Inspired by the Rodney Dangerfield speech in "Back to School":
The formulas for business simply don't work ! Supply and demand, building widgets, employee costs and tooling - None of it can be measured nor predicted. There are more likely two other scenarios:
Things won't be easy. The money that you had planned for the shop space will get you a shop .. Space. Beyond that the proper local zoning and licencing is required - Which will either involve greasing the palms of your local government, or paying and waiting for the appropriate licencing and local permission to come in. This can take months, and they won't do the paperwork that week, ya know? So you call them up regularly, have pizza driven to their office, wine and dine them until finally you agree to do their car for free. Either way, dealing with town hall will make you cringe. Beyond that, you should never build your first shop space, Nor should you rent it. Buy it, and get it approved under your name. If you don't have the credit to do this, Then go back to sleep. When you put it in your name, and not some faceless Tax ID you'll start getting the calls....
And the calls won't stop. Banks, Credit cards, telemarketers galore. Random inspections and fire codes. Speaking of which, There will have to be things you never considered before. HVAC and fire suppression systems - How close cars and other property can be to your building - Even the placement of the dumpster are all things that may not look like much, can easily see you hit with 10's of thousands of fines. This is what your first week looks like.
Now, if things are easy. If it's easy street for you, Then you've found a parcel of land that has a burned down building on it. You'll contact a ReInsurance real estate firm (Like National Re/Sources) and get the land declared polluted. You'll get more tax breaks, but in exchange you'll pay the town yearly. Also, look out for neighbors, because you could have bottles of poland spring trucked to your neighbors at your cost. Then yoiu clear the land away, build your metal shack and get to work on the pre-considered and inspected (You got a free $10,000 polution report from NationalRe) for your oil and contaminant system. Now you're on easy street for your inspections and dump audits. Your zoning is cared for, and you've got an acre or so of some flat land. Your pre-fab goes up, office space and 3 or 4 lift bays. If you're in a light industrial area, your drive by traffic won't be much, but you'll be allowed to turn wrenches as soon as the power company turns on your shit.
If you're in LBC Cali, Then your competition may be the kind of gentleman that will burn your place down... maybe even with you in it. You'll need either palm grease for the crips to keep your shit locked down (Free work on them) or simply pay the Italians and build a few off-the-record armored cars. Pick up a town contract, And be the guy who bids on all the town equipment - Even if you have to eat the costs and sell it on Ebay. That way, all of your line-gear is ALREADY setup for use by the town's safety and business codes. You won't be shut down because a lathe is missing a guard or because your 2 phase bench belt sander is dimming down the lights on Paper Street.
Buy a flatbed wrecker. Keep calling your competition and hanging up, edging your prices continually lower than the rest - And then hire someone to drive it for you. That fucking truck may save your business.
Also, look into getting a waste oil heater. They are hungry, but they'll cut your dumping fees in half.
Just a tip from your Uncle Cel.
-> Steve
