Originally Posted by vaughant

Me too,it's a tough job but very rewarding,nice to see the end result.to get on you need too make sure you can do all disciplines of the trade,prep,repairs,painting and polishing,most bodyshops will expect that,I certainly would.I originally employed a guy who promised the world but when he started he couldn't do this,couldn't do that so in the end I got rid.the boy who works for me know has worked in a few places and has said that being in a smaller firm has put him about 5-6 years ahead as when he was at the larger shop all he did,and was told he would ever do,was prep for paint,boring as fuck!!!

You'll have more job security with a big firm but learn less and end up working on boring new stuff.IMHO you'd be better trying too see if you can get an apprenticeship of some description with a good local firm,money will be shit but the learning will be worth it.it's a good trade as there'll always be people crashing cars but it's very hard going at the moment,I'm packing it in personally and I know a few others are as well as peeps just don't want too pay the money in my area to get a good standard of work done.

Good example,we charge between 40-50 per alloy for a top class refurb,never had anything other than compliments as tbh they do come out stunning,guy over the road charges £20 per wheel,he dosent even clean the brake dust off first or mask/remove the tyres,but he's always busy!!tells you something really?If you eventually go on your own a few tips are that public work is generally ok but don't rely on it,trade boys are tight cunts,but regular,resto/classic work is awesome payers but you'll be waiting a while for your money although very satisfying work,insurance are total wankers to deal with and slow payers but you can basically charge what you want with most of them so there are some advantages.

What I'm getting at is if you can get a good balance between them all then you'll probably have a great deal of success,so it would be a good idea perhaps to look into firms that operate this way as it'll give you a great insight into the bodywork trade.