jacksonpt

A buddy and I have been tossing around the idea of opening a 4x4 shop. If it was done right, I know it could do well in this area. I am a relatively small market, so reputation and word of mouth would be key. The nearest 4x4 shop is about 2.5 hours away. We got talking about it a little more seriously the other day when we were changing my brake pads, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

So my question for you is 2 fold...

First,
What would it take for a 4x4 shop to earn your business? What kind of expectations would you have? What would it take for the shop to earn your trust?

Second,
What types of services would you expect the shop to be able to perform? What services would be absolutely necessary (i.e. installing lifts and mounting tires), and what would be nice (i.e. fabrication for bumpers, sliders, cages, etc.)?


Help me think this through.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Jackson, Central 4WD is a pretty successful 4WD shop.
A shop like this needs to be able to install the stuff, so a good mechanic would have to be hired.

I don't think Central does brakes, that kind of stuff is best left to other local shops or dealers that specialize in it.

But Central carries a lot of stuff like nerf bars, bug shields, lockers, ect, that customers do not want to install themselves.

For example, I ran into trouble when Jim & I tried to put my ARB bumper on.
The instruction sheet failed to include a very important step on removing a hidden metal piece so the bumper would slide in.
So I took it back to Central, and they put it on for me.

So a shop would have to be able to install most things that you sell.
If you got into custom fabbing of stuff such as sliderz, then yes they would have to be installed too.

I would think though if you had a shop, you might get overwhelmed with orders for making the stuff and keeping up with demand.
That is where all the other shops come into play where we have been buying our sliderz from.

But even if a customer bought the sliderz from these fab shops around the country, perhaps you guy's could install them.
You'd have to have a couple of mechanics on the payroll, as well as a good welder.
Perhaps the welder could fab up stuff also if the demand called for it.

Also the shop should have many of it's products on hand for display, and easy 1 day access for gear needed for a customer if you don't have it.
We have many warehouses in WA. state where the local 4WD shops get their goods from if they don't stock it.

One thing about my state is we are blessed with 4WD shops everywhere.
I have 4 good ones all within 20 minutes of my place, and they all do the installs of anything they sell.

Also a very upto date website showing what you stock, and do would be helpful too.
Then later on add mail order to it after the shop has been open for awhile.

Hope this helps a bit...

Cebby

First - Demonstrations of Knowledge and Integrity... and reasonable prices (you don't have to be the cheapest if you are good) Don't try to compete with internet pricing - charge a REASONABLE price and back it up with service after the sale...

Second - The ability to fab stuff is certainly appealing, but I say don't bite off more than you can chew at first. Bumpers, lifts, tire mounting - pretty much anything that is a little beyond what the shadetree mechanic would want to tackle - then expand from there. Gearing setup/locker install would be a good one to consider - if not at first, maybe the first time you raise the bar...

Good Luck!

I know what you are going through - I've been thinking of working out a deal with a buddy of mine to produce my bumper and slider designs - now I can't stop thinking about how to make it work...

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I am a stickler about where I buy my stuff, any stuff. I give a business one shot, so first impressions are of the utmost. If I go to a business and nobody offers to help me within a reasonable amount of time. I leave and go elsewhere.

Businesses that have earned my loyalty I am fiercely loyal to, such as my tire guy. He treats me right so I bring him all my business and refer my friends to him. Any business that I frequent has earned my loyalty for several reasons:

1) First impressions, this is where you live or die. If I don't feel like I matter to them as a customer, then they don't need my business.

2) Service what you sell and sell what you say you service. If you say you sell it, have it in stock or can get it the next day, and then when you do sell it, service it to the utmost. Go the extra mile for every customer. A business without satisfited customers doesn't have a business long, but satisfied customers tell others!

3) Never compromise integrity for profit! I've seen a lot of once high integrity businesses that were built on sweat and hard work go down the toilet when someone else bought them out and got greedy and tried to live only by the reputation. They quickly went bankrupt when customers figured out what was going on. You can NEVER get back your GOOD reputation. Once it is gone, it is gone. Take Kennesaw Mountain Accessories. I have not heard one good thing about them on yotatech, so there is no way I would ever do business with them no matter how good a deal it appeared to be.

As far as starting a business, start with a few things and do them with EXCELLENCE and then add other things, but only as you can do them with EXCELLENCE as well. Have all the right people in all the right places before you go for it as a 4x4 shop. Nobody wants half-ass products or service.

My 0.02



Brian

FirstToy

a small business is hard work and most fail. The problem is not dedication but no business plan.

corey is right- keep it simple. Do what you know you can do best.

