Theorhetically............

[Fastbird]

If you were to open up a shop to do go fast work to cars, possibly put a dyno in.........where would you choose to do it? :secret:

Essentially, I'm looking at a career and life altering change. Provided I'm not tucked away for some time here in a couple of months, I'm going to be out of the Air Force and without income and needing work. When life throws lemons, make lemonade. That in mind, I find it a perfect opportunity to do what I've always wanted, open a shop. My wife green lighted me to take a business loan (If I can get it) and toss in a dyno also. I have a couple of areas in mind, but one is kind of saturated and has it's know LT/LS worker (Ft. Wayne) and the other is just kind of out in the middle of nowhere (Chambersburg area in south central PA).

Am I crazy for wanting to open up a shop in today's economy? I really don't have anything else to fall back on. All my studying and other experience is related to performance of cars, so it's not like I have a degree in computer science to get a office job somewhere.

Thoughts?

[CamaroGirl]

i say do it. life is too short, if you have a passion for it, you could excel. you dont wanna be stuck doing something you're not passionate about, you'll probably only feel worse. takes balls to start up a business, and after what you've been going through, you've only gotten stronger. i think you'd do good.

[Z28pr0jekt]

I'd say down here but I know a couple of the speed shop owners and business is mediocre at best right now. If it were 4 years ago and we still had our friends here building TT vipers and TT Ford GTs it would be great but sadly those days are gone.

[Z28pr0jekt]

Also remember typical new businesses are in debt for the first 3-10 years depending on the market, so you have to build that into the costs

[Firebirdjoe]

I think having your own shop would be awesome!

[Fastbird]

Right, but what I'm hoping to do is find a place that I can live and operate out of to start with. I've got no problem wrenchign out of my garage to get things started, definitely would keep costs down. One thing that I do believe though is that if a dyno is immediately brought into the mix, that's a business generator in itself. Depending on lease/purchase costs, that could easily generate money in the positive on it's own. In a semi-saturated marked for this niche of work though, where there's plenty of stable known shops running, it's kind of hard to get into the line especially on an aging line of vehicles that I'm most familiar with where people are more and more doing it themselves because the cars cost less and thus the demographic owning them changes. I think optimally I'd like to get in with a shop like Texas-Speed, Speed Inc, Thunder Racing, or the like who's already established and work my way up there because that's a job and paying the bills. That would leave me time to go get my welding certs, and go to schooling for body, tuning, ect to fuel the overall concept rather than trying to do that while running a shop at the same time. It would also keep me out of the "general maintenance" biz which I really don't want to get into due. then I look at it and go "what do I have to offer any of these places whom I might talk to about employment? I haven't welded since high school, never done body, never actually BUILT a motor, ect. I only have general shade tree wrench turning experience and a boat load of knowledge learned along the way with that and soem limited tunnig knowledge." And IMO, all that means jack when it comes to actual employment. Hate to say it but I see myself as being fairly limited in options. Which is why I'm just really leaning towards this option because I have a feeling that my other employment options would be severely hampered due to discharge status, and I may have no other truly viable way to go.

*edit* Hmmm......Summit is hiring for several positions at the Akron OH location..........

[AChotrod]

I would look for a spot in a very very populated area. Youll never make it out in the sticks in this economy. Believe it or not there are very few performance shops in the Chicago area that specialize in F-bodies and vettes especially stocking dealers. No matter what you decide I wish you the best of luck!

[Phstratton]

Recently...our only performance shop here in Bowling Green which was owned by my uncle just closed down...mainly because he never answered the phone and also because he is going through a divorce. So there's a wide open spot here and it's a great spot considering Beech Bend is here and so is the corvette museum as well as holley...just an idea ;)

[harner]

Being from PA and spending a couple years in central PA (Harrisburg), I can't imagine much of a market for performance in the Chambersburg area. I would go Shippensburg or even north of that like Carlisle - then you'll get Harrisburg, York, Carlisle, etc clientele. There's not many speed shops in central PA. Plus, Carlisle has HUGE car shows every year (GM Nationals, Corvette Carlisle, etc) so marketing would be easy at best to promote the shop.

