Ok guys, so im 26 and have worked at a cat dealer for 7 years and been in a field truck for over 3. I love my job but for the last year i've been getting really fed up with managment and the way the whole company is run in general. I really want to just buy my own truck and do my own thing. There is a ridiculous amout of logging business around here and i feel i would have plenty to do. me and the wife have talked about it many times and I have weighed the pros and cons several times in my head and still feel i would be happier going my own way. Just kinda worried to leave the security of a dealer job with all the benefits that come with it but dont know how much more of managments crap i can take. One thing i worry about the most is i have really never worked on much of anything other than cat. i know its all nuts and bolts but how do you manage working on so many diferent brands, or do you try to just specialize in one brand? Would i just need to buy service manuals as i need them? I've always heard if you can work on cat you can work on anything. Also i do have a family to support and my worst fear is that i would not get enough business for whatever reason to keep food on the table. Do you guys ever get so slow that it becomes a major problem? Basicly if you guys could just give me a general overview of how it went starting your business would be a GREAT help! i just kinda know what to expect and what i might be getting myself into? Thanks for the help!!!
I would wait and make sure i have enough in the bank account or under the mattress to pay the bills for a few months at home before i did anything. I am sure that the dealership would fire you on the spot for doing side work but it is a great way to get a little bit of a client list and get your name out there. If you can get a few contractors that pay good lined out and do their work for a while and still work at the dealership make the jump after you have more work than you can handle. The constuction industry believe it or not is pretty close nit and word travels fast between the contractors if you are good.
What about just moving to a private contractor. I started my career at a dealership and worked there for 7yrs, field tech the last 4. I hated it, mostly because of management like you. Too many chiefs and not enough indians. You had to work 60hrs a week to make budget and pay for all the dead weight overhead. Service managers underpaid and hating life. The list goes on and on. I switched to a private company, got $10 more an hour and feel like I have power to make decisions. If I have a problem I walk right into the owners office. I like it so much better.
Sit down with an accountant and draw up a business plan so you know what your overhead costs are.
Most people who start their own business are really good at what they do. They work for someone else and think, "I can do that, and make more money doing it." Which can be true, but just because we are good, or really good mechanics does not mean we are good businessmen. There's just so much more to owning and operating a business than most realize. And I would say, especially for someone who started out at a dealer. Nothing wrong with working for a dealer but you have so many other people at your disposal to do things for you, that you will have to do yourself if you're on your own. You want to do field service, you will be buying a truck, repairing and paying for the repairs on your truck, you will service it, wash it, keep it organized and paying for everything.... You will also be ordering all your own parts, that often means locating those parts because some parts man can't seem to find them. You will be doing all the paperwork, billing, collecting, dealing with the government paperwork, which seems to be getting worse all the time. And the list goes on. I started my business before I was married, and was well established when that time came. I also married a nurse who had full coverage health insurance so I didn't have that to deal with. I've been at it now for 30 years and wouldn't go back, I don't think I could go back to working for someone else. Yes, there are slow times when you really wonder what's going to happen. I think, like Deeretracks said, you might want to try going to work for a smaller company first for a few years. Generally a contractor will not be upset with you doing outside jobs, (as long as you get their work done first) and you can then begin to slowly start your own business and hopefully have a good reputation started along with some good customers. And like Dad5 said, somewhere in that time frame sit down with a good accountant and figure out a business plan, what are your costs ect. That's something I didn't do and I think it would have saved me money, maybe a lot of money, in the long run. As far as working on different brands of equipment, yes it can get very interesting at time. Especially when it's a hydraulic problem on a Deere excavator and maybe an electrical/computer problem on a Komatsu wheel loader, and you're working on them both at the same time. You may be waiting for parts for one so you go to the next. But for me, that's what keeps it interesting. It's frustrating at times but also very rewarding when the problem is solved. Yes, you will spend a lot of money for service manuals and diagnostic equipment. I buy almost all my own manuals so that when I need them, I know where they are and I don't spend extra time waiting for someone else to find them and they're clean and all the pages are there ect. But that's just the way I like to do it I'm sure others will let you know how they do it. I hope this helps and that you succeed no matter which way you choose to go. I always like to see younger guys who want to work in the field instead of the shop.
excavator, perhaps you and others that work as independents can shed a little light on how and where you get service information and diagnostic equipment.
