Opening my own shop.
- Thread starter civicious
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I'm going to focus primarily on what I know best - high end European cars.
I've got a fairly decent customer base built up (for ME, not for the shop I'm in the process of leaving), and I've been having to turn people away lately that want me to do work on their vehicles after-hours and at my house, because there's just too many of 'em.
Don't get me wrong though, I won't be turning ANYONE away for a while - I'll take whatever I can get while I'm starting out.
I won't be doing many bikes, if any at all - several of my close friends have bike shops, and they sponsor me for racing - so I don't want to do anything to take business away from them.
I've got a fairly decent customer base built up (for ME, not for the shop I'm in the process of leaving), and I've been having to turn people away lately that want me to do work on their vehicles after-hours and at my house, because there's just too many of 'em.
Don't get me wrong though, I won't be turning ANYONE away for a while - I'll take whatever I can get while I'm starting out.
I won't be doing many bikes, if any at all - several of my close friends have bike shops, and they sponsor me for racing - so I don't want to do anything to take business away from them.
Awesome to hear.
congrats man
best of luck
best of luck
Hondadude141
¿pɐǝɥ ɹn ɥʇıʍ uıop nɥɔʇɐʍ
In da butt racing? Lmao, Congrats man!
For the past several years, my 'personal' clients have been bringing their $200,000-plus cars to my house for me to work on in my driveway, since I've (for the most part) kept my clients and my shop's clients separate. If people will leave a car with me to work on in the garage of a house that costs less than the car, they won't care what the logo looks like, haha.
And there's no such thing as 'More work than I can handle'. Back in 2010 when I had some 'not that bad but not going to be discussed here' legal issues and had to pay my attorney, I was doing 'side work' full time on my own and working about 20 hours a day. Dozens of happy customers, and I cleared almost $30k in that December alone. Hard work pays off.
And there's no such thing as 'More work than I can handle'. Back in 2010 when I had some 'not that bad but not going to be discussed here' legal issues and had to pay my attorney, I was doing 'side work' full time on my own and working about 20 hours a day. Dozens of happy customers, and I cleared almost $30k in that December alone. Hard work pays off.
endlesszeal
Senior Member
Sugoi. OP, what was it that you do again?
I remember a few of our members worked at a Merc dealership, a garage that did supercars (porsche, ferrari, etc.., and someone built a Pike's Peak bike... Was that all you or separate persons? haha.
I remember a few of our members worked at a Merc dealership, a garage that did supercars (porsche, ferrari, etc.., and someone built a Pike's Peak bike... Was that all you or separate persons? haha.
Most of that was me, B16racern2nr works at a Mercedes dealership. I'm the 'supercars'and 'Pike's Peak' builder/racer.
I'm not TOO terribly concerned about the name, I'm not even going to have a sign up. I don't want 'drive by' business. The majority of my business from the past few years has come solely from word-of-mouth and referrals by other guys that own supercars. It's actually a pretty tightly knit community (high-end car owners), so when someone knows of a particular individual or shop that does impeccable work, they tell other people. I've been lucky, and worked my ass off to get to the point that people that have never recognize my name KNOW the name 'Wil Kitchens', and know that I do good work. The only reason I'm sticking with IDB Racing - Repair - Restoration is because 'IDB Racing' is already relatively known, and it has multiple championships and such tied to it. For the most part, people will be referred to ME, not the shop.
I WILL be doing a good bit of online and in-person marketing/advertising, but the name of the shop isn't really that important - my name is the selling point, haha.
I'm not TOO terribly concerned about the name, I'm not even going to have a sign up. I don't want 'drive by' business. The majority of my business from the past few years has come solely from word-of-mouth and referrals by other guys that own supercars. It's actually a pretty tightly knit community (high-end car owners), so when someone knows of a particular individual or shop that does impeccable work, they tell other people. I've been lucky, and worked my ass off to get to the point that people that have never recognize my name KNOW the name 'Wil Kitchens', and know that I do good work. The only reason I'm sticking with IDB Racing - Repair - Restoration is because 'IDB Racing' is already relatively known, and it has multiple championships and such tied to it. For the most part, people will be referred to ME, not the shop.
I WILL be doing a good bit of online and in-person marketing/advertising, but the name of the shop isn't really that important - my name is the selling point, haha.
