Shop owners
- Thread starter 2nrguy
- Start date
countryroad82
Well-known member
Pros: your the boss!
Cons: dealing with annoying customers, the government, Uncle Sam, relying on your business to put food on the table, etc.
but your the boss!!!
Cons: dealing with annoying customers, the government, Uncle Sam, relying on your business to put food on the table, etc.
but your the boss!!!
My dad opened his independently law firm with his brother around 20 years ago and love it. He worked for a massive firm and was a partner but wanted more freedom. He convinced his clients to stay with him and left. He worked with his brother for 15 years very successfully and now works alone, albeit with my mom as the accountant. He loves how he can leave whenever to watch my games. Or go to a bar with clients, or anything along those lines. But there isn't as much stability as working for a large firm gives you in terms of financial matters. So if you want a stable job then stay with a compqny. If you want freedom and possibly more growth. Then open up your own business. Hope that helps.
damienga15de
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2014
- Messages
- 128
I was told these words by a intelligent guy,
If your good with the pen work for yourself, if your good with the tools work for someone else
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
If your good with the pen work for yourself, if your good with the tools work for someone else
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Nice Nick.
Paul1956
Well-known member
Yes, you are the boss but also bear the responsibility
that entails.
This means you live, eat, sleep and breathe the business
so long gone are the 9-to-5 bye see ya tomorrow days.
Also be prepared for some lean times until you get
established.
that entails.
This means you live, eat, sleep and breathe the business
so long gone are the 9-to-5 bye see ya tomorrow days.
Also be prepared for some lean times until you get
established.
I'm not scared of long underpaid hrs. Dealing with customers will be like trying to have a discussion with the wife, 'no matter what I say its always wrong' so i got that part covered!
So besides having the coin to go foward with my idea, i think ive got most of the hard parts covered.
Besides I'm thinking the start of the holiday season is the wrong time to try and open an automotive type business.
So besides having the coin to go foward with my idea, i think ive got most of the hard parts covered.
Besides I'm thinking the start of the holiday season is the wrong time to try and open an automotive type business.
Last edited:
readhead
Well-known member
I can work all the hours I want for free. I'm just in it for the glamor.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Small business owners are what made this country great. Small businesses have the potential to become large businesses with the right drive, ambition and direction of its' owners.
That said, it also takes a special kind of person to own and operate their own business. I grew up in a household where my parents were self employed. We were farmers and at times I despised it. Not due to the work or the hours but mainly because I felt that my parents didn't own a business, the business owned THEM.
EVERY waking moment revolved around the farm and money going out vs. money coming in. My dad then got involved in rental properties to expand his revenue and that made things even worse as far as ALWAYS having to be on call for various jobs/tasks. My parents didn't take vacations so therefore us kids never did either.
I don't want to sound like I am complaining, just giving you another side of being a business owner.
My wife and I own a small business but it is merely a side business. I don't want to take it full-time for above mentioned reasons.
One last tip, get your better half on board. If she is NOT on board and behind the decision 110% you will have an uphill battle right there due to the hours invested, money secondary. My wife has been awesome whether the money spent on tools/equipment or the late hours otherwise I would not be where I am today.
Good luck in your decision.
Mike.
That said, it also takes a special kind of person to own and operate their own business. I grew up in a household where my parents were self employed. We were farmers and at times I despised it. Not due to the work or the hours but mainly because I felt that my parents didn't own a business, the business owned THEM.
EVERY waking moment revolved around the farm and money going out vs. money coming in. My dad then got involved in rental properties to expand his revenue and that made things even worse as far as ALWAYS having to be on call for various jobs/tasks. My parents didn't take vacations so therefore us kids never did either.
I don't want to sound like I am complaining, just giving you another side of being a business owner.
My wife and I own a small business but it is merely a side business. I don't want to take it full-time for above mentioned reasons.
One last tip, get your better half on board. If she is NOT on board and behind the decision 110% you will have an uphill battle right there due to the hours invested, money secondary. My wife has been awesome whether the money spent on tools/equipment or the late hours otherwise I would not be where I am today.
Good luck in your decision.
Mike.
joe_padavano
Well-known member
I've had my own small engineering company for eight years. I finally sold to a larger company and now work for them. Some thoughts:
The general public are idiots. I fortunately didn't have to deal directly with the public, but I would be scared of doing so. I don't know what type of "shop" you are talking about, but years ago I did auto repair on the side. You'll get people who bring a car in for a brake job then come back two weeks later because the muffler fell off and it's your fault. Today's litigious society makes this MUCH worse today. Run away from dealing with the public.
