Opening a shop ...

[spdrcrgtr]

I'm sure many reading this post can relate to what I am about to say ...

Ever since I was a kid, I was always into cars - hot wheels, RC cars, go-karts, and then when I could drive - real cars. There are many reasons why I gravitated toward loving cars and modifying, but a dream I have had was to open a shop.

A shop that could do upgrades, but also a shop that could spec out a car based on a budget, owner's lifestyle, and goals for the car.

I have been fortunate to have done well in other businesses, but never had an automotive shop, or anything retail for that matter; always online for me.

So getting to my point ...

A wild idea crossed my mind to open up a shop in Los Angeles, outside of general business tactics I'm not really sure where to start, what are some of the challenges, considerations, etc...

If anyone has opened a shop or looked into it, I would love to hear about your experience and story.

Thanks in advance!

[Tuxedo]

"It's true that nothing I did where the only reason for doing it was the money was ever worth it except as bitter experience. Usually, I didn't wind up getting the money either. The things I did because I was excited and wanted to see them exist in reality have never let me down and I've never regretted the time I spent on any of them". - Neil Gaiman

[spdrcrgtr]

True

[overcoil]

If you were changing from being involved with an existing shop to opening your own shop then the dynamics would be risky with some background.

Going in fresh there is so much unknown.

Of course if money is of no concern then that eliminates a lot of stress.

[spdrcrgtr]

Right ... money is always a concern - IMO most people that say it's not don't understand what they are doing.

That's actually what I was thinking to partner with an existing shop

[TheWatchGuy]

You didnt say in your post. Can you do all the work yourself or are you going to be hiring someone to come in and do it? Can you do some beautiful fab work that is going to post well on social media and drive people to you? People that are looking for builds, are looking for something unique and high quality. Sure, you can get by with doing repair work, maintenance work, etc. but it doesnt sound like that is your goal with this.

The biggest hurdle you will have to overcome is finding qualified mechanics for your shop. If you were going from a shop and taking some guys with you, it would be an easier task, but starting from nothing, and convincing qualified guys that can do the kind of work you are wanting to do, it is going to be tough.

Most successful shops that do custom work and nice builds that I know/have worked with, started with 1 or 2 guys that could do all the planning and work, and slowly built their shops reputation based off their own builds.

[spdrcrgtr]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, that's something I thought about ... having a good tech that can do most, if not all, the work. Someone that understands car culture rather than just general mechanic that does oil changes.

I would be best running the business and have techs working on the cars.

Yes, not looking to do general work/oil changes, although we would assist our customers of course.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by spdrcrgtr

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, that's something I thought about ... having a good tech that can do most, if not all, the work. Someone that understands car culture rather than just general mechanic that does oil changes.

I would be best running the business and have techs working on the cars.

Yes, not looking to do general work/oil changes, although we would assist our customers of course.

if thats the case, the best way to get up and running is to get someone on board and do a couple nice builds you can take to local car shows, meet and greats and eventually auctions so you can get your name out there. It is going to cost you quite a bit out the gate, but if you are able to do some high quality builds, you'll draw the attention of some people and you can eventually recoup some of that money when you sell the car.

That will be the easiest way to get your name and work out there outside of doing your own builds. It will be extremely difficult to get a big build from a customer right off the bat.

A shop down the street from me started up ~7 years ago. They have opened up a brewery since then, and ive gotten to know the owners pretty well. They came from an other well known shop, brought some of the mechanics with them, and he does his own work as well. The first several years were just building cars for auction before he was able to finally get some steady streams of customers. Hes since been on several tv shows showing off his work, but it took a lot of grinding and a lot of his own money to get going.

Not trying to scare you off, but its a big task that can suck a lot of money down the drain off the bat.

[spdrcrgtr]

Not scaring me ... building a business is hard work and rarely happens overnight, especially dealing with cars when its an emotional connection for some ..

For now, I think the key is to partner with someone to help with the tech ...

You say auctions ... what auctions are out there for mod'ed cars or are you referring to resto-mods or full restorations?

