turboRS

Hello peeps,
Basically I've been a non stop full time mechanic now for 12 years
ever since I left school and done an apprenticeship!
Qualified at a Ford Dealership, then worked at Nationwide Autocentres.
Currently working in a small independant garage which specialises in all
Makes mainly Prestige aswell as bloody Vans!!
The problem is, these days,
I've really had enough of taking orders and having to work
on shit that i wouldn't even touch myself or do jobs that i don't want to do!!
Hence why i'm asking the question!!
Especially in this current climate that we're in!!
Trouble is i've already handed in my notice for the end of July (long story)
after which i will be taking a couple months break
from working to spend with my family and then comes the Crucial decision!!
To look for a unit and start from scratch with little business experience!!
Or work for someone else as usual and take the shit that comes with it!!
I'm after some advice and insight into peoples experience with starting their own garage business and what is the best route to take??
Any help will be really appreciated people.
Thanx in Advance...

kevin

Self employed for 15 yrs mate.
Always hard work, long hours and unless your cornering a niche
market very little rewards.
Every 6 mnths the taxman want his cut, and stamp etc etc.
Make sure you way up everything.
Reme,mber NO SICK PAY/HOLIDAY PAY ETC
No work =NO MONEY.
Inow work for saomeone and get paid holidays
sick days etc etc and am by far financially better off.
Ju st my opinion.

mercury grey minter

Depends on your personal situation.If you have kids and a morgage then it,s them you are gambling with.I would try working for another employer and doing a few more foreigners on the side.When you become snowed under with foreigners,it,s time to go it alone.
Goodluck.

packman

Was in the tuning game for 10 year then lost my job. Got a job at a major diesel engine company been there now for nearly 10 years. In that 10 years my private work has been busy thats just nights and saturdays. I do ok with this so ive got my full time job then all my other stuff on the side so ive got the best of both worlds but it would be a struggle to find the amount thats needed every month for the house kids cars ect ect. Id say work for someone knowing what your getting every week/month then crack on with your own stuff when you can. Good luck

Fordmad!

4th year on my own this year (bearing in mind im only 22) and I love it!

Can't see me ever working for anyone else through choice.

Saying that I don't really have any responsibilities!

If you want to do it and are determined it will work out!

focusv8

Working for yourself won't stop that, you won't be able to turn away work.

However you may earn more for doing the same crappy work.

saph4be

i was in a similar positon a year ago was so i started working as a mobile mechanic then branched out into mobile valeting and recovery too and car transportation and never looked back. the plus side is no massive overheads like having a unit! plus it gives me time to buy and sell a few cars so far it going well mate so go for it isay

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

If you've got a large pot of cash in reserve to keep you afloat while you start then it's worth considering. If you're expecting it to pay you a wage straight away, then I'd personally think again.

as355f1

Amazes me how people think its easy just to start working for yourself, i guarantee you will lose a shit load of money in the first two years until you get a customer base.
Thats not in including the £40k plus you will have to spend on gear. trust me mate stay as an employee, less stress, more holidays, prob more money and you will have a life !

Marvin_hagler_

theres easier ways to earn money using your head,man i know he is a ford trained mechanic and run his own buisness then run a parts buisness for a while then jacked that in and sold cars specialising in a certain small sporty car and always had 10-15 around him so people would always go have a look as they were guaranteed somthing they would like being there.
Anyway he got out of that and into the Dash Doctor game,
the coin rolls in from people wanting there dash boards fixing. Modern cars must be shite the amount of fixing he does especially on lambos,ferraris,range rovers audis bmw's porsches etc etc they all need the Dash Doctor to fix them problems every now and then.
if your happy to fix peoples dashes theres a pot of gold waiting for you dude,or you could be servicing a tired out shitter with oil all over the place and your disposable gloves just ripped again

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I work for a company and dont have to worry about money unlike if you work for yourself you have to find jobs to do so that you have money to pay for things.

