Export thread

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hammermechanicman said:

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.

Click to expand...

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 .

Romore said:

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.

Click to expand...

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

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.

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.

StarTech said:

. Besides all my vendors demand payment up front for the parts.

Click to expand...

Ding ding ding. We have a winner.

When a customer asks if they can make payments I'll tell them "Yes, I take payments. And when the payments are all paid, you can have your equipment."

PTmowerMech said:

When a customer asks if they can make payments I'll tell them "Yes, I take payments. And when the payments are all paid, you can have your equipment."

Click to expand...

Yelp that the way I had to go too as they will otherwise just make a partial payment just to get their equipment and then stick you for the rest.

I had to put an end to it a few years ago when a customer left owing some money. Didn't pay me within the promised week. So the next time he came in with something else, I held both of his mowers til the balance was paid. He found the money to pay me, pretty quick when I told him he had to get to a zero balance before he could get either of them.

I'll tell you folks, it's gonna be great to get back to work. So far it's been cleaning up the shop, sorting the parts I have, trying to get things in order.
The shops big compressor pump went out and I couldn't find the right one, right away, so I picked up a 20 gallon from HF.
That should do me for a while.
Gonna get a double 20 breaker today for the lift and some work orders. Then I should be able to just start fixing stuff.
I need to find an old desk, so I can sit and do carbs.

Holy hell. The more I think about this, the more I realize I need. LoL

Yelp those wish lists to get long sometimes. Just keep your growth at a manageable level. That why I don't advertise here.

As for the compressor I have been running a 25 gallon one for years. Several years ago it was looking like I needed a bigger set then I switch over to Air Cat tools that are more powerful but used less CFM with them being quieter too. Now air guns still take a lot CFM but just the nature of them. One of things you can do is too switch from those M or L couplers to high flow V style coupler and plugs. Those M's were my best problem with air flow problems. I recommend V over other hi flow because if you need to use a tool that still has M style it is possible as the V couplers are dual use though the M's adapters will leaks are the V o-rings wear.

As for tools I start out the basic hand tools and add as I needed things. Currently my work bench is three 4x4 across the 17 cu ft utility trailer with 1x6 tongue and groove planks nailed to them. Yes I do most of my work outdoors. No way to work in the shop as it is only 24 x 24 building that is full parts and tools. I started out with one 26" tool box and now got two sets 44" top and bottom boxes along a set of 26" top and bottom boxes. Even now I am needing to add tool boxes.

Parts is your second biggest expensive behind tools. Just keep it at a manageable level too; otherwords, don't go hog wild buying parts. Yes if you got a particular part you use a lot then yes extra of it. When I first I did buy several starters and even after 10 years I still got most of them but the rest of the current stock usually is rotated out within a year. Just don't items for older equipment as they die off leaving you stuck with the parts; unless, sell them on eBay as NOS parts.

StarTech said:

Yelp those wish lists to get long sometimes. Just keep your growth at a manageable level. That why I don't advertise here.

As for the compressor I have been running a 25 gallon one for years. Several years ago it was looking like I needed a bigger set then I switch over to Air Cat tools that are more powerful but used less CFM with them being quieter too. Now air guns still take a lot CFM but just the nature of them. One of things you can do is too switch from those M or L couplers to high flow V style coupler and plugs. Those M's were my best problem with air flow problems. I recommend V over other hi flow because if you need to use a tool that still has M style it is possible as the V couplers are dual use though the M's adapters will leaks are the V o-rings wear.

As for tools I start out the basic hand tools and add as I needed things. Currently my work bench is three 4x4 across the 17 cu ft utility trailer with 1x6 tongue and groove planks nailed to them. Yes I do most of my work outdoors. No way to work in the shop as it is only 24 x 24 building that is full parts and tools. I started out with one 26" tool box and now got two sets 44" top and bottom boxes along a set of 26" top and bottom boxes. Even now I am needing to add tool boxes.

Parts is your second biggest expensive behind tools. Just keep it at a manageable level too; otherwords, don't go hog wild buying parts. Yes if you got a particular part you use a lot then yes extra of it. When I first I did buy several starters and even after 10 years I still got most of them but the rest of the current stock usually is rotated out within a year. Just don't items for older equipment as they die off leaving you stuck with the parts; unless, sell them on eBay as NOS parts.

Click to expand...

i went to an auction at a failed truck repair workshop to buy some tool boxes
What I saw there made a big difference to my workshop.
They had a very big external air compressor and had plumbed the workshop in 2" blue line plastic water pipe.
Those compression fittings are supposed to be good for 150 PSI and I had a lot of 1" fittings left over from another job, so plumbed the workshop with 10 air outlets inside & 4 outside.
One of the best things I have ever done and one of the easiest .
We bought a 100 gallon air reciever from a closed down petrol station & hooked it up to a Hydrovane compressor we bought at another auction .
This is a very quiet compressor and being 3 phase runs for about 2 minutes to fill the tank.

Luckily, I think I have enough tools now to do most jobs. I've been collecting since I got into this about 5 years ago. The ones I really enjoy are the ones I inherited from my dad. The same ones he used back in the late 60's and 70's. Every time I use one, I think of him. The box I'm using, both top and bottom is 26.5" X about 57". Plus it has a lot of drawers that are full to the max.
While at HF yesterday, I think I got a little drool on one of their fancy tool boxes. lol

If it was one the US General tool boxes they built fairly heavy especially at 300 + lbs empty. They recently made them deeper. Since I am by myself that that 2 ton engine crane came in handy unloading them.

HFT seem to only put the cabinets on sale and rarely put the tool chest (top box) on sale.

I can say the HF boxes are pretty good. Unloading the lower cabinet was a bear. Had to get neighbor's tractor with a loader to get it off the pickup truck. My engine lift didn't go high enough.