When I left the rental company I already had a good client list built up and had about $4000 in the bank. I am happier then I was at rental company. It hasn't been all steak and tators. But it's been mostly good. If I hadn't had money saved and a customer base I don't think I would have made it 6 months.
I took the plung about 10 years ago to have my own buisness, I am very talented and versitile, can do anything from a/c to undercarriage, I must be honesst, I have to be the worst business man and book keeper there is, period. ADHD is BAD. We buy many manuals from ebay, craigs list ect, CAT ET from dealer, make friends with others in the buisness. You can do side work ( not cat ) while at the dealer. Keep customers as customers not friends and remember its all buisness. You do a job, get paid ,do next job. Lots of people will make you think they are doing you a favor giving you work, not true, there is no favor in buisness. Your wife is the best friend you will ever have in your own buisness. Don't ever forget or neglect that little piece of advice.
+1 for everything overworked said. I have adhd bad and the only thing I do is keep my receipts and give them to someone else. I have an accountant and he does all my billing, pays my bills and just let's me know how much or how little is in the bank. I used to go around with my service truck and work for $35/hr because I was just grateful they let me work for them until my truck got to the point where I was having to open the hood and start it with a screwdriver because I was working so cheap I couldn't keep my own stuff maintained. Finally I got to the point where I was like screw this and went and talked to the accountant. Now I charge 80 and still have more work than I can handle. A few guys gave me a hard time about raising my rate and I said then call the dealer, they have never complained again. The winter kind of sucks because I don't have a shop and miss out on a lot of the bigger rebuilds and stuff unless they let me do it in their shop. A lot of customers I am sure get a break on labor from me because I am so bad with paperwork and forget to write down my time and stuff but overall it is working out good. One thing you will definitely like about being on your own especially with a family is the flexibility of your schedule. Another thing is if you leave the dealership don't burn the bridge. You never know when you will need to borrow a specialty tool or something like that. Unless you plan on taking out a ginormous loan do not expect to be able to take on every job. The tools to work on this stuff is very expensive and if you go out and buy the tools to every job when you are starting out you won't be in business long Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
Thanks guys, i really appreciate the input and advise. I've been mulling this whole thing over off and on for almost a year now and think its about time to really start getting things in order to make this happen. "Lots of people will make you think they are doing you a favor giving you work, not true, there is no favor in buisness. Your wife is the best friend you will ever have in your own buisness. Don't ever forget or neglect that little piece of advice." Overworked, i think that is about the best advise i have heard in a long time. Thanks. Anybody have anything else i would love to hear it! Keep em coming!
best thing I ever did with my career was to go out on my own. one of most important things I find with being a owner/operator mechanic is being versatile, don't plan on specializing, your good customers will in fact want to use you more for random work for things like equipment which no longer has dealer support. I started with 6 months of operating/living expenses in the bank which I recommend as a goal, but I never dipped into it more than a months worth of expenses. I will only go back to payroll work if I have to, scenarios include catastrophic failure of repair which would not allow me to get insurance anymore or permanent injury that forces me to. I produced a very lengthy business plan which consisted of about 9 pages of work sheets I found in a business plan book, I review them at least every year to see what I planned and how things actually happened. another very important thing I do at least every year is calculate my net worth, I do this because one of my purposes of being in business besides independence is to make money, I find the net worth calculation to be the best measure of what I have "profited" even your taxes returns are less accurate but a good measure, if you sell an asset at the end of the year your "income" will be higher but your net worth could be less. I have much more to say on this subject but will slow down there......TIO
When I left my former job I thought if I could work 3 days a week I would be ok with it. It took me a long time to convince myself that there would be enough work to quit my secure position and make a go of it on my own. I started with 10 hour days the first week of being on my own. I then went to 12 hour days sometimes 7 days a week. It took some time to realize that I could not please everyone and had to turn down some jobs. As far as being flexible on work time I would like to think I am but if you work alone you soon realize the work doesn't get done when your not there so planning holidays can be tough. If you have a family you will have to set some guidelines or the family will suffer. I had an accountant tell me to raise my rates to cut down on work. I'm up too 100 bucks an hour now and still no complaints and no shortage of work. I know other guys in the area that charge 135 /hr but I don't quite feel comfortable with that.
