Thinking of actually opening up shop...

seth in my opinion... id say cool it for another year or 2 before u open an actual business... your what, barely 19 now or so ? not very reputable for customers that arent minitruckers, u know a hot rodder would generally never turn his pride and joy over to a young kid to start cutting on.. just keep doing what u do in your garage or if u absoultely need a bigger place, which it sounds like you do, get a small shop by yourself...before my shop now, i used to have a 20x35 for $325/month including utilities and heat and it was enuf to get 2 rides, 3 at the very most in there to get work done. You gotta remember the costs of new tools and repairing and maintaining the ones u have and all the little shit, it all adds up man... i went into the auto body supply store today to get some clean sheets for mixing filler, i walked out $50 poorer and didnt even get clean sheets cuz they were sold out and i bought other stuff i realized i need but never took the time to admit it, lol. At least save up as much $ as possible for a year or so before u open a business up, m-f 8-5 jobs arent all that bad cuz youll always be making money...

Edited: 9/6/2007 11:22:45 PM by TwistedMinis

Originally posted by STdragonass



seth in my opinion... id say cool it for another year or 2 before u open an actual business... your what, barely 19 now or so ? not very reputable for customers that arent minitruckers, u know a hot rodder would generally never turn his pride and joy over to a young kid to start cutting on.. just keep doing what u do in your garage or if u absoultely need a bigger place, which it sounds like you do, get a small shop by yourself...before my shop now, i used to have a 20x35 for $325/month including utilities and heat and it was enuf to get 2 rides, 3 at the very most in there to get work done. You gotta remember the costs of new tools and repairing and maintaining the ones u have and all the little shit, it all adds up man... i went into the auto body supply store today to get some clean sheets for mixing filler, i walked out $50 poorer and didnt even get clean sheets cuz they were sold out and i bought other stuff i realized i need but never took the time to admit it, lol. At least save up as much $ as possible for a year or so before u open a business up, m-f 8-5 jobs arent all that bad cuz youll always be making money...

I can't really afford to rent out a space, and not do work out of it. I will probably rent out space soon, and not run a business out of it. But I think within a year of that I would like to turn it into a business.

You're right about the hotrodders, they wouldn't let a kid touch their ride. But that doesn't mean the 4WD guys, or anyone else won't.

I also don't happen to look, or act my age.

rent out here is pretty pricey too.. seth i do hope everything works out and you do good, cause you've got a ton of talent!!

good luck seth i hope everything works out for you bro

Well, its been a little while since I made this post. I'm actually getting serious about this now. I have looked at two industrial multi-tenant lots so far. One I love, because its very nice, about 3 years old, and about 5 minutes from my house. But because it is so nice, its a bit more expensive. But they said they would be willing to go with the first month free, and the next 3 months at $800/month and then up to the standard rate after that. So that will help with cost. I am looking at places between 1000 and 1500 SF. Prices seem to be lower right now, but no one really has money.

Any ways, I am supposed to look at a few more places next week. I am hoping to move into a place by June or July. I've got a few projects in line with deposits right now, so I feel comfortable with that. But I need to book more jobs in the next few months still.

I'll loose about a month just moving into the shop. But I have some money saved, and I am going to take an interest only loan from family to make sure I can cover my ass for the first 6 months if I don't make a single dime. But I have a simple business plan, and I have taken startup costs into account, and extra money for tools I need to buy, and materials for a frame table and a large work bench.

I wish you lots of success. hope to see you around for many years.

ya man, it will be good to have you in a shop doin this more "professionally" for lack of a better term. wish you great success and loads of cash. wish i had the skill/mindset to do the shit you do.

I have been wanting to open a shop for awhile now and hopefully will in the next year or two. My wife is a business major at WSU and is working on a business plan for me right now. We interviewed a small hotrod shop owner that has been in business for just over three years and her's basically what he said.

You need 2 years worth of operating expenses to start with. This gives you the opertunity to build a customer base and get repeat customers. Send bills out twice a month with a certain amount down. This will make sure you don't have two much time invested in one job without getting paid. Keep good track of your hours on each job so it can be billed accordingly. Never give a direct price quote. As with everything custom there are gonna be things that take longer and some things that won't take as long. Give them a price but let them know the price could be so much more or less depending on obstacles that are encountered. Radio ads and tv ads are useless. You may get a few customers that way but not enough to justify the expense. Car people go to car shows. Advertise in the yellow pages, car shows, forums like this, and maybe you local parts store. Quality is key. Nothing should leave the shop unless it is up to your standards. Keep it simple on location. Word spreads and people travel. You don't have to have a storefront right on the strip. The less overhead you have the better. You're office could be a file cabinet in your bedroom for all most people care. As long as you are doing a good job on their vehicle.

Keep in mind this is from a hotrod shop. The owner was 25 when he started it and employs 4 full time guys.

Oh he also said you need a vehicle to show what you can do and the quality they can expect. He actually used some of his startup capital to build a badass 68 sedan deville that's laid out and clean as hell. Hope this helps a little. and good luck.

Seth- you said first month free then $800 for 3 then what does it go up to? I think $800 for a newer building around 1500sf is fair. Does it have water and a bathroom. That is actually an important thing to have. My shop has a community bathroom at the end of the building but I would love a place in my shop to wash my hands.

dang i need to move. the cheepest i have found for rent around here is $4.50 a sq ft!!!! and yes thats per year no utilities