I've been working in the automotive field for about 10 years, as a tech and briefly managing a shop. my new employer is getting on my nerves and making me NOT like working on cars anymore and it seams as I am doing a lot of work for a minimum paycheck (about 1,200 take home every 2 weeks). So I figured hey, maybe I could try something else out career wise that's less work and better pay but I cant imagine even doing anything else (or know how to) and I love cars, and I like to think I am good at doing what I do so I had an idea of doing my own thing. Has anyone on here had/has there own shop?
My plan goes like this:
I have/can get start up money, I'm thinking around 10 grand maybe less.
I have most equipment, I would need some stuff like an air compressor, I do not have a lift but I could manage without for awhile.
It would be a small operation I've seen 2 bay garages I could rent locally in the 3-4 hundred dollar range.
I was also thinking of doing more like a "mobile" mechanic type operation like buying a van and going to peoples homes to perform the services instead .
Our labor rate here is between 75-100 average an hour if I charged around 50-60 since i will be working for myself its all profits.
I've also been quite gifted in finding great deals on cars so in down time fixing / reselling cars could be a great revenue as well.
My problem right now is since I have a wife and 2 kids and my wife is not currently working a normal job it would be a huge risk to just quit my job where I constantly get paid every 2 weeks to HOPEFULLY make enough/more than I currently make to pay my bills. I KNOW that I could make good money and would like doing it much more if I could work for myself because I don't think ill ever get ahead just working and making other people money. Thoughts?

I'm in the exact same boat right now, minus the kids...

A friend of mine (who basically JUST got his mechanic's license) opened his own shop in april... he's the cheapest rate in town ($55 and hour... average is around $90) and he just had to move to a bigger shop to keep up with the demand. So I'm sure it's entirely doable.

I did the mobile mechanic thing. Out of a 69 Jeepster Commando. I did most of the small car lots in about 5 towns when I was in my early 20's. Was doing pretty damned good. Too good. I had more work than I could handle. So I hired a guy I knew from high school to do some of the simple stuff. He fucked up. All I needed him to do was pull the heads off a 3.8 Taurus. Not sure exactly how that went wrong but he fucking botched it up so bad that the lot owner wouldn't let me in to even look at to see what I could do to fix the issue. Just kept saying don't worry about it, I'll have someone else look at it. And then all the other lots stopped calling. Moral? Don't trust anyone but yourself when you start out. I should have just waited or declined jobs till I was able to hire better help. Never saw that fuck again either. Never even picked up his last check.

That all said, go for it.

Posted by jeepdave Moral? Don't trust anyone but yourself when you start out. I should have just waited or declined jobs till I was able to hire better help. Never saw that fuck again either. Never even picked up his last check.

And I was going to suggest he start it with someone! On the mobile vs. shop thing, with a shop, you have much more of an investment: building, tools (e.g. compressor, lift), etc., so you have much more to lose. BUT, you also have that as assets. If the business tanks, you can sell the building and all the other stuff. Being mobile this time of year would suck.

I don't think there's an easy answer. Maybe start out mobile, then once you've built a customer base, open a shop somewhere, and maybe keep the mobile unit. One more thing I just thought of: when I worked for an AV company, I serviced several hotels near me, and I had a work-owned van that I took home at night. It ended up feeling like I never left work. When you have a shop you go to, once you leave, you're done for the day.

One more piece of advice, this time from a customer standpoint: don't rip off your customers (doing unnecessary repairs, etc.) and give them options, especially on big repairs.

words of advice... my brother was thinking about going into business for himself as he has a hell of a reputation as a top notch mechanic. He instead walked away from the whole thing and works in the same mill i do now. But when he was thinking of it, there was some items i thought of.

start small... brakes, oil changes, tire rotations, basic stuff. As much as the big ticket items bring in big dollars, they tie up lift space and tech time.

Undercut your competition, but not by so much that someone will set fire to your shop. I've seen this happen.

A good racket to get into for a smaller shop is tires... you can make a MINT off tires if you have a good volume of business. Also, if you hook up with a tire supplier/warehouse, there's a good chance you can get a good wholesale price.

If you want to draw in a clientele, specialize. Specialize in imports or domestics, but make damn sure you're good in either one. As you know, if you're going to work on GM's you're probably going to need a TechII. Not sure if Ford has their own specialized diagnostic tool.

Another good racket to run in your first six months is run 'specials'... say in the winter, you run a special on winterization, you know the drill. You cut a few bucks off the price of this that or the other thing.

Now with your parts suppliers, you're going to have to make damn sure you tell your customers WHO'S parts you're putting in their cars and make damn sure that you and them are clear on the warranty situation. I know half a dozen shops here that have accounts with NAPA, Bond Auto (from Vermont), Advance Auto, one of the import specialty house in Vermont so you never know what's going where in what? Add dealer only items into the mix, it can be a headache.

And lastly, as much as I hate to say this, but one chunk of overhead might be a secretary... before you get that look on your head, someone's gotta answer the phone and send the damn bills out while someone is twisting the wrenches. And as you get bigger, which if you're half as good as you say you are will probably happen, you're going to need a shop boy... someone to do the dumb work, go get this go get that, pick this car up, drop that car off. Delivery and courtesy vehicles are a big deal here.

I was actually reading all this ^ off a paper my brother and I were working from before he got done at the dealership. Oh and there are tons of small business grants and loans still out there for a start-up business, too. Something to think about. Hope this was a little helpful.

