shop

i am asking you experienced shop owners out there i am pretty new to the tinting i am certified well i took a class i can shave edges do back windows one piece but still have alot of problems i myself can do 1-2 cars a day have done about 25 cars so far but could use practice yet and i have been looking around for shops and i found only one that comes remotely close to my price range 1200 a month w/ uttilities and i only have about
7500 saved right now for a shop and was wondering if you guys could give me advise if i should wait to get a shop or if i should jump on it now before someone else takes it the shop has a nice office w/a big garage 2400sq ft ive done alot of looking and research for about 8 months now i have all the toolls etc.. except film stock i have 2 glass tables radio advertisement for a gift cert.or 2 i just want to be sure it is going to make it and i dont want to lose everything there are 2 other shops here but one is never open 1-2 days a month and the other is well known butniether can do one piece back windows nor shave edges what should i do? wait and get more practice or say screw it and ope

welcome to hell, it's going to get alot hotter if you open a shop.

Here's my honest quick answer...If you were in my neck of the woods with that kind of experience..you'd be shut down pretty quick.

However...judging by what your saying about your competition..sounds like a goldmine opportunity, what I would do is work under somone elses name first..cut a deal with a graphic or glass shop that doesn't already offer it..made money ..and mistakes there...once you get more confidence..and a little more back -up cashflow...strike out then...the best in your area..

where's that thread i made a couple weeks ago for guys wanting to open their own shop?? the one about the "little things" that no one ever thinks of?? this guy needs to read that.

s
You haven't got a clue what it takes to open a shop and keep it going. You yourself said that you are still having problems, so you should work on your quality and speed before biting off the expenses of a shop.
You might also think about mixing in a few periods or commas in your post. We aren't a bunch of English majors but take a breath.

asked for help not all the mouth
and u all started somewere also

mouth=honest opinions, if you don't want them dont ask.

Is this what you want to hear?

"by all means open a shop, nothing to it, good luck"

that's exactly what he wants to hear.

yeah, we all started somewhere guy. and it wasn't going balls first into a shop without several years experience. i had 10 years in before i opened my own shop.

the main reason i want to open a shop, is the other 2 shops seem to not care.
In the end my work looks 5x better.They claim to be tinters both,of over 10 years
and ,i now have to redo what they did

Yogi,

The ability to tint 6 cars a day every day is only the start.

In the world of skilled labor there are divisions in the workers.

Apprentice

Journyman

Master

There are more in between for some, like doctors. You describe yourself as a late apprentice. You need to get to the Journeyman stage, which like a resident doctor, you can go to a facility and perform most all functions while under supervision. A true Journeyman can go from shop to shop and fill the position with little assistance. A master can create from nothing a whole shop. Careful the speed at which you advance yourself. With a little luck and the right environment a Journeyman can become a self taught master tinter, but the master level is not about the tintwork anymore but sales, management, logisitics, planning etc. The simple skill of tinting can hold your doors open of course, but the inexperience in the other areas of business can get you closed down.

Good post Tintcutter

thanx,for the advise maybe i will think about it more.

yep, good post.

Sounds like a lot of negativity. You gotta start somewhere so maybe it is time to start up your own shop. A few things to remember:

You are gonna lose money for a while

Never let a job leave your shop poorly done. Word of mouth is everything. In business school they told me that a person will tell 7 people about a good job and 21 about a bad one.

Make a business plan. This is vital in starting(and maintaining a business). You can find many examples online. The SBA has a good one. Your business plan may tell you that it doesnt make sense to go into business. The point of a business plan is to get you to think about every facet of your new business.

I make a new business plan annually with specific goals for the year, quarter, and month. When business is slow the goals arent centered around money, but rather about other things I can try to improve., like talking to a certain amount of businesses about trying my services.

Good luck, and dont spend a penny until you have a plan.

Those are all good points carwasher, but you forgot the most important one. That is, to have an exit strategy. You have to ask yourself what happens if this fails? At what point would I have to pull the plug?
You feel that it's alot of negative feedback that was given to Yogi, but another term for it is realism.
Do you honestly think he is ready to start his own shop when he admits he's new to the business and only has $7,000?

I started my shop with six months experience and $8000. Seven years later I have seven employees and a six figure income.

It can be done, just make sure that you are prepared to struggle.
My 1st year i made $16,000. I couldnt come close to living on that now, but as a young single renter I was able to get by.

There is a great likelihood of failing in your new business. Most new businesses do fail. But, as a proponent of small business, i hope that you can figure out a way to make it.

75% of new tint shops fail within the first 2 years.
Make sure you count the cost.

Wow.. is that a correct figure?? 75%?

Sounds like a challenge to me!

Remember that episode of the Simpsons when Homer and Bart are going to water ski.. and the guy in the booth says to Homer that you can't drink and drive the boat at the same time... He goes "That sounds like a challenge!" and takes off. LOL.

I'll tell you what.. I started my flat glass business 6.5 months ago after doing it for about 3.5 years, and while *I* think the startup costs would be different then auto, a day doesn't go by that I worry, to some degree, about being able to make this work.

Then I come on here with my fellow tinters and I'm glad to know I'm not really doing this alone.


I don't remember if you said how old you are, but if this is truely something you want to do in your life, I would strongly suggest going for it... but wisely. Get a job at a shop and get your skills up. Plan while you are working there - be it saving money or whatever. Have a definate, but flexible, time table of when you want to try and go out on your own.

You can make it happen. And if 75% fail within two years, that means 25% don't. Just put yourself in that group in stead of the other.


RoAcH

I think alot of good point where made here. but ill put my two cents in anyway. for one buddy the worst thing you could do is open a shop with little experience. like someone said a good job will get around alot slower than a bad job. and since you have allready admitted that your not that good yet. your going to do alot of bad work. so from the get go your going to have a bad name. and you dont want to try to start up your own business if your not prepared. what i did was i worked for a guy for three years as a helper. then i quit and started doing work for detail shops. because i knew i was not realy good enough to compete with the other guys out there. and the bad jobs i did and i did do them. went against the detail shop i was working at not me personaly. after i felt comfortable with my work. i then and only then opened my own shop. but not only did i get the learning experience form the other guy and the detail shops. i also got business experince. like learning what cost efective meant and how to handle unhappy cutomers. so take all of our post's how ever you like but in my own personal opion if you open a shop now you will end up falling on your face

PIE knows first hand what he is saying.

this is correct. however, that's of the remaining that didn't close the 1ST year. 90% of businesses fail within the first year.

Go for it...All or nothing I say.

It has worked for us.

You will need more experience. Not being mean but 25 cars is not enough time to jump into a shop

You still haven't even smash a heat gun in anger yet and the tint biz is in the winter




At 7500 saved you'll be broke in 3 months. You don’t just open the doors and have people standing there waiting for you. You still need Film, a Phone, and your pay to add in there (among other things). Make a wish list of very thing you need for the perfect shop in your mind. Then figure what that costs. Then start cutting it down to what you can afford. Then figure out what you need to make per day or week to keep the operation a float. You’ll see it’s EXPENSIVE to run an operation




1 piece is pretty much standard deal now and customers dont care about shaved edges IMO

The best advice I can give you is start slow get your name out there build slowly but surely. Glass shops body shops car dealers car stereo stores ect

dude do wut i still do. i dont HAve a SHop. ALL I HAVE IS CONTRACTS, DEALERS.

YOu need To Get Car Dealers. You need to Get Auto Glass, SOund&security, bodyshops, Car Detailers, ETC. YOu dont even need to Advertise. ALL i have is a Small Garage. and i only get 3 or 4 cars a month from retail. every thing else is Dealer Work.. in the Begining if you average 3-5 cars a Day. ITs good . then Then Go to shops and dealers. and Try to Get more Buisness as Possible. YOU dont need to Open up a SHop.(well here in NY, i dont know about your area). I have only seen like 5 Retail SHops in Ny(longisland,brooklyn,queens,manhattan,bronx )


most of the Tinters here they do is Dealer work. becuase those dealer advertise for you and they pay all the bills them selves. all you have to worry about is Gas.

Start with Mobile Tinting. Thats the best way to Go.

VOGI...open up your shop if that's your dream.
I started w/ less money than you & now 3 years later I have 4 employees plus myself & do pretty well.

Just start slow & only do 1 or 2 cars daily so that you do a good quality job & not get rushed. You will build up speed over time but it's hard to rebuild your reputation so just go slow up front.

Good Luck & stay on the board here, you'll shorten your learning curve greatly w/ the folks on this board.

get a van to work out of. Do mobile. See how it goes, find a shop willing to let you work in Ex: glass company, stereo shop,your mom's garage. Anything but a 1200.00 a month payment. That's a lot of cheddar for just starting out.

I opened a retail location when I got started. Six months later I was broke. I realized that I never have customers come to my location. (of course we don't tint cars so this may not apply to you). By working through a glass company and using a home office I was able to keep over a thousand a month in my pocket. When you first get started that 30 days goes by fast....then it's time to pay the rent and bills again. Keep it lean the first year. Keep that money in your piggy bank each month so that you can make a judgement call later on whether to open shop or not.