Question for Eric: Starting a Shop

[SpawnedX]

Eric,

I too have been unemployed recently from my nice desk job at a bank. The worst part is, I was preparing for it, going to school for automotive service. I had a 3.9 GPA and was the highest of the class. My father was stricken with cancer, bills went up and I grabbed a second job. I wasn’t always able to go to school do to the peronal situations, but I always covered the work and the activities with great grades. Unfortunately, due to my attendence the school refused to give me a certificate (despite having top grades and no incomplete work). Long story short it made me angry to see some bums who got their certificates with their C- averages all because they didn’t have more important commitments like jobs and a family.

Now everywhere I apply is offering 8.00 to 9.00 an hour to change oil, and I always get the same line, I don’t have the paper to prove I excelled in school. That won’t pay my bills, so I have been doing side jobs and collecting unemployment to make up the difference (a.k.a part time job and partial unemployment). I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to get a business going, but I have no idea on how to begin.

The costs to rent a shop are pretty high and I would need a loan, which scares me, to get started. I was hoping you could give some pointers and advice to those of who want to get off the ground since you have had a similar experience.

Thanks in advance.

Topic

[Matt]

Honestly man, you might want to look into biting the bullet and taking a lube tech job at a dealer, and making sure that paid training is a part of the package. At the school I’ve been attending, less and less dealers are willing to send students to programs like this, but with yer previous training, you might be one of the exceptions. It’s less risky than taking on loans and renting shop space and buying equipment that you may not be completely prepared to use. I’m not trying to dash your dreams bro, just pointing out the other side. I’m leaving school with loans to repay shortly, and I won’t be able to do it while working for an entry-level tech’s salary while raising a 6 month old son, so I’ll continue working a second job at nite to make ends meet. Not an exciting future at the moment, but it’s something I’ll be proud of once I can drop the nite job. Just my two cents bud. Best of luck to ya.

[Redeemer]

I hate to say it but I think Beefy is right on this. Starting a shop is expesive, not to mention the cost of the building you are renting. It took my grandpa most of his life working at a collision shop to be able to get his own shop going. It’s where I learned almost everything I know about cars.

[Elfy]

If you do go through with it, try and get a company’s attention, like doing their tune-ups and stuff.. that how my cousin was successful in his shop, Good luck guy

[EricTheCarGuy]

Don’t, learning the ‘ropes’ of being an automotive technician is one thing, starting an automotive business is quite another. You could get yourself into a situation that could easily bankrupt you and make things even worse. I strongly suggest you work in the field for at LEAST 5 years before thinking about starting your own shop just so that you can get a handle on doing automotive work and dealing with automotive customers. You might consider talking to the school you went to to see if you can work something out with them to get your certification, this should be your first priority otherwise you won’t be able to get a deceint job working on cars to even get your feet wet. I cover a lot of this kind of thing on ETCG1, if your not familiar with that channel you might want to check it out as it is geared more toward the ‘business’ of auto repair instead of the practice, there is a link at the bottom of this page.

Good luck.

[SpawnedX]

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

Don’t, learning the ‘ropes’ of being an automotive technician is one thing, starting an automotive business is quite another. You could get yourself into a situation that could easily bankrupt you and make things even worse. I strongly suggest you work in the field for at LEAST 5 years before thinking about starting your own shop just so that you can get a handle on doing automotive work and dealing with automotive customers. You might consider talking to the school you went to to see if you can work something out with them to get your certification, this should be your first priority otherwise you won’t be able to get a deceint job working on cars to even get your feet wet. I cover a lot of this kind of thing on ETCG1, if your not familiar with that channel you might want to check it out as it is geared more toward the ‘business’ of auto repair instead of the practice, there is a link at the bottom of this page.

Good luck.

I appreciate the response. The problem is, I did go to the school, which required me to write a letter with an explanation regarding this. Then they never got back to me or returned my calls. Unfortunately, unless a place gave me 60+ hours a week at 10.00/hour, I would never be able to afford my normal bills, which include a roof for my son’s head and feeding him, etc. Since I don’t have a shop I can use for side work, that rules out that option other than in the summer.

I guess my real question is, how would one look for a small shop to rent for personal repair and side jobs, not a full blown business. I check Craigslist daily for them, but they all want money that amounts to more than my rent (which is $775.00) or basically is full commercial rent, which means we are talking $3500.00 a month.

[619DioFan]

Instead of trying to open a shop you may want to try doing side work as a mobile mechanic. if you can set up a van or p/u then place an ad on craigs list and go for it. in this day and age people are always trying to save money so certified or not you may find yourself doing ok. I work in the moving and storage industry. and even though I drive for 2 vanlines I still do side jobs. charge half what the company would charge ( share nothing with them ) and still make out well. my brother in law didnt work for a year. decided to trying being a landscaper ( never did it before ) had a p/u and basic tools. put an ad on craigs list for 10.00 and hour less then anyone else in his area. the phone never stopped ringing. food for thought. keep the faith

[Author]

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