Some big changes here....

[Pappy]

I feel kind of happy i geuss. My wife always wanted to go to college and become a proffesional career woman. She pulled a few years of school before I all but begged her to come help run the office at the company I worked for, that was 1994.

She has remained 100% faithful to the company and to me as my right hand person since day one, and fo rthe past 9 years that ive managed the company I could not have done it without her.

A little over a year and half ago, she basically told us she wanted to work from home to be closer to the kids, which didnt really hurt us any. So for the recent past, this is how it was worked. The gentleman I work for is about to retire and he has offered us the company, but frankly, we have taken such low salaries for this region that we have not buiolt up a nest egg to buy the business, not too mention after 16 years im about shot at doing what I do.

So the wife found a new job, working at the largest law firm in the region. Starting salary was ok, benefits,401K and room for advancement. They even will cover 100% of any college she wants to attend and pay her for the time also! I reckon she will excell, she doesnt know how to fail.

This leaves me at home 1/2 the time, and at the warehouses the other half waiting for the end of my career and hopefully the start of a new one. I geuss I am kind of scared taking on a career where I am the sole person, I am good at managing others, I geuss I will have to manage myself :D

Anyway, if there are any other small business people out there that started with nothing, i'd like to hear about it. I figure I have about 8 months before I will be on my own. the wifes new career should help alot, seeing she can excell and higher salary will be there along with the benfits I wont have to cover working for myself.

Any advice, any comments are appreciated.

[rainman 05400ex]

I started a commercial construction company 9 years ago. I am now up to 40 employees with 2 full time people in the office. I also started a carpet cleaning company in 05.

The best advise I can give you is watch all the money very closely, surround yourself with good people and do not be afraid to fail.

It was tuff starting with nothing but with hard work and strong character you will make it.

If you need any help or questions contact me.

[Pappy]

40 employee's would drive me nuts:p

The custom powdercoating company is going good and that is what I plan to continue. Ive been officially a legal business for the past 2 years and its growing daily it seems.

I really want a full retail shop specializing in sales and repair. Not just quads, but street bikes etc. There is no real custom shop around here so I feel it would be good. The bank is all for it, however they want me to try and purchase instead of lease. That scares me seeing everything I own is paid for. All my equipment is paid for and I try to not owe anyone.

Buying a building could be wise, especially if I build and add enough room to lease out a few bays so the rent covers the mortgage.

[rainman 05400ex]

I still lease but am looking to buy. With all the equiptment and start up costs it was better for me to wait to buy.

The thing about buying bigger and then renting scares me. It only takes a couple bad tenants not paying the rent or tearing the place up to set you back quite a bit.

I hope it all works out for you. You are a top notch person and I dont even know you. You have answered all my questions I sent you and I havent even bought anything YET.

As well as keeping your forum up to date with pictures for customers as the work proceeds.

That is AWESOME customer service.

[Pappy]

Thanks, I just try to treat folks like id want to be treated, nothing more, nothing less.

The internet powdercoating is fun, because I know im helping out alot of folks I consider friends, even if we have never met. The local work brings higher revenue, and i've built a reputation so that now I am getting referal work from a local coater who specializes in much larger jobs then I would ever want:p

I have not even advertised locally other then word of mouth and the response has been great. If I am able to open a shop, it will advertise sales and service, but all the pc work will remain here at my shop. I figure just having a fair amount of parts coated and on display will be more then enough to keep that end rolling.

our largest local dealer has been trying to break into aftermarket sales, but thier prices are incredible. Hows $525 for a standard big gun exhaust:ermm: $1200 for a set of hipers:eek: And they remain backed up on service work to the point folks go without oil changes for extended periods of time just because they can not leave thier bike for 2 weeks. I do not want to get into heavy mechanical work, merely the bread and butter service work. I also hope to expand services thru my online contacts. Getting C&D and Derisi among others to do shock and fork service, engines, you name it. i am constantly amazed at how many people can not ship off a set of shocks or an engine to have it done by those that have the needed expierence to do the work properly.

Hopefully it all pans out.

My local shop had my Pro Circuit Ti4 GP Lowboy system "On Sale" for $1300. Or, you could get it from motosport outlet for $700. I don't know how they get away with stuff like that. Someone put a jar of Vaseline next to the pipe display, with a sign made on computer paper with a sharpie saying "Vaseline included for shoving it up your ***". It was pretty hillarious for the 15 minutes before a salesperson saw it:blah:


Good luck with whatever path you chooose.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Pappy
and pay her for the time also!

This is a biggie. I can get my tuition covered, most companies offer educational programs, but to get paid for your time is very rare.

I was never exactly clear on your situation, do you care to share the details? I thought you were in the "business" of PC, but this thread indicates that the PC is just a hobby on the side?

