Starting up a small shop

Just wondering what tools it takes to start up a small shop ? Anyone have a
good list made up ? It would be centered around bikes of all makes and
probably an atv here and there.
Thanks,
Iowa883

 

If you have to ask, it suggests that you don't have enough knowledge to
do the job in the first place.

 

There you go, a typically positive attitude of good will and support to
those who dare to dream of having a go and being a little different in
life.

 

This reminds me of a electronics technician I used to work with about 8
years ago. He wasn't particularly knowledgeable about computers in
general, and was even less so about networking. He asked me once, in
all seriousness, what it would take for him to start his own ISP
business.

The Older Gentleman's answer is absolutely spot on, it's good advice and
is actually helpful to the questioner.

 

No, you stupid twat - mine was just a very realistic assessment.

As you're hard of thinking, let's point it out in greater detail.

Someone who's worked on bikes and knows bikes wouldn't ask the question
- he'd have a bloody good idea. Ask yourself this: how can you hope to
be a competent mechanic without knowing what sort of tools you'd need?

"Duhhh... a set of Mole grips, an' a big 'ammer, an'...."

And then he compounds the error by asking about "bikes of all makes".

Well, that's just brilliant. Even someone with their brain cells
sparking as fitfully as yours, with a posting name like yours, will
consider that he'll need a complete metric *and* a complete
AF/Whitworth/Cycle Thread suit of spanners etc. But as you haven't
considered it either, that makes you equally daft.

And then there's the expertise - if he's got the breadth of experience
to work on bikes of all makes, would he be asking the question?

Now, if he'd asked "What sort of air and power tools would be useful?"
it might indicate that, like most home mechanics, he's familiar with all
the hand tools and is considering the high-investment items that a shop
nees in order to get the jobs done faster, and better. Air wrenches,
compressors, blocks & tackles, ramps, diagnostic kits, and the like.

I've no objection to people dreaming. As it happens, I sometimes
fantasise about having my own bike shop, and I'd hazard a guess that
I've got rather more expertise in the field than most amateurs. But the
original question puts the original poster firmly in the camp of those
idiots who buy a farm in a country where they can't speak the language,
know nothing about farming, and tyravel out with no working capital at
all.

Now, what's your next damn silly remark going to be?

 

Exactly what I was thinking too... maybe he's a silent partner?


Ben

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rockland_mc_riders

 

The first, most important tool you need is knowledge. Right along with that
will be experience. A few days ago you were asking about schools, which is
a good place to start. Second-best place to start is by working in an
established shop, because once your knowledge and experience are used to get
bikes out the door in better shape than when they arrived, with fixes that
will last, you are going to need to know how to get a steady flow of
customers to create cash flow problems for you. I don't know your personal
past, so I don't know how much experience you have with any of these things.
If you do have the experience already, you're probably nodding your head,
agreeing with me to some degree. If, instead, you took offense to the
harsher remarks offered up, well, all I can say is prepare yourself with a
lot of market research and a WRITTEN business plan. It's nice and good to
have a dream. Without goals, though (WRITTEN business plan), most small
start-ups bite the dust pretty quick. Through everything you experience if
and when you embark on this endeavor, keep this one thing in mind- business
is a bitch, pure and simple. Business doesn't care about anything but the
bottom line. And know when the second mortgage is, or isn't, a good idea.
I'll step down from the soap box, now.


--

Later,

Charlie

fix the e-mail address and it will get to me

 

No, the most important tool is money. Especially if you plan to eat
regularly for the first couple of years.

 

You really do need learn to interact with people better and maybe then
you could also learn to relax more.

No No you stupid twat, yours was simply what everyone else thinks but
doesn't say.

**** WIT

 

Now that's real helpful, I'm sure he's gained a lot of insight from all of
you pissheads. I didn't see where he said he was going to quit his present
job next week and open a shop. Perhaps he's doing some long-range planning
and is intending to set up a semi-retirement business in a few years.
Further, the reason most mechanics fail when they try to set up their own
shop is because they don't know how to talk to people (ie paying
customers)in a civil manner. They relate better to other skilled mechanics
(ie not paying customers). Case and point. You don't have to be a skilled
wrench to manage a shop, you just need people and management skills along
with enough MC skills to understand what is realistic and what isn't.

That said, my contribution to the original question is that no shop can
operate successfully without a coffee pot and a calendar with scantily clad
babes.

 

And you don't think this^^^^^

Is incompatible with this^^^^?

And a final thought, which doubtless hasn't germinated in what passes
for your cerebellum: would you want to entrust your pride and joy to
someone who's just learning how to be a mechanic?

Listen, sweetie. I've spent years trying to din sense into brains as
atrophied as yours. These days, I just say "**** it". The soft approach
doesn't work, so just hit them with the Clue Hammer, hard.

 

I don't know, I've seen stupid people who couldn't get by on five times the
money of smart people.


--

Later,

Charlie

fix the e-mail address and it will get to me

 

If they're so fucking stupid, how did they end up with five times the money
of "smart" people?

 

Sort of both right here I suppose. . . .

Many people go to college/university come out with a degree or even two
and then work for some ltd/plc company (whose sole purpose is to line
the pockets of shareholders and its own fat cats) for a salary and 21+
days leave a year. They have to nowadays I believe, especially if they
are going to pay off their student loan. However, this doesn't seem to
provide them with the knowledge to setup a business, in fact it
generally seems to do the opposite and they work professionally for the
fat cats all their life. Quite possibly because all that education helps
them see the pitfalls before they happen and scares them off from doing
their own thing.
Its just possible that those without the higher ed. have some advantage
in life as they could always hire a professional to work flat out for
them all year to ensure their success and fill in for the holes in their
own knowledge.

When you have money its much easier to make money. You only have to
look at the housing boom, stocks, etc. to see that. And some money
would hire in that professional to get your new business off the ground.

 

Well yeah; of course; that's a given isn't it!

 

You probably work in IT don't you? (No need to answer!)

 

Before the interest rates went into the toilet, I'd seen claims that taking
the money a four year education at a reputable college would cost and
dropping it into a savings account would balance the potentially higher
salary of the grad.

I bought my degree back when they were cheap, and I still don't think
I got my money's worth.

 

And not for the first time you are about as wrong as it's possible to
be.

 

"A fool and his money should never have got together in the first place"

 

Thanks for all the negative input guys. I guess after working on bikes all
the way from BSA to Yamahas I probably don't know what I am doing. My 20
years of experience in the field and being a Journeyman Tool and Diemaker
making custom bike parts probably makes me less of a bike owner/enthusiast
than most of you. I just wanted to take my hobby/part time income to higher
level with actually starting an official bike shop.
I probably have most of the tools that I need but I was wanting to see if
there might be any helpful tools that I had forgotten.
Thanks again,
Iowa883