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GB Entrepreneurs....
Night Stalker
Member Posts: 11,967
Fella's:
I have the opportunity to buy a former muscle car restoration business. We have been pulling parts out of this place for nearly a month and are still not halfway there. The buy-in for the remnants of the business which went under because the owner got messed up in drugs was under $50,000 and has already doubled the investment and has the potential to produce another $200,000 easily in very nice rare Pontiac GTO and Olds 442 parts.
Once the three buildings are cleared, I have the opportunity to buy all three buildings (see below) for $110,000. The facilities are near KC and include nearly a block of the down-town area. I don't know a lot, but I think it's a good deal. I am interested in re-opening the business and thinking this would be a great opportunity to take soldiers who are getting out/retiring, who are hard-working, honest, reliable, intelligence young men and work them into the restoration profession. I can go in as a partner with a guy who knows more about GTOs and 442's anyone I've ever met. He has restored numerous rare cars and has been a concourse judge. He knows 4-5 guys who are experienced in the restoration business and looking for another job in the business.
I've never owned a business and this is a big step for me. I have friends who can help me develop a business plan, and I would like to use a veteran's grant/loan to do this and am also interested in seeing if I can gain some assistance for hiring wounded warriors and honorably retired service-members.
This is the first day I have considered purchasing the property which is fully equipped to restart a formerly profitable business. I am truly in uncharted waters and appreciate any insight/advice/guidance you guys can provide.
I am considering retirement from the US Army in the next 2-3 years and would love to start a business which employs incredible soldiers and allows me to work in a profession I truly enjoy and am passionate about.
Thanks in advance for your help.
NS
I have the opportunity to buy a former muscle car restoration business. We have been pulling parts out of this place for nearly a month and are still not halfway there. The buy-in for the remnants of the business which went under because the owner got messed up in drugs was under $50,000 and has already doubled the investment and has the potential to produce another $200,000 easily in very nice rare Pontiac GTO and Olds 442 parts.
Once the three buildings are cleared, I have the opportunity to buy all three buildings (see below) for $110,000. The facilities are near KC and include nearly a block of the down-town area. I don't know a lot, but I think it's a good deal. I am interested in re-opening the business and thinking this would be a great opportunity to take soldiers who are getting out/retiring, who are hard-working, honest, reliable, intelligence young men and work them into the restoration profession. I can go in as a partner with a guy who knows more about GTOs and 442's anyone I've ever met. He has restored numerous rare cars and has been a concourse judge. He knows 4-5 guys who are experienced in the restoration business and looking for another job in the business.
I've never owned a business and this is a big step for me. I have friends who can help me develop a business plan, and I would like to use a veteran's grant/loan to do this and am also interested in seeing if I can gain some assistance for hiring wounded warriors and honorably retired service-members.
This is the first day I have considered purchasing the property which is fully equipped to restart a formerly profitable business. I am truly in uncharted waters and appreciate any insight/advice/guidance you guys can provide.
I am considering retirement from the US Army in the next 2-3 years and would love to start a business which employs incredible soldiers and allows me to work in a profession I truly enjoy and am passionate about.
Thanks in advance for your help.
NS
Comments
Fella's:
I am interested in re-opening the business and thinking this would be a great opportunity to take soldiers who are getting out/retiring, who are hard-working, honest, reliable, intelligence young men and work them into the restoration profession.
NS
While that is quite admirable, are you going to be running a profitable business, or a jobs program? If you can get some government school money out of the vets then by all means take them in and get them trained. Otherwise, establish your business and make some money for yourself before you start thinking about becoming a training center.
quote:Originally posted by Night Stalker
I can go in as a partner with a guy who knows more about GTOs and 442's anyone I've ever met. He has restored numerous rare cars and has been a concourse judge.
Thanks in advance for your help.
NS
Sure, he knows all about cars, but has he ever managed a car restoration business...Or any business? You are clearly a neophyte; so who has the hands on experience in handling the day to day grind of running a business?
Remember, if owning your own business and making money while doing it (that is the trick) were easy, then everyone would do it.
but being realistic running a business ,getting great help and building a reputation for doing outstanding work would be what it takes .
to get the people needed to do that level of work and get customers in the door will be a challenge .
myself I would be so far over my head trying to run a business . just the thought of book keepers , lawyers, insurance , running cost of tools and equipment the EPA , and the customers who are never satisfied .. not trying to scare you but that's what I see and why I would not take that big step in a restoration shop ,
a partnership JMHO. I wish the best for you.
