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I have a goal to own a shop someday

Avsfan135

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Location
Fort Collins, Colorado
Hi there. I have a goal to own my own shop someday.

It will be a while. I currently have a great job that I plan on staying at even while I start to get equipment and a place to start.


What I'm wondering is...
What should I do first?
what would you have done differently?
how big or how small to start?
How do you find work?
how do you quote jobs?
What questions should I be asking right now?
+ so much more.

I know these are very vague questions and some of you will probably laugh and say just stay where you are its too hard etc. but I know that I want to try to do it so you can save those types of comments. I just want to get the conversation started.

Thanks so much to anyone who takes the time to talk to me!

Nick
 
Hi Nick,

Sounds to me like you are starting off with the right idea by working your way into it rather than jumping in head first.

The link below is a (what I find to be at least) very useful site to help get you started. The service is free, and the advice they offer is sound, at least I have always found it to be the case in my experiences in my neck of the woods.


SCORE Denver - Counseling, workshops, advice and business plans



Good luck with achieving your dreams and reaching your goals! It is NOT going to be easy, but if it was.......everyone would be doing it. ;)

Best Regards,
Russ
 
Spend some time searching the forum. THis has been covered a LOT.

Will say one thing. DO NOT try to compete on price. That is what has driven most of us to the point that we hope the price of chips goes up enough that we can actually make a profit off a job.
 
I see no indication in your post WHY you want to own a shop.

Hi there. I have a goal to own my own shop someday.

It will be a while. I currently have a great job that I plan on staying at even while I start to get equipment and a place to start.
Do you also have the goal for this shop to make you more money than what you are making at your current job?

It seems with any business--especially extremely capital intensive business like machining--you better start off with $2M in the bank if you hope to be a millionaire after 10 years. ;)

I agree with the above post as to NOT try to compete on price. The Chinese got that covered. If you want to compete in a successful manner, I suggest you focus on competing on lead times. Many job shops can do the same parts at similar price, but when a customer NEEDS a job like RIGHT NOW, they will have limited resources. It goes without saying that you should also do high quality work.

Also, make sure you DO NOT extend credit, but accept payment via credit cards. You cannot buy a tank gas without paying for it first, so why give a customer $10,000 in parts hoping he will remember to pay you? The bigger the corporation, the WORSE this behavior. The guy needing the parts is NOT the guy paying for them unless he is waving his VISA card. ;)
 
Most important do not tell anyone you work with your plans. Telling the boss you want your own shop someday ends badly 98% of the time.
 
I think starting your own business is a great idea, everyone should give it a shot at least a few times. I have worked for myself for years, every now and then I get a job to either learn how to do something or because I am flat ass broke. I always cant wait to quit that job, I have only held a job for a year or so before going back on my own. The first thing you need to do is go get machines then get them set up. Try to start in your garage if at all possible. I wouldnt even think about job shopping that is brutal, make a product. By making a product you can focus your cash on machines that will do exactly what you are going to do and you will get real efficient. A job shop, you are buying machines so you can do other peoples work for less money than someone else with better faster equipment. Forget the fantasy of 6 months living expense, the fear of hunger and poverty is a great motivator. I financed my whole business on visa dont put it on your house unsecured debt is the way to go. Dont get a bank loan they want security. I ran my cards up over a 100 grand a few times and have always managed to pay it off eventually. If you go down in flames at least you wont be homeless, that would piss off the wife. You will know pretty fast if working for yourself is for you, you have to be delusional with confidence and have no fear of total failure. I made 300 bucks one year when my first business tanked.
 
Do you also have the goal for this shop to make you more money than what you are making at your current job?

It seems with any business--especially extremely capital intensive business like machining--you better start off with $2M in the bank if you hope to be a millionaire after 10 years. ;)

I agree with the above post as to NOT try to compete on price. The Chinese got that covered. If you want to compete in a successful manner, I suggest you focus on competing on lead times. Many job shops can do the same parts at similar price, but when a customer NEEDS a job like RIGHT NOW, they will have limited resources. It goes without saying that you should also do high quality work.

Also, make sure you DO NOT extend credit, but accept payment via credit cards. You cannot buy a tank gas without paying for it first, so why give a customer $10,000 in parts hoping he will remember to pay you? The bigger the corporation, the WORSE this behavior. The guy needing the parts is NOT the guy paying for them unless he is waving his VISA card. ;)

Yes I do want to make more money than I make now. and I will not have $2M to start with!

The reasons I want to start my own shop are probably similar to the reasons you all had/have I want to make more money. I want to make the decisions! I want to be my own boss. I want to make parts that I am interested in. I know that at first I will likely be making parts to pay the bills but someday I want to take my hobbies interests and inventions and make them.
 
