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hey everyone, my name is brandon, im going to school to be a body shop tech. i plan on starting my own custom shop sometime soon. so if you have any advice about doing so, feel free. thanks

you've found a great car site. Your starting off right with getting an education in the trades, from there things will blossom as you gain experiance. Being self employed for 12 years the best thing I know to tell you is to work like a dog and always put out the very best product you are capable of. Pride in your work will get you ahead and make you feel good too.

Originally posted by midwestcustoms
hey everyone, my name is brandon, im going to school to be a body shop tech. i plan on starting my own custom shop sometime soon. so if you have any advice about doing so, feel free. thanks

Gotta agree with brickman_. Work hard & do the job like you future depended on it...Cuz' it does...... and bite your tongue when dealing with customers. There's been a few times oever the years I've felt like telling a customer to .......[Ao CA<OSfk f...... only to find out they are friends with or related to a good customer. It's a small world after all. Actually the bad ones are far and few between. If you treat them right 9 times out of 10 they will treat you right too.

Brick and Pro gave you some very good advice, take heed. Only thing I would ad is don't try toget to big too soon. I started out and wanted to build ultra trick stuff right away, only to discover it was necessary to repair a lot of farm equipment, lawn mowers, etc. etc. along the way to keep the bills paid.

People will be somewhat reluctant to pay for your services at first until you have a reputation established. Your first project may well be something of your own so you can play show and tell when potential customers come around to visit.

Keep a photo album around the shop to show people your abilities. Never put down someone else's ideas or work to a customer, like Pro said, you never know who your or talking to.

Rather than try to incorporate everything you would like to see on a car, listen to the customer and make sure you understand what his wishes are. Nothing turns someone off worse than having their ideas put down. If what they want to do is totally off base, tell them politely why it won't work, and what will work.

Don't oversell. If all the guy wants is frenched in lights and antennas, don't try to sell him a chopped, sectioned, and channeled job. If he wants a subtle blue and white 2 tone on his 56 chebbie, don't tell him he's an idiot if he doesn't go chrome illusion!!!

Welcome to CHR
Would add one bit .. To prove quality and craftsmenship--be proud to have your name associated with whatever your project.
As Dave said..Reputation is everything.
One final--Attitude, not apititude, that determines your alititude.

Congrats on choosing a good field and having the sense to go to school to get some good basics. Now, having said that I'll share my views. As someone who recruited and hired young guys from body shop tech schools don't make the same mistake I've seen too many make. When you graduate, you'll know enough to become a good apprentice, not a seasoned, experienced journeyman. You'll still have a LOT to learn. The BEST apprentice I ever had still needed three years of daily, on the job experience to get up to the level of good. Most took more, including some who improved very little. And I always teamed the "newbie" with a high skilled journeyman so they would learn the "tricks" (not really tricks at all, but just wise methods of improving the process). It's tempting to get the big head and think "you know it all" when you graduate the class, but in reality, "you don't know what you don't know". Treat learning as a lifelong practice and you'll constantly improve your skills, no matter how good you think you are.

As for starting your own "business", the guys above have given you some good snipets of advice. I would just add some more perspective to give you lots to think about. In part it depends on what you mean by "business". If you're talking about you, by yourself in a couple stall situation, you're going to work real hard to draw in customers. Hint: people aren't waiting down the street for you to just open your doors, and when you do they'll come flooding in. You need to build a rep. That's very hard even for experienced guys who are known, much less a fellow who's just starting out in the industry. Far be it from me to rain on your parade. Being self employed (don't get too romantic about that "be your own boss thing", you always have bosses...........they're called customers) is very gratifying, and if you're a smart business man (extra duties sometimes far greater than those done while wearing your technician hat) you'll also make a darn good living. And depending on how much of a business you really will be you're going to have to comply with a bunch of regulations imposed by any number of government agencies. At a minimum, depending on your local situations, you'll have the environmental people, taxing authorities, fire department, and some little sneaky things the city you set up in wants to impose. Just for example, here in Washington, every small business falls under the rein of 58 sets of regulation administered by 25 agencies. Perhaps a good approach for you would be to work for someone else at first, hone your skills and learn a bit about what's required to operate a business. Most businesses fail because the front office stuff wasn't done right, not because the back shop stuff was bad.

When you do run the show, keep a guiding message in mind. One I like is "Under promise and over deliver". You make your customers a whole lot happier when you do the job better than they expect, faster than they expect, and at the price you quoted (or that you kept them apprised of necessary increases because of unforseeable "problems" with the vehicle).

One last thought. In the customer hierarchy of importance (and this applies to almost every product and service out there) price usually falls in #4 or 5, unless that's the only choice you give them (which is the mistake that too many businesses make). And that's not to say you can rip people off. But most people, whether they can vocalize it or not, are looking for VALUE. If they feel they're getting their money's worth they are happy. What that means is, if you do a good job of teaching them why something costs what it does, they'll happily pay whatever the toll is as long as they feel you gave what you promised. Whenever I hear a prospective customer ask about price before anything else, what I actually hear is; "I don't really know what the difference between what you're selling and what the guy down the street is selling, so I'm assuming they're the same and therefore only price matters". Now, if the guy down the street is a hack, they're gonna get ripped off if they choose him, and since in their mind all you guys that do the same thing are the same , you're a hack too. All those body guys are!!! So, if you spend the time to educate them as to why you offer the best VALUE, and deliver that value, you can charge a fair price, even if it's higher than the hack down the street.

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter

So, if you spend the time to educate them as to why you offer the best VALUE, and deliver that value, you can charge a fair price, even if it's higher than the hack down the street.

Well said Bob, That seems to be the universal language in any business.

Originally posted by pro70z28
Well said Bob, That seems to be the universal language in any business.

Yeah pro, it is. Unfortunately it's all too often not understood by either customer or supplying business

thanks alot guys, my eyes are alot wider now. I took my first test yesterday, and i only missed three! cool huh?!

laterz

Originally posted by midwestcustoms
thanks alot guys, my eyes are alot wider now. I took my first test yesterday, and i only missed three! cool huh?!

laterz

Congrats...Continue to be a sponge for knowledge!