Quote:
Originally Posted by Fullsize455
What part of California are you in? I spent most of my life in the bay area, having left a year and a half ago, and that was not my experience AT ALL. Yes, there are plenty of guys like you describe running shade tree under the radar garages, but there were also tons of above the board, established repair businesses of all types that continued to do very well. I am still friends a few shop owners out there who all echo the same sentiment, they simply cannot keep up with the demand. Many people are justifiably afraid of going to a shade tree type, so the legit businesses still get PLENTY of work, especially if they've been around a while.
I'm not trying to disparage you or speak on your experience when I know zero about you, your business or location, but my distinct impression is that a halfway decent shop in a halfway populated area should have no trouble whatsoever making ends meet and then some. The guys I know who are still running shops there are making good, even great money. Unless you're out deep in the sticks or on major ghetto/druggie land, I can't see a properly run shop having any trouble keeping the bills paid.
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Bay area is a whole different story. Most people over there simply aren't allowed to work on their own cars, have the space or even the knowledge. I'm over the hill from the bay area in Modesto where there is plenty of space, residential neighborhoods with large garages, rural areas, and about the only place you can't work on cars is a lot of the apartment complexes. I have a few customers that know how to work on their cars and would if they could, but live in apartment complexes. There's shops on every corner out here, and the tough part is having a higher end shop with a good safe location, good insurance, good equipment and excellent customer service is crazy overhead. About 25 - 30k a month. Don't get me wrong, we have a great customer base and I have about 400 regulars I have to feel bad about now, but bottom line is that when I once had 3 - 4 techs out in the shop, I've only had 2 for a lot of years now and half the time only have enough work for one. other times we get enough work for 3 or 4, which is another issue...you lose customers because they get pissed that you can't get them out in a timely manner and start going elsewhere.
Also, we have been "making ends meet", and most likely could pull out of it in time, but back to my original problem - We just found out we got screwed on the 2nd we took out against our house to buy the business in 2007 and it's a balloon loan due in 2022. No way to deal with that. They say that you normally redo the loan if you can't pay in full, but that won't happen either with the credit card debt. It's all not sustainable, so why not cut our losses now?