Thread: Thinking about opening a small engine shop.

I am not sure if this is the correct forum for this but I am sure the moderators will move it if it is not.

I am thinking about opening a small engine lawnmower chainsaw shop in Wahoo NE. t is a town with a population of about 4000 and in a county with a population of about 20,000 people. Two nearby cities are Lincoln and Omaha both within a 45min drive. There is currently 1 small engine shop in town but their prices are high and service is poor. I have heard more than once from a customers of theirs that they will not be doing business there again. They deal Johnsred and Ecco for chainsaws, Toro for lawnmowers, Tecumseh and Brigs for small engines.

This question is for the small engine shop owners here at arborist site.

Do you think there is room for two small engine shops in Wahoo?

What kind of new revenue does the typical small engine shop take in annually?

I am lover of quality so I would like to become a Stihl dealer and a Husqvarna dealer as well as some less expensive saws for homeowners wanting to clean up after a storm. I would also like to become a Honda power equipment dealer and maybe a less expensive brand for people who cannot afford Honda. What does it take to become an authorized repair center and an authorized dealer with Stihl and or Husqvarna?

Thanks
Adam

Stihl = Very difficult
Husky = not as hard
Dolmar = easy

At least thats what the impression I get. I have a friend that owns a shop. He used to be a husky dealer, now just Dolmar. I think If I was trying to start a new shop, I would start with husky or dolmar, and then try to get stihl after I was established. This could be bad advise. Stihl rules the woods here, and most back yards to. Business would be better here for a new stihl dealer than any other. May be you should try for Stihl first thing.

If you have the $$$$$$$ stihl / john deere dealer.

If not, maybe Dolmar / Toro dealer.

Husky might be the way to go, since you can have one line and it covers everything you'd need snowblowers, tractors, saws they have a complete line. And have husky you'd be able to service all Craftsman mowers too and trust me there are ALOT of Craftsman mowers.

Unless you have a fair chunk of capital or a good line of credit you will not have a setup that will give good service either. Unless your business fills a demand that is not presently being met, you will be fighting for a portion of the existing business. One thing to know is a given that amongst the first customers you will get is the ones the competition considers deadbeats. If the other shop genuinely has poor management you might be able to take advantage of the situation but it is easy to misjudge the real cost of doing business to arrive at proper markups. Inventory is expensive to support. If you are doing it just for the fun of it, it will get old quick. Get some good financial advice and be aware of the amount of thankless paper work that is involved with a business. A lot of people that are mechanically inclined are not the best paper pushers or customer relations. It is possible to be the Jack of All but often there are some hats that Jack does not wear well.

Size it up well, but be cautious; make sure you are not wearing rose tinted sunglasses.

Well after that resounding vote of confidence He might as well go jump off a bridge! What a buzz killer!!!!! Go ahead and do it what's the worst that can happen you don't make your payments and the Govt. give's you some of that 589 billion $ bailout money.

My father owned a lawn fertilization and new lawn installation business so I have had exposure to what is involved in running a small business I also have uncles who are professional business men and marketers. I am good with customer support, my fathers customers always complimented my father for that.

The paperwork is not something I would be looking forward to but I will do it if it means a better income for my family than my current job. I do have a good friend at my church that is a honest business man who works for a major transformer company I will be talking to him for advise.

My initial plan was to start repairing tuning and sharpening saws and lawn mowers out of my garage to see what kind of interest I can get then go from there.

I have been sharpening chains with a grinder for myself and my friends far about a year now. So far I have been happy with my work and so have my friends.

I have a feeling the with the economy the way it is there is going to be fewer people paying to have there lawns mowed and maybe they will be buying used lawn mowers the need service.

we started the garage 11 years ago 1 thing you must must must consider
you are not just selling and repairing you are an account payable riececvable
bathroom cleaner inside outside biulding maint computer person you get the
idea and you don't get any profit from those.We had good luck we did side
jobs for years and ran another shop witch is most of our first customers
came from we took money from side jobs and bought about everything we
needed .And DO NOT TRY AND BE CHEAPER THAN THE OTHER SHOP.
I could go on if you want to talk give me a pm and i will give you my number
and the best advice is someone on here who has a small shop like you want.

