As above.....looking for a potential business partner in Central Birmingham area??
Business already up and running with a lot of potential!!!!
Looking for someone who wants to share a Garage Unit.
Must be a Mechanic / Welder or Fabricator with own tools and equipment.
PM me for any further info...

No time wasters please.

Cheers

Mas

 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL!!
Try to get to know someone before you go into business with them.

I am talking from experience. I got totally fuked over after going into business with someone I hardly knew.
I'm still paying business rates off now and the business ended in Aug 2010!

Talk to a solicitor and get some dam good legal advice first and do it by the book.
Try and protect yourself as much as possible mate.

 

I know exactly what you mean mate...but unfortunately at the min im paying rent and insurance for something that isn't paying for itself!
Dont get me wrong I have only been trading for bout 7 months, but at the minute im using up all my savings!
I haven't earned a wage since I left my last job back in May!!
I just wish I could somehow break even BUT that aint gonna happen!!
The only option I have now is find a Full time Job and somehow try and run the Garage on a part time basis!!
Any genuine advice would be really appreciated as right now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place and don't know what to do??

 

had a garage for 7 years.....made a little.lost a lot in the long run.

now work full time in a garage........wage pays bills,i can now switch off at 5.00pm.

own business can be very hard-esp in these times. good luck and i hope it works out for you.

 

What's your cash flow and projections looking like for the next 12 months?

How does your 7 month sales figures look like.

How much of your money have you put into the garage and how much is on finance if any?

Anyone else own any part of the business?

 

I know how you feel, I used to start work a 8am and sometimes I'd still be in the workshop till 3am. I'm not prying but I am going to try and help but I need some info; PM me if you prefere.
What do you do? Might sound simple but do you restore, just service and repairs etc.
Right outgoings.
Rent and what kind of location are you in. Is this a prime spot or are you tucked away.
Size of workshop, do you use all of the space?
rates
What insurance's have you got and what are they costing you?
elec, water gas etc.
What are you charging per hour?
Are you charging book time?
Are you marking your parts up? if so what %
What motors are you running and how many?
Have you got anyone working for you?
That should be a start but when your own your own its hard work.
I've been self employed for 5 years in the motor trade.

 

Well i'm totally on my own. No partners or employees! No finance!
My rent is nearly £2k per quarter, this includes service charge as its a council unit!
Insurance is nearly £3200 includes Road risk, Contents and public liability!
My contract is based on a 6 month notice period so basically if I wanted to give up the garage I would still have to pay the council for 6 months rent which is £4k!
In the first 6 months I turned over nearly £6500 but outgoings have been £6200 so only a profit of £300!!! No wage yet. But now the work has really dried up!!! It was never good but at least in the summer I had some work coming in!!
So far 98% of my customers have been family, friends and recommendations but NOTHING through advertising! Plus its always pre-booked work and so far nothing off the streets!!
The trouble is now my father has passed away recently and I now have 2 lots of bills as
the household costs etc are now my responsibility as well as paying for the garage!!
My only options as I can see are to find a Full Time job and somehow try and run the garage part time and after hours!! OR maybe get a Partner in and split the cost of the garage so it doesn't eat up all my own savings!!
I can just about survive for another 6 months to a year at a push at this rate before Im out of cash!!

 

feel for ya mate and wish you all the luck. times are hard as fuck at the minute.
and the way this country is dictated i can't see it getting any better in the near future a lot of garages are relying on mots to keep afloat.

 

You haven't got much to offer a prospective partner, in fact you'd be a liability.

A suitable partner would have to be someone already in business with a good customer following who wants to relocate.

Unfortunately you're suggesting you can't survive more than 6 months, so the new partner would be left with the full running costs of the unit.

You will probably have trouble with the Council when you come to put the partner, in the unlikely event you find one, on the rental agreement.
Have you spoken to the Council about you going into partnership?

Best advice, give notice on the unit, find a job, cut you're losses and get out.
If you don't, in 6 months you'll have no job, no money and the liability for all the unit costs.

