laid off/fed up

[riotpolice75]

So i got laid off yesterday. Not enough work. Honestly i'm f**kin tired of this. Job hunting/moving the toolbox SUCKS. Anyone out there who is a mechanic can vouch for this. I'm starting to seriously consider striking out on my own. Use word of mouth or maybe put an ad in the classifieds.



Anyone here self employed or running a shop? I'd like to hear from you. Maybe pick your brain a little.







smith

[Jimmybeam]

I know you're more into cars and such Smith, but I'm pretty sure they're always looking for maintenance mechanics down at Deka. The pay is pretty good and if its hours you want......well lets put it this way, the maintenance guys are the only ones I see getting overtime offered to them non stop. As for running your own shop, you and me have the same goal. Let me know if you find any good info on that.

[Melonhead]

I have a son-in-law that works as a mechanic. He works for book hours flat rate for Firestone and now with Goodyear. He makes about 25 an hour per book hour. He nornally get the job done in less than half the time called by book. Makes 18+ hours a day in 8 hours. The only way he survives is a longer drive to work in a big city where the there is more work.



The other thought of working for yourself is just that, word of mouth. I would help people in the church community and the word will spead quickly. Do an honest job for a respectful price. The other thing that my work on the side is repairing old cars. Lots of cars out there that have minor problems that sells for cheap. Then turn them over for a profit.

[283chevy88]

me and my dad run our own shop man it's great. that aint no shit from no boss or anything like that. best job ever

[Scotty_S-15]

Take it from a guy in business (Different business)........... it sucks. You'll be buried in paperwork, but that's the least of your troubles. And oh yeah, stock up on ant-acid pills, you'll need all of them, Rolaids to alkaseltzer to Pepcid AC.

............ But if you do forge out on your own, good advice from Melonhead, get out there and rub shoulders with the "general population" http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif church groups, VFW, Moose Lodge, whatever. And like Melonhead said, word of mouth is the best route to drum up business. It's a tough sell to a "cold" customer. But if "Joe" recommended you, that goes a long way to customer confidence in you.

............ Best way to start a small business is to start out part time..... brake jobs in your driveway, etc. So maybe you should try working for someone else again, WHILE building up a small clientele that you can fall back on. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif Just to start out cold is pretty tough, usually need some serious capital to tie you over.

[riotpolice75]

On 2008-03-07 12:43, 283chevy88 wrote:

me and my dad run our own shop man it's great. that aint no shit from no boss or anything like that. best job ever





how did you get it started?





Mankos,

you said about deka...what kind of maintenance? like fixing machines?



Furthermore, regarding the shop, I've been looking into this off and on for the last year and a half or so. If yuo plan on outright opening up a business or buying out an existing business be prepared to spend some major capital at startup. If starting from scratch its more difficult. You have to buy lifts ($3-5000/pc) a scan tool ($7500 MIN. if you want any capabilities at all) tire machines ($2 - 20,000), ET CETERA. It adds up quick. Especially if you're buying new. If you buy out an existing business you're not so much buying a place to work and the tools. You're buying the customer base. Even if you want to do it semi-seriously on the side or rent a place you need at a minimum a full compliment of tools. If you do plan on doing it youre also gonna need a tax #, commercial accounts with napa, auto zone, ETC, some form of reference (mitchell, shop key, ALLDATA) and the related business software.



Right now im toying with the idea of renting a place or doing the mobile mechanic thing for a while. Theres substantially less overhead involved. Word of mouth is the best advertising there is.





Any thoughts from the brain trust here?







smith

[spacecadet]

I understand your frustration. THe place I used to work was paid on comm. Made 1500 p/week druing the summer and 200 during the winter. It was ruff to make ends meet. So... I quit andwent to a place where I get just an hourly rate. Its not perfect , but the checks still the same when theres little bit of work.



I did the after hours 'my own' buisness thing. Defintley made some good money, however, i already had a large assortment of tools and equiptment. What really did it in was costs, its amazing how much stuff starts costing when you add up the bills and the double shifts you do day in and out. The other thing was location, I had weekly visits by the po-po and the DEC, cause I operated at nights. They kept checking to make sure I wasn't doing stuff your not supposed to. It was just to much of a hassel. If I weren't so 'old' I try to get into the state. The pay is good and the bennys are fantastic! (My buddy works there.)



