out with and the crews are all driving late 90s fords. We're also rebuilding tools now when one wears out instead of tossing it and buying a new one.
Hell, I've got all kinds of requests I don't want to pay for We're in sales and 2010 is way better than 2009.
Things for me have been a bit shall we say "dicey" for the last year or so, mostly coming in waves. Just the last two weeks though... man, it's like somebody just flipped the giant switch marked "Economy on"! Suddenly, everybody I have been talking to for the last year and a half is making appointments... and actually showing up! And get this, when I call and tell folks they're stuff is done - They're showing up with money, giving it to me, and picking stuff up!!! I almost remember what it's like to be in business!
Im doin great down here..turning away more work than I take in...(Im a one -man shop, and happy to stay that way.)
im a tattooist and last year sucked! this year has gottin a little better but i dont see it lasting. if u watch the news and u see whats happening in euorpe, just wait till it hits home. also california is bankrupt and if we dont get the illegals outta our jail system and outta our state sucking on the tit of the librial "welfare" state, we're screwed! watch this... <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1W9Xq_rJcZg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1W9Xq_rJcZg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Sounds like overall, the car business is slowly getting more optimistic. Maybe I need to get going again ;-)
I didn't think it could get worse then 08 till I did the books for 09, first time the Garage showed a loss in 18 years. Biz was up a little in March and April but not like 5 years ago! A lot of people want stuff done but dont have the $$ and the people with a lot of $$$ think since I'm slow I should be doing it for min. wage. A lot of DEEP pockets with SHORT arms here in Wisconsin.
The Jalopy Journal
