Business question

[bertsmobile1]

Frontage costs a lot of money.
Shops in side streets usually work better.
Lots of them around here are in industrial estates.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Frontage costs a lot of money.
Shops in side streets usually work better.
Lots of them around here are in industrial estates.

I'd rather have something that resembles an old fashion gas station. (without the pumps) bays on the side, office windows to see the front.
The shop here at the house, is on the side. With a drive going up to the shop from the road. Lots of room between the shop and the road. Plenty of room for people with trailers to turn around. And room behind to shop fense to put several parts mowers.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

The building I was looking at, that still had all the small engine signs on the front, apparently was just opened up. One of my customers from over there sent me a picture of the advertisement.
I was a little disappointed to see it opening up. I get the feeling I should've went for it.

. And room behind to shop fense to put several parts mowers.

I used to put junk mowers behind the shop. Not any more. Folks want to pay next to nothing for an expensive part or a part for an old POS mower they are too cheap to buy a new mower and they sure don't want to pay good money for a part for it. There are other old guys with the mower junkyards they can shop at. I warranty my work so no used parts for paying customers. If a cust wants me to install a used part they bring in i will but no warranty. If you are going to go into business you really need to have a business mindset. Fixing mowers is the easy part. Figuring expenses vs income, keeping track of taxes, insurance, advetising, managing inventory, tool costs, do you pay sales rax on parts up front or setup tax free accounts with vendors and track sales tax. When it is all said and done will you make enough profit to meet your needs. I am lucky i have a small building on my property i work out of so no rent or mortgage payment. If i had a store front i would not make enough profit to be viable.there is a reason the dealers around me charge $100 per hour for labor. Lots of overhead. Before you ever sign a lease. Add up all your monthly expenses, lease payment, utilities, insurance, trash etc. Now honestly calculate your average monthly income minus parts and supplies. Sutract the expenses from the income and will result meet you needs? Will it allow for retirement savings? Medical coverage? This just acratches the surface. Friends of mine have retired and decided to open a business. They all have closed. If you are going to try and open a business be brutally honest with yourself. A charity is a non-profit organization. A mower shop shouldn't be. Just my soapbox $.02 worth.

 

[PTmowerMech]

I used to put junk mowers behind the shop. Not any more. Folks want to pay next to nothing for an expensive part or a part for an old POS mower they are too cheap to buy a new mower and they sure don't want to pay good money for a part for it. There are other old guys with the mower junkyards they can shop at. I warranty my work so no used parts for paying customers. If a cust wants me to install a used part they bring in i will but no warranty. If you are going to go into business you really need to have a business mindset. Fixing mowers is the easy part. Figuring expenses vs income, keeping track of taxes, insurance, advetising, managing inventory, tool costs, do you pay sales rax on parts up front or setup tax free accounts with vendors and track sales tax. When it is all said and done will you make enough profit to meet your needs. I am lucky i have a small building on my property i work out of so no rent or mortgage payment. If i had a store front i would not make enough profit to be viable.there is a reason the dealers around me charge $100 per hour for labor. Lots of overhead. Before you ever sign a lease. Add up all your monthly expenses, lease payment, utilities, insurance, trash etc. Now honestly calculate your average monthly income minus parts and supplies. Sutract the expenses from the income and will result meet you needs? Will it allow for retirement savings? Medical coverage? This just acratches the surface. Friends of mine have retired and decided to open a business. They all have closed. If you are going to try and open a business be brutally honest with yourself. A charity is a non-profit organization. A mower shop shouldn't be. Just my soapbox $.02 worth.

All those things you listed is why I didn't jump on the shop in town. Even with the mayors help, it wouldn't have been near enough to do more than working for taxes, insurance, rent, parts and supplies.

The parts mowers come in real handy. Especially for parts that aren't extremely important. Coils, seats, rebuildable carbs, wiring harnesses, etc etc. I wouldn't put a crank or something to that effect on a customers mower. Unless they agreed to it. I'll sell used parts all day long.
The guy who opened up the shop I was looking at, I wish him well. He probably got the same $15K the mayor was offering me. But can't say or sure. From what I'm hearing from my customers over there, no one really knows him. Although he lives there. Maybe it's just my customers that don't know him.
One thing I have on him, at the moment, is I pick up & deliver. That be the case, it's not gonna matter the location (here at home).

 

[Hammermechanicman]

One thing I have on him, at the moment, is I pick up & deliver. That be the case, it's not gonna matter the location (here at home).