As far as economy goes, today may not be the best but there will always be people looking to make their car go fast but can't do it themselves. What you may want to consider is opening a shop and doing normal wrenching and inspections as well as performance. A new shop going performance-only is kind of ballsy in this area - unless you goto a city like Philly or something.

[Fastbird]

I would look for a spot in a very very populated area. Youll never make it out in the sticks in this economy. Believe it or not there are very few performance shops in the Chicago area that specialize in F-bodies and vettes especially stocking dealers. No matter what you decide I wish you the best of luck!

No way I'm trying to compete with Speed Inc. They've got that area on lockdown. :D


Recently...our only performance shop here in Bowling Green which was owned by my uncle just closed down...mainly because he never answered the phone and also because he is going through a divorce. So there's a wide open spot here and it's a great spot considering Beech Bend is here and so is the corvette museum as well as holley...just an idea ;)

My wife and I really enjoyed the BG area, and with my Vette experience and F-Body experience I could see a market there, ESPECIALLY if there's no big shop around (Isn't KY Turbo around there somewhere though?), cost of living is low, but the kicker is that we have no one in that area and nothing else to rely on if we supplant there. We have very good friends in Ft. Wayne and family in the PA area.


Being from PA and spending a couple years in central PA (Harrisburg), I can't imagine much of a market for performance in the Chambersburg area. I would go Shippensburg or even north of that like Carlisle - then you'll get Harrisburg, York, Carlisle, etc clientele. There's not many speed shops in central PA. Plus, Carlisle has HUGE car shows every year (GM Nationals, Corvette Carlisle, etc) so marketing would be easy at best to promote the shop.

Yeah, I'm very familar with all that, but the downside to PA is the cost of living. That's kind of a last option for me (not to mention the dang taxation hitting you every way you turn) but not ruled out. I'd like to stay in the Chambersburg area due to proximity to family, but Carlisle isn't out of the question which woudl at least open up the Harrisburg market at a min. I would definitely want to stay close proximity to a track for my own purposes.

[Phstratton]

My wife and I really enjoyed the BG area, and with my Vette experience and F-Body experience I could see a market there, ESPECIALLY if there's no big shop around (Isn't KY Turbo around there somewhere though?), cost of living is low, but the kicker is that we have no one in that area and nothing else to rely on if we supplant there. We have very good friends in Ft. Wayne and family in the PA area.


KY Turbo is a shop smaller than my house and they only do Turbo LS applications. And if I'm not mistaken its solely owned by Josh, although he may have someone else that helps him, he's the main one that does the work.

[Fastbird]

Thought they were bigger than that. I may lean on my wife a little to explore BG a little more. Are there emissions requirements there?

[Phstratton]

Nope, not unless we're talking about different ky turbos and I'm pretty sure there's only one...haha. No emissions stuff here. It's amazing :) The corvette plant is also putting in a new drag strip and auto cross track here soon as well.

[Fastbird]

Yah, I heard about that. How's the job market down there? I'd likely be looking for work first until we got set up and stable before kicking off a shop. I'd have to fall into the right circumstances to start from cold with a shop........

[Phstratton]

Yah, I heard about that. How's the job market down there? I'd likely be looking for work first until we got set up and stable before kicking off a shop. I'd have to fall into the right circumstances to start from cold with a shop........

Seems to be pretty good i guess? None of my family is unemployed.

[Fixxer99TA]

Do you plan on strictly doing performance?

You might want to offer everything including performance and regular stuff, but I dont know what kind of experience you have fixing "EVERYTHING". Everyone needs the car they have worked on for one reason or another, not everyone is willing to drop the money required to go fast...

I just think you would be fighting an uphill battle for a loooooong time doing the strictly performance angle. It took me awhile to build up enough consistant clientelle (working out of my garage) to even think about being able to pay for a space.

If you can work out of YOUR garage indefinitely though, that would bring a whole different angle into it. I didnt have that option though, it didnt take pops long to get mad at the little space we have being taken up by projects :D

[Phstratton]

Do you plan on strictly doing performance?

You might want to offer everything including performance and regular stuff, but I dont know what kind of experience you have fixing "EVERYTHING". Everyone needs the car they have worked on for one reason or another, not everyone is willing to drop the money required to go fast...