The only time I ever made real money and didn't have major worries was when I was a one-person company working out of my living room. Once I started renting business space, I needed to expand (as in hire employees) to pay for it. Customers (especially the federal government) don't pay on time. Everyone says "cashflow is king". That is the absolute truth. I got very tired of borrowing against my personal credit cards to make payroll.
Employees screw up. You need to increase your prices to account for mistakes on customer jobs. When you don't do this, you end up borrowing against your personal credit cards...
There are a LOT of tax benefits to owning your own company. Be sure you keep extremely detailed records to take advantage of this, however.
If you make a mistake with government withholding payments, it gets ugly (and expensive) in a hurry. Either pay for an accountant up front (and build this expense into your prices) or be sure you completely understand all the tax deposit requirements and fulfill them on time. Keep complete records of these payments, because the US Treasury regularly loses the payment information and sends you threatening notices of massive penalties and interest payments that you owe. Expect to go through this about once every two years.
Get liability insurance and be sure to build the cost of it into your pricing. Go back and read the part about this being a litigious society.
The bottom line is that since I sold my company, I sleep much better and have way more free time.
The general public are idiots. I fortunately didn't have to deal directly with the public, but I would be scared of doing so. I don't know what type of "shop" you are talking about, but years ago I did auto repair on the side. You'll get people who bring a car in for a brake job then come back two weeks later because the muffler fell off and it's your fault. Today's litigious society makes this MUCH worse today. Run away from dealing with the public.
The only time I ever made real money and didn't have major worries was when I was a one-person company working out of my living room. Once I started renting business space, I needed to expand (as in hire employees) to pay for it. Customers (especially the federal government) don't pay on time. Everyone says "cashflow is king". That is the absolute truth. I got very tired of borrowing against my personal credit cards to make payroll.
Employees screw up. You need to increase your prices to account for mistakes on customer jobs. When you don't do this, you end up borrowing against your personal credit cards...
There are a LOT of tax benefits to owning your own company. Be sure you keep extremely detailed records to take advantage of this, however.
If you make a mistake with government withholding payments, it gets ugly (and expensive) in a hurry. Either pay for an accountant up front (and build this expense into your prices) or be sure you completely understand all the tax deposit requirements and fulfill them on time. Keep complete records of these payments, because the US Treasury regularly loses the payment information and sends you threatening notices of massive penalties and interest payments that you owe. Expect to go through this about once every two years.
Get liability insurance and be sure to build the cost of it into your pricing. Go back and read the part about this being a litigious society.
The bottom line is that since I sold my company, I sleep much better and have way more free time.
I would say this means you are not prepared to do it. If you don't have her support, it will be another source of stress for both of you. I have seen wives divorce men as a way to get away from the business. The marriage will become (to whatever degree you let it, you have control of it largely but it will happen) a part of your business, as everything about 'you' is part of the business.
From the above comment I think you intended that to be a joke but take this very seriously. Without her support you will choose between her and the business.
Jim B
Well-known member
My wife and I used to have our own business. Read the above post twice. It's dead on. If you have kids read it 3 times. Good luck.
rancherbill
Well-known member
Two things.
Do not confuse being 'self employed' and having a business - they are different.
It is much harder to sign the front of the check instead of the back.
Do not confuse being 'self employed' and having a business - they are different.
It is much harder to sign the front of the check instead of the back.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
No $HIT!!!
People have no idea about costs such as utilities, property taxes (on building, tools and equipment even after paying sales tax on the purchase price), insurance and so on. Those are annual costs in ADDITION to purchasing the tools and equipment in the first place. Some people must assume that all of the tools and equipment fell out of the sky and landed in your shop. ALL these costs must be calculated into costs of goods and/or services before you even think about the profit margin.
Sad thing is when people see your hourly rate they only think that you are making a killing charging that much per hour. The general public has no idea of the behind the scene costs. They only compare your shop rates to what they make an hour on their paycheck and there ignorant minds cannot compute that.
I have told several of my co-workers that I made more money when I was doing it under the table compared to getting my business license and being legal.
