Newbie looking for advice

[S4twiggy]

hi my name is grant and im looking to start my own business after being made redundant last month.

ive always wanted my own business and in the last 5 years i know wot i want to start it in and that is the car tuning industry. i have been an Audi fan for some years now and i have an Audi S4 which has been modified and uprated. its safe to say im mad on my car and all cars in general so i think its time to start something and work in the area that i love so first id like to ask advice from you guys about how i go about starting my own business, its going to take time but if i can get myself clued up on the basics of owning my own business then i can work from there. i need advice in how to do a business plan and where is the best place to get funding for this type of business??? help me out guys with your knowledge of business.

cheers
Grant

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What do you want to do with cars?

Sell used cars?

What experience do you have?

[S4twiggy]

hi silveston, im looking into offering tuning aspects of a car such as light weight alloy wheels, uprated suspension kits, performance enhancing upgrades to the engines i.e turbos, cooling, filters etc. styling upgrades for cars aswel everything you need to enhance your car and make it better. i will also offer a detailing service where you will be able to get your paint on the car corrected and back into shape aswel as cleaning the car into a show spec car ready for events. id love to work in this field as it is wot i love, i will mainly specialise in Audi's and VAG cars but i will hope to cover everything. i have no experience in owning my own business but i have the knowledge of parts and first hand experience in how the work and how they should be fitted so im pretty clued up in that area its just the business aspect i need to get my head round. if i was told and shown how and where to get parts from(direct from manufacture) and how to approach these manufactures then i could start to get things rolling i.e business plan written up. eventually if i was able to have a successful business then i would expand into other areas where id like to go into.
hope this gives you a better idea of what i want to achieve.

[Stretchy]

You do understand that most upgrades to modern cars actually make them worse, and slow them down, dont you? Are you a trained mechanic?

[S4twiggy]

wot do you mean make them worse mate, and how do they make them slow? im not a trained mechanic but thats not wot im offering.

please elaborate on your response as my S4 is certainly not slower than it was and it handles alot sharper and firmer since the upgrades it has so im struggling to find a problem with enhancing a car as there are alot of people who will strongly disagree with you.

[Stretchy]

I know there are a lot of people who would disagree with me mate, most of them are 18 years old and think their car is amazing as they have stuck an exhaust, K&N induction kit, dump valve and Koni adjustables on their car.

If you want to be offering these kind of things as a business, you would find yourself very quickly out of your depth if you are not a mechanic. Unless you have a rolling road to dyno the cars and are capable of such things as changing cams, porting heads and re-mapping, any mods you make will be very superficial and unlikely to make much difference to the vehicles.

Not meaning to be intentionally negative mate, but doing mods to your own car is very different to charging people for it. Most modern cars are set up in such a way that they offer the best compromise between comfort, performance, economy and safety. messing about with any of these factors has an impact on all the others. Performance tuning makes very little difference to modern cars unless you make very drastic changes. Have you had your own car dyno'd?

[Ranks]

What ever you decide on, once you have a product or service make sure you get on related forums and build up a reputation - you can add links in your signiture that can be a good source of sales to get you going.
If you can buy products at a good price, you may find you can start by retailing on ebay and later your own ecommerce site.

I'd suggest you start 'brainstorming' - get paper and pen and make a spider diagrame of everything the business will sell/offer, and build it from there. Some of your ideas will not be possible due to cost for example, but you'll come across other ideas during your research. This will form the basis of your business plan...

Good luck mate!
Jay

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I'm not really a car person, but I expect most people will go to a mechanic for this type of work?

I would advise that you do some market research in your area to understand how much business you can do in your area?

Is it viable for full time work?

How much of an area can you cover?

Is there any competition in your area?

How much would you charge?

I hope this helps.

[S4twiggy]

i get what you are saying guys but this is just an idea of mine and thats why i want to get advice to see where i can go with my ideas.

stretchy- i have had my car dyno'd mate and dont worry im not one of these 18 year olds who drive a ford and think its fast because it has an exhaust, im all about offering tuning uprated products to people, im not saying im going to start up my own garage and start bolting kkk turbos to any car that comes in. i want to offer people something that will make their car better and safer. im not sure wot you drive mate but any car can be made better than when it comes out of the factory. i appreciate all the advice you have given me and ill take it on board but like i said...these are ideas so keep them coming people. i have lots of ideas in my head so just trying to take things one at a time. cheers

edit- obvioulsy a R/R would be great but that can come in time if i was successfull at my business. id need to be trained at first but im willing to learn and know alot of people in the tuning industry

[OldWelshGuy]

Your problem is investment, and experieince. Ok so oyu love cars, but TBH I wouldn't be comfortable passing on my £40k pride and joy to anything other than someone who I am 100% convinved knows what they are doing.

