I moved (again)

[PTmowerMech]

So, after a divorce and selling the house, some may recall I moved to rural Arkansas and set up shop. It was going very well (thanks to you folks and your great advice). But living with family was just too much. So I moved back to Texas and set up shop in a friend's radiator & tire shop. The radiator business has been destroyed by the Chinese, Amazon & ebay. So he let me move into the radiator side of the shop.
The location is about the best in town. Two busy highways connect right at this intersection. Lots of commercial mower traffic at that intersection. Donut shop and gas stations across the street.
The town has about 25 to 30k population.
I started moving in yesterday. Have one more load to go. Still have one more trailer load of stuff to move in.
My side of the shop has an automotive 2 post lift. Which means I'll be able to raise two mowers at once if need be. It also has a decent back yard that's fenced. A double gate to get in and out of.
The guys that work the tire/brake side of the shop are off until this covid 19 stuff is over with.
Hopefully I'll be ready to open for business by friday.

The deal the shop owner and I made was 20% (net) up to $1000. That includes use of the electricity, compressor and their tire machines.

I may have given away too much in the deal. But I think it's still doable.

What are your thoughts.

 

[tom3]

Across the street from the Donut shop, I like it! But sounds like a killer deal, established location and good facilities. Does grass grow in Texas? Don't take individual credit accounts, cash, check, cards only.

 

[Romore]

X2 All the best in your new endeavor. You will have to work hard to establish your customer base, you are starting out well into the season. Heed Tom's advise, do not carry receivables. They will kill you.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Good luck. Get some professional business cards from like Vistaprint and get some good color flyers made up and ask stores if you can leave cards and a flyer.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Hope it all goes well for you.
IF you get cards done, do not put an address on them just in case you have to move again.
Think about buying a domain because that stays with yo no matter where you go and service@PTechMM.com makes you look like a long time established business .
I use decals that get stuck to every mower I fix.
A little expensive as they have to be outdoor grade but I have had people come in who bought the mower off my old customers and saw the decal so rang me to fix it.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

When i got my website i had an email on it. I removed it for 2 reasons. First, got tired of people emailing wanting to know "How much would you charge to xxxx" . The other was Google can't tell the dufference between Larry's Service Center in Ohio and Larry's Sercice Center in Pennsylvania. Got emails every couple of days of people looking for old motorcycle parts. One nice thing about a website through GoDaddy is you can get a smartline phone number. Number can be sent to your smartphone via an app. You can set hours it sends calls to your phone so people don't get business calls at 11:00 at night.

 

[bertsmobile1]

When i got my website i had an email on it. I removed it for 2 reasons. First, got tired of people emailing wanting to know "How much would you charge to xxxx" . The other was Google can't tell the dufference between Larry's Service Center in Ohio and Larry's Sercice Center in Pennsylvania. Got emails every couple of days of people looking for old motorcycle parts. One nice thing about a website through GoDaddy is you can get a smartline phone number. Number can be sent to your smartphone via an app. You can set hours it sends calls to your phone so people don't get business calls at 11:00 at night.

Sounds like some one at GoDaddy actually knows how businesses work
I might have a little look at it
And yes there are 2 Berts mower repairs so I stuck the Mobile in there to diffrentate between the 2 of us bit we still occasionally get each others deliveries
HE is in Victoria 600 miles away .

 

[PTmowerMech]

X2 All the best in your new endeavor. You will have to work hard to establish your customer base, you are starting out well into the season. Heed Tom's advise, do not carry receivables. They will kill you.

It's cash only, at the moment. And may stay that way as long as it doesn't scare off too many customers.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Mower repairs are not really that expensive. If people can't pay when they pick it up and want 30 day net or the like you don't need them as a customer. Watch out for small lawn service companies approaching you to do their service and carry a credit account with you. Cash or check only and if they pay by check and ask you to hold it a few days or they post date the check tell them cash only. When people give you a check deposit it immediately with your phone. I have some commercial guys that are great and pay well. Some others not so great. If it scares off customers because you don't give them credit you really didn't need them in the first place.

 

[StarTech]

I had similar problems when I first to a new location. Several customers want to make partial payments and never finish paying. Since then I went to payment upon completion before final delivery. No problems since. I only have one commercial client that I let charge and even had problems with them at first. I even had one customer that carry to small claims. Oh that family no longer trades with me but that is okay as the lies didn't cut it.

I hated to go to strict payment rules but it was costing me because of the non payments. Besides all my vendors demand payment up front for the parts.