StarTech said:

If it was one the US General tool boxes they built fairly heavy especially at 300 + lbs empty. They recently made them deeper. Since I am by myself that that 2 ton engine crane came in handy unloading them.

HFT seem to only put the cabinets on sale and rarely put the tool chest (top box) on sale.

Click to expand...

The one at HF looked like a mansion of biblical stanards. Makes mine look like a hut.

So far, it's been 4 full days. I've taken in 3 chainsaws and a trimmer.
It's given me plenty of time to organize and get at least one of my riders ready to sell. Gonna have to sell it only as a rider and not a mower because the deck is rotten.
And I got a generator ready to sell. Someone stopped and asked about it. Said they'd come back today with the cash and bring me some stuff to fix.

Baby steps.

Hammermechanicman said:

I can say the HF boxes are pretty good. Unloading the lower cabinet was a bear. Had to get neighbor's tractor with a loader to get it off the pickup truck. My engine lift didn't go high enough.View attachment 52298

Click to expand...

That's sweet. Good grief. I could separate my by pliers, little pliers and needle nose in separate drawers with that one.

The socket drawer gets opened and closed a lot about every day. Still slides like new. Quite a bit if weight in it.

Man, you got it going on.

(wiping drool from computer screen)

Uncurable toolaholic. Therapy hasn't helped.
Remember to keep every receipt for everything you buy for the business. Tools are a deductible expense. My accountant told me the biggest mistake small business owners make is not keeping receipts and not taking deductions for expenses like the electric bill, rent, insurance, shop supplies, trash pickup, mileage etc. That $3 can of carb cleaner from the auto parts store is deductible. The gas you buy for mowers you service is deductible. All the small stuff adds up.

Careful when buying tools or supplies if you don’t own the business. According to my accountant tools, supplies, uniforms, etc. are only deductible if you own the business. If you only work there, they are no longer deductible after the change in the tax codes three years ago.

Hammermechanicman said:

Uncurable toolaholic. Therapy hasn't helped.
Remember to keep every receipt for everything you buy for the business. Tools are a deductible expense. My accountant told me the biggest mistake small business owners make is not keeping receipts and not taking deductions for expenses like the electric bill, rent, insurance, shop supplies, trash pickup, mileage etc. That $3 can of carb cleaner from the auto parts store is deductible. The gas you buy for mowers you service is deductible. All the small stuff adds up.

Click to expand...

LOL.. I keep receipts for everything. Including the gas receipts for my pick up, as I also do pick up and delivery. I sometimes pick up receipts just to claim.

I suppose I'm gonna have to go get a tax ID number now, so I can sign up with a few other suppliers. The tire shop here (i'm working out of) has one that I could probably use. I just need to talk to a tax person to see which is the best route.

My dad said "When you go into business for yourself, you'll work twice the hours for 1/2 the pay." So far, since this move, he's been spot on.

I own a business
A couple weeks ago my bro in law was at a friends house and the friend was having a big dead ash cut down. Well Bubba and Jo Bob the guys the friend hired to cut the tree down dropped it on my bro in law's car and the guy's house. No business license and no insurance. 2 insurance companies are suing them. They are being investigated by the state for taxes. I fix lawn mowers in a 24x24 building behind my house. I have a business license, a tax id number, a good accountant and a $1M blanket insurance policy.

I'm not going to be cutting tree's down. Just fixing lawn & garden equipment. But I do see the need for insurance and all that you described. Just hope I can get back to making some money first.

In a country where a shoe salesman can tell a customer that "these new running shoes will make you twice as fast "
and that person gets run down sprinting across the interstate because they didn't. so a court awards the idiot runner damages against the shoe shop, public liability is a must.

Yesterday saw a Porsche with the license plate "WESUE U"
suprised he wasn't chasing an ambulance.

Sounds like some of you folks live in the twilight zone. I've been in this little town for many many years, and haven't seen any of these sue happy people.
In fact, the guy who owns the shop I'm in, told.me yesterday that he's not been sued for stuff like or anything else.

Well there is a good reason why new mowers have so many safety features and it is not so shops can highlite unique selling features .
The new seat switches have a built in bridge contact so if you unplug it the mower can not start ( PIA that one is ) .
I have never been sued and no one I know has been sued but I do have a customer on 10 acres that they bought with a settlement from a mower shop that is no longer here because of the suit.
HE is blind in one eye and has a couple of toes missing because the shop sent the mower back without the belt covers on .
But I do have insurance just in case.

Boy if my drawers were only that empty I could organize better.

And yes you do need a business license, sales tax license (which comes with resale tax exemption certificate here (TN)), and insurance. Buying from some vendors is a fight though to get them to accept the tax exemption. And that Department of Revenue does what to pay the collected sale taxes on time too.

Unless you know accounting then a bookkeeper is a must. Here my accounting and auto manager takes care most the accounting so I free to spend time just entering things. That alone takes over half of my time on new jobs if there is addition of new SKUs information. I operate on cash accounting system with FIFO inventory setup. It is nice that I don't need to dig file cabinets full of papers. I only need to update prices and add new SKUs that is not in the price files.

Just recently; however, a new update to my software is forcing me to redo this year inventory down to the last screw especially when you got 15,000 individual items. Went having 46K to 750K overnight but did find out for three months. What a pain while the shop is at full throttle. Just taking it one bin at a time. I still having to accept that somehow I got 58K in parts (or at least that is what I got it down to) in that 24 x 24 garage; no wonder I got to work outside.

At least here in the US as far as I know they still got employee expense deductions on our taxes. Form 2106. Just can't use it anymore as I am the owner.

And depending where you are the local tax people will be trying tax everything you got every year. That why I run with starting and ending zero inventory every year. In Madison county, Alabama they were even trying to tax my personal hand tools at one time. I carried in the small briefcase of tools and told them to go through them. They didn't stating they didn't have time to do it on such a small amount of tools.

