You grew up around cars and can’t see yourself doing anything other than working on them. It’s your passion, and you’ve spent years building your knowledge and skills while working in a shop. But you’re ready to take what you’ve learned and put that to use in your own custom car shop.
And as ideal as this sounds, you know that realistically, it takes a lot of work to open your own shop. Whether you have experience working in a shop or just love working on cars and want to turn that into a career, opening your own shop takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Do you think you have what it takes?
Of course, you do! All you need are some helpful guidelines to walk you through the process. Continue reading below to learn everything there is to know about opening your own custom car shop.
Get Qualified
Along with your passion, you’ll also need qualifications to run your own shop. You should know what’s needed for a successful shop to function, and you should be familiar with business management as well. Seek advice from other shop owners and take a couple of classes before diving into it.
Nest, find the one or several things that you’re really good at and make that the focus of your shop. Why? Because unless you have the money to hire a full staff of specialist, work with a metal fabrication shop, and other necessities, you’ll be doing most of the work yourself.
As time goes on, you’ll want to become fluent in car building so that your shop works as a one-stop spot for your customers. Shops that offer all services have strong foundations. You should have at least 2 or 3 full car builds to your name before trying to open your own full-service shop.
Get Committed
Once you gain all of the experience that you need, it’s time to get serious about the commitment. Owning your own shop means that you’re no long scheduled into the 9-5 shift or 40 hours a week. It takes a big commitment to open a full-service shop, so be sure that your family and friends are prepared for it.
Also, keep in mind that if you have a current project that’s your priority right now, it’ll be put on the back burner if it’s not finished by the time you open your shop. This is because once you start your own business, all of your free time and dedication needs to go into the business and must generate dollars. Be sure to have everything in order before opening the shop.
Plan the Business
If you think you’re qualified and ready to make the full commitment, then the next step is to plan out the business. Just like any entrepreneur, you should have a clear plan written out to ensure a smooth process. Here are some things to keep in mind when planning it out:
- What are the initial costs?
- How long will it take you to break even?
- What’s the name of your business?
- Who is your target market?
Be sure to choose a name that best suits your business and one that isn’t already taken by another business. Check to see if the name is already taken as a web domain and if not secure it as quickly as possible.
Plan Out Your Finances
You should prepare to spend a good amount of money to get the business up and running. And remember that the equipment cost isn’t the only expense that you’ll have. You’ll also need to plan out your finances according to how much you’ll be paying to rent the space and for the utilities.
If you don’t have to funds to buy all brand new equipment, consider attending auto shop auctions where you’ll find equipment cheaper. To better help you plan out your finances, here is a list of some equipment that you’ll need in your shop:
- Rebuilding Counters
- A Lift
- Refrigerated Evaporating System
- Jitter Bugs or Sanders
- HVLP Guns
- Electrical Tools
- Air Compressor
- Diagnostic Machine
- Woodworking Tools
These pieces of equipment will get you off to a good start, but they’re not the only things that you’ll need. This is just a general idea of where to begin and how to financially plan for it.
Take the Legal Approach
First, you’ll need a business license. Once you have that, you’ll need to look into all of the regulations that come along with the services that you offer in your shop and the building that you’re renting out. For example, if you plan on completing paint jobs, there will be safety and chemical regulations.
There’s also a concern for disposing of metal parts, oil, and tires. Be sure to take a trip to your city’s office to get all of this information along with your business license. If you have employees, you’ll also need to consider worker’s compensation along with insurance for employees and customers.
Register for all your federal and state taxes before opening your business, open a business bank account and set up business accounting.
Put Custom Car Shop Marketing Techniques into Effect
Use social media to market your custom car shop. You should also have a well-established website with a good design to bring customers and your target market in. You might even consider hiring an SEO company that knows how to use the internet to get the most out of marketing.
Keeping all of these tips in mind is a sure way to start a successful custom car shop business!
Interested to learn more about starting a business? Be sure to check in with our Startup and Business sections regularly.
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