I ramble on ..... Space

[adh383]

My son is in your shoes also---- he's an r-r man on transmissions--- worked for cottman--aamco--- then a trans shop in mooresville-- he has paid his dues-- then when he starts to demand a decent wage, they hire a damn mexican who will work for $8 an hour and tell him they aint got any work--$7500 worth of tools and he's keeps getting screwed-- i feel for ya man-- do what I do--work at that type of job somewhere and build a client base and go on your own-- lots of headache but should be worth it.

[OH_YO]

I dont want to sound all gloomy but my 2 cents is, the economy isn't very good at the moment so imho it may be a good thing to try. I feel like maybe people will start to fix there cars and trucks rather then sell or trade them. However I do have a friend who does performance type work and he is looking to get a second job till his shop picks back up.

[85s10racer]

I worked at a Chevy Dealer as a Tech and It got really slow, I ended up quitting and going to work for the City, I get paid a dollar more a hour, I dont have to work weekends...ever! And we get 12 holidays off a year plus your Birthday, all paid too! Right now Im fixing light trucks and Police Cars, and its so easy.

[mlhj]

I work for Firestone for about a year and half. During that time, I would work most of the time a 11 hours a day moxt of the time 6 days a week with no lunch breaks manly do to the manager not letting us take breaks, now that was hard on me. The other bad thing is he would give his son all the good paying jobs while the rest of us got crap. At the end of the week most of the time his son would have twice as much in flag time. For the store I work for at we needed 6 full time tech's so that we could have at least two days off a week. The week after I left, the Manager son left so he can have more time with his kid. Then they only had four techs then with in two weeks after that 2 more tech left. this was all in October of last year. I stop by there last week to check on something and now they are down to one full time tech and one part timer.



I left there do to no time to be with my family, no breaks, and after passing some ASE they would not give me a raise so I gave my Boss a week and half notice and went to a 3 man shop where it is only me and the two owners. Work 8 to 5 with a one hour lunch break and no weekends.



With how the economy today the bigger shops are not doing to good in my area manly because they all charge over $80 + and not getting much work to do. The shop I work at now only charges $55 a hour and as of right now we are book up until next wensday.



I got pulled off a tranny job today just to help out my boss get some other jobs done and I got one engine job for next week and maybe one more if the customer comes up with the money.



People in my area are calling around for prices do to no one has money right now. So I guess I am a busy for the next week. If things keep up they are talking about coming in on Saturdays to try to get caught up.



It seams that all the small shops are busy around here and the dealers and big shops are trying to find work to do. So if I was u going find a good friend that knows what he is doing with cars and start up your own shop.

[auroradan]

Riot,



I'm a maintenance mechanic for an insulated glass manufacturer, pay is good and last maintenance job was throwing money as I walked out the door for better ca$h. Maintenance work is steady, easy and plentiful (probably easier for you since you already can tell the diff between a wrench and a Cantalope!) . I work some real idiots that only have jobs because the boss has no b@lls to fire them.



Little history, I'm 40 something and spent about 25 years as a Pastry Chef in many bakeries. In my free time I tinkered and played with cars. The tinkering was noticed by my [bakery] boss and paid me about three times my wage (after regular bakery shift) to fix equipment. One day my wife told me the company she worked for was desperate for a maintenance man, I was hired about ten minutes after I shoke the bosses hand. Rest is history.



If you do stick with wrenching cars, rather than set up a permanent shop why not beg borrow or steal an old step van and be an on call mechanic! When my work was too busy to repair the forklifts under my care I would hire this one guy who had his equipment in a 1 ton van with a box on back. Think he charged me $90 an hour plus $1.50 a mile and parts. I had to hire a different guy when this guy was too busy with big companies that had dozens of lift trucks.



Well, it's getting late need to be up early for my three day work week! (seriously, I only work three 12 hour shifts)



Best of luck to you which ever path you follow....



A-Dan http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_cool.gif

[Jimmybeam]

Yeah, pretty much just fixing machines. The machines are easy to take care of just knowing how to spin a wrench. I mean once you understand the basics of how the machines work and can figure out how to time each part, its an easy job. The only thing that sucks is dealing with the lead. Unless you're employed up at central (where the actually MAKE the machines) everything is caked in lead and its oxides. But I talk to guys there that have been doing it 30 and 40 years who have never had any kind of problems and just love their jobs. As far as actually getting into something like that, my plan was always to just get into building engines in my garage on the side, and as time goes on buy more equipment and see where that takes me. I'd love to one day take over one of the shops around here, thats the real trick is to have a steady customer base off the bat.