PTmowerMech said:

Sounds like some of you folks live in the twilight zone. I've been in this little town for many many years, and haven't seen any of these sue happy people.
In fact, the guy who owns the shop I'm in, told.me yesterday that he's not been sued for stuff like or anything else.

Click to expand...

OH I had one cat that threaten to sue because I didn't install a Craftsman belt on his mower and he was the one the provided the belt. Anyways if had installed a new belt it would have been a Husqvarna belt and not one from Sears.
He kept calling and cussing me and my brother out. Finally one day he called and cussed my mother out. That did it. I sent the county sheriff out to his home. He didn't think I had his home address. Anyway that resolved the problem.

But yes they are out there so you got to watch you P's and Q's with every customer.

My house has never burned down but i have homeowners insurance. Haven't wrecked a car in 30 years but i have auto insurance. Don't plan to kick the bucket soon but i have life insurance. My business insurance is a not much compared to all the other insurance i need have. A local fellow was doing work under the table for years. Got caught when folks 1099 him. Got busted for income tax and sales tax. He was buying supplies claiming tax free farm use. Do what you want how you want. I have worked too many years to get where i am to risk a lawsuit or IRS issues for my small businesses.

Better have auto insurance. I got caught once without it because of an insurance rep lied to me about my coverage. I had to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I was making arraignment to pay the 20K when her husband jumped in sued me for 30K more for the lost of her services for a month. And I currently carry a lot more the state minimum auto liability now. Homewowner's is fairly expensive with 100K liability but I done collected 4K of the five years of payments for a new roof.

And I know of shops that are/were working under the table here too. Several of them are no longer in business as they got busted. I even had someone to turn me in for collecting sale taxes. The revenue guy was very sneeky as he brought in a push mower for repairs. When I gave the bill, he flash his badge and want to see my license and records. I said "No problem, turn around fellow and license is on the wall behind you and currently computer is keyed up and there is the filing cabinet so have at it". Just let me know when you are through so I can use the system again.

The tax man & I am not the best of friends after they lost a case against a previous business partnership I was in where eventually 8 separate companies came together to trade as a single entity.
Each one of us was a Pty Ltd company and we each employed drivers in my case as sub contractors but others as employees and one cash in hand.
Thus I get audited around every 4 to 5 years so yes I keep records in a mannar that no auditor can follow,
All reciepts, company or not get tossed into a big box ( it is a tea chest moving box ) which I regularly stirr up a bit .
I do my spreadsheets dates horizontal & headings vertical .
And funny enough university trained auditors & accountants can not understand ( so much for a higher education ).
Tax registration, business registrtions and other such notices are all on the dunny doors cause every wall has tools & shelves on them.
I only pay by cheque , write the stubs in pencil then overwrite the stub with the bank statement number, statement date & account number which makes them near impossible to read.
When the auditor turn up they get seated at a nice pic nic table with a jug of coffee or squash and a power cable because I have only one small desk & I need it to work on .
One time I did have a super keen auditor determined to get a case.
Stayed here for near a week but could not find anything to ping me for .
They sent me a long lists of "required improvements " for my book keeping and my solicitor sent them a reply asking for the relevent line & clause for each one. Funny enough no response .
Our tax is easier because it is like the UK VAT and gets added a every level.
Loop hole is businesses under a threshold ( $ 75,000 at present ) do not have to register for it
So I pay the 10% at wholesale price but can not add the 10% at retail pricing to my invoice so in theory I pay the tax & can not pass it on.

Never understood the VAT (value added theft) thing. I am sure taxes around the world are quite different. Even here in the states it varies by state and county. I don't keep meticulous records for each sale. I don't itemize out the parts on customer bills. I just keep track of the total customer bill, sales tax and expenses by a few categories. All my accountant needs is total sales and all expenses by catagory. Being a sole proprietorship LLC make things easy. I don't carry enough inventory to pay taxes on it. So all i have to worry about is sales tax.

When the GST came in sales tax was abolished so we have a flat rate 10% across the entire country.
To stop the dishonest going broke just before tax had to be paid, it is levied on every invoice at every level.
So the importer pays 10% on the landed price of the parts
The distributor add his margin then adds 10% to that price
And the retailer add his mark up and adds 10% to that as well.
At the end of every quarter we declair how much GST we paid against how much GST we collected and the difference goes to the government,
So if I gop bust anddon't pay the GST to the government, the only tax they don't get is the 10% of my mark up + the 10% of my labour charges.

Under the old system, the importer paid no tax on what they sold to the distributors as the distributors had a tax exemption
If the distributor sold the parts to a retailer then again no tax gets paid for the same reason
Only when the last person writes the final invoice does tax get collected so if I go bust before tax time they end up with no money at all

Luckily in Texas, there is no state income or personal property tax.

Originally I from Alabama where we had state income tax, personal property tax, and real estate tax (but the real estate tax went away when you turn 65). Now here in Tennessee we have no state income tax but the real estate tax is forever. Alabama had a homestead exemption but not Tennessee.

In Alabama they don't require sales tax on labor but in Tennessee they do; unless, it is on-site labor. Even after five years it still bugs me that they tax labor but that their of getting state income tax. In Alabama I got a 10 % discount up to $100 on the sales tax collected when I paid them in. In Tennessee no such discount. In Alabama you have business license fee plus the state income tax. In Tennessee I just pay a business income tax annually which is my business license fee.

Bert I have a minor accounting question. When say the GST paid is base on what collected vs what you paid out. How in the world you find out what all the other suppliers has tacked on the invoices or is the just what you paid the last vendors you got parts from?

