Opening up my own workshop. - Page 2

cupic · 24-11-2007, 04:14 PM

Gr8 to see a future success story in the making

Damn I wish you where closer

cheers

blownba · 24-11-2007, 06:25 PM

man the support from you guys is overwhelming!!!
Nearly brought a tear to my eye...
I have the support of many workshops in the area too.
My radiator guy will give me all his heads to do. My tyre guy sends all his gas work and aircon to me. My autoelec gets me to do alot of stuff, There are a few joints that i do RWC for and my gearbox guy gets me to do the remove/ install plus other stuff.
its a pretty good relationship between all of us.
Now I need to make sure that my employee turns up on time!!!!

rodderz · 24-11-2007, 07:13 PM

Well done mate. It sounds like you have done your research, have a good head on your shoulders and willing to do the hard yards. I think's it's better being cautious as you are rather than over-confidant, that way you expect the unexpected.

I have been in business now too for a couple of years, I made sure I tee'd up enough work for 2 months then you pick up more as you go along. Been a couple of quiet periods which is expected early but this year has been flat out and now booked out till March 08.

A few tips I could offer at my earlyish stage also-
Do your books/records frequently, while the week's work is still fresh in mind....25mins work weekly is better than a few hours every few weeks.
Don't be scared to get in extra help if needed. You only end up stressing and pulling hair out trying to do too much yourself to make more money, but it ends up costing. Helps with cashflow too.
Go the extra yards where you can to keep clients happy and your business in high regard- not so it will cost you $$, but the little things that makes people happy with the service
Be critical with quoting and estimating- my work is a lot different to yours, but the more accurate you can be with this, the less chance for losing $$ on a job, having a competitive price, and you can order materials just about to the exact amount- no wastage.

Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll do well

SpoolMan · 25-11-2007, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodderz

25mins work weekly is better than a few hours every few weeks.
l

How many hours is spent drinking refreshments? lol. :baby bott

**Full Noise** · 25-11-2007, 12:23 AM

Like someone once said…

The secret to succeeding in business is honesty and integrity.
If you can fake those, you’ve got it made.

Just joking. Good luck with it all.

Cheers

Bayvu · 25-11-2007, 12:35 AM

Good luck on the new venture!

Finding a good, relaible, reasonable and honest mechanic is hard. Finding one who has your abilities is precious.

What are you like with aftermarket turbo setups on gas? Got an AU Ltd with an LPG1 gas setup that runs like sh_t . Have an aftermarket twin turbo setup to fit and thinking of going injected lpg. Is this the sort of stuff you're capable of and enjoy doing?

If you're interested send me a pm.

What about a rundown of your car to whet our appetites?

All the best.

rodderz · 25-11-2007, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoolMan

How many hours is spent drinking refreshments? lol. :baby bott

Or how much time is wasted trying to get off AFF to start quotes! :togo:

blownba · 25-11-2007, 01:35 PM

HAHAHAHA No car ATM. All gone for now. Just the BA and my beemer left.
Still got to keep most of my toys though!!!! Not that I'm gonna have the time to take them out anymore.
I've got a little civic loan car!!! Hows that sound. Its gonna go on gas. The beemer is .
Theres heaps I wanna do but I'm gonna wait till christmas is well and truely over first.
Gotta have a shoppiece.

normxb · 25-11-2007, 04:30 PM

Good luck with your business , I like to see guy's "having a go" .

I've had a few businesses in a different game , but it is very "personally fulfilling" . It looks like you've put a lot of thought behind it , something a Lot of people don't do .

There's a lot of very good advice here , especially " ratter , V8boss & Nitroman"

Remember "You're Not a Charity" . We get our repairs done at a mates workshop and he say's X$ will do , but it won't , I make sure he charges me "the proper price" . You'll be amazed how many "friends" come out of the woodwork , but if you asked them for a hand , you'll find "they're too busy"!

: . When you're at work they are a Client/Customer , When you're at home for a BBQ , they are a friend .

In business , "you get back what you put in" , just because you Own the business , some people think you're "Rolling in $$$" , not so , it's all hard work .

All the best for the future

Norm

svo347 · 25-11-2007, 05:10 PM

Look after your employees and they will look after you.
Dont bs customers and always keep it personal, ie ask how the family is today, locals love it when your genuine..
Goodluck mate...

Ringo · 25-11-2007, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blownba

man the support from you guys is overwhelming!!!
Nearly brought a tear to my eye...
I have the support of many workshops in the area too.
My radiator guy will give me all his heads to do. My tyre guy sends all his gas work and aircon to me. My autoelec gets me to do alot of stuff, There are a few joints that i do RWC for and my gearbox guy gets me to do the remove/ install plus other stuff.
its a pretty good relationship between all of us.
Now I need to make sure that my employee turns up on time!!!!

Yep...look after your employee because finding another quality tech is expensive in time and $$$$

My 10 cents worth is to make sure you look after your allies in the trade. Make them look good. Customers love it when a trustsed tradie can put them onto another trusted tradie...they feel special like they have a inside knowledge. If the job goes pearshaped unexpectdly and requires a bit extra then do for no charge..this lifeline of work is worth a lot more than $ when it comes to monthly cash flow.

PS may the force be with you...good shops are hard to find and even harder to get a booking!

private9 · 26-11-2007, 12:27 AM

Congratulations mate! After seeing your attitude around here on the forums for the last year or so, I for one will absolutely be a customer of yours in the coming months.

v8boss · 26-11-2007, 05:48 PM

Dont worry too much about a shop "showpiece". too many guys get caught up in the building of these things, and it just sucks them dry of time, money and energy. Much better to make your business your showpiece, and use this as your marketing tool. Oh, by the way, dont stick a picture of your car on your business card, it just looks amatuerish. Instead, get a photo of of the outside of your workshop, with you, your wife (and kids) and your staff standing in frt. it may feel a bit silly, but I guarantee you will get more work out of it because people that havent been there , but have your card will recognise it from the photo.

