Small business owners, please help...

[topfuel]

Here is my situation: I've called it quits on my career of 20+ years of automotive service. I just don't want to do that for a living anymore.
It's do-or-die time for starting my own business, and I need some direction from people that have been successful at running their own business.
The problem is that I don't know where to start, I have several ideas on what I can do but don't know how to get the ball rolling.
My thoughts are to combine several of my talents into one business venture.
First, I'd like to offer an on-site used car inspection service. Offering the convenience of not having to bring the car to a shop for inspection.
I have a very good eye for quality used cars and know what to stay away from. On that same thought, I'd also be interested in buying and selling used cars. I think that people may feel more confident buying from an experienced technician rather than a used car salesman.
My other idea is to offer a handyman service to the local community, I'm skilled in home repairs and maintenance and feel there is a need for this type of service. Doing projects large and small around the house that don't require a general contractor.
Is it possible to combine all these ideas into one corporation or am I way out of line?
Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
Mike

 

[chrisgarrett]

I have owned several successful businesses in my time. I presently own a very lucrative business which I operate past time. In my opinion, the first business is a bit nebulous and sounds like it would be difficult to make money. The second could be very lucrative. Many people would hire the services of a good handyman. In my area, there are several handymen businesses and they are kept quite busy. I think the key is to offer your services in an upscale, higher-income area and advertise in the local newspapers and with door hangers. I understand your frustration to want to try something new. Good Luck.

 

[topfuel]

Thanks Chris.
I think there is a good potential for the handyman service too.
I live in an area known by many to be "exclusive". There is a lot of money in this town, with many homes approaching the million dollar price tag.
I live on the other side of town with the older folks and smaller less expensive homes. Either way most people don't have the ability or time to maintain their homes, that's where I can step in. I feel I have an advantage being a resident of the community I'd be servicing although I won't limit myself to just this area.
I just printed up a bunch of info from the Wisconsin Dept.of Commerce, I need to read through all that and see if I can get this plan rolling.

Mike

 

[chrisgarrett]

I'm a strong believer in advertising. Get the word out. The more people who know about you, the better the possibility of getting customers. Later, as business improves, most of your customers will come from word-of-mouth referrals. If you are going to do handyman work, you will need to have all of the tools and a van or truck. Don't go into it unprepared and make dead sure that you never have an unhappy customer. My final advice would be to make certain you and the customer are clear on what will be done and the cost of doing it. Don't sell yourself cheap. Get a fair wage for what you do and don't take a job you can't do well and on time. Lastly, and most important, make up your mind that you will do whatever it takes to succeed. Failure sucks and you can only blame yourself.
END OF SERMON

 

[turbosam6]

I'm a strong believer in advertising. Get the word out. The more people who know about you, the better the possibility of getting customers. Later, as business improves, most of your customers will come from word-of-mouth referrals. If you are going to do handyman work, you will need to have all of the tools and a van or truck. Don't go into it unprepared and make dead sure that you never have an unhappy customer. My final advice would be to make certain you and the customer are clear on what will be done and the cost of doing it. Don't sell yourself cheap. Get a fair wage for what you do and don't take a job you can't do well and on time. Lastly, and most important, make up your mind that you will do whatever it takes to succeed. Failure sucks and you can only blame yourself.
END OF SERMON

Thats good advice right there.You have to take your goals seriously, as if you didn't work for yourself.

A couple things that are very important: Have capitol. You won't make much money the first few years while your new in business and unfortunatly the expenses are the same whether you've been in business 20 days or 20 years. You have insurance, taxes, vehicle(s), general overhead, etc. You need to be in a financial situation personally that will allow you to not be paid for 1 to 2 years. You might possibly get paid, but don't bank on it.

Also, I see so many guys go into business because they hate their current jobs and hate having bosses, and so on and so on. Remember this: Self employment is harder work than you ever did working on cars. When you wrenched, that was it. No billing, collecting, book keeping, dealing with customers and employees, and no secretarial work. Now you get to do it all and do the work! If done properly, the business should grow to a point where you can enjoy more money and less of the physical aspect of the work. But the headaches never end. Being the boss isn't as glamorous as it looks from the other side. Ever wonder why your boss is so bitchy? It isn't because he wants to a d!ck, his job is stressful and he has people riding his ass to make him ride yours. I've known several guys to turn down promotions into those type of positions because you have a thankless job, the people under you hate you and your boss, well you hate him.