[Darth One]

I haven't lived in the LA area for a couple of decades but when I did (right in the midst of the F&F craze and all the real life stuff that actually inspired the movie), there was a car shop literally on every corner. Specifically, in the SGV.

So the first question I'd seek to answer is, how are you going to distinguish yourself? The previous comments on social media and car show presence are all very correct, but everyone knows this and is doing the same thing

[monkeyjuice5150]

If you need a front, it'll work. But I don't see how you're going to make some serious money. I see these speed shop as a net lost. They come and go.

[zx10guy]

I used to hang out at a shop where the owner and I became friends. He worked for various shops as a Master ASE mechanic. He loved doing mods to cars and wasn't shy about tackling unique projects. He eventually opened up his own shop. He did all manners of automotive work a "normal" shop would do. But he also would do performance mods. I got introduced to him just as he opened his shop by my local Speed shop.

From that point on I hung around the shop and he even at one point offered me a job as being his service writer. Through the years, I saw him doing custom built motors from the standard pony cars to him doing supercharger installs on the Yamaha 6 cylinder SHO motors. In fact, MASHOC endorsed him as the SHO specialist to send your car to.

So all of this sounds good right? Well, here are the problems I observed. Many of the customers would immediately beat the piss out of their cars even though they had a brand new motor dropped into their cars. Then many would expect warranty coverage when things break. He would try to help out customers that had problems but it got frustrating when a car breaks down due to obvious abuse by the owner. Many times bolt on parts were not bolt on and he would waste time having to get the part to work. Many customers would complain about the labor hours involved without regard that the mods they were requesting were extensive.

Even though he loved doing performance mods, he slowly backed out of doing it as it was too much of a headache for him to deal with.

[TheWatchGuy]

Originally Posted by spdrcrgtr

Not scaring me ... building a business is hard work and rarely happens overnight, especially dealing with cars when its an emotional connection for some ..

For now, I think the key is to partner with someone to help with the tech ...

You say auctions ... what auctions are out there for mod'ed cars or are you referring to resto-mods or full restorations?

Youll have to hit the local tracks, shows and meets to see whats there in your area. My area has auctions a couple times a year for modded/classics/etc. Youll also want to check your local auctions out and make sure you dont need to go to a bigger city/more well known auction to get the most for your cars. For me, i live in an area where the auction may have 100 or less actual buyers at it, so cars can go fairly cheap for what they are.

Originally Posted by Darth One

I haven't lived in the LA area for a couple of decades but when I did (right in the midst of the F&F craze and all the real life stuff that actually inspired the movie), there was a car shop literally on every corner. Specifically, in the SGV.

So the first question I'd seek to answer is, how are you going to distinguish yourself? The previous comments on social media and car show presence are all very correct, but everyone knows this and is doing the same thing

If hes wanting more of a speed shop, making a name for himself with his cars at the track would be a great start. But, that is easier said than done. You'd need to put up consistent great times with multiple cars to get anyone to pay attention.

[spdrcrgtr]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I used to hang out at a shop where the owner and I became friends. He worked for various shops as a Master ASE mechanic. He loved doing mods to cars and wasn't shy about tackling unique projects. He eventually opened up his own shop. He did all manners of automotive work a "normal" shop would do. But he also would do performance mods. I got introduced to him just as he opened his shop by my local Speed shop.

From that point on I hung around the shop and he even at one point offered me a job as being his service writer. Through the years, I saw him doing custom built motors from the standard pony cars to him doing supercharger installs on the Yamaha 6 cylinder SHO motors. In fact, MASHOC endorsed him as the SHO specialist to send your car to.

So all of this sounds good right? Well, here are the problems I observed. Many of the customers would immediately beat the piss out of their cars even though they had a brand new motor dropped into their cars. Then many would expect warranty coverage when things break. He would try to help out customers that had problems but it got frustrating when a car breaks down due to obvious abuse by the owner. Many times bolt on parts were not bolt on and he would waste time having to get the part to work. Many customers would complain about the labor hours involved without regard that the mods they were requesting were extensive.

