My New Workshop.

Pleiades · Unread post by **Pleiades** » 11 Jul 2009, 22:11

As most know I have after a while hunting, got a new workshop, it has been a bit long in getting there as I wanted to keep within the village boundrys of Sawtry as I have other commitments that keep me tied to the village and surrounding areas for most of the time.

Of course there will be a warm welcome if you are passing Sawtry on the A1M (jct 15) You will not be press ganged into buying a new pump for your car, or a flaring tool, but you are welcome to pop in and use the loo or even drink our tea and if you have a packet of biccies with you, you will be made even more welcome!

Still no sign on the front wall yet but there is one on the side that you approach the building from.

Regards
Martin.

Click to enlarge

Unread post by **admiral51** » 11 Jul 2009, 22:17

Hi Martin
Glad to see you have got your workshop up and running

Any particular brand of biccies

are we talking top of the range or will any that are indate suffice

Congratulations

Colin

XantiaMan · Unread post by **XantiaMan** » 11 Jul 2009, 22:23

Thats lovely, do you mind me asking how much that is costing per month all in? At some point i will be considering a static site to run along side my mobile work, that way the weather wont affect me and i can do bigger jobs.

Pleiades · Unread post by **Pleiades** » 11 Jul 2009, 22:42

Anything with chocolate on or in will do.....

The cost of any workshop aint gonna be cheap, it all sounds cheap in talk when you look into it, but once all the cheap bits are added up together it works out that you need to earn about £800 to £1000 per month before you start to pay wages or yourself.

The business rates are the killer, but this one is excellent compared to my last one. This workshop is £140 per month for rates and my last one was just up the road and cost £1000 per month in rates.

Then you need the mortage or rent, electric, gas and water, then it's oil disposal, oil filter disposal and general rubbish disposal (no the council bin lorry wont take it) then you need insurance.The list just goes on.

But I am going to concentrate on the posi sides, I have met a lot of great people whilst working with cars and felt that most of my customers have become friends, you can never have too many friends, especialy when they supply the biccies.

Regards
Martin.

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 11 Jul 2009, 23:13

Glad you're getting it sorted.

It would be good to see regassing have a greater leg-up in the UK; due to diminished lines of supply and high prices here it is nearly always the better choice.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 11 Jul 2009, 23:20

is your business rate after small business discount Martin, as that is -50% on your first premmisis, andf non on any over that

i do agree with the 800/1000 a month though,

then you get clowns asking how you justify 30 quid an hour,

if your a one man band you spend a lot of the time talking to customers regarding there car problems, and the rest of the day chasing up the parts,

dont take any notice of me going on, im just feeling the sqeeze at the mow

regards malcolm

DoubleChevron · Unread post by **DoubleChevron** » 12 Jul 2009, 05:56

Looks good

Are you going to be working on cars there or just selling parts ?? (my tiny little shed appears to have more space to work on cars

).

seeya,
Shane L.

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 12 Jul 2009, 11:38

For the benefits of you garage owner guys let me give you some suggestions to getting your parts quicker and more importantly right first time.

Getting parts quicker
1, Firstly try to get the same driver on your route from your preferred supplier. Ask for his drivers mobile number and call them to chase your bits, not the shop. Drivers waste alot of time stopping at garages smoking and having chat to the garage guys, this lengthens their run and delays your parts delivery. If chased direct they tend to get on with it. Also, often they are able to restructure their routes to move you up the ladder so to speak, but wont do this unless prompted by you the customer.

2, Secondly, speak to your parts supplier and tell them you have started ordering some bits from another supplier whose deliveries are out performing theirs. You dont want to switch suppliers so are flagging this to them beforehand.

How to get your parts right first time
1, Dont presume the parts guy knows what he is on about. Often they do, but little things like OE numbers off the old unit or diameters of discs and clutches on french cars help ID parts quicker. (Also whether vented or solids on discs).
Other useful info for parts guys...On french brakes, the make of the braking system fitted to the vehicle, Bendix, Lucas Girling, whether the pads have a central spring or "ears" and the shapes of rear wheel cylinders...either round or oval.

Running a parts supply business and serving my garage customers over the years i am happy to say we always get rave reviews for accuracy and customer service, i do demand though that my customers bully me to do better and feedback things they are not happy with.