Originally Posted by 1stmale

I have a feeling the with the economy the way it is there is going to be fewer people paying to have there lawns mowed and maybe they will be buying used lawn mowers the need service.

Definitely looks like with the economy the way it is, fewer people will be able to have lawns.... or the house either.

Dan

Originally Posted by Crofter

Unless you have a fair chunk of capital or a good line of credit you will not have a setup that will give good service either. Unless your business fills a demand that is not presently being met, you will be fighting for a portion of the existing business. One thing to know is a given that amongst the first customers you will get is the ones the competition considers deadbeats. If the other shop genuinely has poor management you might be able to take advantage of the situation but it is easy to misjudge the real cost of doing business to arrive at proper markups. Inventory is expensive to support. If you are doing it just for the fun of it, it will get old quick. Get some good financial advice and be aware of the amount of thankless paper work that is involved with a business. A lot of people that are mechanically inclined are not the best paper pushers or customer relations. It is possible to be the Jack of All but often there are some hats that Jack does not wear well.

Size it up well, but be cautious; make sure you are not wearing rose tinted sunglasses.

Good post ! Make sure you make a small business plan just to check the $$$ you need during the first year.

Best of Luck to anyone who opens a small business. I had an electronic repair shop for years. Seems like the mentality of people today is through it away because they don't want to pay for your time. Replace a bent crank on a small Briggs for a mower and then check close out prices on new mowers and you'll see what I mean. Sounds like you know what you are getting in to so go for it.

Dennis

to make that work you have got to have capital, premises, selling good quality products with dealership status, proper labour rates that are competitive- not cheaper, get good advertisement, go on training courses ans sell products that you have belief in. the cheaper range stuff ,well people bin them when they break or dont want to spend on repairs.
stihl want too much control and they like to call the shots. perhaps huskey or jred are better. hondas are good quality. toro also. we have simplicity ride on they are great quality and good to workon. j.d. ok. but number one is - you need capital to make a good go of it. thats my advice.

I think I will start by just doing saw and chain maintenance. I will also do lawn mower sharpening and maintenance. Are there any buying groups that I can use to get chain and parts?

Originally Posted by 1stmale

I think I will start by just doing saw and chain maintenance. I will also do lawn mower sharpening and maintenance. Are there any buying groups that I can use to get chain and parts?

That can be a problem, I honestly can't speak for small engine/saw parts, but I had a small motorcycle shop back in the late 80s and you would'nt believe the hoops you have to jump through to get hooked up with parts distributors.

Just for openers, you must have a store front (with a sign) and be open to the public full time, have an ad in the yellow pages, send them pictures of the inside and outside of your business, fill out a credit application, a list of other parts distributors you've done business with...and the list goes on and on, it's a major PITA. And none, not one of them will sell to people working out of their home shops - you can forget it. But maybe the small engine parts people are'nt as strict ???

You also have to think about zoning, a good friend of mine got in some deep s**t over this when his do-gooder ex-cop neighbor turned him in for working on motorcycles out of his garage. Good luck!

Give me a P.M., I can give you some help on your questions. Most of the
brands you mentioned will no sign you up unless you have a shop in place
and making it work, which is fine, as you don't want to take on any brands until you are ready, and a common mistake that guys startng up make is
taking on too many brands. You can usually still purchase parts for many
brands without being a dealer, but not at the same dealer price, but still
at a "discount". You will need to get a sales tax number at the least to start.

If you have no small engine repair experience, the start will be real bumpy.

You might want to work at a shop for a year or so to get your feet wet.

Nevertheless, shoot me a p.m., I can be helpful. Also you might think about attending the expo in Louisville., You can get in if you pay at the gate, and
that will get you in touch with everyone in the biz, except Oregon.

Plan for failure. The things that go right take care of themselves.