Even though he loved doing performance mods, he slowly backed out of doing it as it was too much of a headache for him to deal with.

Good insight ... I could totally imagine having to deal with annoying customers, then even if you help them out, they go and complain about you on the web.

[ntg44]

With EPA crackdown on tuners and the impending death of the internal combustion engine, I don't think this is the right era to open a business with a guaranteed expiration date. The era of the speed shop has passed in my opinion.

If you still wanted to do something car related, I think you'd have better luck with cosmetic type stuff. Full service details, tints, wraps, spoiler, lip, diffuser, side skirt installs. Stuff like that. And these skills are much more accessible to teach yourself without requiring a technician doing everything for you with much less risk and regulation in my opinion. There's a place ~25 minutes from me that does this and they do very well. Not sure about LA but where I live this is a pretty underdeveloped market.

[spdrcrgtr]

Originally Posted by ntg44

With EPA crackdown on tuners and the impending death of the internal combustion engine, I don't think this is the right era to open a business with a guaranteed expiration date. The era of the speed shop has passed in my opinion.

If you still wanted to do something car related, I think you'd have better luck with cosmetic type stuff. Full service details, tints, wraps, spoiler, lip, diffuser, side skirt installs. Stuff like that. And these skills are much more accessible to teach yourself without requiring a technician doing everything for you with much less risk and regulation in my opinion. There's a place ~25 minutes from me that does this and they do very well. Not sure about LA but where I live this is a pretty underdeveloped market.

You make a valid point, but I don't agree with the end of tuner culture. It's going to be decades before people stop driving gas engines and that assumes that they are outlawed soon, which I seriously doubt for many geopolitical reasons. I mean people are still modding 20+ year old Supra's and the like, and then consider the muscle cars from the 50's, 60's, 70's, etc.

Installing body kits/etc is a commodity business IMO whereas any reasonable bodyshop could do the same. Then you're competing with a dime-a-dozen bodyshops out here in LA. Maybe in other parts of the country shops are more scarce, but in LA there are thousands of bodyshops. My father used to own a bodyshop years ago for that matter.

[x3sm]

Interesting topic, was actually thinking of asking for advice as well. What about starting a shop that works on EVs only? like a specialized spot for EV customization. There is not much competition and eventually people will begin to customize EVs even more since you can't really do engine/transmission mods. Most of the mods will be lip kit installation, vinyl, tint, custom headlights and no worries about customers passing emissions lol.

[spdrcrgtr]

Originally Posted by x3sm

Interesting topic, was actually thinking of asking for advice as well. What about starting a shop that works on EVs only? like a specialized spot for EV customization. There is not much competition and eventually people will begin to customize EVs even more since you can't really do engine/transmission mods. Most of the mods will be lip kit installation, vinyl, tint, custom headlights and no worries about customers passing emissions lol.

I could see the market moving in this direction over time ... probably easier for marketing too if you focused on Tesla and the like vs. something like BMW M's, which is a much bigger aftermarket.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by x3sm

Interesting topic, was actually thinking of asking for advice as well. What about starting a shop that works on EVs only? like a specialized spot for EV customization. There is not much competition and eventually people will begin to customize EVs even more since you can't really do engine/transmission mods. Most of the mods will be lip kit installation, vinyl, tint, custom headlights and no worries about customers passing emissions lol.

If you want to get a feel of what it's like to have an EV shop that does customization, look through a Youtuber's channel Rich Rebuilds. Rich taught himself how a Tesla Model S works by piecing together two totaled Model S'. One was flood damaged and the other was involved in a major wreck. From there, he became the guru outside of Tesla to go to for all things around Teslas. He then hired two guys away from Tesla and opened up his own repair shop (Electrified Garage) in Massachusetts where he lives. He just opened a second shop in Florida. He gets into all sorts of mods where he built an EV Mini Cooper and is actually doing a reverse project where he is dropping in a Chevy small block V8 into a Model S.

I'm pretty sure if you reach out to him, he would probably answer any questions you may have.