I think starting your own business is a great idea, everyone should give it a shot at least a few times. I have worked for myself for years, every now and then I get a job to either learn how to do something or because I am flat ass broke. I always cant wait to quit that job, I have only held a job for a year or so before going back on my own. The first thing you need to do is go get machines then get them set up. Try to start in your garage if at all possible. I wouldnt even think about job shopping that is brutal, make a product. By making a product you can focus your cash on machines that will do exactly what you are going to do and you will get real efficient. A job shop, you are buying machines so you can do other peoples work for less money than someone else with better faster equipment. Forget the fantasy of 6 months living expense, the fear of hunger and poverty is a great motivator. I financed my whole business on visa dont put it on your house unsecured debt is the way to go. Dont get a bank loan they want security. I ran my cards up over a 100 grand a few times and have always managed to pay it off eventually. If you go down in flames at least you wont be homeless, that would piss off the wife. You will know pretty fast if working for yourself is for you, you have to be delusional with confidence and have no fear of total failure. I made 300 bucks one year when my first business tanked.
Very inspiring! thank you.:cheers:
 
Make your inventions and hobbies first forget the other peoples parts. You will make more money and have less stress doing your own parts. Being the lowest bidder on a contract is like being the biggest loser, I used to work for a machinerey dealer, that is how I got all my machines, we would go to shops that were the lowest bidder on contracts all the time. We were there to buy the equipment when they lost the contract to a lower bidder. This is the only business I know of where you buy better faster machines that cost ass loads of money so you can charge your customer less money. This last recession cleaned out all the job shops most went bankrupt. But now you have lots of guys with cnc mills in their garages doing job shop work cheap and you will have to be as cheap as them if you want the work. Make a product and hire them to do work for you.
 
First you need to decide on the type of shop you want and if there is a need for it and if its something you have what it takes to run.
There could very well be a need you do not want to fill.
 
i agree with potter...i lied i am doing what potter says. Make your own product. Rt now i pay some one else to do all the work and i shuffle paper work. I am pritty much doing it for free right now, but i have built up business and have talked a few distributors that are interested when i can get my monthly qty up. When you get to the point you will know exactly what kind/size of machines you need. I have talked with many many many different shops and they way they would do it and why... little did they know i planned on taking it in house (garage) eventually. It's been about a year now and i am closing on a house for my shop and am looking at equipment. It's a long process but you get a lot out of it. Id say making the products is the easy part its the paper work and drumming up clients that is a pain in the rear.
 
Remember when dealing with prospective customers that the machining world is incredible small and somebody almost always knows someone or has heard of a particular shop. Always treat customers with respect and dont waste peoples time. Time is valuable.
 
I know you dont want to hear it. But the chances are incredibly small you will make more running a shop then working at it (if you are a good employee). Just ask forum member rockfish.

Not sahing you cant make money. But it takes an overwhelming amount of time and energy (and frankly luck) plus a enormous amount of capitol.
 
The final net income may be the same, and could well be less than the day job for many years. But if you are good with numbers, having more $ move around, even if it doesn't stay long, opens up certain financial opportunities.

But quite frankly if I was to start over and wanted a bigger shop with employees and all. I would jump through every hoop I could find to get every possible grant and free $ from the gov and whatever programs and schemes possible. It's how most companies do it up to the billion dollar ones that have been running for a 100yrs, so clearly there is no shame in it. People who make $ rarely invest any of their own.
 
Yes I do want to make more money than I make now.
....
I want to be my own boss.

I can agree with part one.

As to part two, you never get to be your own boss.
You will find you have traded one boss for a whole bunch of them.
They are called customers and as a group it can be very hard to keep them all happy.

Most of all get some business training
, local college classes and such.
I can't stress this point enough.
This is the area where I see most machinists that become owners fail.
You need to understand profit/loss statements, government rules, cash flow, etc. (the list is endless)
This side is more important to success than knowing how to make parts.

I've run shops from 150 men to 1 person (me) operations. I think the sweet spot is around 8-15 people.
Bob
 
Hi there. I have a goal to own my own shop someday.

It will be a while. I currently have a great job that I plan on staying at even while I start to get equipment and a place to start.


What I'm wondering is...
What should I do first?
what would you have done differently?
how big or how small to start?
How do you find work?
how do you quote jobs?
What questions should I be asking right now?
+ so much more.

I know these are very vague questions and some of you will probably laugh and say just stay where you are its too hard etc. but I know that I want to try to do it so you can save those types of comments. I just want to get the conversation started.

Thanks so much to anyone who takes the time to talk to me!

Nick

What do you know about BUSINESS ??? or Bidness??? I'm guessing NOTHING... get a BA in college

What do you know about ACCOUNTING?? if as above... better pay real good attn in that Biz school or have a good bro in law that is a CPA

What do you know about SALES ?? you better learn plenty

WHat do you know about machine tools ??.... you can hire people that know them, they'l cost you a lot $$$

I could go on....and on... but will close with ONE last question.... WHY ??????????
 
I had no business training and it has hurt me I have made some major mistakes over the years, there are things that have come up that I never anticipated, luckily I have had some sharp people to ask. Get a real accountant they are helpfull and try and keep some books. I never kept any and I got clobbered with taxes because I had no deductions or alot less than I should have. That has all been taken care of and business is good, I dont mind writing checks to the accountant and the book keeper after what I have gone through.
 








 
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