[Pappy]

Back in 2002, when i joined this site, i would stare in awe of the pc work posted by CBW. i wanted to get him to do work for me but shipping clean across the country wasnt feasible. I checked locally and the prices were so bad it was not worth it, not too mention trying to find someone that could do the colors i wanted.

a member here, cottonwoody, listed his pc set up for sale. i snagged it and started doing any part i could. once my stuff was done, others started sending me parts to practice on. after awhile, it started providing me with some play money, but the equipment i had was all so basic it was limiting me. not to mention i had no space to work.

we sold our house to move so i could have a workshop, bought and upgraded equipment and just kept plugging away. when harlen bought exriders.com, i saw it as a great oppertunity and stepped up doing work for the site. thats pretty much how it stayed until last year when i was informed of my employers retirement. that alone was enough to make me think of doing this fulltime, but i still needed better equipment. my dad passing away gave me some financial ability and i started working on getting the business off the ground. im in the process now of getting a commercial oven built for the size of parts i mainly work on(frames, street bike frames etc) the oven i have been using is a friends, and its a 2 hour drive to use it. having my own oven here will save me a ton of time..lol

so, since 2002, ive been working 2 jobs basically with the last 2 damn near full time at both. the pc work is still a sideline to my main employment for now, atleast until the boss retires. at that point it should be able to sustain my current income, another reason every thing i own is paid for. buying new equipment would be tuff if i hadnt paid for it as i had grown.

[wilkin250r]

What was your "real" job?

The reason I ask is that I have seen many a small business fail because of poor business management and accounting. A great product and a willing market is all well and fine, but a business can't succeed without knowing the money flow.

How are your skills in these areas?

[Pappy]

since im still employed, id rather not say. i think you know who i work for and what we sell..lol


as far as money managment, that really doesnt concern me too much. i dont spend excessively, i buy quality so replacing equipment isnt a factor, and i spend no more then i need to. i started out with $400 worth fo equipment and powder, and now i have over $45k in equipment that is 100% paid for.

i too have watched as many people outspend what they earn and fail to succeed.

as far as money flow, there are peak periods in the atv and bike markets, but the off peak can be beefed up as i develop my services into new markets. refinishing firearms has been quite lucrative and seems stable and growing. i do not plan to be a shop that does 10,000 widgets, id prefer to specialize as much as i can.

[Tommy 17]

when u started PCing back in the day and u said u were goin to in a chat i started laughin and thought u were kidding... haha


i still wonder what woulda happened if my frame would have melted in the oven when u did it as the 1st one:p ;) :D

[Pappy]

after i did your frame, i knew it was what i wanted to do. that was a goal i didnt think i could meet until i hooked up with the right people.

believe it or not, i still prefer doing small parts a compared to big ones. i think the detail is really brought out in a build by making all the small parts work with the overall color scheme.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Pappy
as far as money managment, that really doesnt concern me too much. i dont spend excessively, i buy quality so replacing equipment isnt a factor, and i spend no more then i need to. i started out with $400 worth fo equipment and powder, and now i have over $45k in equipment that is 100% paid for.

You've got instincts for money management, and that's good. However, I would still reccomend some classes on accounting and bookeeping, or be prepared to pay for that talent down the road.

It's not just a matter of earning and spending, but a system to keep track of your finances, and the information that is hidden in the patterns of your money flow. It can tell you where money is safe, where it is vulnerable, and what areas to concentrate growth and/or cutbacks.

There is an entire field of study, almost a science, dedicated to finances and accounting. You should try to take advantage of it.

[ranger400ex]

Pappy...if you ever need a hookup for powdercoating equipment...I can give you a good lead. Good friend owns a powder coat/e-coat engineering and manufacturing company. Specialty builds are their fortay.

[Pappy]

wilkin,

no doubt. usually i leave the money work to my accountant. she has been treating me good for years.

the main difference between this work and the business i manage is that instead of product flow, inventory assests and depletion, large accounts recievables, inventory mix, cash flow short falls, discounted product combined with long accounts recievable time, corporate subsidy credits, delivery managment, core management, account aquisition, and then the whole employee thing:p is that there are only a few basic things to watch with regards to the pc business. KISS system as it were:D


i intend to apply what i have had to learn on the fly these past years in the new areas of business i intend to grow. internet parst sales are not even a thought, i have enough online headaches as it is:p but using the internet to track what products seem to working best, and are most popular will keep me ahead of much larger retail shops that for the most part are clueless as to what aftermarket parts work. retail is a new animal to tame, i cant just throw every sob out of the shop i dont care for:devil:

[Pappy]

Ben,

thanks for the heads up. I hooked up with a newer company locally that broke away from building and designing ovens for a much larger company. the larger company was wanting to cut back its quality and the head designer said no way and started his own deal. they seem to very interested in making a quality product at a fair price.

my biggest problem is still stripping larger items and parts that come in already coated. i still handle most small parts here, but ive had to find places that are open to stripping my parts the way i want them done. luckily i have found 2 such places that i keep busy:p it does cost me, but no more then if i calculated my time and the expense of purchasing the needed equipment, actually its much less. and they have to deal with the epa for running such a large operation. with the pc work, all i have to follow for the most part are the regulations for a body shops and even then its not as much red tape as they are required to have. less overhead=higher yield and i can factor stripping mopre effectively since the pricing is for the most part set.

the downfall is when thier schedule or volume of business conflicts with mine. nothing is perfect i guess.