I've started/bought several businesses and will
never get on that boat again.
NSquote:Originally posted by Flying Clay Disk
What is the rectangular building with the (4) white units on the rust colored roof?
Just a general observation; aside from the question above, I don't see a lot of mechanical equipment on the roofs of the other buildings (i.e. exhaust fans, etc).
I see two condensing units on the roof adjacent to the rectangular building which I take for A/C units, but they look like smaller units certainly nothing which would handle the whole building (of that size).
Based on what I see in the picture, I'd be looking carefully at what mechanical infrastructure exists and what will be required and how big the incoming power service is to each building. This is where you'll spend the big money if something isn't up to snuff.
Otherwise it sounds like a great deal.
P.S. I see virtually zero mechanical on the blue/grey building, and the same on the remote building in the lower left. How are these two structures purposed?
Just honest observations.
Restorations, tons of money up front with tons of man hours. It can take months to complete one car, employees want to get paid and do not want to wait for completion.
Body shop, this is my main focus since body work and paint can pay well but still the time involved before payout is high.
Hotrodding, something I love dearly but to be competitive you need your own machine shop and tons of overhead.
Since the TV shows the number of shops have grown tremendously, the competition and the ever so fluctuating cost of the cars will make it rough.
I may just do it as a hobby, buy a car and do the work. Sell it and do another. Hobby.
Right now I'm turning to the only thing in life I'm good at, trucking. Once I find the perfect truck (price vs year) I will be buying a second truck. My son will be driving for me, he will be the my test dummy. If I can make it work I'll be expanding with the hopes of being a leased fleet owner and be able to get out of the truck myself and then concentrate on L&Bs.
quote:Originally posted by Night Stalker
Fella's:
I am interested in re-opening the business and thinking this would be a great opportunity to take soldiers who are getting out/retiring, who are hard-working, honest, reliable, intelligence young men and work them into the restoration profession.
NS
While that is quite admirable, are you going to be running a profitable business, or a jobs program? If you can get some government school money out of the vets then by all means take them in and get them trained. Otherwise, establish your business and make some money for yourself before you start thinking about becoming a training center.
quote:Originally posted by Night Stalker
I can go in as a partner with a guy who knows more about GTOs and 442's anyone I've ever met. He has restored numerous rare cars and has been a concourse judge.
Thanks in advance for your help.
NS
Sure, he knows all about cars, but has he ever managed a car restoration business...Or any business? You are clearly a neophyte; so who has the hands on experience in handling the day to day grind of running a business?
Remember, if owning your own business and making money while doing it (that is the trick) were easy, then everyone would do it.
Thanks Mark.
The muscle car business is crazy. Here are 40 heads (20 sets) some are W-30 heads, nearly all are big valve heads. This trailer has nearly $36.000 on it. Not quite like the gun business.
NS
NS
$16,000 / 20 sets= $800 a set.
lets break them down a bit.....
The Pontiac's= you have probably 10 sets of which say 7 are "big valve" CORES at $200 a set. Maybe 2 sets of Ram air 3 heads at
$400 a set. And if you are lucky 1 set of Ram air 4 heads at $600.
Doubt you have any Ram air 5 heads there.[V]
That makes a total of $2800.
On the olds heads=
7 sets of "big valve" CORES at $200 a set. 3 sets of w-30 head cores at $400 a set.
That makes a total of $2600.
Both make $5400 IF YOU CAN SELL THEM.
Now think how many are cracked /beyond a valve job??
A ready to go, from the machine shop Ram air head WITH the right numbers and letters can get $800 a pair. None of those are in that condition.
In his mind an hour of him on the computer was equal to an hour of me working at actually building product. Bear in mind that every shop drawing we produced was also done by me on a tablet of graph paper with #2 pencils and a straight edge and 2 triangles. He was a reasonable guy and a good friend but we could never see eye to eye on the value of him learning auto cad to design 3 board shelves. Someone always works harder than the other guy and resentment can build.
