If you do it.......Buy real estate, buy equipment. Do NOT buy goodwill or "the business". Only spend dollars on tangible items, that you can lay your hand on. Good luck on how ever you decide. Ron
cars are great. im only 25 and have probably built 30 or so, trust me when cars become your daily job they get alot less fun. i wasnt doing to bad on money but toward the end of running my shop full time i really started hating it. i still have it ,but now i only work when i want to. now its side money not dinner money , so the stress is not there.
i've been doing body work for for 18+ yrs. 9-10 of those yrs were in production collision as a lead tech. the reason i left was the headache i got from dealing with insurance companies. it's a tuff living. you'll be working like 50-60 hrs a week. the days of 40hrs are long gone. are you buying here in LB?
If you want to be in the bodyshop bussiness I would suggest my dreamjob, janitor at Chip Foose's shop. I think I could dig that and should be pretty much stress free. I just can't take the pressure of working on a car and having trouble and knowing if I don't get it done today I can't make the house payment. I still remember the good old days when as long as I showed up every day I got a check on Friday.
I've done sublet work for body shops for over 30 years in the state of California and let me say this . Between the regulations , fees , taxes and permits the state will screw you every chance they get . Everyone I know in the autobody biz , would never do it again . There's a lot of negative posts on this thread and if I were you ,,I'd pay attention. Don't say you were'nt warned .
My shop has a specific niche and a single customer. I do trade-ins, auction buys and lot damage for a mainline dealership. A la carte pricing and fast turn around they can depend on. Endless supply of cars needing work, occasional references from the service department for me. And all on work that the "big" body shops will sideline to work on collision jobs
In addition to the previous, check for liens, pending liens, law suits, divorce actions etc. Also check the zoning, permits for existing use, etc. Where I live, many businesses get occupational licenses for auto repair or strictly auto body repair because they are exempt for many of regulations. After inspection by the county/state, they then start painting cars. Many businesses stop painting because their booths are not up to code. Costs to bring it up to code are expensive and replacement is even higher. Also, talk with the employees, surrounding businesses, and current customers.......they usually know why the owners are selling.
o.k. lets hold the phone here. why so many negative replys? i've been doing body work for over 30 years, and when i had the oppurtunity to open my own business, i jumped on it. i've owned my own shop for almost 22 years now, and while i might never get rich, i do alright, i don't have cancer, and i still like what i do. it's all what YOU make of it. yeah, dealing with the help, ins. co., the customers, vendors, state regulations, it certainly can get to you at times, but you need thick skin, a good personality and do GOOD work.. you need to be a people person, get along with everybody that comes thru the door, (except pesky solicitors!). you have to like what you do, because nobody wants to have their car fixed by a crotchety owner. you have to earn the trust of the ins. companys to the point that they can come in and go over an estimate and know your not going to screw them or the customer. you have to earn the trust of the customer, to the point where they don't feel like their getting screwed and their getting what they paid for. it takes a few years of hard work to gain a good reputation, but once you establish that, it gets a lot easier for you. you shouldn't have to advertise, because word of mouth will be bringing in all your work. you won't have to work 60 hrs. a week, maybe just in the beginning, but if you can't make it only working 8-5 your doing something wrong. my only concern for you is that you won't be a hands on guy. that means you have to trust everyone you hire to get the work done. that could be tough. this will be your full time job, because you will need to oversee every day operations, and 99% of the time, everyone wants to speak directly to the owner. it takes big cajones to jump into a large business venture like this, as with ANY business, so make sure it's what you really want to do, hire a good accountant to check the books and such, have the business appraised, and get a good lawyer who specializes in garages, and make sure the soil is not contaminated. if you have the funds, are a people person, and you need a change in your life, i say go for it!
Good advice. A lot of 'selling' owners will claim additional income done off the books. They will be looking to get paid for that income. Be VERY wary of claims of extra income.
Many people are taught a profession or trade, then once they get proficient at the work they get the bright idea of going into business without any training or education on how to run or manage a business. If you decide to take the dare. Make an effort to seek out the additional educational training you will need to make your venture worthwhile. Watch your books and expenses obsesively , especially if your dealing with the insurance companies or sublet work for dealers. Learn the art of negotitation , it is a skill that takes years to hone. Learn about all the tactics others will use against you to benefit themselves. Don't do special favors for free for anyone( burying a deductable as an example ), as you will set the stage for what all others will expect . Make sure you can leave the business at work and not bring the difficulties of the day home to your family. Be very mindful of your health. While others have stated the hazards of working on the floor or in the booth, they have not mentioned the toll stress can put on ones health. This is one of the major unseen hazards of being the boss. Make sure you have a plan to take care of yourself and destress by means that will make the stress go away ( not be there when you return). Being unable to sleep at night because your worried about what is going to be happening at work tomorrow is a good indicator that help is needed. Put together a small group of knowledgeable people that you can fall back on for advise. This group must not include close friends or family. They are too close to you and cannot be objective when critical issues arise. There are organized business development groups like , Young Presidents, Vistage , that are great at this. Make sure you love what you do !!!!! If not you will be additionally challenged on those difficult days that are sure to be there. After 40 + years in the industry and 25+ years in the business, I will tell you it is going to take a very skilled and special individual to succeed in this business today. If you decide to take the plunge, give yourself and your family the best chance of success. Best of luck figuring things out for yourself. Drop a note if you need to.