.

 

I started a car repair business nearly 18 months ago and it's only the last 6 months it has become esablished do it does take time.
And it's all ways dead this time off year!

 

Spot on advice there. An investor would want to ensure that there is some sort of return on their investment, if the business is not showing a marginal profit now, doubt very much doubt they would look to invest as their money would only prop up a business rather than help it grow by giving the cash it needs to expand.

If you have some draft P&L for the year so far or want me to cast an eye over the accounts I'd be more than happy to.

 

OK, Insurance - I did the same as you on my first year. I got everything covered but I really didn't need it. I now pay £660 a year. Really go through the insurance and you could save £2500.
Workshop - They have you by the balls on that one, I wish I looked for another unit before. I had a council unit for 8 months then found a larger unit for half the cost.
A good revenue earner is
Scrap vehicles, cats, alloys and cars. Get a dolly or even a rope and a mate if it comes to it
Mobile mechanics - You can take bigger jobs back to the workshop.
Do a free one liner in yell.com for (name of business) mobile mechanics.
It might not sound like a lot but it helps.
Vehicle sales - Be careful with this, prices have dropped a lot and hassle will be involved but you can generate work this way. Don't expect massive profits but you can keep money coming in.
Have you applied for small business rate relief, this will cut your rates in half.
As far as household bills go, talk to tax credits and housing benefit at your local office.
What is the name of the business?
And full address, I would like to go on google earth and see.
If your tucked away then no one will know your there.
This can be over looked, for my mechanics I am advertised as The Mobile Mechanic.
Its very clear what I'm doing. If I put joe bloggs motors, no one would phone.
Look at your USP
Do you have a business adviser? If not get onto business link.
Wages - Don't expect one for 5 years!

Quitting is easy, working for yourself is not easy in anyway shape or form.
Its always hard. I haven't had a wage in 5 years. Well not what I'd consider to be a wage anyway. (10-15k)
Since I stayed with mobile mechanics and got rid of the garage I have had stable work in. I haven't had much work over the past 2 months though but Its always like this at this time of year though.

What are you charging? how are you charging?

Hope this helps

 

Im self employed, have you got your van signwritten, signs up, and why not print some cheap flyers and put them through doors or on cars.

Its hard, as above sometimes working for someone is the best way,

I'll help you with signs etc as thats what I do.

Play on the fact on your adverts, that people cant afford to change their cars as often, so need to look after them a little longer,

 

Mate this bit rang alarm bells.

Fair play for asking, but i wouldnt be giving out infomation over the net,should have kept things to pm.

I mean this not as a dig.

 

Just to clarify, are you looking for an investor to plough money in to your business or just someone to share the facilities and obviously the associated bills. Some people appear to have read this thread as you looking for an investor but i'm reading it that you just want someone that could share the facilities and possibly bring a bit of trade your way and possibly you doing the same in putting business their way (for example a repair & servicing garage linked to a bodyshop).

 

thanx mate. dont really matter being as no one knows me anyway! I hope!!

 

Thats exactly what Im thinking mate! If I wanted investors I can go to family members, but when the works there it will be me doing all the hard work and killing myself for them to come along and take half the money!!!
All I want to consider is someone who wants to share the garage and work there at the same time, like you just said.

 

How about renting space/tools out to DIYers?

Christ, if I had access to a space to work on the motor rather than just my flats car park I'd be there all the time.

 

Not a bad idea but I can see problems that might occur with that. If you rent out your facilities at say a tenner an hour and Joe public comes in intending to do a simple job on his vehicle that he thinks is going to take 2 hours and then he has problems and can't get the job done as he needs additional parts that weren't previously planned for but can't move the vehicle because it's in bits until he gets the said parts. Your facilities are then tied up preventing others from using them and Joe public with the car in bits doesn't want to pay you for the 10 hours (£100) he's had because he could have got the "simple" job done for £60 at a garage in the first place. How do you then get the money out of problem customers that end up taking far longer than they originally thought?