The economy finally got me

[Stutz320]

What a day. One of our contracts was not renewed Jan 1st.
There is no way to stay afloat without it and no way in this
economy to replace it. So it looks like it is time to close my
shop. I would like to scale it down and keep it open with one
other guy but it might cost me less to just close it and go fishing.

 

[Adam]

Real sorry to see that. I wish you the best of luck with your situation. If it turns into fishing...enjoy the moment.

 

[jonnythan]

That sucks dude. What kind of shop?

 

[haraldo]

Really sorry to hear......

 

[j_garcia]

Sorry to hear it. Small shops are definitely feeling the hurt these days.

 

[psbfan9]

I hope you can figure something out to keep your shop open.

Good luck.

 

[avliner]

Sorry to hear and wish you luck

 

[Stutz320]

That sucks dude. What kind of shop?
Sorry to hear and wish you luck

Thanks guy's


Started off doing car repair then added working on boats. Then I got into building
shipping crates. Landed a good contract for 4 years. Started cleaning things up today
and put a few things up for sale. Only had two customers today, 1 oil change and one
brake job.

Things will work out, I pulled the plug before I got into debt. I lived well within my
means so I am not going to sweat any bills for now. I will be out fishing soon!

 

[highfigh]

That sucks dude. What kind of shop?
Sorry to hear and wish you luck

Thanks guy's


Started off doing car repair then added working on boats. Then I got into building
shipping crates. Landed a good contract for 4 years. Started cleaning things up today
and put a few things up for sale. Only had two customers today, 1 oil change and one
brake job.

Things will work out, I pulled the plug before I got into debt. I lived well within my
means so I am not going to sweat any bills for now. I will be out fishing soon!

Depending on where you are, you should be able to make a lot of money working on boats, assuming you're near water. Certain types are poorly cared for by the owners, usually because they're too cheap to pay someone to do it wrong fro too many years. Ski boats are especially badly serviced by dealers because they see a ski boat owner as rich & stupid. These dealers don't send their techs to training and then keep raising their labor rates for the sole reason that the guy down the street raised theirs. They have no other real justification for it. Boat dealers are notorious for paying their techs poorly and that causes them to leave, unless the tech is freakin' amazing and willing to argue for their pay. If you know GM fuel injection, you could get a job working on boats anywhere, if you want to work for someone else. If you want to go back to servicing boats, the need for maintenance never ends, which you already know. Make your skills known and get the word out there.

 

[deedubb]

Sorry to hear. I would have thought there was always enough work to go around when it comes to stuff like this. Can't you reduce your labor charge a bit to undercut the next guy? A local mechanic does a radio talk show where he answers caller's questions about cars. This is a great way to promote his shop. What about doing a deal on one of those "Groupon" sites?

Best of luck to you.

 

[Stutz320]

A two years ago Thursday - Sunday it seemed like every third vehicle
had a boat behind it. Now it's like you never see them. I went by the
lake the other day at lunch. On a normal day you would see 7-9 boats
out. I saw one. If people can't afford to use them they don't need to
be worked on. They will when then next guy buys them but who
knows when that will be.

Undercutting others prices isn't always an option. At some point you are
working for free or paying the customer to work on their vehicle. Where I
live a guy was going door to door . He was looking to make a few $ doing
yard work. The neighbor across the street showed him a bunch to do and
he said to be fair he would do it and haul the trash out for $15 an hour.
My neighbor told him the economy is bad and she would pay him $5 an
hour. When he told me that I said " If you want to burn her house down
there is a lighter in my truck, just be sure to wipe my finger prints off of it".
It was a hot day so I gave the guy an 18 pack.

I have a friend that can get me in where he works. Pay is ok, stock and
medical is ok. I can always do side jobs at my house. But first I am going to
take a few weeks off.