Information overload!!! and I'd agree with all of it. Five years I was on my own, I only closed down to look into emigrating and moving abroad. For better work! It takes a lot of balls. A lot of commitment. And you and your family will be tested. Hats off to you and good luck either way you go and for the future.
I wish you the best of luck. I wish there were more independents around here. I've only found one, and he's yet to return my phone calls.
look into taking a business management course at your local college, or online. that way you'll have a better understanding of the paperwork end of the business
H&R Block offers a tax course also, that's the first thing to do is find a GOOD ACCOUNTANT cause he/she can make you or loose you a lot of $$$$$$$ fast as far as starting on your own. you don't say how many tools you own. you have to think insurance (even with Obama Care) for the family!!! think bout retirement how will you save for it?? I have been self employed for over 20 years & enjoy almost every second of it!!! there is A LOT of responsibility that comes with it especially since you have a family to support. Im going to say something here to give you something to think about (don't take this the wrong way either) if you have only ever worked on Cat equipment, do you think you can work on any of the older logging machines? it takes some time to develop the knowledge to troubleshoot a problem on equipment without a computer port... when you work someplace that has other techs you can make a call to ask for help. if you work for yourself theres no one to call. I think the best advice that was gave here was to start off moonlighting at nights & weekends & see if you are going to like working for yourself, get a client list built up first before you take the plunge. if you enjoy the work after 6months or have more than you can do then it might be time to leave the dealer. around this area I have saw a lot of guys come & go. some were not motivated to work hard, some were just bad business guys. others wanted the security of having a company tell them where to show up every morning to work.. its a very rewarding job & I have made a very good living at it & yes its starting to catch up with me also. wish you the very best of luck at what you decide on!!!
Thanks alot FSERVICE, i appreciate the insight from u and the other guys that have already been where im at. As far as tools go i have a pretty full service truck and dont often find myself needing something i dont already have but all the specialty stuff is company bought and kept in the shop, and i know i will have to buy all that. i have thought and considered most everything u said business wise. The part about working on stuff other than CAT is where im worried the most. I mean what do yall do when u get a call on something u never worked on? You cant just turn it away can u? Do u just locate a manual and giver a whirl? I know i cant just charge a customer for spending half a day learning how something works and then beginning troubleshooting. I guess ur right though. i need to just break down and buy me an old service truck and start doin some non cat stuff on the side and just see how it goes. I guess if i never just go ahead and get on it i'll never know!
When we start with a customer that has a piece we never worked on before, I tell them so and they make the decision, six months ago I never worked on any top drive drills, now we due, one customer just purchased a atlas copco predator series drill, and ordered another, looking forward to seeing where it goes. Just don't be afraid to ask for help, most customers are ready to spend for an hour or to extra from an independent nowing they usually get more personal and timely service than the new guy in the dealer truck.
When your working on a customers equipment, work on it as it is YOUR own piece, fix it like it is yours, customers will see it quickly and respect it. You won't fix em all the first trip out, plan it out and do the beat you can, nobody is perfect.
I am not in the mobile repair business or the wrenching business but i am a small business owner who relies on mechanics all the time. We own mostly aerials and trust me, most mobile repair guys dont know squat about them! I have a guy i use on my trucks and he will straight up tell you ahead of time that hes not versed in this type of equipment but i use him anyways because he is fair, reasonable, and trustworthy with his billing. It might take him an extra hour to fix something but i know when i get the bill he will make it right. If you know how to work on equipment in general and have a though understanding of cat dirt equipment there isnt much you cant do without a little patience.... Once your name gets around a little and people understand you are timely, thorough, and reasonable it wont matter if you arent an expert on a specific piece. The best advice i can give on dealing with customers is: Do exactly what you say you are going to do, do not leave things undone when you turn the piece back over to the customer. It seems like every guy we deal with (besides one) does this. I had a guy fix the wiring on my semi trailer a few weeks ago and he did fix it but didnt tie the wiring back up under the trailer when he was done... Its always something like that and it is not a confidence builder. From a business point of view, i would strongly heed the advice given from others. Have a savings in place!!! At least 4-6 months worth of operating expenses. Line up a business accountant, someone who has an understanding of your business. Together you can develop an expense and accounting plan. This is absolutely critical, feeling your way through this is going to cost you way more money in the long run. Keep detailed records, log everything you do before you move on to the next job. Stay organized, after a long day this is the hardest thing for me to do, but you are only making your life more difficult if you dont. This is the most important business advise i can give...... do not saddle yourself with a bunch of debt to get this off the ground!!! You arent in business to make the bank money, keep it in your pocket. From a personal standpoint, a business can take a real strain on a marriage. I have witness my dad get divorced twice and have had my own hands full with the challenges for a long time now. I have a feeling if you are a good mechanic you will have more work than you can do. Its so important to set perimeters to distinguish your business from the home life, so you dont loose everything your working for. Only you know what thats going to take! Ultimately you have to choose whether its worth it to accept a mountain of extra responsibility and work to make your life a little better....... Though decision!
