Export thread

What a shocker. He just added on a huge addition to his shop. Now he's closing it?

Here he explains why.

So he will close his shop when he retires at some future unknown date that could be 10 years from now. But other than that several of us techs are in that same mindset. Can't get parts, backorders for months, even on simple things like spark plugs. And what appears simple for a quick turnaround becomes several hundred dollars. So he is not the only person that is looking toward retirement and having to work harder now than any time in the past. My gross sales have doubled this year compared to last year, but any extra income is not even covering the extra expenses.

What is your shop labor rate? If you are doing a lot of warranty work no wonder! They kill you on what they pay. You can about double the time they allow you.

ILENGINE said:

So he will close his shop when he retires at some future unknown date that could be 10 years from now. But other than that several of us techs are in that same mindset. Can't get parts, backorders for months, even on simple things like spark plugs. And what appears simple for a quick turnaround becomes several hundred dollars. So he is not the only person that is looking toward retirement and having to work harder now than any time in the past. My gross sales have doubled this year compared to last year, but any extra income is not even covering the extra expenses.

Click to expand...

I've been waiting over a couple of months now just for some Stens brand bar & chain oil. The fuel lines I ordered took a month.

I think what's happening is that the quality of the products are getting worse, so they're having to build so many parts that the manufacturer just can't keep up. And it's no big deal to them, because the manufacturer is making bank.
Build it cheaper, charge more. Manufacture cheap parts so the customer will either buy a new mower or spend a bundle on parts.

Profit is the name of the game for everyone. It's what makes the world go round.

@hlw49 Shop labor rate is about level with every other shop in the area. The extra gross is translating to extra net income at least on the business books, but the checking account shows something else.

PTmowerMech said:

I've been waiting over a couple of months now just for some Stens brand bar & chain oil. The fuel lines I ordered took a month.

I think what's happening is that the quality of the products are getting worse, so they're having to build so many parts that the manufacturer just can't keep up. And it's no big deal to them, because the manufacturer is making bank.
Build it cheaper, charge more. Manufacture cheap parts so the customer will either buy a new mower or spend a bundle on parts.

Profit is the name of the game for everyone. It's what makes the world go round.

Click to expand...

Received my April backordered NGK BPR4ES plugs on Friday at 1 PM and by 4 PM were sold and now waiting on more. That gasket that Taryl was talking about the V-Twin briggs I have on backorder currently with an ETA of August.

Happening again............... Arrgh.

PTmowerMech said:

What a shocker. He just added on a huge addition to his shop. Now he's closing it?

Here he explains why.

Click to expand...

Gees I thought that sort of crap only happened here .
I just got done for $ 8,000 for parts ordered from an on line parts shop attached to what used to be a big 5 dealer mower shop .
Some parts had been on back order with them for over 2 years and of course , we the customers can whistle dixie about refunds .
Been a bug bear of mine for some time that I have to pay retailers for parts before they order them then when they come in the part is always dearer and if they close down poof goes your cash.
Another local shop closed down but that was the case of the son who knew everything bought dads business then showed him how to run it more efficiently, right into bankruptcy .
As for gaskets now days I cut my own and soon will be getting them cut by one of those vinyl lettering mobs
I supply them with a scan of the gasket & the material and they run it through their letter cutter machine
I have been buying a lot of parts either from Made-In-China or Alibaba both of which only supply good stuff , including the B & S cams , only down side is MOQ which on the cams is 50.
But as he said it is all time .
When I kicked off 12 years ago I knew very little about mowers so it was a steep learning curve till I became proficient and with most jobs it was 3 times the hours on the web for each job than the actual job . Then things got better and I very rarely had problems but now it is back to 3 hours a day sourcing parts for zero profit as I am now forced to buy in bulk to get good parts.

As for Taryl , not that long ago he built the extension , funded from the YT payments so he will make a good living from those royalties for quite some time .
I knew some metallurgist in Ukraine so I have been keeping an eye on things there and no shortage of content presenters who are making quite a healthy living by scouring the web & social media then rolling it into a 1/2 hour presentation .
With his channel size & number of subscribers he would be in the top dollar category and every product maker will happily pay him aq fortune to endorse or slightly less to review their products.
lets hope he does not sell his sole to the devil