Some behind the curtain info on "certain parts suppliers" who will remain nameless....knowingly booking out the wrong part when they dont have the right one in stock to tie the customer into them whilst they source the right one from somewhere else then apologising and shipping the correct one later on. (very naughty)

Having a stash of OE supplier make boxes without the stock and sticking cheap chinese parts in them and shipping them as that make and charging for the OE brand....(again very naughty)

This info above is designed to help you garage end users get better service from your suppliers..

Of course if you dealt with me in Liverpool (which you cant due to territory rulings within GSF) then you wouldnt have to chase your stuff or worry about it being right

Good luck with the new unit.....and Malcolm, speak to your parts supplier and get them to refer business to you. I do this alot for some of my customers and probably point 3 to 4 customers each their way each week. This is in their benefit as you then hopefully will spend more money with them

A parts supplier and a garage should have a two way working relationship....not just give me your money for parts

falling-out-with-my-car · 12 Jul 2009, 13:20

Pleiades,

If you don't have a use for your old LHM then I could take it away for free if you like, then again I expect you know what I'll be doing with it.

regards Nigel.

MikeT · Unread post by **MikeT** » 12 Jul 2009, 20:30

I've always admired people that work for themselves and often aspired to doing so myself but somehow never managed to get the books to balance, so it surprises me how ANY business can make a profit when you consider such costs as you've detailed - as you say, all that has to be paid before you can consider giving yourself a wage! And it has to be paid month in, month out whereas income can fluctuate wildly.

As such, you have my bestest wishes for a prosperous future, Britain needs companies like yours. WE NEED companies like yours.

nick · Unread post by **nick** » 12 Jul 2009, 21:07

Great news

I remember you did some work on one of my BX's in the mid 90's and I was always very impressed with your work and reasonable prices.

Pleiades · Unread post by **Pleiades** » 12 Jul 2009, 21:22

First of all, thanks to whoever shrunk the pics down to fit properly, I suspect it was Jim, who is so obviously better with computors than me!

As for some answers to a few comments.......

Addo. I would be interested to hear if you have the same conclusions as me, this is that re-charged spheres last longer than new, my theory is not just a business ploy but works on evidence of what has been pressure checked after so many years of service, I am sure that this is because a sphere diaphragm seals against the top of the sphere rather like a tubeless tyre, after re-charging this seat is better and so the sphere lasts longer. The only problem that we have with re-charging is that folks tend to leave them too late and the diaphragm is damaged rendering the sphere useless.

Vince, I totaly agree with your comments especialy about parts supply being more than bits in exchange for cash, we sometimes spend many hours of our week advising folks and not even getting a sale from it, but this is just all part of the service.

Shane. We are working on cars, the unit is longer than it is wide and there is enough room in the car bay to get a car on the lift and work all around, there are another 2 workshops for overhauling parts, toilets and reception area. The problem is here in the UK, we cannot just put a large shed up in the garden and work on cars for cash, there are too many rules and regs.

Nigel. Yes I do know that my truck will run on filtered old LHM

shhhh.

Thanks to all for you good wishes and comments, I do like to meet people so please pop in when yer passing.

Regards
Martin.

Unread post by **myglaren** » 12 Jul 2009, 21:47

Vince, I totaly agree with your comments especialy about parts supply being more than bits in exchange for cash, we sometimes spend many hours of our week advising folks and not even getting a sale from it, but this is just all part of the service.

Thing with that is that it is one of those intangibles. You can never be sure but it could well work the other way too, your parts suppliers could well send business your way if you are on good terms with them and they know that you do a good job at a fair price.
Hopefully anyway.

All the best with the new premises.

I almost wish I had something broken to send for you for repair. (Almost!).
May well happen one day.

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 13 Jul 2009, 09:46

I almost wish I had something broken to send for you for repair. (Almost!).

It does feel a bit that way, when you find someone trustworthy.

I'm unqualified to speak about spheres other than general observation, Martin, but at local prices regassing is a no-brainer. I can do the whole six on a regular Xantia for £58 plus LHM. Comparatively, that would not even buy me two of QH's "LIP" brand units.

KP · Unread post by KP » 13 Jul 2009, 11:23

I wouldn't be wasting money getting rid of the oild engine oil and so forth Martin, I'd be using it to either heat the workshop or the workshop and the hot water as you cna find plenty of info out there on how to do it, just run the oil thru a .5 micron filter to get rid of the worst nasties and away you go. Some people frown on it but it only gets filtered and tipped at some point anyway, better to use it to cut your running costs down as heating is one of the bigger bills in a workshop during cold periods i would imagine

Looks nice too not too big and not too smal for starting out with and room for some expansion as well i would imagine.