Have you got a lease signed up yet? If you dont, try and get the longest term possible if you are planning on making a real go at it. This way, once you start to flourish, your landlord cant put up the price. If he sees you being succesful, he will ramp it up because he knows you wont want to move shop and start all over again, with all the costs that go with that.

blownba · 26-11-2007, 07:43 PM

Well first day moving over.
Didn't get to do as much as I wanted but all in all a good day.
The shop I thought was a good sive is getting smaller and smaller as more stuff goes in there.
I had to angle my hoists a bit funny but I'm just so used to driving straight onto them I've gotten lazy.
The more i do the more I realise i gotta do.
Type more later, gotta go eat.

JMO · 26-11-2007, 09:27 PM

Sorry if I missed it in a previous post, but when is the shop opening up and where abouts is it located? I've been looking for an honest mechanic

blownba · 26-11-2007, 11:19 PM

I will be opening on the 3rd of December if all goes to plan. Actually i have work booked in so like it or not I have jobs to do!!!
I am in Wantirna sth. On Sherwood crt. Factory 5 No. 5.
A&M Automotive and LPG conversions.
I am pretty small at this stage, (just one other mechanic my wife and myself) but if things keep going the way they are I am going to need another guy.

I've got a fair bit of cleaning to do of my equipment cause the joint it came out of was pretty grubby due to the fact the owner didn't really care about giving me time to keep things as clean as I like. The more stuff I move out the more I realise I actually have. There is so much stuff I have forgotten about and there is so much stock I am not sure where I am gonna put it all!.
The best thing about the way I have done it is that I don't need to buy anything extra, I really do have all I need to get all the work I do done. But there is always things I'd like to have (TIG welder first me thinks). All I need to do is move it and give it a good clean and some things could do with a lick of paint.
I'm having fun, its my dream come true. Just gotta keep on top of things and ill be right.
I have recieved so much good information off people who really know what they are talking about (as you can see) and i am taking it all on board, as most of it was what I planned to do I also feel much better.
Now I gotta get a good night sleep so I can start it all again tommorow!!!

MO · 26-11-2007, 11:23 PM

Best of luck sport...hope it works..but as I said head down bum up and go for it.

sprjenkins · 27-11-2007, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ringo

Yep...look after your employee because finding another quality tech is expensive in time and $$$$

If the job goes pearshaped unexpectdly and requires a bit extra then do for no charge..this lifeline of work is worth a lot more than $ when it comes to monthly cash flow.

PS may the force be with you...good shops are hard to find and even harder to get a booking!

I agree with Ringo, we have 7 cars in my family and they get used a lot, so there is lots of servicing and repairs done each year, probably worth about 15 normal cars to a mechanic.

We don't like it when mechanic's stuff us around on pricing. We don't use cheap mechanics, have been using same one for a few years now and therefore we pay a bit extra. However there is nothing worse than being quoted a price and having them finish the job a send you a bill for more than the agreed upon amount.

Sure, if when doing a basic service you find a part needs replacing its fine to ring up the customer, tell them and charge them for the part, but as Ringo said you have to be very carefull when your doing a job that goes pearshaped that you think very hard about how much, if any, extra your going to charge that customer. Because you never know how big and important that customer will be.

The other really good point that was raised was that you can be picky about what jobs you choose to take on. As stated the stuff like brake pads and rotors and your basic services can make you heaps as they are really quick in and out jobs that you get paid well for.

Be carefull of the people that are going to take up a lot of your time for not much benefit to you, e.g. weird french cars that have a strange noise and will take you half the day to find the problem.

My dad had the perfect example. He owned a printing shop for years and would love the black and white business card jobs as you could do a perfect job in ten minutes flat. He absolutly refused to have any thing to do with weddings however as the customer would take half the day sitting there with you showing them different types of paper and different sample, then designing the invites etc. Thats time your not making money.

If you were willing to pay a bit extra for speed and quality you would see my dad and get your job next day. If you wanted to be cheap or sit there for half the day trying to decide what shade of cream to have your wedding invitation you could go down the road and wait 4 weeks for your job and then have to pay for them to fix it when they screw up.

Van D · 27-11-2007, 08:51 PM

Definitely honesty for me. If I go to a business and they tell me how much it's going to cost, and how long it will take, and they meet both of those criteria, they have my business again.

Unless a problem occurs (a real one, not "ohh, yeah we had to fix a couple other things) I want what is said.

Too many times have I gone to mechanics/panel shops for them to say 1 week and it'll be done, to them having it for 3 or 4. Or $300 to turn into $1000.

And good, honest businesses are hard to find these days!

Sam_Boss260 · 28-11-2007, 01:03 PM

All the best Blown. If only you wre up here in Brissy.

The mechanic we usually go to (once our cars run out of warranty) is honest and straight to the point. He doens't have have maany "bedside manners" but he is good and straight up.

If he quotes you something, he is usually UNDER the quote and the quote is always reasonable. And any variations, he rings up straight away.

But whilst he doesn;t have a flash shop or loan cars or anything, what I do like is that he will actually show you the parts that he has replaced. It gives you that extra piece of conficedence that he did something and hasn't taken you for a ride. He also turns work away and says go to a specialist, I can't fix that.

And most of all, nothing is eveer a problem for him. Sometimes I've taken the car to him and he looks at it, 10 minutes later he fixes it and says "don't worry about money, see you next time".

To me, that is what service is about.

All the best mate.