From my experience as a "once upona time body shop owner" and working with hundreds of shops all over the country, I can tell you this...if you are sane right now you won't be for long after you get in the body shop biz. And it will make you old before your time. On the flip side I've dealt with shop owners for 35 years and about half of them love it and the other half have no idea what they are doing. I say go for it because if you go to your grave never trying something you fell in your heart is the right thing to do and never did it, well that's ashame. One thing no one on here spoke of and thats the mental toll running a business. You got to find out for yourself what that means. Now go burn some rubber in your hot rod. You'll need that therapy when you open the doors for the first time in your new venture.
If you really want to start a body shop it is way easier to buy one set up with a booth. Sucks ass permitting and setting up a new "legal booth" dealing with OSHA, CARB, EPA, Fire department and Hazmat Guys. You will still have to deal with them but they wont be so nosey if the booth was already permitted. Way less hassle if it is already established.
I bought an established bodyshop in 2003....books looked good and they got a lot of insurance work...had contracts with every insurance company out there...unfortunately when a new owner takes over the insurance companies bail on the contracts and you become a new business that they probably don't want to do business with (until YOU are established anyway) I ran it for 6 months before I fired the 3 employees (bodyman,painter and office girl) I lost 50 grand in those 6 months....but at least I learned a good lesson...I make more easier money being a landlord renting out the shop to other guys who want to work and worry!!
This thread could be used to prove the prevailing disrespect for the craft that many have. It could be a door opener to a specialized version. I didn't just hang up a shingle and say I could do Packards. I used my paint and body experience to develop a specific craft that now has many facets. I currently do not own my own shop. I may do it again very soon since my current duties entail all but ownership. Personally I like a modest operation without too much volume. The hardest thing to manage is your workers. EVERYTHING THEY DO IS ON YOU. THEY DON'T OWN IT. MOST ARE THERE FOR ONLY ONE REASON. Yes that reason has it's merit but don't expect your painter to run your booth like his own little shop, always aware of waste and profit margins, dominant concern for timing, etc. This is NOT a slam at those who do but those who do know exactly what I'm talking about. I don't have cancer either. I'm not broke. I'm not sorry for my past and future ventures. I've been able to make my mark in my area of expertise and I started by "grinding out" daily drivers. Buisness is tough on it's own merits be it a hotdog stand or Fortune 500 company. There's a lot to running a production shop. Doing things right the 1st time and on budget will always net a profit, however, you should figure that everything that rolls through will experience what I call "down time" and it almost always accounts for about 20% of your best-case projections. Down time means your worker didn't show up, your parts are back-ordered, your booth or compressor broke down, your most consistant product has been discontinued or it develops a higher rate of failure. It happens. Be ready for that and you can do well. As far as the legal extortions of worker's comp, insurances, taxes, permit fees, I'm going to assume you're already familiar with those costs and won't insult your intelligence. If you don't know all of em then figure them out for yourself and don't listen to anyone except your hired pros who have a personal stake in your success.
I would say go for it, If you have the contacts with insurance companies then i say your on the right track. Ive heard bad stories about people who own body shops, but i believe they werent smart with there money to begin with.If your financially sound and your a business man then you will be ok.Ive been fabricating on hot rods,race cars,etc since i was 18...27 now and all i ever heard from people was you will never make a dime or have anything in life if you stick to this trade.Well i sure proved them wrong by owning my own home a 50k dollar car and money in the bank.
A good friend of mine owns a body shop in the inland empire of CA -- been in business for over 25 years -- has a great rep -- has done a ton of cars for the SEMA show -- has had a ton of cars he has done body and paint on on the covers of mags -- -- and last month he grossed less than a any month he had ever had including the very first month he was in business
ca insurance jobs suck, unless you just don`t care about the type of work you put out, better hope you can find a decent manager to run that shpw for you and can trust you money with, have a friend, who i have worked for, and he spends several hours a day just fighting with insurance companies over costs, cause they wanna pay bottom dollar for repairs, and he will not allow his name to go out on work like they want, i guess he has a good relationship with most of them by now, cause he gets how way 9 time sout of 10, but he does work for it.........
If youre not a body or paint guy you will be in trouble. who's gonna quote the work? if you get it wrong you lose your ass. Where's your work gonna come from, high end paint job guys dont just try a new shop, they ask around, if you have no reputation you wont get work. Like Ob1 says you need a niche / client base. sounds like he has a good business. What paint line are you going to run, does the shop have the equipment for wter borne, theyre probably selling out instead of converting. You need to draw insurance work, its steady business even if theres not a lot fo $ in it, if your employees dont have work they will leave quickly. You need to be certified to get insurance. Friend of mine did paint and body at a dealer for 15 years to learn the trade, opened his own shop and starved, until he hooked up with a local equipment auction dealer kinda like Ob1 did, he also got certified to do insurance work, no collision just paint usually bumpers / remove-replace panels and shoot it. doesnt like the work but its steady and pays the bills to keep the door open, thats the 8-5 work to keep the shop open. If he does custom or high end stuff its after hours or sometimes fill in. He's busting his ass and not getting rich, most $ goes back into the shop or equipment. this is in a small town with little regulation.
bad idea dont do it worked in one for a few years my boss would rarely pay me on time always had to wait for someone to pay so i could get my weekly check real pain in the ass the body shop world just isnt what it used to be people will drive around with duct tapped in head lights and use there insurance check to pay there house payment instead right now is a bad time to buy
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