Starting a shop?

[chucked]

I've been wanting to start a shop for awhile now. I have the know how. I just need to know the legal side of how to do it. My property is already zoned commercial. I worked for a shop for 6 years and I just got laid off. So I think now is the time to do it. And don't go saying "You just got laid off so you're going to start doing on your own what you got laid off from." Because that company had issues. What I'm asking is, does anyone know what I need to do, to start a legitimate business?

[Derrick Adams]

Do a search on small business administration. From there look for a program called SCORE. These are retired businessmen (in your area) that you can meet with and they will point you in the right direction.

[250x_kyle]

you going to have to have a seperate buisness front other then your garage. im sure you know that. other then that buying in to sale name products is going to get expensive fast. thats the only things i can tell you.

[jerkyboy]

customers

[CRE Performance]

Dont gouge people, but damn sure dont cut yourself short with low prices, too hard to raise them after that just to make a living.

Start small, work your way up...dont take out a huge loan...youll make the money in time to upgrade, and if you are doing it right your customers will come back and bring others making it that much easier to climb......just take your time no matter how bad it hurts and triple check everything that goes out the door. Try leasing a building before building one.

Be punctual on your getting there and closing hours. Just because you own the place doesnt mean you do as you want...gotta please the customers.

Thats all the advise I have for you. Just remember in a time where customer service has gone down the tube, its still the little things that will get you to the top.

[SRH]

you need to start small out of garage, find your niche and let it grow...someone with no business expirience should not go and borrow money, get a building and spend money on advertising without knowing what your doing

start in your garage tinkering...maybe buy some wheelers and flip them, build a rep in your area once thats established then id consider buying a building and going thru all the legalities starting out like that will show you what the market is like in your area...and give you an idea on what kinda business you can expect

alot of guys demand the glass front showroom, nice displays etc...but forget that... your buying yourself a job, that will give you a headache with poor job security...so start on the bottom and work up, or find another job , in the atv, dirtbike business it would take yrs to catch up to borrowing 20-40k

unless you have a huge market for parts forget parts unlimited or any of those it would cost you money before youd make any

this is a very difficult business to make it in so you gotta play it smart and be patient, the best thing you could do is look at your area, and what is lacking in the market thats in demand..

business is all about people skills and the bottom line

[SRH]

forgot to mention if you want to get in on a performance shop for race quads...forget making it full time, thats a very narrow market and most impacted by the economy, that def needs to start out as a side thing , buy a smaller enclosed trailer...get some a arms on display, stock some race parts ppl break and start hitting the local races help a few guys out and get the ball rolling if your smart im sure you could have a nice side business or mail order thing going

[chucked]

Ive had a side business going for a little over a year. I have a decent following already. I used to work on heavy equipment, but I can fix anything, backhoes, boats, bikes, quads.... I also can install remote starts, alarms, radios etc. I can also solder circuit boards. I do have business experience, but Ive never ran my own company.

[chucked]

I forgot to mention the off road industry is about dead here. So atv and dirt bike work is slim.

[SRH]

Originally posted by chucked
I forgot to mention the off road industry is about dead here. So atv and dirt bike work is slim.


i wouldnt base my business around it then, something all around, yard care, utv of some sort and do some wheeler stuff when it comes your way

you gotta look at whatever your making now and see if you could survive on it once uncle sam has his hands in your pockets, and whatever you decide for medical care and other costs, always judge any decision on the bare minimum your confident youll make and grow it from there, dont say well im making 10k a yr on the side, i bet ill make 20 k a yr first yr clear profit and count on it, say ok 10k can i make it on that...if not id keep chugging along like you are...if business keeps growing and the economy gets better you may double or triple and when everyone goes back to work youll be making it on your own

[chucked]

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate them. I've been thinking this through a lot over the past few months. A lot of what you said I have already been over in my mind, and on paper, and I agree with what you are saying. My problem is, I don't think that my old work is ever going to recover from this, they have lost too many customers. So this means I would have to get a new job. So I'm thinking, take the chance, try doing it on my own. Start out small, by myself, and see how it goes. If it gets bigger, hire help, get a bigger shop. If it doesn't, I'll already have tons of applications out, a good one is bound to hit eventually, some how. What's the worse that could happen? I still live at home, no mortgage, I got a car payment and a few other things, but I can at least cover them.

[woodsracer144]

im gonna say this, i didnt read the hole topic, just your question and a few post,

You can do it right from your house. The guy i take all my cylinders too has a shop that is 15 feet from his house, hes got mills, lathes, surface grinders, HUGE drill presses, all kinds of tools and things, he's really cheap and hes fast, alost every bore job hes done for me has been about 25 bucks and its ready the next day on most cases...

as said you dont want to sell your self short... if you have to bore a cylinder and it takes you 3 hours and you have a 15 dollar per hour, you charge that...

with just a small shop you will find your self really busy, I do all my own work because the big shops around here are full of dumb Asses and dont know **** on quads...

[yellowzo3]

What exactly will your business be? I don't think you mentioned the extent of what your capable of and what you're willing to work on. Don't count on quads or dirtbikes to help you make it big (as you already mentioned).

You're going to need to advertise as well. Obviously you need to keep cost down but try to make the stuff look professional. No flyers printed from your computer on blue paper lol. Try to get an ad in the paper or local magazines at race tracks and stuff.

Even though a lot of people recommended it, I don't suggest working out of your garage. You have no reputation yet, so having someone bring their stuff to some random guys garage is really shady and around here that wouldn't fly. If you want to look professional you're going to have to take the plunge money wise. If you DO work out of your garage, it has to be set up like a shop.. clean, all the tools needed, computer to keep track of stuff, etc..

What you want to do is REALLY hard now since people barely have money to survive, let alone buy toys and have someone work on them. It can be done though, you just have to be innovative and smart with your money.

Do you have all the tools you need to do jobs RIGHT? Dill presses, band saws, welders... all that stuff? Can you do engine work? Can you do machining?

You're going to need cheap prices and fast turnaround. Fortunately, since you already own the property you save a bunch there and you can work all day and night if you want... so turnaround should be quick. That's a huge plus there.

Take a small business class at a local community college if you can. I did and learned a lot of little things here and there. They'll tell you where to start and how to manage everything.

DON'T take an advertising class. Everyone in my advertising classes was disappointed in how much we already knew. Advertising is common sense and you already know what you can afford to do.

[chucked]

I already know what I'm going to do. I just need to know the legal side, how to get licensed, permits, whatever, etc....

[SRH]

probably get in touch with a lawyer, he can probably handle most of it, and of course find a GOOD accountant

[woodsracer144]

Originally posted by SRH
probably get in touch with a lawyer, he can probably handle most of it, and of course find a GOOD accountant

FU CK Accountants! my Gramp was making a TON of money back in the day and is Accountant just up and left will everything and they couldnt find him... this was a long time ago, he invented the first ban cleaner ( takes all the Cow S hit out of the barn)

[Fred55]

Originally posted by woodsracer144
FU CK Accountants! my Gramp was making a TON of money back in the day and is Accountant just up and left will everything and they couldnt find him... this was a long time ago, he invented the first ban cleaner ( takes all the Cow S hit out of the barn)

Thats why you get contact information for employees, but no successful business can survive without a good accountant!

[turdboy]

Woods, what grade are you in?

[SRH]

Originally posted by Fred55
Thats why you get contact information for employees, but no successful business can survive with a good accountant!

100% true....your grandpa prob got a bargain on his accountant haha....certain things you should not skimp on, def not lawyers and accountants