I have a uncle who was a electrician, owned his own business, retired and gave it to his sons, everyone he worked for got charged, builders, cousins and brothers, everyone. "That's how I make my living". Anything else he would give you the shirt off his back. If I had a penny for every time I thought I was doing public relations to help my customer base, I could probably retire my self.
There's some GREAT ADVICE here.. I'm one of the lucky ones that can work on just about any type of fuel system.. and when I cant, I just simply say, sorry, that's not my area of expertise..and steer them "to the GUY".. HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY!! and most customers REALLY appreciate it. Another thing is WORD OF MOUTH.. It can make you OR break you.. I have 2 tractors sitting in my back yard from folks I've NEVER seen.. and 2 injection pumps on there way in the mail from folks I've NEVER met.. all from word of mouth.. they "heard" about me from neighbors or "read" about me on this WONDERFUL forum.. Just get your name out there, do honest work and be reliable.. and the rest will take care of itself. DONT FORGET>> Loggers work on the weekends, so be prepared to miss some family time... and if they aren't working.. you are.. fixing their stuff so they can get back at it on Monday.. On a personal note> I live on the water.. I needed a fuel guage for 1 of my boats on Saturday .. went to 4 different boat repair places.. 2 didn't have 1 and 2 were closed.. HOW can you run a boat repair place ON THE WATER and be closed on a Saturday?? WTH?? and NOT having a fuel guage is just retarded.. Every boat place should have a set of gauges in stock.. I wont be giving any business to those places ever again..My point is.. be available.. Good luck.. TPG
All great advice but remember that if you start out working weekends it will be very hard to stop. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Then maybe do like many motorcycle shops do and close on Mondays.
Thanks SOOOOO MUCH guys! Everyone has really helped alot in making this desision. My wife and i finally decided a few days ago to really start speading the word around and advertising the best we can and see what happens. The first few calls may just have to be done in the backyard till we make sure i'm gonna have enough to do and then find a cheap beater one ton and let er rip! Again thanks for all the input!
Right in the beginning is when you set your policy, after hours and weekends are more money, especially on Sunday. Starting out doing it on the side you will charge your rate weather its night or not, you have to go 8 hours then charge more, Saturday is a no brainer , but Sunday you better have it on the bill or you will never see it when you go full time, you can up the rates when you want to, but policy chanve is tough. If your strait time on Sunday and no overtime after eight you will NEVER be out of work, if you charge strait time all the time they will take bad advantage of you, not appreciate you when there really in need. Sorry so long, just trying to teach you through my mistakes
Overworked's theory charging overtime is decent but not the way I do it. I control when I work not the customer. I only charge one rate. If the customer wants me at night it better be a darn good reason and well planned out there is rarely a good enough reason a machine can't be during the day to have repairs done besides its way more productive. As far as weekends sure anytime at my discretion that is family time first, if nothing is scheduled sure I will work on your stuff, I mostly do less than 6 hour jobs on Weekends anyways. I played the stupid things can only be worked on at night crap on a payroll job, i would work 8 hours on something after the operator got done using it and then it would not get used for a week or more. It was usually just a power trip by a superintendent. I'm not talking about oil changes, customers don't pay me to do that kind of stuff. I guess what I'm saying is I don't give the customer the option of deciding they can have me whenever they want me just because they are willing to pay my " overtime" rate......TIO
use a billing program I use quickbooks it watches every thing if you don't watch your money you will watch it go out the door
I agree w/ OHIOFLEET.. I went out on Sunday.. the "customer" drove.. 200 miles round trip.. we stoped to pick up a hay trailer.. and then 4 more stops.. for food and drinks.. none of which were mine.. I fixed his problem in 20 minutes I had left my house at 8:30am and after loading hay and deliverying it and several "pit stops later".. I ended up getting home at 3:00 pm.. I ended up charging this A-hole 50.00 bucks and a case of cold beer.. FIGURE THAT COST OUT..lol It WAS FUN but FUN doesn't pay the bills.. know what I mean??!!