fordsportjay

iTrader: (6)

ok, i worked for a large bodyshop in 2004 when i came into a small amount of money that allowed me to play about a bit buying cars i liked( cosworth/rs2000 etc) and selling them on.
i was buying from ebay(when it was a good place to buy from),which meant me going all over the uk to collect cars. work began to get in the way so i decided to bite the bullet and go on my own.
i rented a small unit (£300 per month plus rates/bills etc),bought a 2nd hand ramp (£600) and began to trade from there. it was good because i spending all my day now playing with cars i was interested in,selling them on and making a profit.i began to get well known for selling well priced cossies/rs turbos/rs2000's so i began to get busier so i could buy more stock etc and even ventured into breaking a few.
all went well for a few years but the rs fords began to go a little out of fasion-evo's and imprezas were getting cheaper and the younger buyers were now buying saxo vtr's etc instead of rs turbos.i tried to follow trends and went more towards the newer cars(which allowed me to own some very nice cars),but it wasnt as good as the ford stuff.
over the last couple of years trends changed again and the car selling game has become very difficult-by this time though i was in a larger unit on the same estate (£800 p/m overheads). cheaper run of the mill cars didnt bring in the decent profit to cover the bills and pay me a wage.
things got harder and harder and i watched what money i had made begin to disappear in bills/outgoings-then my mrs got made redundant-which swallowed a bit more money until in october last year it had all gone. i closed down and until a month ago i was lost-didnt know what to do or which way to turn.
i now work in a local garage on a half decent wage. the days are flying by and im guaranteed money at the end of every month.........

so just be careful. things can go well (then trust me,you WILL spend more,bigger mortgage etc),but they can also turn on their head,like they did with me.

i hope this gives you a bit of an insight.good luck if you decide to go for it-plenty do make a success of it!

j6kyt

try going self employed and if it dont work out then go and work for someone, at least you would have had a go.

Mr RS500

iTrader: (6)

There are many good and bad points having your own business

Honest opinion tho the way this country is going down hill fast there is no way i would ever think about starting a business

If i could get a full time job right now on a half decent wage i would jump and shut my business down without a second thought

It isnt all its cracked up to be running your own business , dont get me wrong when the times are good its great but at the moment i am working 7 days a week 10 hours per day and if im totaly honest it just isnt worth it , infact i am on less than min wage

As Kev said , no paid holidays etc and if you have no money coming in you just watch how quick your back account emptys

having a wage coming in every week / month means you know where you are and what you can and cant afford

I have been on my own 8 years and to be honest the last 2 i could have made more working in burger king

Think very hard about it , IMO i would sit it out till next year as i think we are in for a very bumpy ride this year and by this time next year will give us all aome sort of idea if we are going to get better or worse

good luck

MK MOTORSPORT

iTrader: (1)

hi paul i wouldnt mind being a pound behind you ,even if you do ignore me lol

thanks mark

Mr RS500

iTrader: (6)

Mark

you saying that proves my point 100%

I made my money well before i started my business , I was earning megga bucks in my last job but got fed up and decided to have a go on my own and altho i did love it at first and made a wage and a little proffit if i haddnt paid my mortgage of years ago i would have gone bust years ago

I have lived on a very low wage since running my business and all my cars etc have been paid for from saved money from my last job and a redundancy pay out

Plus , I dont drink / smoke and dont have any kids and dont blow money on holidays either ,

As said i would go back into a full time job tomorrow

Ps, i arnt ignoring you , my phone is always on

If your pm ing or texting me then you may as well shout out of yout shit house window as i dont do pm"s or texts

MK MOTORSPORT

iTrader: (1)

you were ringing me when you got adapter back lol

turboRS

thanx for all the comments guys.
a bit of mixed opinions as expected.
in terms of sick pay and holiday pay...
the bloke i work for expects you to be at work unless
u are literally on deaths doors or dead!!
being a small business...we only get 2 weeks holiday a year!!
the only consulation is we dont work saturdays/weekends and the garage is closed for a week at christmas!
i know works work and you cant always choose what jobs you want to do, but when you have to bust your guts week in week out for the same amount of money and get nothing extra to show for it, other than cuts and bruises! it starts to get a little annoying! at least working for a dealership or franchise theres a bonus scheme to go with the basic pay!! even if the taxman takes the larger percentage!!
to be honest i did initially want to get my foot on the property ladder this year and take out a mortgage, but being the only bread earner, once i go down that route, any dreams of having a business will just fly out the window!!
plus im a soon to be father for the first time, and am now at a point in my life where i have a lot more responsibilities and need more flexibility in terms of the hours/days i work, and unfortunately that is just something that i cant negotiate with my boss.
our work load is bad enough without the extra pressure of some one having a day off i suppose!
also the other thing that concerns me is the fact that in terms of my foreigners, im not snowed under, if anything far from it!!!! i tend to have some busy spells and then some real quiet periods if hardly anything!!! iv never sold my self or advertised for foreigners, they just tend to be mainly friends or family or recommendations! but obviously this isn't enough to rely on for a business!!
in all honesty i dont know what to do! should i find another job in a different garage,
try and start my own garage,
or leave the trade for a while and try something a bit different! if anything to gain some enthusiasm towards cars again!!

turboRS

but what else could u do if u have been a grease monkey for all your working life, so far?