I just think you would be fighting an uphill battle for a loooooong time doing the strictly performance angle. It took me awhile to build up enough consistant clientelle where I am at now to even think about being able to pay for a space.

Doing oil changes, and tune-ups as well as changing easy parts like an alternator or water pump is pretty universal...Granted some cars are more difficult than others but as long as you know the basics you can accomplish fixing minor things on just about any vehicle. When my dad was part owner in the Horsepower House he taught me a vital lesson: The money is in the bolt-ons...there is a wide customer base that can afford bolt-ons but not install them by themselves. Also, Street Racers have the money and are will to drop it unlike normal customers. On more than one occasion street racers would bring them a check and say if you need more just give me a call, or just give them a blank check.

[Fastbird]

I can fix just about anything but I'd prefer to stay out of the general mx stuff just because of the redundancy factor. But I'd probably end up doing it anyway to make ends meet. Let's just say that the performance base gets preferred treatment. That's why I'm looknig around and seeing where there'd be a market for a GM Enthusiast place or not.

[Fixxer99TA]

Damn I wish I had customers like that here....

But the regular stuff is money too, I didnt believe it until I saw it happen myself....

But I still buy cars to fix up and sell on the side too, so I work a bunch of different angles to keep what I have here. That and plowing in the winter. Maybe a detail here and there in the summer aswell, but the detailing is a kind of "If I have time" sort of deal.

You have the right idea though, shopping for a location you wont be harassed by other shops (and in KY, Im sure theres ALOT more people who like GOOD cars that go fast... In MA everyone is about their shitty BMW or Merc).

[Fastbird]

See, I can do the detailing, and buying/fixing up is a perfect idea if you can snag a roller at a good price (local guy here just got a smoking deal on a 02 22k mile roller that he's going to drop a cam only motor in and flip). I also do some photography on the side, am planning on hitting up EFI U, getting welding certed, ect. My biggest obstacle is getting a home set up, getting a shop set up with at a minimum workspace alone, preferably with an office and a lift, getting the business legitamized, and getting the word out, all on a very limited budget of approx $15-20K cash at hand. I think I've made enough of a name for myself on the various forums that people know I know what I'm doing and am inclined towards this sort of thing, but getting a local word out and drumming up those long distance customers is going to be the hardest part, especially on a limited budget and in a new area. Then again, people may thing I'm just a big internet talker and just regurgitate information from one place to the other, I really don't know. :shiner:

[Fixxer99TA]

Nah, at least I dont think that. And Ive read everything youve posted for long enough to know that. You know your shit, theres no doubt about that.

You know it wont be easy though, but if you work like hell at it anything is possible. Just hustle where you can and learn as you go. Word of mouth especially, thats going to be your best friend from the get go. I did a ton of advertising right off the bat, and wasted a shitload of money. Maybe I didnt do it right, or just tried to advertise in the wrong places... Who knows.

All I know is, 90% of the regulars I have now are because "my friend told me about you".

[Fastbird]

Good thing is that word of mouth is keeping me selling the line locks right now. I haven't advertised ont he corvette forum in over a year now, and continually sell on average about 5 kits a month on word of mouth alone.

[AChotrod]

[QUOTE=Fastbird;170630]No way I'm trying to compete with Speed Inc. They've got that area on lockdown. :D



Lol I wasnt thinking that close but Chicago is a big town

[CALL911]

I honestly think you should start working under someone else, or for someone else's buisness first to get an honest feel for things right now in todays economy. It will do two things for you. First, it will get you on your feet safely without making any big committment of buying or leasing anything to start on your own and find out the hard way if the economy is not going to support the buisness the way you want it two. 2nd, it will help build a name for yourself if you later decide to pull the trigger on going into buisness for yourself (as in, "I am Sean, former employee of Lingenfelter").

Selfishly, I would want you to come to the Fort. Besides that, you are right, there are lots of people you already know there that do a lot of car work in Fort Wayne. But there is no one place everyone goes, and many people have different opinions, so I do believe given the amount of cars in the area you could still make it work just fine (assuming the economy isn't holding you back from customers).

Lastly, whatever you do decide, I hope you make the right choice for you and your family. Because you deserve the best! And I would hate to see you go somewhere and have it not work out.