This is relevant to my interests. I've also been at a cat dealer for about 9yrs and am fed up with the bs, dysfunction, incompetence and corporate environment. I could almost make 40/wk just chasing all the machines leaving the shop and doing rework and it's embarrassing. I found a small rental/used sales company formed by a few other disgruntled former dealer employees that I'm going to work for in the meantime. I also worry about being able to get information on some of the non-cat equipment that I might have to work on and undercutting myself.
Six and a half hours for fifty bucks, I don't know how you will take this but who's the A-Hole, you will be his new best friend, next week it will be two wagons of hay. Sorry but I've been down that road, ( friends ).
LOL... Your EXACTLY RIGHT.. friends.. Friend, "hey, how about riding out and looking at this tractor for me"?? Me, "you drive.. its only 1 hr there and 1 back".. Friend, " no problem.. I'll buy the beer".. LOL...
Now that's understanding, I would help a friend, with my ADD all my customers saw I was nice and took advantage of it, now that I see it I sometimes get trigger happy when people do it or get it done to them. Overworked
A few years back, I started my own service truck but went out half cocked. To do it again, I'd make sure to get my ducks lined up FIRST. That means a biz plan, getting the right truck for the job, etc... The biggest thing to me would be making sure you had enough insurance for yourself (What happens when I get injured?....) and for property. I was working on a hydra hammer one brisk (14 degrees F) Central Oregon morning when the tank on my compressor blew apart, taking out all the glass in the mini excavator next to my truck and sending shards of wood out in all directions. I had just steped off my truck right before it happened and the concussion knocked me forward. What if I was stand next to it?. Thats when I realized that I needed to step back and reaccess the plan. My former employer came to me a couple weeks after that happened and begged me to come back and run his shop. I jumped at the chance and vowed if I ever started up again, It would be done correctly. The other pain is when a customer or two writes a rubber check. Even if they make good on it, it can set a chain reaction (Now I get late with the parts people and I cant put fuel in the truck. The last thing you wanna do is get sideways with the parts guys, cuz they can make or break you). Fortunatly my mother is a book keeper, so that helped. It pays to have a good CPA and a lawyer. The bill is worth it compaired to the headaches without them. You need to be out there turning wrenches not balancing your books. Once you get your name out there and do good work, your phone will be blowing up. And don't worry about charging alot per hour. If you go out there and get the job done right the first time, they will gladly pay the bill, even if your charging $135 per hour. A former employer told me he makes more money if all I do is sit in an EZ chair sipping lemonade all day, then if I have to come out and fix a broken down paver with 6 or more trucks out in front of it charging $65 an hour each and a crew standing around getting paid $45 each (not that he was really willing to let me sit around all day drinking lemonade).
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When someone offers to pay you now take it! I have been independent almost 20 years and I repair mainly logging equipment. With a few exceptions I have not needed vast amounts of diagnostic equipment. That's what you save for the dealer tech. Under all that crap there is just the same old engine there has already been. I have been able to repair every electronic cummins and john deere engine that has cme my way without insite or service advisor, with the exception of computer reprogramming and have had good success with the cats as well. John deere displays typically give you the code and I have a blue point scanner that will pull codes and give live data from the cummins and anything else with j1939 and j 17 something or another. Wiring diagrams can be purchased alone for the deere machines for about fifty bucks each. If you plan on working on those tigercat things they call a skidder (personal opinion)you better have the wiring diagram. There will be plenty of work for stuff you did not do much of at the dealer. Ujoints , oil leaks, tigercat wiring problems, ect. As some stated earlier raising my rates never slowed down my business. All that being said you will be selling labor by the hour and your income potential will be finite because there are only so many hours in a week . You can make a good living but getting rich is out of the question, not that you inferred that . I leaned this the hard way. Sorry for the ramble I could go on and on. I can't believe I any just found this thread.