Don't look at different services as services. Look at them as a new business. Go into the business of rock sliders- what does that take to be the best rock slider business in your area?

If someone comes to you and says, "can you make some bull bars?" You should say no. Come here for the best rock sliders. After that, think about going into the "bullbar business"- what does it take to be the best bullbar business in your area? Invest time and money for each aspect of your business and it will grow but you need a business plan.

Start simple and focus on customer satisfaction and quality. Those are the only reasons for people to use small businesses over a "supermart". If you don't, you've already lost.

Krash

I got a few things that I've learned the hard way from pretty much every 4wd place in the area. They are the reason why I will 99% of the time order everything off of the internet because I don't want to deal with them.

1) Just because you like a certain vehicle don't be a butt head when someone drives up driving something other than the brand of vehicle that you like. I can't count the times that I've gotten crap for driving a 4cyl toyota. This is my experience with 4wd of louisville.

2) This goes along with what others have said, but if you say you'll do something do it. I've still got a solid front axle steering stabilizer from Moab offroad of louisville because the guy never called me to let me know it was in. Along with that he never called me back the several times that I called him to get him to order the right one.

3) I don't mind supporting the local 4wd places if they had a good reputation. The one 4wd place here in louisville that I haven't tried to do business with won't get my business. This is because he critizied my buddy for what he did to his truck and said it wasn't any good (shortened version of the story). Earn and keep a good reputation, and don't dislike a vehicle over the company that makes it, doing that will lose alot of customers.

4) Sit down and talk with customers about anything 4wd and answer any questions to the best of your knowledge. I like it when a shop will bs with you about anything and tell you how to do things. Thats a shop that I will go back to.

Most of these are obvious things but its amazing how many shops don't do it.

jacksonpt

Definitely

Flygtenstein

My humble opinion is starting small. Do what you can do little by little.

Timeliness is also important to me. It doesn't matter if someone does world's greatest locker install when it takes 3 months.

Fab work would be great, but that takes time and experience to work up to.

Would it be a Toyota only shop, or would other rigs come in?

ORS does parts, installs, fabn work and regular dealer maintenance stuff. That may be a little more than a starting shop, but that is pretty hard to beat and should perhaps be a goal.

jacksonpt

It would be a shop for all makes, but the focus would be Toyotas and Jeeps. Toyota alone wouldn't last long around here.

At this point, I'm thinking that the shop will probably focus mainly on lifts and tires. Generally speaking, lifts are pretty straight forward. With the proper machines, mounting and balancing tires is fairly easy too. With the help of someone like Randy's Ring and Pinion or Drivetrain Direct, we can regear and lock vehicles. That should cover 90% of the people who come into the shop. Hopefully we'd eventually get into some custom fab work, but that would probably be a ways down the road.

Probably also sell the typical truck accessories... bug guards, brush guards, bumpers, roof racks, seat covers, batteries, caps, etc..

mtnbkr

Do you have a business plan? If not, the local SBDC is your friend...

Do you have any experience working on vehicles in a professional capacity? Not wrenching on your buddy's jeep in the backyard, but punching a clock and having to answer to the vehicle's owner when something goes wrong or right...

Insurance, permits, loans, etc. Know what you need?

Do you have any suppliers in mind? Where are you going to get those nifty 4x4 products you want to sell? You'll need to negotiate prices and delivery schedules.

Got a lawyer? Get one. You'll need one for the contracts you enter into with suppliers, landlords, etc. You'll need one to wade through the biz laws of your area. There are more uses for a lawyer. These are just a few.

Once again, your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is your friend.

Chris

naksukow

Nolo publishes a book for every state called "The Small Business Start-up Kit for (insert your state here)" Very informative and will answer and open up many questions.

doink

the biggest thing for me is how comfortable i feel. i would make it a priority to make the customer feel welcomed and not feel dumb about asking questions. also, honesty. if something is gonna take a while, tell em. i hate it when shops around my lie about stuff

calrockx

yeah, customer service is key. treat your customers right, and they'll come back, and tell two friends. treat them wrong, and they'll not come back and tell 10 friends.

make it a shop you would like to shop at.

Robinhood150

A discount for yotatech members .

rimpainter.com

On top of great customer service, I would suggest someone who knows what the heck they are talking about regarding imports and performance. Seems like Billy Bob and his hill billy friends own 90% of the 4x4 shops out there, and only have knowledge about big Chevs, Dodges and Fords.

How about a multi-faceted workforce for once? That would be nice.

My .04.

swerks

I would expect it to be in Milwaukee Wi. and close to my house!