GST is listed as a separate item.
Every business in the supply chain is supposed to add it so for each business it is a case of GST paid Vs GST collected and it does not matter if the goods had been through 20 hands before I get them as that is reconsiled at every step in the chain on an cost price Vs sale price. All I need to know is the GST my suppliers charged me and the GST I collected from my customers.
This is good in some ways as some goods could have better than 50% of tax added to them but Joe public just sees 10% tax on their invoice.
Business moaned & groaned about it but in reality it made things a lot easier because everything gets a 10% tax added to it
Prior to this there around 300 different sales tax rates so a mower might be taxed at 5 % but the catcher gets taxed at 25% and labour was not taxed at all .
Petrol & oil was taxed at a differet rate so each different 2 stroke mix had a different tax rate
So life now is simple as all you do is sub total then add 10% to it.
The down side is you have to keep the receipts from your suppliers to prove you paid the 10% on your inputs so you can claim that as a deduction against the GST you collected from your customers.

Now the stupid thing is there is a threshold turnover , under which you do not have to collect GST which currently is $ 75,000 and shortly will be increased to $ 100,000 .
SO I do not add GST to any of my invoices thus all of my repairs are 10% cheaper than the big box stores because they have to add GST to their invoices.
In theory I still pay my suppliers the GST but am not allowed to charge my customers GST so in theory my suppliers remit the GST on the stuff I buy & I get 10% less profit because I have paid 10% more for my stock.
In practice you have to make sure that no invoice has a final price that is a whole division of 11 so when the tax man audits it does not look like you have been adding GST and not declairing it

This loop hole was introduced for the benefit of white collar workers who are employed as a company or contractor & not a PAYE wage earner despite actually being an employee and for the benefit of the businesses who employed them, most of which would be considered suporters of the Liberal party ( who introduced the GST ) which are rather similar in platform & policy to your Republicans , thus the workers at the lower end of the income spread pay the bulk of the taxes.

After two trips to HF, I realize I need more customers. LoL. Yesterday's trip I picked up the 5 drawer General box. I wasn't too impressed with the quality. But, I think it'll work out fine. Now I have a place for the tools that won't fit in the other box. And maybe a couple of drawers to separate a few things like needle nose from regular pliers, torques bits from Allen heads, etc etc.
And especially a place to put diagnostic tools.
Today marks my first week in this shop. So far I've taken in 4 chainsaws, 2 trimmers, two riders, a tiller and a push mower.
2 of those customers were from the competition. The rest were just passer byers. This location is awesome.

Bert, That where our two tax systems differ then as I don't normally pay a sales tax on purchases for resale; unless, it a very small purchase which write off at the end of the year. Customers just pays the local and state sales tax rate on the markup items. No multiple taxation. Just a final tax rate on end users.

It sounds like the VAT is scheme to tax everything multiple so the enduser actually ends paying more as they are actually paying all the taxes one final time. Otherwords they are paying taxes on taxes. Great system for the government; terrible system for the consumers in my opinion.

PT, I think you probably brought the 5 drawer mobile cart and yes they are not that well made but heck they are partially screwed together and not welded solidly as the bigger tool boxes and cabinets.

Those 2 cycle handheld here are a lost leader items. I do them to get to the more profitable equipment. I can spend a lot time of them and get very little return; basically just make a profit on the parts and maybe an hour of labor. Might spend several hours doing the repairs as some has to be completely torn down to get to the problem areas.

HFT can make you poorer if you go for all the eye candy they have. That is why I carry no more cash then need for items I am needing on each trip.

In theory the Tax passes through and the final customer pays 10% on the final purchase price.
But of course do I add my 30% to the untaxed or taxed price, nobody knows .
What is important for the government is If you vanish without sending the tax you have collected to the tax office theyget nothing whee as here I the final seller does a bunk the tax man only looses the tax on the final mark up.

After 1 week, I paid out over $1000, Parts, my helper and tools. I collected $70. LMAO.
A man could go broke doing this. Especially with HF close by.
But I digress. I have equipment that'll be fixed this week. The customer I finished and got paid on was pleased that it was done in one day. And according to my facebook page, he's spreading the word about me. He told me that the last time he had his mower serviced, it took them 6 weeks to get it finished. So when I delivered it back to him the next day, cleaned & serviced, he was surprised and happy.
I got a message this morning from an old customer I had when I was here before, who was glad to see me back in town and had a mower for me to fix. Says the wait time for the two other shops here are just too long.

See that why you got to watch the expenses and customers wonder why I charge $45/hr. My brother it was easy to run a business too until he lost over $6000 the this year and that was after I stepped in and raise his rates. Just as I got profitable he quit so I continued the business and got accused of stealing his business. I feel that you can't steal something that was just thrown away.

As for tools I just make do until I can afford to purchase them. Not going to pay $80 for a 22mm wrench but now I got one coming that is under $10. I already had one but needed a second one for a pressure washer pump fittings this week.

Oh I lost some money at the beginning too but it was making good on repairs that my brother had collected payments on. I had to as the my brother business was in my name legally. I even lost a few customers because I was finishing the repairs that brother failed to do. But I was taught how to manage my money well before I started doing this. I may not be making a killing but at least I am profitable.

I do have a vendor that has become a pain due the new ridiculous shipping charges on small orders so need to reroute orders to a vendor that has slightly higher prices on the parts but much lower shipping charges ( total overall costs are less). The current retail prices from the first vendor are having to be increase by 15% GPM but the other vendor I can go back to regular list prices. Just another 200K of part numbers that got to be added to the software SKU database here. I reckon A&I just don't want small shops as customers as Sunbelt did. When you from $10.50 max on shipping to what ever UPS retail rate is rough. I just paid $16 shipping to get $45 belt. Still cheaper than JD on the belt but I can do better on the shipping costs. A&I has already lost $2000 in sales to me so far this year.