I live in a rural area and everyone has some type of riding mower. I bought a trailer specifically for pickup and delivery. My bread and butter is annual maintenance on riders. I also get their trim mower too. The dealers charge about $100 to pickup and deliver, i can beat that. Without the truck and trailer i would not be in business. I added a small electric winch to the trailer so i can pickup non running equipment.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Yep,
Free pick up & delivery
No call out fee
That was the bedrock of my business.
Add to that having a non monetary rent I can charge $ 60/hr
The shop up the road charges $ 90/hr and he sends big hour jobs down to me.
I send new equipment customers back up to him.
!5 miles away in town it is $ 175 / hr and non refundable quotation fe of $ 75 - $ 100
All these prices are AUD so divide by 0.6 for US $

 

[PTmowerMech]

I live in a rural area and everyone has some type of riding mower. I bought a trailer specifically for pickup and delivery. My bread and butter is annual maintenance on riders. I also get their trim mower too. The dealers charge about $100 to pickup and deliver, i can beat that. Without the truck and trailer i would not be in business. I added a small electric winch to the trailer so i can pickup non running equipment.

A wench is a must. I got mine the first year. Pushing a mower 30ft, through 3 ft of grass, with flat tires...(2 hours to load it) Yeah, it took me once time to figure that one out. I even have a spare one just incase that one goes out. It's been worth it's weight in gold.
After the rainy season, I'm gonna hook up the remote switch to it. It's supposed to be waterproof. But my first one wasn't. So now It get's taken off during the winter.

I P & D for $25. That sound a little cheap, compared to what the shop by you charges.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Yep,
Free pick up & delivery
No call out fee
That was the bedrock of my business.
Add to that having a non monetary rent I can charge $ 60/hr
The shop up the road charges $ 90/hr and he sends big hour jobs down to me.
I send new equipment customers back up to him.
!5 miles away in town it is $ 175 / hr and non refundable quotation fe of $ 75 - $ 100
All these prices are AUD so divide by 0.6 for US $

I'm at $35hr. LOL... Like the old saying, "You get what you pay for."

BTW, I have a friend that lives in Australia. Last year when I posted a mower I had for sale, he jokingly said he'd buy if I shipped it to him. What a suprise he'd get if one showed up at his door some day. (That is if, you two happened to live within a few miles of each other)

 

[bertsmobile1]

Not sure if I mentioned it before but the business name is " Bert's Mobile Mower Repairs" .
The MOBILE is the important bit.
The workshop is in an old farm house on a farm but because I am MOBILE I did not need to get a a license or approval which I would not get because it is a farm.
There is no signage on the workshop, just on the sides of the trailers parked behind the fence & visible from the street .
Thus the free pick up & delivery, the Penrith dealers charge between $ 90 & $ 120 each way.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT
Increase your labour rate to at a minimum 1/2 what the shops charge.
You can adjust the hours so the actual price to the customer.
It makes you look like you are competiant .
I circumvent this by using set fees for various common jobs that are about 2/3 the shop price.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Not sure if I mentioned it before but the business name is " Bert's Mobile Mower Repairs" .
The MOBILE is the important bit.
The workshop is in an old farm house on a farm but because I am MOBILE I did not need to get a a license or approval which I would not get because it is a farm.
There is no signage on the workshop, just on the sides of the trailers parked behind the fence & visible from the street .
Thus the free pick up & delivery, the Penrith dealers charge between $ 90 & $ 120 each way.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT
Increase your labour rate to at a minimum 1/2 what the shops charge.
You can adjust the hours so the actual price to the customer.
It makes you look like you are competiant .
I circumvent this by using set fees for various common jobs that are about 2/3 the shop price.

Thanks for that. I was thinking about putting a sign out front. BUT, also thought about the tax collector seeing it. LOL..

And the labor rate thing, that's pretty smart. If I noted it at $60hr, doesn't necessarily mean I'm gonna charge that much. Like right now, I'm running a winter special of $15 oil change and blade sharpening. That's labor only. Trying to coax some folks to get their mowers out a little early. The weeds are green & growing.
Oil changes aren't going to actually take more than about 10 to 15 minutes. That includes sharpening the (2) blades. Unless King Kong installed the blades.
Valve adjustments are usually about $35. Unless the valve covers come off clean.
I usually only get into the full labor rate when I'm having to chase wires, weld decks, valve jobs and things of that nature that takes an actual hour or more to do.