[riotpolice75]

OH YO,

I completely understand that the economy is in the shitter. Every area ive ever lived in/visited has an "auto mile". And our local auto mile is a morgue right about now. I know alot of mechanics that work in the stealerships around here and every one of em says they're out of work by 10 AM. Then anywhere between 15 - 30 guys spend the majority of the rest of the day standing around and fighting over the next oil change that comes through the door.



mlhj,

I can attest to the bullshit you put up with at firestone. Alot of places are like that. I worked for a local dodge/nissan/shitsuzu dealer for over a year and the whole shop was set up like that. 30 guys in the shop. Most of them were lucky to turn 40 hours in a week. The majority of them didnt. Then theres 2 guys in the shop, week in, week out, turn 100+ hours a week. Regardless of how slow it was. These were also the same guys that bitched the loudest when they turned sub 100 hours in a week.



The place i just got laid off from was a hell of a place. I had literally a 3 1/2 minute commute in the morning with traffic. 2 minutes without. The people i worked for were good, honest, hardworking people. I was guaranteed a 40 hour paycheck with no saturdays EVER. AND my benefits were covered. They laid me off because its horrendously slow. So i certainly cannot fault them for that.



At this point i've pretty much reserved myself to trying to have a go at it on my own. If i need to pick up a job at a local shop along the way then so be it. But in the meantime i can still build up a pretty good customer base. Theres a select few shops in this ares that regardless of how shitty the economy is are consistently packed with a 3 and 4 week waiting list. These are the guys that are honest and willing to go the extra mile to keep their people happy. Thats the other thing ive found in this business. If people find a mechanic that they feel they can trust then you have a lifelong customer.



To use this place i was just working in as an example. People would drop their cars off with a note. "needs inspection, an oil change, the brakes are noisy. If you find anything else wrong fix it" So i pull the car in. It needs 4 brakes, a bulb, and 4 tires. I did the work and called the customer when the car was finished. They come get the car and its a $1100 bill. They look at it, not so much as a peep about the price. Theyll say something like "Oh, that was broken? wow, i didnt even know that" They hand me a credit card then i end up with a $30 cash tip for my troubles. The week leading up to christmas i made my normal 40 hour paycheck and i also got the same amount in tips. Thsts how much trust people have in this place.



It also gives the customer a huge piece of mind when they see something on the bill with a charge of $0.00. Little shit like a license plate bulb was out. The bulb was good but the connector was corroded. Takes 2 minutes to fix. So all youre out as the mechanic is about 2 minutes.



OK, i'll put my soapbox away now.







smith

[ZR1BLAZER]

starting a buissnes is tricky. if you dont have the funds up front to fund it then you need to just do it part time on the side. but do it legal. go get your buissness licence. about $50 and do your taxes honest. with your regular job you can servive. when you are showing the side buissness is doing good then you can go to the bank and get a small buissness loan. no bank will finance a buissness 100% you have to be invested 1st and show a rise in profits. it takes time but if done right everything will be on your side.

[jusbo]

i believe its true that woman get 5 grand to start a business. Look into it.

HEEEEERE wifey wifey wifey lol.

[ZR1BLAZER]

On 2008-03-09 12:46, jusbo wrote:

i believe its true that woman get 5 grand to start a business. Look into it.

HEEEEERE wifey wifey wifey lol.



but you still need to be invested. if you dont have anything up and running you get nothing.

[riotpolice75]

On 2008-03-09 12:46, jusbo wrote:

i believe its true that woman get 5 grand to start a business. Look into it.

HEEEEERE wifey wifey wifey lol.





"Oh, and for the purposes of the interview with the bank you're also 3/4 cherokee indian. Thanks"



WELL...I talked to my better half's father. Hes a realtor. I told him what the deal is and i'm f'n tired of being laid off or worried about being laid off so i want to have at it by myself. He owns his own realty business and had had some hand in helping to start other businesses either by himself or with family members. So when he talks, i listen. We hopped up on the realtor website and he found a good 150 different businesses within a 25 mile radius. Of those, 30 of them are existing automotive businesses and another 30 could potentially be converted into such.