Don't know where you are located but that Amazon Prime looks to be a sweet deal these days. Lots of parts for about anything, good prices, free quick shipping. I see USPS trucks running around here on Sundays and they are stuffed to the ceiling with those boxes. Not sure how it works for a resale type operation though. Be interesting to compare their prices, along with Ebay sellers, with your supply chain prices and shipping. Paying that shipping on one belt seems absurd.

I use Amazon sometimes. If the supplier doesn't have one and I can't find it from the other suppliers. Seems the suppliers like Stens, are always cheaper than Amazon sellers.

StarTech said:

See that why you got to watch the expenses and customers wonder why I charge $45/hr. My brother it was easy to run a business too until he lost over $6000 the this year and that was after I stepped in and raise his rates. Just as I got profitable he quit so I continued the business and got accused of stealing his business. I feel that you can't steal something that was just thrown away.

As for tools I just make do until I can afford to purchase them. Not going to pay $80 for a 22mm wrench but now I got one coming that is under $10. I already had one but needed a second one for a pressure washer pump fittings this week.

Oh I lost some money at the beginning too but it was making good on repairs that my brother had collected payments on. I had to as the my brother business was in my name legally. I even lost a few customers because I was finishing the repairs that brother failed to do. But I was taught how to manage my money well before I started doing this. I may not be making a killing but at least I am profitable.

I do have a vendor that has become a pain due the new ridiculous shipping charges on small orders so need to reroute orders to a vendor that has slightly higher prices on the parts but much lower shipping charges ( total overall costs are less). The current retail prices from the first vendor are having to be increase by 15% GPM but the other vendor I can go back to regular list prices. Just another 200K of part numbers that got to be added to the software SKU database here. I reckon A&I just don't want small shops as customers as Sunbelt did. When you from $10.50 max on shipping to what ever UPS retail rate is rough. I just paid $16 shipping to get $45 belt. Still cheaper than JD on the belt but I can do better on the shipping costs. A&I has already lost $2000 in sales to me so far this year.

Click to expand...

Since I don't have a lot of mark up on parts, parts prices aren't that important to me. Of course, I'll always spend a couple of minutes looking up the best price. But the customer is going to pay it anyhow. Unless it's just outragious. But they already know beforehand, about what the cost of the repairs & parts are gonna be, before I order anything.

“ parts prices aren't that important to me”. I hope you take a second look at this idea. If you want to stay around for reasonable amount of time you need to make anything And everything which bRings in money very important, and anything that removes money even more important. The old timer who got me interested in this business had a saying. “ Labor puts meat and potatoes on the table, but sales buys the table “. In the past 50 years I’ve learned that this is even more true today, unless you don’t need a table.

PTmowerMech said:

Since I don't have a lot of mark up on parts, parts prices aren't that important to me. Of course, I'll always spend a couple of minutes looking up the best price. But the customer is going to pay it anyhow. Unless it's just outragious. But they already know beforehand, about what the cost of the repairs & parts are gonna be, before I order anything.

Click to expand...

You looking to make it a real business? No offense but worrying about your profit is pretty important. You need to figure what your parts markup should be. If you have a stens account you get a certain. Price. You then mark it up to cover certain expenses and privide a profit. The time you spend on the computer looking up parts needs to be compensated among other things. How and how much you markup your parts is up to you but giving the customer parts at or near cost is a sure way to go out of business. People bring things to you because either they don't know how to fix it, don't have time to fix it, don't have the tools to fix it or just don't want to bother fixing it. That costs real money. You need to charge a fair hourly shop rate plus a parts markup that makes you profitable enough to live. The local JD/Stihl dealer charges $98/hr and a huge parts markup and is always busy. You need to charge what you need to stay in business. If the local economy won't support that you have a problem. Are you paying sales tax on parts? Are you charging sales tax on parts? At $40/hr most folks don't get the cheap string trimmers and chInsaws fixed. One guy asked me "do you want to make a little money or no money?" When he brought in a cheap string trimmer and wanted it fixed for $20. "You have a nice day sir."

best of luck, wish you a happy life

PTmowerMech said:

Since I don't have a lot of mark up on parts, parts prices aren't that important to me. Of course, I'll always spend a couple of minutes looking up the best price. But the customer is going to pay it anyhow. Unless it's just outragious. But they already know beforehand, about what the cost of the repairs & parts are gonna be, before I order anything.

Click to expand...

I price match on parts.
There are 2 big on line dealers down here & I charge around 90% of what they list on line.
This is regardless of weather it is an original part or a pattern part so on some things I make a 100% mark up.
The logic behind this is if the customer checks the prices on line mine appear to be cheaper.
When I have to pay full retail I include the invoice with their account so they can see I did not add anything to the price but there is always a "Delivery Fee or Courier Fee " as the last line to cover the cost of going to the shop to get their parts and it is never ever a whole dollar amount so $ 14.75 , $ 22.52 etc and you tell then that is what the courier company charged you for delivery.
I use a price that will round the bill to an even 50¢ ad a lot of my prices end with numbers that are not multiples of 5¢ which is the smallest coin we have
As for tools they come from distributors bought on a company order & I ask for wholesale rates.
Most will give you one if you have the appropriate tax numbers ( down here an ACN or ABN ) and some have even asked me to distribute their products which I try to do if I think I can sell them.
I shifted 144 air dusters with a 5' tube over 3 years or 10 sump pumps or 144 grease guns as an example so those meant that my dusters, grease guns & sump pumps were effectively free.
Get lots of oil in retail packages in when Stens have their pre-season sales then put them where customers have to walk past and write a price on each bottle with a paint pen in big number so they can see it is for sale.
The oil I use in the shop I buy in 44's so it costs $ 3.95 / liter, I charge it out at $ 10.00 / liter and retail it in bottles at $ 11.00 / liter.
Same thing with grease, always bought in 5 gallon pails because the Tricor guns are refillable as well as being leak proof .
Shop fittings & other tools all come from auctions.
Sunday evening is auction time & I scour the 3 major trade auctions and put very low bids on things like tool boxes , loose tools , parts bins , peg board, etc etc etc.
Treat them as you would a garage sale, one low bid, if you win fine if you don't who cares so one bid then don't go back till after the auction closes.
Often a "pallet of used tools & sundries " will make me hundreds because I take out what I want then sell the rest at the gate as "surplus used tools "
Better still these are done in my name, cash only so they do not appear on the books.
The workshop has 6 rolling tool chests and I have not paid more than $ 50 a piece for any of them and sold another 1/2 dozen at well over $ 100 each .
Occasionally some one comments on them & they get an answer along the lines of " I was thinking of getting some nice new Sidchrome ones but I would have to put up my labour charges & the tools really don't care "
The other things about old looking tool chests is it makes it look like you have been around for a long time