I always used the same rolling road guys in Talbot green to do my work for my competition car and my own car. So my guess is that it is going to be a massive uphill battle for you. This is one indistry where social media will benefit you beyond belief. http://fs4b.wales.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?site=230 is the Welsh Assembly's site, for small business help. if you look to the left there is a tab for startups (that'll be you') :)

Get in touch, and for free they will arrange to have a chat and talk through the viability of your idea, and also offer any help.

How old are you? if you are under 30 then you might get help from the Princes trust . the advisor will talk all that through with you though

[Stretchy]

i get what you are saying guys but this is just an idea of mine and thats why i want to get advice to see where i can go with my ideas.

stretchy- i have had my car dyno'd mate and dont worry im not one of these 18 year olds who drive a ford and think its fast because it has an exhaust, im all about offering tuning uprated products to people, im not saying im going to start up my own garage and start bolting kkk turbos to any car that comes in. i want to offer people something that will make their car better and safer. im not sure wot you drive mate but any car can be made better than when it comes out of the factory. i appreciate all the advice you have given me and ill take it on board but like i said...these are ideas so keep them coming people. i have lots of ideas in my head so just trying to take things one at a time. cheers

edit- obvioulsy a R/R would be great but that can come in time if i was successfull at my business. id need to be trained at first but im willing to learn and know alot of people in the tuning industry


In answer to your question mate, Caterham R500 among others, and no, you couldn't make it any quicker. Seriously though, I think your business idea needs some work. There are opportunities to make money offering the services you are thinking about, but I cant see why someone would use you rather than a qualified mechanic. Feel free to pm me if you want any more info.

[LicensedToTrade]

You do understand that most upgrades to modern cars actually make them worse, and slow them down, dont you? Are you a trained mechanic?

And drastically up your insurance premium

[Stretchy]

And drastically up your insurance premium

And invalidate the warranty.

[OldWelshGuy]

My chipped Saab turbo was a dream though :D

[thedesigntailor]

Old Welsh Guys:

I think Princes Trust is up to 25yo.

You still driving the Saab?

[thedesigntailor]

i get what you are saying guys but this is just an idea of mine and thats why i want to get advice to see where i can go with my ideas.

stretchy- i have had my car dyno'd mate and dont worry im not one of these 18 year olds who drive a ford and think its fast because it has an exhaust, im all about offering tuning uprated products to people, im not saying im going to start up my own garage and start bolting kkk turbos to any car that comes in. i want to offer people something that will make their car better and safer. im not sure wot you drive mate but any car can be made better than when it comes out of the factory. i appreciate all the advice you have given me and ill take it on board but like i said...these are ideas so keep them coming people. i have lots of ideas in my head so just trying to take things one at a time. cheers

edit- obvioulsy a R/R would be great but that can come in time if i was successfull at my business. id need to be trained at first but im willing to learn and know alot of people in the tuning industry

Probably not what you are talking about but I need the motor on my Z4 replacing.

[S4twiggy]

i think your getting confused on what service i want to offer, im not and by no means offering mechanical services where i fix cars im just offering products and advice on what is best to get. thanks for all the input and i need to think hard about what is best to get into first. i mostly deal with valeting cars and get alot of cars ready for show and shine at events so that is what i wanted to do at first but there a few business like this around my area offering a wash for £5 and my service is considerably more than that and it would be hard to compete against these as most people who are joe average just want a car washed and thats it, i do most of the car enthusiasts but they are in the minority.

[Stretchy]

I dont think it is us who are confused. You said in your earlier posts that you would be offering services such as suspension and turbo upgrades. Yes these kind of upgrades are 'bolt on' but you do need to know what you are doing.
I would say personally, stick with washing them and let someone else get involved in modding them.:)

[Jim2k]

I tend to agree with whats already been said. If I was going to get my car remapped or new springs put on or even alloys changed Id want a fully qualified mechanic doing it and Id expect them to be able to show me the results via rolling road or whatever. If you are just going to sell the items themselves and not fit them then Id guess you would struggle to beat internet prices.

Sit down, think hard about what you can offer and whether people will want it from you. Speak to some business advice agencies and then draw up a business plan.

This thread may be a bit negative but its honest so take it on board and best of luck.

[Michael_Fogg]

I'm going to throw my twopenneth-worth in, and will try to be a little more up-beat than some of the other respondents here.

Good on you for being proactive, and thinking about a business that you want to start up. If you're between 18 - 30 years old, then you could benefit from getting in touch with the Prince's Trust -have a look at their website and search for their Enterprise Programme. This provides support on developing your business idea to see if it's viable. I think with some work, it could well be.

You can contact them on 0800 842 842.

Good luck!