Just be prepared to bust ass, and perform several duties at once. Don't let failure be an option, set goals and do what it takes to make them. Knock doors, call past customers for referals, advertise, etc. I've been self employed for years, and while I think its right for me, there are plenty of days I envy the guy who has but one task and gets to leave it all behind at 5:00 every day.

 

[chrisgarrett]

Good advice, turbosam6. I couldn't agree more. You should have at least a year's worth living expenses in the bank and enough working capitol to pay for the many expenses that will come along. Can you do it without all this upfront money? Maybe. Depends on your situation. Are you married? Does you wife work? Does she agree with this and will she support you. Do you have kids? If you have a home and kids, you had better really think about this. You could leave them high and dry. If all of this is discouraging you, then you probably aren't mean't to be in business. Everyone gets sick of thier job. Think is this is really what you want. One last thing. Don't burn your bridges with your present job. Give ample notice and conduct yourself like a gentleman.

 

[topfuel]

Thanks for all the input guys.
I do understand most everyone gets sick of what they do sometimes.
My decision to leave wrenching was not a spur of the moment thing,
the motivation has been declining for several years and I've finally hit
the wall, no question about it. I'm done with wrenching.
I am married for 13 years with no kids, the wife works and carries our
health insurance. She does support my idea but has the usual reservation
about the risks of starting a business.
Myself, I'm reliable, clean, responsible and all about quality and workmanship.
Busting my hump to make this happen is not a problem, my work ethic is all
there. Financially I'm prolly in about the same boat as most other blue collar
homeowners. Could I survive for a year with no income...maybe but it would
be tough, I'd prolly have to sell some things.
As far as tools, equiptment and a truck I'm all set.
I believe word of mouth is a strong asset, along with advertising.
Keep the customer happy and show value in what you're doing for them
so they'll call you again and tell their friends.

Thanks again and feel free to add more suggestions as they arise.
Mike

 

[turbosam6]

It sounds like, and please know I mean no offense here, you might not have a realistic idea of the monitary losses you could incurr. Not only do you have to have the money to support yourself personally, but also the business. Its not like just because you aren't working there are no bills. At a minimum you have a phone, insurance (thats a killer), yellow page ad (don't get the biggest but don't make it too hard for people to find you) and some other expenses. This is assuming you're doing your own bookwork (quickbooks is good, especially for a small business, but I like my CPA better), you have no building or office to pay rent on, no employees besides yourself, and no other advertising.

For example, my business (HVAC co.) has a minimum overhead of $15K per month and thats cutting it to the bare bones. Thats if no one works, barely any fuel is used, and no supplies are purchased. Now I have a shop, truck payment, insurances, taxes, advertising, phones, utilities, trash, etc. That stuff has to be paid no matter what.

We aren't trying to talk you out of your idea, its a good one. I just hate to see a mans dreams crushed by harsh reality. Just be prepared, and if the capitol isn't there, find a way to save up and try later. Because if you fail now, you'll probably never try again.

 

[JP87GN]

These guys have great advise! I'm about to do the same thing, except I have been a autobody tech. for 13 yrs and I'm already done with it. It kills your body and the money is going down hill with the insurance company's getting very tight on what they spend. I recently bought a 00 International rollback tow truck and I'm starting a Transport,Towing & recovery business. My plan is to do my 7-4 collision work and then do my own thing on the eve's and weekends and pic up clients as I grow. This way my risk is lower. I don't have enough $$ saved up yet to up and quit my decent paying job but with time I should be able to swing it!

 

[turbosam6]

These guys have great advise! I'm about to do the same thing, except I have been a autobody tech. for 13 yrs and I'm already done with it. It kills your body and the money is going down hill with the insurance company's getting very tight on what they spend. I recently bought a 00 International rollback tow truck and I'm starting a Transport,Towing & recovery business. My plan is to do my 7-4 collision work and then do my own thing on the eve's and weekends and pic up clients as I grow. This way my risk is lower. I don't have enough $$ saved up yet to up and quit my decent paying job but with time I should be able to swing it!

I always wanted to get into the repo/recovery biz. Looks like fun but they gotta work all hours of the night in bad neighborhoods. I'd be carryin' for sure. I had a good friend get jumped by 4 or 5 guys when he was towing their car. He never stood a chance. In that situation I'd have no problem pulling the trigger. Everyone says "Thats what you say now, but when you're in the situation its different." BS, if I feel threatened and I even think I'm in danger and I can't settle it with talking or fists, well its like this: my son isn't growing up without a dad because you didn't make your car payment.