Sounds as if you have a regular store & shop. Like a dealership. That would be nice to just hang stuff on the wall and make money off it, without really touching it. Oil, filters etc etc
As far as parts mark up goes, when I get everything I have now, in order, I'll change my mark up prices. Just getting used to things now. I went an bought a 590825 AF from the competitor yesterday and paid nearly $15. It was a prime line. I could've gotten the same stens one for $7.50 (single). I lost $7 on the deal. But the customer got their equipment back the next day. And bragged about it on theirs and mine facebook page. Which got me another customer that I picked up, fixed and took back the same day. Which he bragged about on Facebook. Which lead to scheduling two more pick ups today.
I spend roughly $5 per day on facebook ads that run locally. My first customer paid for the week. And got me three more customers.

All of which have used the shop I used to work at, but complained it took so long to get their equipment back.

So it seems, the other two shops will just look at the date on the work order, and pick the one that's been there the longest. So even if it's a 20 minute repair or service, it's still not going to get done soon. I do all my easy stuff first, regardless of other equipment that came before it.

Hammermechanicman said:

You looking to make it a real business? No offense but worrying about your profit is pretty important. You need to figure what your parts markup should be. If you have a stens account you get a certain. Price. You then mark it up to cover certain expenses and privide a profit. The time you spend on the computer looking up parts needs to be compensated among other things. How and how much you markup your parts is up to you but giving the customer parts at or near cost is a sure way to go out of business. People bring things to you because either they don't know how to fix it, don't have time to fix it, don't have the tools to fix it or just don't want to bother fixing it. That costs real money. You need to charge a fair hourly shop rate plus a parts markup that makes you profitable enough to live. The local JD/Stihl dealer charges $98/hr and a huge parts markup and is always busy. You need to charge what you need to stay in business. If the local economy won't support that you have a problem. Are you paying sales tax on parts? Are you charging sales tax on parts? At $40/hr most folks don't get the cheap string trimmers and chInsaws fixed. One guy asked me "do you want to make a little money or no money?" When he brought in a cheap string trimmer and wanted it fixed for $20. "You have a nice day sir."

Click to expand...

At my last location, BFE Arkansas, I was $35hr. Here, I'm $50. My rent is 20% up to $1000 a month. So far, I'm not charging tax on anything. Cash only for the time being. When I get more settled and used to things, I'll get the tax ID, business permit and do things by the book. I'll need to tax ID to get in with Rotary.
A customer came in with a trimmer and said if you can fix it for $20, I'll do it. He said the only thing it needed was a 3 hole primer bulb. So I got one from Stens, put it on. And determined it was going to need carb work. Customer thanked me and said keep it. Now I have a carb kit coming for it. Since it has good compression (it's a 4 mix), I'll have $20 in it, and resell it for around $75. It'll probably take me 1/2hr to get it running. So I end up with about $50 profit on it. Same as if I'd repaired it for the customer.
I have no probably selling used equipment. It's all as is, no warranty. But, that being said, if someone returns something they just bought, that doesn't require a lot of work, I'll probably make the repairs. Being new to this shop, I don't wanna get a bad rep right off the bat for selling junk. It would make me look like I don't know what I'm doing.

Rivets said:

“ parts prices aren't that important to me”. I hope you take a second look at this idea. If you want to stay around for reasonable amount of time you need to make anything And everything which bRings in money very important, and anything that removes money even more important. The old timer who got me interested in this business had a saying. “ Labor puts meat and potatoes on the table, but sales buys the table “. In the past 50 years I’ve learned that this is even more true today, unless you don’t need a table.

Click to expand...

I hear ya. And am rethinking that this morning. Thanks to you and the others who have commented and gave me some good advice on this. Why waste good money, right? Besides a few bucks extra to each bill, will ad up.
I guess I just didn't want to be the reason some people shop Amazon/Ebay. A customer told me yesterday he stopped buying from the local dealer because his prices were too high on filters and blades. I bought a filter from the competition yesterday and my jaw nearly hit the floor when he told me how much it was.

Remember the movie "Josey Wales?" The ferry operator says "In this business, you have to be able to sing the "Battle hymn of the Republic" and whistle Dixie, all with the same enthusiasm.

Boy are you taking a chance without the license. Fines are not cheap besides they can close you down. Here minimum business license is only $15 and that good up to 10K in transactions. My current license was only $22.

Personally I keep nearly thing in storage bins using a bin location system to find what I have on hand. Kinda need to use that system of storage for a few reasons. One is mice. A couple others dirt and the ability to find things later.

The system works find as a long as part pn sku don't get superseded for right on auto supersedes the software does transfer previous bin locations. Every thing work fine for 10 yrs until a recent software update. I am most of the way back to knowing where everything is again though I got the air filter and hardware counts to go through.

When you got $57,000 retail in parts and stored in a 24 x 24 garage it is a necessity. besides tracking of 14,000 plus parts is a pain otherwise


Cost list doesn't include shipping charges which are wrote off at the time of expense then the parts cost is wrote off as parts are sold. Actual sales are blank out on purpose. No one but me and the IRS need to know that. I do shoot for a 25% net profit with part of that reinvested in the company and rest pays my personal bills. This year has been a little with the shutdown .

