Fiskars cheap!

[charlesfarm]

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread to realize there were actually two different products. :redface:

Zogger: "You don't have a small engine shop now?"

I work a full-time desk job during the day and opened up my shop three years ago. I love working with my hands and had a lifelong dream of owning my own repair business. I used 4k of my own funds to open it up and didn't borrow a dime. I was open 20 hours a week, evenings and weekends. I was a DOLMAR dealer, Authorized Briggs Dealer, and carried Oregon and Fiskars. I worked really hard to provide the best service around and earned my Briggs Master Service Technician. Just about every dollar I brought in, I turned around and put right back into the business in either inventory, better tools for my shop, or improvements to the store front. I ran free chainsaw maintenance clinics in the fall, teaching my customers chainsaw safety, how to maintain their own saw, and how to properly sharpen their chains. They showed up and got free sodas, cookies, coffee, a two hour seminar and a packet of information on chainsaw safety and maintenance ... and a free chainsaw chain keychain. I bent over backwards for my customers to give them what they needed and to start building my name. I did everything in my shop from tune-ups to complete rebuilds of old Kohler K-series.

I closed the business down this year. I realized that in order for this shop to become my full time job, I was going to have to continue to work both jobs for about ten years to build up enough of a customer base to quit my day job. 80 hours a week was going into my day job and the business. Even when I wasn't working, I was researching more stuff for the business. My customers were literally getting all of my free time and my eight kids were getting the crumbs that fell from my schedule. And it was beginning to show ... I felt like I was growing away from them. I sat down with the family for a meeting. Every single one of them said that what they really wanted was more of Daddy's time. Shutting it down was a no brainer. Most of the inventory has been sold off. I've still got about 2k in Briggs and Oregon stock, but plan to put lots up on eBay to liquidate it. I have kept all of my tools except for the Neway Gizmatic valve grinder.

Zogger - my advice? Start small. Build it up little by little so you don't owe anybody a thing. I agree that a repair business can be good in bad economic times, but a lot of people think a mower they bought for $125 should not cost more than $15 to fix. PM me if you want any more advice. If you're interested in some parts to stock, I've got a bundle and can give you a good deal.

 

[zogger]

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread to realize there were actually two different products. :redface:

Zogger: "You don't have a small engine shop now?"

I work a full-time desk job during the day and opened up my shop three years ago. I love working with my hands and had a lifelong dream of owning my own repair business. I used 4k of my own funds to open it up and didn't borrow a dime. I was open 20 hours a week, evenings and weekends. I was a DOLMAR dealer, Authorized Briggs Dealer, and carried Oregon and Fiskars. I worked really hard to provide the best service around and earned my Briggs Master Service Technician. Just about every dollar I brought in, I turned around and put right back into the business in either inventory, better tools for my shop, or improvements to the store front. I ran free chainsaw maintenance clinics in the fall, teaching my customers chainsaw safety, how to maintain their own saw, and how to properly sharpen their chains. They showed up and got free sodas, cookies, coffee, a two hour seminar and a packet of information on chainsaw safety and maintenance ... and a free chainsaw chain keychain. I bent over backwards for my customers to give them what they needed and to start building my name. I did everything in my shop from tune-ups to complete rebuilds of old Kohler K-series.

I closed the business down this year. I realized that in order for this shop to become my full time job, I was going to have to continue to work both jobs for about ten years to build up enough of a customer base to quit my day job. 80 hours a week was going into my day job and the business. Even when I wasn't working, I was researching more stuff for the business. My customers were literally getting all of my free time and my eight kids were getting the crumbs that fell from my schedule. And it was beginning to show ... I felt like I was growing away from them. I sat down with the family for a meeting. Every single one of them said that what they really wanted was more of Daddy's time. Shutting it down was a no brainer. Most of the inventory has been sold off. I've still got about 2k in Briggs and Oregon stock, but plan to put lots up on eBay to liquidate it. I have kept all of my tools except for the Neway Gizmatic valve grinder.

Zogger - my advice? Start small. Build it up little by little so you don't owe anybody a thing. I agree that a repair business can be good in bad economic times, but a lot of people think a mower they bought for $125 should not cost more than $15 to fix. PM me if you want any more advice. If you're interested in some parts to stock, I've got a bundle and can give you a good deal.

Wow, thanks for all the advice!

Ya small. My bike shop, I wasn't a dealer for anything, just sold rebuilt junkers and did repairs. I did a real good job on the rebuilds though, full repainting, all clean and shiny and new looking.

Becoming a dealer for anything..I looked into it, too much of an expense and PITA. I *did* have the pleasure of hand building what might have been the first "mountain bike" on the east coast. There were guys on the west coast working on them during the similar time frame, but there weren't any for sale at the time (70s)

Never made a nickle on it and to make it worse it got stolen, but still..heckuva ride I had!

Stopped doing it when I moved and had all my tools and bunches of other stuff in a storage unit that got heisted by management. They claimed I didn't pay them which was bollocks, they got thousands of bucks of stuff just for breaking the lock. I had my bike shop rig in there, tools and stand, my personal bikes, my original shotgun and .22, personal stuff from when I was a kid, all my jewellery making supplies and leather working tools and supplies (did all of that, nice winter business when bikes slowed down), my good books, al sortsa stuff..poofed.

Just went on, worked other jobs, just got the itch for a shop again now that I am older and already semi retired.

Anyway, good luck, hope you can keep your hand in it somehow..even with the EIGHT KIDS!

man, you a frisky boy aincha? HAHAHAHA

I follow the economic news and more in depth analysis all the time...repair shops will be coming back bigtime, just watch it happen. And people with low enough expenses so they don't have to charge a lot for repairs will be booked up all the time.

Thanks for the stock offer..I don't have much in the way of spare loot now (Well, zero actually, I'm just a live onsite farm hand with a token small salary and a cabin), spent 1/2 my meagre Christmas bonus on a wad of used cheap saws and some like fuel line and filters and stuff, all cheap. Hunnert bucks. Whoo whee, big spender ain't I!

The other half went to my rescue doggies and kitties. You got kids, I got critters!

Lemme see, right this second we have 7 doggies, five barn kitties, three house kitties, one sorta roaming all over kitty.

So I can seriously relate on the "feed budget", the "vet bills", etc, plus the TIME to give them all individual attention. The TIME adds up and they all want all of it I got to spare.

Ha! No big clothing bill though!