If you do the math and are convinced this is a viable business opportunity then figure out how to do it yourself. If you need his help offer him a job but retain control of the business for yourself.
I am not trying to dissuade you from this project but realize during the contemplation phase you are in right now it is normal to look at the project through rose colored glasses. Really guard against subconsciously fudging the numbers/projections in an effort to make it work and minimizing any hurdles.
Best of luck to you!
Customer brings in a car.
The estimate for the build is given.
Customer pays 25% up front. after the 25% is spent the customer comes in, sees progress and missed rust, damage, etc from original estimate and pays another 25% of new balance. And so on.
That way, the shop owner isn't carrying the whole rebuild and when the car is completed and the customer is called, no one is surprised by the $90,000 price tag!! I've heard horror stories of small independent shops sitting on 3-4 builds in the 6 figure range just waiting for the customer to pay.
Throw in "change of heart", divorce, economic downturn, college, dead uncle, etc!
Over on Fleabay, there are four sets of Ram Air III heads: $899, $999, $1,000, $1350. I don't see any W-30 heads on there.
If you can buy Olds W-30 heads and Pontiac RA components for "$200 a core"... man I would do it!!!
NS
quote:Originally posted by babun
I think you are over pricing those heads.
$16,000 / 20 sets= $800 a set.
lets break them down a bit.....
The Pontiac's= you have probably 10 sets of which say 7 are "big valve" CORES at $200 a set. Maybe 2 sets of Ram air 3 heads at
$400 a set. And if you are lucky 1 set of Ram air 4 heads at $600.
Doubt you have any Ram air 5 heads there.[V]
That makes a total of $2800.
On the olds heads=
7 sets of "big valve" CORES at $200 a set. 3 sets of w-30 head cores at $400 a set.
That makes a total of $2600.
Both make $5400 IF YOU CAN SELL THEM.
Now think how many are cracked /beyond a valve job??
A ready to go, from the machine shop Ram air head WITH the right numbers and letters can get $800 a pair. None of those are in that condition.
I'll have to agree with a couple of others about partners. Back in the early 1970s I was a business partner with a man I thought I knew and liked. He made a pretty good living. I was lucky to get out with most of my original investment.
On the other hand, Sears & Roebuck seemed to have done all right.
one reason its almost impossible to open a junk yard these days unless you are a mega yard/biz.
I'd almost rather buy the equipment and build a shop on privately owned land in the country. at least 5 miles outside any city limits. if you are good they will come to you.
restore a few "privately" for customers or do a couple to take to the classic car auctions or sell through the bay or similar. if you do em right your name will get around. in that biz your reputation is more important than location.
IIRC... Roebuck worked for Sears for a few years as a watch repairman.
They were partners for only 2 years before J. Rosenwald {sp} bought out Roebuck and made it the retail mail order giant.
One of his ideas was to make the Sears catalog smaller outside to outside edge than his competitors.
WHY???
When you stack books on top of each other....the smallest one is
usually on TOP!!
The Sears catalog the first catalog you would pick up.[:D][^]
Back to the heads...
On ebay, completed auctions, only 1 set of RA 3 heads sold recently, at $800 ready to bolt on.
Everyone else can ASK what ever price they want, but it won't sell, just like the gun business.[;)]
The hottest thing with Olds heads today, is "REPLICA" heads.
Tell the seller what letter, date, casting numbers you need and for $1200 you got a set "made" for your engine. $744 for empty castings. Not too kosher if you ask me, but it's the way of things today.[V]
The guns business is filled with the hobbyists, and most of them close up shop pretty darned quick. I suspect that car and car related businesses are the same.
You will always have your retirement income and healthcare covered so why not go for it.
Worst thing that can happen is you fail.
I have read a few responses. My only advice is, DO NOT GO INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH ANYONE EXCEPT YOUR WIFE,PERIOD.. If this person is a friend of yours, he wont be after you start the business. JMHO
Yep, BTDT.
Keep us posted.
I think I'm gonna go for it.
NS
quote:Originally posted by Oakie
I have read a few responses. My only advice is, DO NOT GO INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH ANYONE EXCEPT YOUR WIFE,PERIOD.. If this person is a friend of yours, he wont be after you start the business. JMHO
Yep, BTDT.
Add another idiot to that total. [V]