Boy that recent software error had me with $750K retail in inventory but I got it back to more normal now.

As for local shops yes some are rather high on parts. That why I shop around just like anyone else does. One of the local Stihl is definitely too high on parts. Switch dealers and things are more reasonable. And business relationships with other shops is a pain here. All they are interested in is all or none of the business. I have warranty new parts out my own pocket as none will honor the dealer manufactures' warranties; unless, they sold the part or equipment themselves. If I ever decide to become a dealer they will regret it. No one customers would rather pay me for repairs on new equipment then deal with them.

BTW I got to return nearly all of my HFT jackstands as just I received a recall notice, what a pain. Collapse risk and here I have been cwaling underneath big ZTRs while were holding them up. Not too stands just four 6tn and 8 3tn stands.

PTmowerMech said:

Sounds as if you have a regular store & shop. Like a dealership. That would be nice to just hang stuff on the wall and make money off it, without really touching it. Oil, filters etc etc
As far as parts mark up goes, when I get everything I have now, in order, I'll change my mark up prices. Just getting used to things now. I went an bought a 590825 AF from the competitor yesterday and paid nearly $15. It was a prime line. I could've gotten the same stens one for $7.50 (single). I lost $7 on the deal. But the customer got their equipment back the next day. And bragged about it on theirs and mine facebook page. Which got me another customer that I picked up, fixed and took back the same day. Which he bragged about on Facebook. Which lead to scheduling two more pick ups today.
I spend roughly $5 per day on facebook ads that run locally. My first customer paid for the week. And got me three more customers.

All of which have used the shop I used to work at, but complained it took so long to get their equipment back.

So it seems, the other two shops will just look at the date on the work order, and pick the one that's been there the longest. So even if it's a 20 minute repair or service, it's still not going to get done soon. I do all my easy stuff first, regardless of other equipment that came before it.

Click to expand...

I am berts MOBILE mower repairs so I do a lot of work on site
The workshop is a 3 car garage which currently has 3 lathes, 2 mills & a shaper in which take up about 1/2 the space.
I bring the customers into the workshop & show them the bin with all of their old parts in and offet them to the customer, particularly belts where they might like to keep them as am emergency back up
Then they get their account, w settle & they get taken round the back so they can try their equipment before they take it home.
IF it is a mobile job, that of course changes everything.
The street out the front is very busy so the stuff I don't wan sits just inside the fence with the "For Sale" sign on it.

As for service scheduling every one gets told a week turn around , longer if it needs parts to be ordered in as I get weekly deliveries ( slight lie there ).
That way I always have time to do urgent repairs and when some one gets the job back in 2 days they think I am God.
Generally they get told " I was waiting back for a customer to pick up ????? so did yours while I was waiting as it was right there & I had all of the parts " or some thing similar.
If the customer wants a while they wait type of job they get charged extra so regular blade change is charged out at $ 20 + blades.
A while I wait blade change is $ 60/ hr for however long it takes and 1/2 hour $ 30 is the minimum hourly charge.
Doing the quick stuff first is goos cause you get quick money in your pocket but all of a sudden you find yourself with 10 x 2 day jobs + parts waiting time that have been in your shop for a week.
Then when you are nearly finished you notice a worn brake pad or find a lump missing from a belt which add another couple of days to the job.
A full service on the 2038 I picked up today will yield around $ 300 in profit , I will never make that in a single day doing quick & easy small jobs.
You don't want to have a reputation for fixing things on the spot because the first time you don't you become a bastard.
But you can get a reputation foe being "quick" by quoting a week & finishing 2 or 3 days early.
I made the mistake a few times of fixing " I have replaced everything but I can't get this !!!!! mower to start ": - valve lash jobs right in front of the customer in 15 minutes & charged the $ 15 + gaskets
It did not make me any friends so the next one that came in I told the customer "Sounds tricky I will see what I can do " fixed it while they were gone, waited 4 days then sent it back & charged $ 120 for 2 hours work " sorting it out" + gaskets & oil . They thought I was a miracle worker & good value as they has spent $ 400 on parts & still could not get the mower to start.

There is a little bit of shownmans ship required if you are going to prosper and better still make the customers your friends.

StarTech said:

Boy are you taking a chance without the license. Fines are not cheap besides they can close you down. Here minimum business license is only $15 and that good up to 10K in transactions. My current license was only $22.

Personally I keep nearly thing in storage bins using a bin location system to find what I have on hand. Kinda need to use that system of storage for a few reasons. One is mice. A couple others dirt and the ability to find things later.

The system works find as a long as part pn sku don't get superseded for right on auto supersedes the software does transfer previous bin locations. Every thing work fine for 10 yrs until a recent software update. I am most of the way back to knowing where everything is again though I got the air filter and hardware counts to go through.

When you got $57,000 retail in parts and stored in a 24 x 24 garage it is a necessity. besides tracking of 14,000 plus parts is a pain otherwise

View attachment 52390
Cost list doesn't include shipping charges which are wrote off at the time of expense then the parts cost is wrote off as parts are sold. Actual sales are blank out on purpose. No one but me and the IRS need to know that. I do shoot for a 25% net profit with part of that reinvested in the company and rest pays my personal bills. This year has been a little with the shutdown .

Boy that recent software error had me with $750K retail in inventory but I got it back to more normal now.

As for local shops yes some are rather high on parts. That why I shop around just like anyone else does. One of the local Stihl is definitely too high on parts. Switch dealers and things are more reasonable. And business relationships with other shops is a pain here. All they are interested in is all or none of the business. I have warranty new parts out my own pocket as none will honor the dealer manufactures' warranties; unless, they sold the part or equipment themselves. If I ever decide to become a dealer they will regret it. No one customers would rather pay me for repairs on new equipment then deal with them.