The median price to buy an already established operation was about $200G



Tomorrow i'm gonna go talk to my neighbor across the street. He literally owns a bank. So i would think that would be a good place to start. Furthermore, he was previously the head of another bank in the area. So whenever i needed a loan it was a guarantee that it was gonna go through.



Alot of shit is gonna happen in the next few weeks. It might only be a wet dream but i'm gonna do everything in my power to make it a reality.







smith







Anyone got donations?

[s10carguy]

my buddy lost his job last year when the company closed. right now he's starting up a sign business, and there's a small business program with the state that allows him to keep collecting unemployment. call your local rep and take advantage of it.



what about doing repairs as a subcontractor? I have a liability policy for myself that only costs 600 a year for 1 million in coverage. maybe some smaller shops would hire you to do certain jobs that you're best at? and if your neighbors are cool you could do some work at your own private shop (send fruit baskets on the holidays or something). beats paying another mortgage.



also look into maintenance for schools... it's easy work. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif



btw, I've had friends over the years who had honest shops and couldn't make enough $$ to pay the bills. this is why so many shops rip people off... too much overhead and bills to pay so they take advantage of people.

[RopeS]

To the OP: I don't know if there is a Land Rover dealer in your area, but you may want to check and see if they're hiring or how busy they are. They may not be what you prefer to work on, but I do know we are overloaded with work while the other dealers have nothing at all to keep the techs busy with. Just throwing it out there..



-B

[riotpolice75]

So i made $1400 this week doing side work. This isnt all that bad. I talked to my neighbor. He hooked me up with a name and number of this guy that runs a seminar out of lehigh university. Subsidized my both the man and lehigh university. So im gonna get myself signed up with that. Its a big course on how to open a business and pretty much all the related information. Also. i got a call from work today. I'm goin back tomorro part time for now. They said they would get me as much work as possible till it picks back up again.



This may actually work to my advantage. All at the same time i'm gonna be:

1. Working

2. Collecting

3. Doing side work

4. Junk yard

So this shouldnt be too shabby.







smith

[Ryoung68]

Riot,



If you want I can get in touch with my brother (owner of M & L Automotive Specialties, Bowling Green, KY). He started his business up when the tool and die shop he worked in folded up. He works pretty much by himself, only hires help part time when needed. Key words charge a fair price and stand behind your work. Doubled his hourly rate due to volume of work, didn't do any good, still back logged most of the year. PM me and I'll shoot you the info.

[COB]

On 2008-03-07 16:58, adh383 wrote:

My son is in your shoes also---- he's an r-r man on transmissions--- worked for cottman--aamco--- then a trans shop in mooresville-- he has paid his dues-- then when he starts to demand a decent wage, they hire a damn mexican who will work for $8 an hour and tell him they aint got any work--$7500 worth of tools and he's keeps getting screwed-- i feel for ya man-- do what I do--work at that type of job somewhere and build a client base and go on your own-- lots of headache but should be worth it.





Very important,"a client base". Without one first,don't go into business.I had an HVAC business and had enough client base to survive but now to the second most important need,'backup money'. Have enough to cover anything that may arise,including total lose by fire,tornado,what ever. Point is,have enough financial base to cover anything.

[riotpolice75]

On 2008-03-14 13:37, Ryoung68 wrote:

Riot,



If you want I can get in touch with my brother (owner of M & L Automotive Specialties, Bowling Green, KY). He started his business up when the tool and die shop he worked in folded up. He works pretty much by himself, only hires help part time when needed. Key words charge a fair price and stand behind your work. Doubled his hourly rate due to volume of work, didn't do any good, still back logged most of the year. PM me and I'll shoot you the info.





Is he doing tool and die work? or automotive work? Also, what else is in the immediate area where he set up shop? Reason i ask is having a monopoly in the area where you have your shop set up is hugely beneficial to your customer base. Yea, the more info you can feed me the better. Thank you.



I agree with the client base. You're boned without one. As far as a fire or tornado or other acts of God - insurance should cover that, maybe not all of it, but still. Yes, having backup income is a good thing as well. That falls under the C.Y.A. category.







smith

[Ryoung68]

He is doing custom automotive work (hot rods, race cars, show cars, etc...) and branching off into rock crawling. The shop to the left builds engines and the right is a stock car shop. He was big into drag racing at Beech Bend. Being the home of the Corvette doesn't hurt either.