Well I Made Up My Mind......

[TC]

Cool deal, man! Have you thought about a shop that has gas pumps, too or do you just want to go the garage route? I agree with 1bad above. The only time failure is a guarantee is when you don't try.

I really haven't thought about gas pumps, that is an idea, but there aren't many shops in town that would have the amount of bays I want and have gas pumps to..... Though when the time comes to expand that could be something that could be designed into the plans.....

[Monk]

I don't really want to get into modifying stuff like chopping cars up or doing cages and stuff like that, I want to do more of the bolt on stuff or stuff like cam, head, intake swaps and also provide a dyno service... So not only can you trust me with your daily driver you can trust me on your hot rods to...... This is more for the White Collar guys that pay others to work on their cars, or like the old guys that just can't do it anymore but enjoy driving their old cars..... I want to have a reputation for being the shop that treats your baby like we would treat our own......

My buddy stays busy working on 'hot rods'.
These are guys who have the income to spend and will spend what it
takes to get the job done.
Places like this are hard to find around here.........dealerships aren't an
alternative. They want all the new stuff.

[TC]

I'm kind of thinking east phoenix, scottsdale area, I mean it is where the money is........

[TC]

My buddy stays busy working on 'hot rods'.
These are guys who have the income to spend and will spend what it
takes to get the job done.
Places like this are hard to find around here.........dealerships aren't an
alternative. They want all the new stuff.

With 330+ days of sunshine here, and being one of the largest cities in the country, there are a lot of guys that have hot rods, so I know there is a clientele to be tapped, it's just getting my name out there......

[Russell]

but sadly our partner didn't see it the same way........

The only ship that will not sail is a partnership! If any way possible I would say keep this one just you and your wife!

[TC]

The only ship that will not sail is a partnership! If any way possible I would say keep this one just you and your wife!

Yap, right there with you Russell, no more partners for me, learned that lesson.......

[dieselgeek]

I like the service/maintenance idea, but I can count on three fingers the number of "performance" places that are doing better than break even - out of thousands. I'd avoid that business like the plague. I also wouldn't spent the money on a chassis dyno, it's going to cost you a ton to hire someone to run it and payments on those things are like $2000 a month for 30 years. Screw that!

[TC]

I like the service/maintenance idea, but I can count on three fingers the number of "performance" places that are doing better than break even - out of thousands. I'd avoid that business like the plague. I also wouldn't spent the money on a chassis dyno, it's going to cost you a ton to hire someone to run it and payments on those things are like $2000 a month for 30 years. Screw that!

Chassis Dyno's have come down considerably in the last few years, here's some from Land and Sea that are very reasonably priced, it would be more like $500-$1000 a month depending on the model for 5 years... Also companies like this offer Training classes to teach you how to use them, though like I said this would be down the road after I have the general repair part of it running successfully..... As for shops that make it doing performance mods, there are at least 10 I could name off the top of my head here in Phoenix, but then this is a city of 4 million plus people, that has a huge car culture........ In a way I'm modeling this off of Chuck's Speed, though instead of having a machine shop and doing RV repair to support the speed shop, I'll be working on cars and selling mail order parts.......

http://www.land-and-sea.com/chassis-dyno/chassis-dyno-price.htm#

[Mike Copeland]

I like the service/maintenance idea, but I can count on three fingers the number of "performance" places that are doing better than break even - out of thousands. I'd avoid that business like the plague. I also wouldn't spent the money on a chassis dyno, it's going to cost you a ton to hire someone to run it and payments on those things are like $2000 a month for 30 years. Screw that!

I assume you are including my shop on one of those 3 fingers?

Having just spent a week in Scottsdale I believe I could duplicate my shop there and make it work.

And if you are going to buy a chassis dyno, don't cheap out. Good ones start around $60K.

[yellomalibu]

Operate with integrity and you'll succeed once the word gets out that you:

1. fix it right, the first time, for a reasonable price
2. under promise and over deliver
(never say it will be done before it's done, never charge more than you initially agreed to)
3. don't over commit
(if you don't know how to fix it, it's a weirdo problem on a rare car, etc - it's better to pass than get stuck with an unhappy customer)

Good stuff, right there.

Word of mouth is what you want. If the place has good mechanics, stay honest and don't try to up-sell - and word will get around. There are places in town I STILL won't let anyone I know go to because they were caught doing some shady stuff 10 + years ago. Build a GOOD reputation, and you will be golden.

The only other thing I'd suggest is to keep the shop clean, and keep the employees clean cut. You can only make a first impression once.

[SpiderGearsMan]

the only way to make customer's truly happy ..work for free or pay them for the privilege of working on their car