Mike.
dynahoe
Well-known member
i spent more than 20 years working flat rate in dealerships fixing cars and trucks.it became known as flat **** the lats 8 years or so.working for free so the millionaires could break even.i opened my own shop july 1st 2013 and did 30k the first six months had to borrow money from mom 3 times to keep going before january hit.this year i am at 90k as of yesterday and things are going well.people like me and most of all trust me.as nick said my boss is a nitwit but every so often i get to leave early.i will never work for anyone else again i hope.i love all of it sometimes i get stressed but mostly i am happy.having someone come in and give me 2 three pound lobsters as a tip is awesome.plan ahead and grit your teeth i wish i did this 10 years ago.
BlackjackNA
Well-known member
You might wanna start small, as in a cash business, as long as you can get away with it. If it seems right, get a bigger space, mechanic/s, receptionist/bookkeeper, insurance, taxes, and all the rest of it. I know a guy in my neighborhood who works for cash, and quite likes it. 
coljar
Well-known member
I had my own successful auto shop until 1988. The day I closed it down, we had a full schedule of work. I still own the building and everything in it, but going to work for a large company with great benefits appealed to me more. I've never regretted my decision.
You will be shocked at how many governments you will be involved with. Fed income taxes, State income taxes, County taxes, County recorder fees if doing business as AKA status, FICA, Federal unemployment, state unemployment, Comp insurance, liability insurance; some paid in advance on estimated income.
Maintaining employee records and withholding from their pay and filing.
Then filing tax returns to Fed and State and paying your CPA accordingly. Sending your returns to one address and your payment to another.
The government, especially the Fed, hates you because you are not sending in your information on line and it is usually filled out wrong unless you are also paying others to do this for you.
And other regular pains.
I had a design business for 37 years and had nightmares of going back to the 'slave' trade. Trading my time to somebody else for a pittance and at their beck and call.
If you don't go for it, you will always think you could have made it if only......
Just get a good lawyer and CPA.
Regards, Twobit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maintaining employee records and withholding from their pay and filing.
Then filing tax returns to Fed and State and paying your CPA accordingly. Sending your returns to one address and your payment to another.
The government, especially the Fed, hates you because you are not sending in your information on line and it is usually filled out wrong unless you are also paying others to do this for you.
And other regular pains.
I had a design business for 37 years and had nightmares of going back to the 'slave' trade. Trading my time to somebody else for a pittance and at their beck and call.
If you don't go for it, you will always think you could have made it if only......
Just get a good lawyer and CPA.
Regards, Twobit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A CPA is cheap to pay every month and can take care of taxes and payroll. I pay 250.00 a month for a CPA to handle my taxes/payroll and we do a million a year in sales w/6 employees. Don't let people tell you its risky working for yourself. Remember your boss is self-employed as well. If he screws up you get laid off. I would rather control my own destiny, than hope someone else does it for me.
Tarheelgarage
Well-known member
Had my own shop back a few years ago.
The down turn in the economy and a divorce made me go under.
Now I work in and Indy shop which has great owners.
Instead of opening a new shop, I decided to do $CASH$ side jobs.
Less headaches and BIG GOVCOM does not get to dip their hands into my profits....
The down turn in the economy and a divorce made me go under.
Now I work in and Indy shop which has great owners.
Instead of opening a new shop, I decided to do $CASH$ side jobs.
Less headaches and BIG GOVCOM does not get to dip their hands into my profits....
Cyberbear
Well-known member
In 1972 I started a custom woodworking business as a side line to my regular job working for an electrical contractor, as a way to help write off the good wages I made in the trade. 1979 I decided to make the woodworking shop my only source of money until 1999 when I chose to retire at age 54.
As time passed I had enlarged my backyard home shop to 2700 sq/ft and had accumulated a great deal of equipment and supplies. Since I owned everything out right, my monthly living requirements were very low by today's standards. As a one man shop I didn't have the employee problems that existed as shop foreman with 17 people under me when I worked for someone else. I never made a lot of money but the personal freedom was great, and once I learned how to work the system, I was able to keep most of my money and pay almost no taxes. Its been so long since those days I'm not sure what working independently is like in today's world, but being free was the most important thing for me. As long as I had enough to live on, I was satisfied.
As time passed I had enlarged my backyard home shop to 2700 sq/ft and had accumulated a great deal of equipment and supplies. Since I owned everything out right, my monthly living requirements were very low by today's standards. As a one man shop I didn't have the employee problems that existed as shop foreman with 17 people under me when I worked for someone else. I never made a lot of money but the personal freedom was great, and once I learned how to work the system, I was able to keep most of my money and pay almost no taxes. Its been so long since those days I'm not sure what working independently is like in today's world, but being free was the most important thing for me. As long as I had enough to live on, I was satisfied.