Interesting and very true comments about the many issues faced when doing your own thing. A very large company is exploring the development of a Nationwide field service technician network. This is not a job, they are creating a platform to put you in business, providing you with the tools you need, including low cost lease of a service truck with compressor, crane and welder, painted with a widely recognizable color and logo scheme. They market your skills, find you work, handle dispatch and scheduling, handle the billing and collections, and provide insurance and warranty security. This will be your own business with all the headache work done by the company, leaving you to focus on what you do best, fix tractors and make a lot more money than from a dealer. The company takes a portion of the billable service, but you will make 2-3x a typical dealer wage. They are currently looking for a few qualified field service technicians to serve on an advisory committee - helping to define what real techs in the real world need to be successful. Qualified and interested parties should send their resume or description of experience to [email protected]
Sounds kind of like a franchise. How big of a portion does this company take?
It is STILL working for the man. You NEVER make good money working for someone else. I've been independent for 29 years...……...no going back to slavery for me!
That’s what I was getting at.
Seems like Caterpillar or Deere or any other factory store provides that. Without the low cost lease for the truck. Sounds suspiciously like a hourly gig and you can pay for the truck!
If it sounds too good to be true......
A fully loaded service truck and all my scheduling and paperwork taken care of? Seems legit to me! Now they probably just need my social security number and bank account info to get the ball rolling!
With only a one time upfront fee. They say snap on franchises are only around $250,000-300,000. You just have to buy a new truck and the inventory. Then there's nothing in your way. The sky is the limit. No one holding you back. I can teach you to sell real estate, with my proven system. How to always make money in the stock market. Once you have other sellers working for you, just sit back and watch the money roll in. Make your money work for you. Even better- let other people's money work for you. All your dreams will come true, unicorns and fairy dust and pink rainbows.
It will not be a franchise, but an online platform like Uber. It hasn’t been determined yet how much the platform will make per billing.
For now we just need your feedback and questions.Thanks
A lot of "what if's" in a deal like that. The company will want as many mechanics out there as possible, but in reality there are few good ones capable of performing the work. If many of the mechanics bearing that widely recognizable logo are giving poor service, the good ones will be carrying the poor ones on their backs. Reputation is important. Who do you want to be associated with. A service network like that is a good idea if the tasks are simple, like installing garage doors where most any monkey can memorize all the procedures, but truck/equipment repair is getting more complex daily while humans are getting dumber and lazier.
Of course the screening process will be very, very important - as an example, just for cars on www.yourmechanic.com they only accept 5-10% of applicants. But assuming just 20% of the technicians out there are any good (and I believe it’s much higher than that) there 40,000 good technicians today. We would never go for volume, only quality. And each tech gets rated by the customer, and new customers see all those ratings. The best techs rise to the top and get more business. The worst techs are voted off the island by the customers. We pay by the job, not by the hour
The major OEM's do not hire techs,they have dealers for that and that is an hourly gig
Also risky. Not every tech is a heterosexual White male, and when you screen out any of those who aren't, for any reason at all, your legal team will tell you that you just made a grave mistake.
Worked Independent on top of working at a garage full time. Worked Second shift Lead mechanic then during early hours(3am to noon) would work contractor duties. Had agreements to work on down machines local quarry group, also did welding and custom truck work out of my home by appointment or emergency. Had set up my business through a Legal Beagle to get it as right as possible, he aligned most everything taxes, fees, license, contractual agreements when needed where if a company would not sign a contract for price, hours available and agree to rates then deal was off. Wrote off most everything, he would actually dig thru my receipts at months ends to find what I missed. In 1982 was working Full time garage tech $12.75/hour with health life and disability insurance as well access to suppliers lists for odd materials. On my Own time, my own truck and extra aligned tooling worked like a zombie, all hours where had to watch did not affect the benefits side. My minimum was two Hours at that point in time $40/hour with mileage if outside a ten mile circle of my house(5mi. radius). Time started as I left the house for emergencies and service calls. Shop I worked in was $35/hour but tagged mileage on for ANY service call and OT was anything after normal hours or if a mechanic was requested to stay longer than end of his shift. