Throwing in the automotive towel

painted600rr · July 24, 2012

not sure if I will ever be able to give up auto due to the area I live in, but congrats TJ.

im thinking this as well. I wish I could just do just fg sometimes but I do very little of it now.

slipperyfrog · July 24, 2012

is going to only fg the tint worlds idea of a retirement?

well auto is not my idea of retirement...

July 24, 2012

Retirement consist of climbing in and out of nasty ass back seats? Dealing with low ballers in every direction? Defending yourself against the $99 tint job? Your retirement is not going to be easy if you ask me. Now, I make more money and spend 90% more time at home and dont work on weekends. I'm far from retiring, but at least im going in the right direction. SA, you got it all wrong, But to each's own. I like to see more and more ppl getting into flat glass, as long as your not in my area.

TintJunkie · July 24, 2012

Being a small operation, just my wife and myself, it just made sense getting rid of the overhead that retail auto sales only sometimes paid for. There were only 3 or 4 months out of the year where the retail auto paid the over head and left some profit, but yearly it never did. When we added in the dealership acct, we made a small gross profit after all expenses.

What kills me is, we didn't take a better look at it sooner. I will end up losing great cash deals, but I will be saving well over$3k a month with everything factored in as it is today. If I go back to last year when I had a full time auto guy, I would have saved twice what I will today. I feel kinda silly running my biz like that for quite some time.

Now to figure out how I will do my taxes. I am losing quite a high write off, so I will have to be more conscious of how much more to put away for the large check to be written.

Anyway, I feel as though a huge burden has been lifted. I will now have more time, and money, to do more advertising (or, actually advertise, as we haven't all year), and hopefully fill my Saturdays with resi/comm jobs instead of lining up 5 or 6 auto jobs.

Thanks for the support fellas!

July 24, 2012

Thats exactly how I felt and am thankful of it. As far as the taxes, thats another story.

Roach · July 24, 2012

not suredevelops ll ever be able to give up auto due to the area I live in, but congrats TJ.

im thinking this as well. I wish I could just do just fg sometimes but I do very little of it now.

Everyone and each area is different..... gotta do what is best for your situation.

600rr - depending on what your area is like, you could be in the ideal situation to develope a larger market for FG. It's just a matter of coming up with a viable plan and following thru on it.

Congrats TJ!

FBO · July 24, 2012

All the best to you and your family, I'm sure you will be more happy working out of home

TomTint · July 24, 2012

TJ, I got rid of my shop back in 2000. It was a little scary to walk away from it and the cash that came in from it. Looking back now, I wish I had done it sooner. I had spent years juggling auto/resi/com and trying to build a strong repeat comm base. In the beginning I would sometimes go a few days without a FG install, and took easy cars or real good previous customers with new cars. Now, the seeds that were planted in the comm market sprout more and more every year. I'm happy for you, good luck.

tint_detective · July 24, 2012

Same here, I quit tinting cars about a year ago. The only tinting I do now is flat glass.

Although our upholstery business has grown nearly out of control. And have little time for much else at the moment...

Good on Ya, TJunkie, hope it works out well for you... :thumb

Counterpart · July 24, 2012

Anyway, I feel as though a huge burden has been lifted. I will now have more time, and money, to do more advertising (or, actually advertise, as we haven't all year), and hopefully fill my Saturdays

no matter what, it is not a happy decision for any tint shop operator. However what you said is so true; sometimes we need to let go, so that we can move on.

Regards, fat