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

Ok,had a good read of the replies and I'll try my best to simplify my experiences.

Id say running your own business is like having two families and paying for both.

The rent,rates bills etc are like the other properties mortgage,the staff are like the children and basically you need to keep them all happy at the same time.

Added in are the bank manager,council,tax man and basically anybody else that feels you owe them something.

Things you take for granted,listen to the radio in work?that's £45 a year then please.couple of sets of overalls?£15-20 a month.want to put an extra 240v socket in?don't forget your commercial electrician then cos if someone finds out you did it yourself,you get fined.
Put the bins out?about £250 a year.
Go down the tip in your van?look forward to the council man fining you for your "duty of care".
Making a cup of tea?well,that's your electric then,teabags,sugar milk etc,take a shit,you pay the bogroll,not your boss.
£6-700 public liability insurance,£1500-2000 car insurance etc etc etc.

It all comes out of YOUR pocket.

THEN THERE'S THE PUBLIC!!!

Tell some/most of them it's £200 to change their timing belt and service their car and you'll swear you just told them you've bummed their 14yr old daughter,heaven forbid if they find the parts 1pence cheaper elsewhere,you a "rip off cunt" then.

Oh,and the ones who turn up asking you to take a "quick look" at something,like why their washers aren't working....because theres no fluid in them....and you put fluid in to test it.....and they drive off saying "ta",but give you fuck all,then tell their mates the same thing etc etc.

As I said,this was my experience,some people could never work for anybody else as they'd hate it,and some people do very well from it all.

My top tips for you from very hard learnt lessons.

1.no cash/no car/no exceptions."I'll drop it in tommorow",you'll get your fucking car back tommorrow then!!!see how quick they find it then.
2.people who pay up front,avoid unless it's a major job,you'll spend the cash on shite and get pissed off when they settle the bill and it seems shitty.
3.cash flow is king,it's a BIG reason my business died.
4.use autodata etc as you can prove to the customer then how long it SHOULD take.
If you do it quicker,good luck,slower,your fault.
5.be realistic with what you can do,to generate 8hrs solid production in a day means your working 10 at least,factor this in.
6.charge for absolutely everything,believe me it adds up so quick,after all,200ml of screenwash is still 200ml of screenwash,it's not free.
7.where there's muck,there's brass.
Dirty,shitty Mot welding style jobs bring in good coin,I was generating double what my staff were in a 1/3rd of the time,as people NEED mots,they must pay accordingly.chances are your about the 3rd or 4th place they've been if it's a shitty job and chances are the others have refused it.
We all want to do oil changes on a Cossie and then take it for a test drive with the owners blessing but his money is as good as the pizza delivery boy with a Nissan micras!!!
8.diversify/specialise.
Tough to call,but a specialist brings probably a better paying steadier flow of clients,yet is very boring whereas diversified work is interesting but sometimes you can get caught out through inexperience.
9.hammer out a good deal with the bank;no charges,fair overdraught etc.same goes for suppliers and so on.
10.avoid it being a "youth club".hangers on are a pain in the arse and cost you hugely in production.a 1/2hr chat is 1/2hr you need to maje up elsewhere,courteous and polite,but short and sweet.

Good luck if you do it,didn't work out for me but that's not to say it won't for others but just be brutally honest with yourself,work out all your costs to the penny,it's amazing how £2 here,£3 there soon makes £100 that's not been accounted for,and most businesses run such tight margins,it can be make or break.
One last piece of advice,take what people tell you who haven't been there themselves with a block of salt,they know shit all about how it feels,it's big pressure,or can be and you have to be a bit of a hard faced fucker to make it work,but there are rewards,just beware of the pitfalls.