BTW I got to return nearly all of my HFT jackstands as just I received a recall notice, what a pain. Collapse risk and here I have been cwaling underneath big ZTRs while were holding them up. Not too stands just four 6tn and 8 3tn stands.

Click to expand...

Baby steps brother. first and foremost, I gotta make sure things at this location is going to be permanent. As you know, in the last year, I've moved from my home in Tx, to Arkansas and now back to Texas. I'm a little scared of the "what if's" at the moment. And with all the covid-19 stuff still around, the local government offices are closed, from what I understand.
And then there's the money situation. I should have money coming in this week, but it'll still not be in the black yet. So far, I've collected about $100. Although there's about $400 worth of repairs ready to be picked up, that still won't cover much. I'd say there's about that much in repairs waiting for parts/repairs. Still in my 2nd week at this location.
With each Stens order, I've bought at least 1 extra of everything. If it was something I think I might use again. I'm finding ways of organizing those parts, but running out of room to organize. At the moment, I have 3 different Zama carb kits in on bin. 4 difference 2 cycle air filters in another. And several other mix matched parts mixed in with each other. Need some peg board to separate all that. But I'm not going to dish out any more money on things like that, until I'm making more money.
The points that were made to me about profit (earlier in this thread) really put a hold on what I buy for the time being. That includes permits, tax #, insurance etc etc. Those things will come. Hopefully soon.

Trying not to more again would help.

And you got to have fairly deep pockets to go hog wild; otherwise, like me it was a slow go to get things on hand but that allow me to figure out what I needed as the last move here which was only 6 miles changed the whole equipment base around. Plus some things are now too costly to repair anymore so I don't need to stock parts for those any more so sale out the current stock I am not replacing it.

I just know there are a**holes out there that just like to cause trouble for the kicks which is why recommend at least the business license. When I first started nearly everyone that came in was looking for something for nothing. Some still do that why I quit trying to recondition used equipment for resale. When you nearly $400 in parts in a rider that you have for $525 including taxes with a 90 day warranty and some jerk tells you the most he will pay for it is $125, it is a real insult. Just to keep from any more insults I just parted out the mower. That was last year before economy tanked.

Using a bin system works. Things like the Zama and Walbro parts here are in my 2C 18 storage bin with Walbro in 2C-WAL1 1gal storage container, then there is the two Zama containers 2C-ZAM1 and 2C-ZAM2.

2C-WAL1 157 items $326 in cost
2C-ZAM1 130 items $383 in cost
2C-ZAM2 328 items $536 in cost

Of course there are multiple items of some part number in those bins due high usage. And I about to add a WAL2 and a ZAM3 to bin which means I will need to the MISC1-3 bins there to a new bin and probably rename them. And yes it takes a few minutes to the desire bin for the desired part but it is a lot easier than going through the whole 18 gal container every time I need a part.

And not counting the other 6 to 8 containers that is also in that bin. So as you can see things can add up rather quickly. At least I know if and where I have the parts is a big plus, keeps from ordering thing when I got them on hand except on re-stock orders.

Probably explains why I got 57K in parts and still have to order parts like the JD parts I have on order now for a couple Z830A ZTRs that on one I just did a triple electrical bypass on due to the ECU partially failing. It lost the fuel solenoid and PTO circuits along an extra mod I added to the starting circuit to prevent engine starting with the PTO engaged. Still runs as intended and dies when the operator leaves the seat even the brake engaged if the PTO is operating. Be surprised what $15 in parts can do to make repairs a $200 ECU problem and still have the safety system nearly 100% as intended. Just can't crank it up until the JD parts get in due anti rotate stud missing on the PTO clutch which cause the ECU failure in the first place.

If I have to put that much into a used mower, It's gonna be a newer up to date zero turn. Any regular mower, I would never put that much into one. In fact, somewhere around $200, including the mower is about my limit. Otherwise it gets used for parts or stripped of seats, wiring harness and other things I can use, and then scrapped.

BTW, I had the competition (my old boss) send a spy down to my shop today. Asking me some some oddball questions about some 4 wheeler. But I know he was just checking up on the new shop in town. He'd go from talking about this 4 wheeler to questions about the shop and me. I remember the guy because he would come into the other shop about 4 times a week just to chat with the owner.
Finally I asked him how my old boss was doing. Reminded him that I recognized him. and just stayed on that subject til he finally left. Which wasn't long after I realized what he was doing.

The shelving & racking in my workshop came from a liquidation auction again at a knock down price.
Peanut butter jars, take away food containers , ice cream tubs,
. anything can be used to store things.
Do they have thrift shops in that town ?

Hmmm most my 24x48x72 shelving here I made out of thrown away bed rails and thrown away water bed plywood. I actually had to leave some behind when I moved due to a jerk of a brother. Only had three weeks to move everything by myself. One of the steel work benches apparently was someone's school project. Only had three legs and wasn't stable but is now.

I still pickup the bed rails and plywood when ever I run across them. Never know when I going them again.

Work benches are generally topped with timber salvaged from hardwood pallets.
Steel bed rails have long gone from Aust have not seen one on the roadside for decades.
When Futon beds became unpopular I picked up dozens of them so some of the racking has become shelving using futon slats.
Unfortunately nearly all of the furnature round here is either MDF or Chipboard, materials that are useless when new & just as bad when damaged & thrown out .
Gees , we could almost be twins I love making stuff from throw aways.
When I take things in for service I look at the workshop.
When I see a large area lit with excessive amounts of mercury vapour lamps and walls covered with matching tool chest and branded shadow boards I walk away to find a real workshop.
People often comment about my cramped & apparently dissorgaized workshop .
I remind them that every square inch of the expansive work shops in town are rented and they are the ones paying that rent on every job they drop in .