Question For Shop Owners

Ron Harris

Ron Harris

New member
I have the opportunity to occupy a small one bay shop. It is owned by a gentleman who has an auto mechanical, body repair and used car lot. This all contained on one corner. There is also a very large glass show room that will be evadible in three months at his facility and is on the street corner.

This owner has proposed that I take care of all his cars (Wholesale details, washes, body shop clean ups and paint less dent work) first in exchange for use of this single bay. It has a little street visibility. I will be able to do other out side work with no problems. My problem is on one side of the street is Ghetto the other is an up scale neighborhood. The traffic count is around 30,000. Do any of you shop owners operate in areas like this? How do you bring in business?





The Glass Show Room I would have to lease if all went well.



Ron



Ron,s Dent's & Details
 
Sounds a little one-sided, and not in your favor, either.



I'm just making assumptions here, to give you some food for thought.



1. What do you perceive the value of the "Wholesale details, washes, body shop clean ups and paint less dent work" to be - make some sort of guess...



2. Now, how big is the single bay? Maybe 20x25? 500 square feet? That space is worth, AT MOST, $4 per square foot, or $2000 annually/167 per month/or $39 per week!



How does $39 a week for rent compare to the work you'd 'giving' him?



Maybe my numbers are a bit off, but you can see the comparison...



Think it through!



Jim
 
Jimmy Buffit said:
Sounds a little one-sided, and not in your favor, either.



I'm just making assumptions here, to give you some food for thought.



1. What do you perceive the value of the "Wholesale details, washes, body shop clean ups and paint less dent work" to be - make some sort of guess...



2. Now, how big is the single bay? Maybe 20x25? 500 square feet? That space is worth, AT MOST, $4 per square foot, or $2000 annually/167 per month/or $39 per week!



How does $39 a week for rent compare to the work you'd 'giving' him?



Maybe my numbers are a bit off, but you can see the comparison...



Think it through!



Jim
Click to expand...



I was thinking the same thing Jim. I think you will be doing to much free/exchange work for him. If his shop is busy enough you will be lucky if you have time for any paying jobs. And like Jim said the space is worth up to $4/sq foot. Around here I see them go up to about $5 for warehouse space. I'm paying $925+ tax for a 1200 sq ft location with a store front/showroom in a business park. I can fit two cars in this location. What I would try to do is set a price for the bay. Do his cars free until you cover the set price then charge him a wholesale price for the rest of the work. With PDR you should be able to cover the rent in a few hours. Oh I forgot. Is he paying for lights? Do you need your own insurance? If not then the spot is worth a little more. Also if your doing detailing are you paying for the water or is he? If all of these things included then the spot is worth a little more. If not I would go by Jims numbers.



James
 
Thank you for your response



I would not be doing his cars in exchange. I will be charging him as of now $80.00 for details $15.00 for washes and various body shop clean up is unknown at this time. PDR would be done at $45.00 per panel.



He has his own wash bay for me to use along with the pressure washer and compressed air system. The bay is totally enclosed and is roughly 25x40



I have been mobile for over Ten years now and have never dealt with this before





Ron



Ron's Dent's & Details
 
Dent's & Details said:
Thank you for your response



I would not be doing his cars in exchange. I will be charging him as of now $80.00 for details $15.00 for washes and various body shop clean up is unknown at this time. PDR would be done at $45.00 per panel.



He has his own wash bay for me to use along with the pressure washer and compressed air system. The bay is totally enclosed and is roughly 25x40



I have been mobile for over Ten years now and have never dealt with this before





Ron



Ron's Dent's & Details
Click to expand...



Ok. If your doing all of his work for wholesale then it might be ok. How much work will he have for you on average? Did he say? I its a lot of work you just need to decide if the amount you will make doing mostly wholesale is enough for you. If so go for it. I could give you some steady work and you might even have time for other cars. It sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I think I read in my thread that you are starting over in a new place so this will get your name out there and give you some money. Also if you don't have a contract holding you back you could leave if it doesn't work out for you.



James
 
It's all pretty casual and kind of "lets try it out if you like, see how it goes". I donâ€â„¢t have to be there for the entire day I can still be mobile. Iâ€â„¢m looking at this as a tester for the big showroom. It's glass on two sides and traffic can watch you detail the cars when stopped at the light.





Ron



Ron's Dent's & Details
 
Dent's & Details said:
It's all pretty casual and kind of "lets try it out if you like, see how it goes". I donâ€â„¢t have to be there for the entire day I can still be mobile. Iâ€â„¢m looking at this as a tester for the big showroom. It's glass on two sides and traffic can watch you detail the cars when stopped at the light.





Ron



Ron's Dent's & Details
Click to expand...



The traffic watching may help business. :nixweiss I seen pictures of a guy on here that has a shop thats wide open. In a few of the shots it looks like a bunch of people are standing around watching. I forget where he is from. It sounds like a good deal to me. Your not tied there and can still do your own thing. :xyxthumbs



James
 
Dent's & Details said:
I think that is Jimmy Buffits shop



Ron
Click to expand...



No. I saw Jimmy's does have a window also but the one I'm talking about is outside with a roof over it. I think its in Thiland.



James
 
I would like to have a shop where you can work on multiple cars at one time. Or if you have an exotic that needs a lot of attention you can take a couple of days tear it apart and go through it. Along with my PDR I would like to offer touch up and upholstery repair. Oh by the way I also do clear bra installations.

Some of the Extras I would farm out or train some to do it.



I would like to keep offering a Mobil service. Iâ€â„¢m talking and looking around town with Anthony O at possible other sites.



For now I think I might use this little place as a test.





Ron



Ron's Dents & Dtails
 
A question about detailing in front of windows. I know you aren't supposed to detail in the sun, but what about if you have a window between the car and the sun? Do you get what I'm saying? It may be something to think about also.
 
Thanks for the answer, Ron. Makes sense for what you want to do. Myself, I couldn't imagine not being mobile, it is a huge competitive advantage when a customer has several cars. If I specialized in show prep and stuff like that, I might reconsider though.
 
Dent's & Details said:
I have the opportunity to occupy a small one bay shop.



This owner has proposed that I take care of all his cars (Wholesale details, washes, body shop clean ups and paint less dent work) first in exchange for use of this single bay.

Click to expand...





Being your own boss is not easy when you have a partner.
 
Flexin: You're referring to Jaeb's Wash Mania shop in Thailand, it's semi covered actually, with a show-room type quarter for detailing.



Ours is covered as well...



Note to the poster:



I think it's not a fair deal for you to offer him service in exchage. Don't forget that if he has a lot of volume (let's say one car a day - minimum and he asks for a full detail, that's around 100-200 bucks gone in a day, if you operate for 6 days a week, that's 600-1200 a week of labor unpaid. Yes you get free rent, but what's the point if you're not making money? Doing his cars will just eat up your opportunity to do money making clients.
 
Gentleman I totally understand what your saying.

In past years IV been approached by allot of people who wanted to partner up with me. I turned them all down. If you can find the right person like a marriage you can possibly make it work.

Anthony O brings different things to the table and has different strengths than I do. As I bring my owned strengths.



To the post from Thailand. Iâ€â„¢m not doing any work in trade for rent.

Just doing it at wholesale prices.
 
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