Hello Folks, I am thinking to open a shop to sell dozer parts. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated? Have a safe day.
Looking for recommendation to open a dozer part shop. Thanks in advance. Hello Folks, I am thinking to open a shop to sell dozer parts. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated!! Have a safe day
I guess my first question would be why? Unless you have some captive customers that will be buying large and constant quantities from you within a small region, I don't see how you could possibly compete with the big guys on internet and the OEM dealers. What's your background and experience? What's your plan? Where will you buy your inventory from, do you have a large warehouse to sell out of, forklifts, arrangements with truck freight companies, etc.? Half a million in the bank to cover inventory and working capital I would think as a minimum? Not trying to discourage you exactly it's just that the reality is not pretty out there, everybody and his brother in law sells heavy equipment parts.
Agree 100 % what lantraxco has said above. However the trick I stumbled on yers ago was have a customer base that needs oddball parts. Farms, small contractors running machines that are way past their prime, and other oddball mchine customers. Now you need to find the source for these oddball requests. Everything gets done over the phone and you never put your hands on anything. I bought 6 D-9g transmisions from a guy in the midwest years ago. Before any money changed hands, I had them all sold and ready to ship with my address on the shipping tag. When the dust settled, everybody was happy with the deal and if I remember correct my take was around $4,000. Not a bad check for a few phone calls. Parts on hand cost a lot of money and chances are you won`t have the right part anyhow. Good luck.
Thanks all for your kind response. I had worked for two cat deallers for more than 5 years. I notcied that the price is high due to lots of management cost. Some small contractors neeed parts with competitive price. If I open a shop, my price should be lower cause I don'thave some many managers. I want to started with U/C parts such as pins, bushining, links, shoes, etc. that are always to be changed out. I don't have lots of money, I may start from D5N, D6T that are popular model. I know some of our folks at the forum have lots of experience. I will appreciate it very much for any comments and suggestions. :salute
Where are you going to source these parts from? They will have to be aftermarket. If you don't have lots of money, don't start with UC. That's the high dollar parts.
I would start with some research first. Who will you be selling to, and what equipment do they have, start with consumables, teeth, cutting edges, hardware, the things they need now, tonight ,tomorrow morning to get to work, that's where you will build a client base, large items like undercarriage will bankrupt you, there is no loyalty, bottom dollar sells on whole thing, stock a couple pins and bushings, seals , pad bolts, adjuster seal kits, ect, you can make a buck if you can get them going. We have salesmen all over selling stuff, gotta wait a few days cause they stock nothing , they make a few phone calls and mark it all up, years ago they saved you some money, gave a week or to to pay, now its money up front and they make all the profit. They show up with a pallet of parts that they picked up at the loading dock, and it is usually wrong or junk.
Overworked, SchuLace and all, thanks for your kind response. UC needs lots money. I agree that consumables are good start.It is a good point. I am doing some researching at the local small contractors with dozers/graders/excavators to find out info to guide my inventory. I may have a manufacturer to make these parts such as cutting edge thickner than OEM parts with high-grade wear materials to increase part durability. Any thoughts? Thanks again.
A lot comes down to logistics, I don't know how remote it is up there, if we order by say noon we can have most truck freight next day or day after, with internet and credit cards you loose money if you inventory, most Caterpillar dealers don't inventory much, it all comes from local distribution, truck runs every day from there to stores. Stock order might be one week, guaranteed for morning add 5%, still not using there money, you pay when picking it up, getting your own edges, better quality? Then they last longer, you sell less and stock more, and the day they want it if you don't have it they get it somewhere else, I'm not trying to talk you out of it, just trying to show you my side, as a independent mechanic business I get to here and see it from all angles, the scale between cost of credit and the amount of interest you make on your money is not equal. Be very careful and remember no loyalty or friends in business.
I try to stock some stuff for what we work on just to keep the jobs going smooth and you don't get backed up waiting on small parts, its very tough. Dealers will do specials on under carriage to get them in the door, free install, ect.
Yes, I am trying to find local manufacturers. I am also doing some research on what kind of consumables are mostly be changed out by customers and how often. This may benefit my part preparation and reduce my stock. Thanks a lot for Overworked and all folks' valuable comments.