Ok Heres the plan in the works.
I live in Acton.
Thier are no performance shops here, SO the plan is to open one. Let me here your thoughts on the matter.
Plus It would have a Detailing shop as well.
Would like the Negative too Please.
does acton really have the cars to keep a performance shop alive? or the cities close by?
maybe a parts store + performance parts might be a better idea?
OK But I plan to have a Store Front, Plus a Couple of Bays in the back.
if you do decide on a performance/custom shop .. then i'd try and set it up with your storefront and bays in the front facing the street .. that way people driving/walking by can see what type of cars your working on
as for acton though .. i just don't really see it working out in that town .. maybe move it to guelph/georgetown or even K/W .. but thats a little far away
I am going to stop being a fuktard for 30 seconds, although you might think this is a totally fawked up fuktard question.
How much money have you got.
Atleast 150k. Your going to have to survive for 2 years with little to no income as you first develop the business..6 months, startup the business, 3 months, now your running the business and trying to get steady clientele........6 months +++++.
You need alot of cash to make it on your own. I have seen many a car detail shop close down. Very risky business.
Back to fuktard
Especially in that shithole of a town Acton.
meford4u,Jul 14 2005, 12:01 AM Wrote:I am going to stop being a fuktard for 30 seconds, although you might think this is a totally fawked up fuktard question.
How much money have you got.
Atleast 150k. Your going to have to survive for 2 years with little to no income as you first develop the business..6 months, startup the business, 3 months, now your running the business and trying to get steady clientele........6 months +++++.
You need alot of cash to make it on your own. I have seen many a car detail shop close down. Very risky business.
Back to fuktard
Especially in that shithole of a town Acton.
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^^^^ EXCELLENT POINTS
you gotta spend money to make money, anything other than a moderate to high demand for this buisness in acton isnt worth it.
Whos going to be working for you? cerified and experienced mechanics on custom cars? your buddies?, some old school dodge dart drivers fodifying civics?
need a bit more info
u gotta have money to make money
do some research before you open anything up there. ask people if they want a performance shop in you town. if there is demand then maybe open it. spending 2 or 3 months doing research may sound like a waste but it won't be when your shop goes belly up and you in debt.
Im looking at it this way.... This Town has been here a long time, Why hasent any body else Opened one... This is the scary Part.
As for cash, I have Little more the that, SO im not too worryed about opening it, Im more worried about closing down.
the fact that there isn't one there already should tell you something .. maybe talk with city hall and try and find out if someone has opened one in the past. Then maybe you can talk to that person and learn from there faults
BrooksZX3,Jul 13 2005, 08:36 PM Wrote:where is Acton?
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Exactly
Its on Hwy 7 between georgetown and Guelph.
ok, my only suggestion on this seeing as most others have been said...why not start out from your house as just a performance shop..get the connections you need, and also the clientele that you will need to stay alive, if that works out, and if you can make some good coin in whatever time frame, open up a little shop, then grow from there
there are 2 performance guys in Acton....
Action Auto
Toth motors
granted, both these guys cater to domestic performance ie: muscle cars
there really isn't a demand for performance parts "store" in Acton ...there is mpw/steeda in milton 10min away...there is brampton which is only 20 min and guelph which is only 20 min where you will find 2 of our locations....let alone all of our competitor smaller shops in those cities...
if you want to suceed you will have to become reputable in your work which is what the above 2 shops in Aton have done in the land of muscle..
it's a SUPER tough business to get into ...especially in the Sport compact market.
people think we are expensive yada yada yada....but to tell you the truth we've been around for more than 40 years now...and that shows that we obviously run an excellent business plan [we aren't over the top pricing where we wouldn't get repeat business and kill it, we price things for what they should ACTUALLY sell for....we don't slash our prices to super low profit margins like pretty much ALL of our competitors [which give you the impression that we "rip people off"], that will put them out of business in the long run...we have a good balance] and we are about to open our 10th store next year...few and far between will you find that in the performance parts world these days....it's quite infortunate
In my humble opinion, i think that it would be best to open up say a detailing shop...or what have you...and offer performance parts as a side option, and not your main focus...
our sport compact segment of the market has dropped signifigantly in the last year, and the muscle car segment is picking up again....it's like that across the board...not just at Performance Improvements..
this post was in no way to discourage you or thwart you off from becoming a potential competitor....that would be foolish of me
if you want to chat more about it come by the store...or meet up with me ..we only live around the corner from eachother.
i'd be happy to chat with you about these things
You can do like the one guy on the Grand Prix board, he owns a Car Detailing shop in Pickering, but ALL the guys who get work done to their cars go there, anywhere from ported manifolds, exhaust intall, headers install, cam install, you get the point.
People really like this guy, he's affordable, does good work and is on the board so he gets a lot of business.
I have been toying with that idea myself as well, although the $$ isn't there..I seem to spend too much on tools. :o
Jay, your not talking about shimmy? whos the other guy.?
Like any business, you need planning and to understand your anticipated customer base....I see so many businesses open up around here and then close down its sad....
Something we need closer to the city is a damn drag strip and a track......
as said before this is a hard business to get into.
even the shops that are out there are not just performance shops.
you either need to have a solid product line and sell parts on a serious level or you need a solid customer base to make mone of work
do not expect to have jobs involving mods on the go all the time. most performance shops i know are still normal shops but do performance work when required. expect to do a lot of basic stuff like brakes, oil changes, exhaust and don't expect to make a lot of money doing it.
you will need a good $100,000+ to start up if you want to have a multi-bay shop with tools.
i have over $20,000 in tools and i still have a long way to go before i'd be able to open up a shop on my own.
start small! a small shop in a little business complex is your best bet,
something with high ceilings and a deep space. this will let you put 2 hoists in with only one bay door. you don't need HUGE sq/ft, something under 2000sq/ft should be ideal.
also, do not expect to make money for a while!
the first year you will probably loose money, 2nd and 3rd years you MIGHT break even, after that is really unknown for most places starting out.
the biggest thing for a business like this, aside from the customers, is what will bring in the customers? you will need to start sourcing parts and setting up accounts with varrious vendors. decide what product line you want to carry. understand that many productlines require a buy-in of anything from $5000-10,000+usd to get any sort of discount you can make money from.
i would talk to a few of the local fix-it shops around you and see if any of the owners are thinking about getting out. buying or buying into one of these might be a better option as there is already a customer base to start with. then you can add in your own stuff, build on it, diversify and branch out and eventually phase out the punters and focus more on the performance stuff!
before you do anything, get a business licence and a company name.
after that start looking around at places to lease rent or buy into.
once you have a place picked out start up a deal and at the same time apply for INC. status.
to end i will leave you with 3 words that were given to me before i started out.....
"know your s**t!"
if you don't you will fail!
good luck and let us know if you need anything...
One of my buddies here actually teamed up with another shop and he sorta ran the import side of stuff him self. He did really well.
The thing I find with this business is customer service is a must and delivery time. Some shops charge alot less then others how ever there service is crap. The one guy here running his shop. Its been up for a few years and he was telling me today he hardly see's any money yet.
Selling parts isnt just going to do it these days. The real business is custom stereo installs, dynos/tuning, part install. Of coruse keep in mind you have to live in an area where there is a demand for this.
BrooksZX3,Jul 14 2005, 01:36 AM Wrote:where is Acton?
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Goof Ball, it is right next to Milton where we are but most people never notice it :blink:
One of our tech's was from Acton. He is no longer working with us but still may reside in Action....good guy
I guess trying your luck in Georgetown is not an option?