EDIT: one more thing... if you can diversify, that rocks too. Not only do you work on cars and trucks, but say snowmobiles, ATV's, lawn tractors... anything to keep a bay full and you busy. Take for instance here; the nearest ATV dealers of any repute are over an hour away in any direction. If there was a shop that had a rep for doing good work on those types of machines, it would be worth it's weight in unleaded just to not have to travel... to be honest, when you're doing this kind of work, the sky really is the limit if you've got the business sense, personality and moxy to pull it off. Oh and yeah, personality is a huge part of the game, too. If you're too friendly, people think you've got dead cats in the basement. If you're a gruff son of a bitch no one wants to deal with you.

Ok so I've been thinking about it, I think I'm going to start with mobile repair, get a good customer base then see where that goes. I found this http://cnj.craigsl...to/4277932856.html that would serve excellent as a mobile work station with some adaptation .

I was just about to say get an old ambulance. Spot on.

The ambulance is sold, I found this, going to see it sunday. http://allentown.c...to/4287348965.html

Looks like an old Grumman. That cupholder/console is sweet.

(Guess I'd know it was a Grumman if I read the whole fucking ad.)

Bandi, I might know of someone who can get you an ex-Toronto EMS ambualnce for the mobile repair shop

And yes, the diagnostic tools! GM needs the Tech II, Chrysler you need at least a DRB II/III for the pre 2002 stuff, then StarScan for the new stuff. And Ford yes, requires their Intergrated Diagnostic System or IDS. I've actually played with around IDS recently and with the dealer mode, you could do "upgrades" on it. And while you are at it, pickup the Subaru SSM so you can tell the Subaru guys what their water temperature is to the 4th decimal place

Posted by Agent Skelly Bandi, I might know of someone who can get you an ex-Toronto EMS ambualnce for the mobile repair shop And yes, the diagnostic tools! GM needs the Tech II, Chrysler you need at least a DRB II/III for the pre 2002 stuff, then StarScan for the new stuff. And Ford yes, requires their Intergrated Diagnostic System or IDS. I've actually played with around IDS recently and with the dealer mode, you could do "upgrades" on it. And while you are at it, pickup the Subaru SSM so you can tell the Subaru guys what their water temperature is to the 4th decimal place

I found a mid 90s Ford diesel ambulance sitting in a guy's driveway with no plates last week. I've been tempted to ask

As for the scantools, just get a good quality universal scanner (like a Snap-On Solus or whatever it's called). You won't be able to do any upgrades or programing with the "factory" scanner unless you have dealership logins.

Posted by bandi You won't be able to do any upgrades or programing with the "factory" scanner unless you have dealership logins.

there are ways around that, or so I have been told. ;)

Posted by bandi As for the scantools, just get a good quality universal scanner (like a Snap-On Solus or whatever it's called). You won't be able to do any upgrades or programing with the "factory" scanner unless you have dealership logins.

Its more fun when the largest ambulance provider in the US has a dealer login...ever seen an ambulance with XM Radio?

Snap on solus pro is a great tool, expensive but you can do alot with it.

Posted by Nismo Snap on solus pro is a great tool, expensive but you can do alot with it.

I think that is also the one that can read some OBD-I and even pre-ODB cars...

Most Snap-On stuff can.

On an unrelated-ish note... anyone else notice that Mac Tools only sells complete SHIT now? So disappointing.

We had a Mac guy for 2 weeks, he was a cocky used car salesman type with a new York accent. His first day at our shop he handed me a tool and started putting me in his computer to buy it , I handed it back and told him I don't need it. The second time he made fun of my westfalia (it was in the shop that day) and I told him not to not bother returning because nobody will buy from him. Those tool guys are rip offs they sell the same lisle / gear wrench shit at sears for half the price.

Mac stuff is available in my local dollar store- and I'm not joking. Mac has these two little LED trouble lights... one is about $30, the other is $50. I found IDENTICAL ones at the dollar store- and they come with batteries!!!

Ever since Stanley bought them out, they've just gone to hell in a hand basket. I like our sales guy but it's too bad he represents a crap product.

Our Snap On girl is great (and I do love some of their tools), but she never comes around.

Posted by bandi Mac stuff is available in my local dollar store- and I'm not joking. Mac has these two little LED trouble lights... one is about $30, the other is $50. I found IDENTICAL ones at the dollar store- and they come with batteries!!! Ever since Stanley bought them out, they've just gone to hell in a hand basket. I like our sales guy but it's too bad he represents a crap product. Our Snap On girl is great (and I do love some of their tools), but she never comes around.

my brother has a ton of Snap-On tools. Problem was, as Bandi just said, the rep never came around. And when he DID come around, he gave the mechanics such a hard time about the warranty, no one wanted to do business with them. Have you noticed that even craftsman tools have gone to shit in the past ten years?

Posted by Samurai my brother has a ton of Snap-On tools. Problem was, as Bandi just said, the rep never came around. And when he DID come around, he gave the mechanics such a hard time about the warranty, no one wanted to do business with them. Have you noticed that even craftsman tools have gone to shit in the past ten years?

How true on this..At one time they would just give you a new tool when you give them your old broke one....But now they make you pick out a rebuilt tool out of this box of crap they had repaired..And some tools have no warranty at all...The Norman, Oklahoma Sears store does it this way