Be careful, and good luck!

 

[turbocliff]

Some good input here. I too would strongly recommend that you are secure enough financially to support the expenses of the business as well as your personal obligations for the first year. I also would agree that the auto related business ideas you suggested prolly would provide no real income, but a good residential hanyman can make a pretty lucerative business for himself, if he's a good business man too. Being reliable, efficient, and performing quality work that keeps customers satisfied is barely half the battle. Managing the $ is the biggest challange of any small business. My suggestion would be this: Stay at your current job, but start networking / advertising your new business plan. Investigate insurace costs, and get your ducks in a row. Try to manage your first several projects to be completed without having to leave your current position. Depending on your employer, maybe you would even want to discuss this with him/her so they may be understanding enough to make your hours a bit more flexible when necessary? This will help you in a number of ways... You might find out that working in peoples homes is not satisfying, more work than you though, or simply not lucerative enough. You might find that it's more work collecting $ than you anticipated, or you might find that you are comfortable working with your customers to find favorable payment terms, and enjoy the work / independance of operating your own business. There are many benifits (if the operation is successful, obviously), but it is a TON of work on all ends. Just a thought...

Also, when I was starting my own business, I was told prolly 100 times "It will take you a year to get over the hump!" Meaning, it would take a year to have a positive bank account. In most businesses, you spend $ on the labor, materials, finiancing, overhead, ect. up front... then sell the product, perform the service, ect... then bill... then collect the $ sometime later (I own a commercial / idustrial contracting company so most GOOD customers pay in 45-60 days from invoice.) Well I might have been over the hump after 1 year if I didn't continue to grow the business. While my business is successful and profitable, I am still not over the hump. I have been on my own for over three years now, but because I have continued a steady growth pattern, it takes more $ to finance monthly operations, materials, labor, ect... It's a good problem to have, but I still take home less $ personally than I did for any of the 5 years prior to starting my own business. I keep as much money in the company as possible to help finance the growth of the business, and pay myself a meager salary because I believe the business is a better investment than anything else I would use the $ for...

I know I may have wandered a bit here, but it's past my bed time...

Good Luck

Cliff

 

[JP87GN]

I always wanted to get into the repo/recovery biz. Looks like fun but they gotta work all hours of the night in bad neighborhoods. I'd be carryin' for sure. I had a good friend get jumped by 4 or 5 guys when he was towing their car. He never stood a chance. In that situation I'd have no problem pulling the trigger. Everyone says "Thats what you say now, but when you're in the situation its different." BS, if I feel threatened and I even think I'm in danger and I can't settle it with talking or fists, well its like this: my son isn't growing up without a dad because you didn't make your car payment.

Be careful, and good luck!

Yeah! towing is pretty fun to me and its not that hard on your body( my knees are shot) When I say recovery, I'm talking about winching and rollover work, The added insurance to do repo's is just not worth the $$, and then there is the risk of having someone pull a weapon on you as mentioned.

 

[CHARGED]

"If" your a good enough handyman and know what to look for in house problems maybe you can be a home inspector? I think I heard you can get certified with just a couple of courses
With that you could be a mobile car inspector and a mobile house inspector
No need to work real hard for a living and still make a decent $ with no real investment in tools, trucks, employers, ect...

If your real ambitious, maybe try "flipping" houses. This is what me and a friend in the remolding business will be venturing in soon :smile:

Good Luck in whatever you try..

 

[turbo2nr]

You'll either offer a service, or a product.

Know your competition. What do they do? Go and use them. What did you not like? Then go do the sell same thing but better. You will end up offering special attention from a local small business. Pull customers away from the Generic Wall-Marts out there. Make them pay more for your supreme product/service. I think there needs to be a better chain of car washes. I want hands on cleaning, and I'll pay for it. Where is the good/fast car wash? Does not exist!

Go buy a big garage and rent out every bay by the hour. People buying cars will rent to look at their cars. Cheepo guys, like me, will stop by for DIY service. Rent out wheel balancer, lifts, alignment machine, etc. Do you have anyone in the insurance business?

I own a dental lab. If you are not connected to the dental world, there is no way in hell you could run a dental lab. Kind of a family thing. Many small business are like this. You need a big circle of support, to get you over the humps.

Good Luck! There's nothing like working for yourself!!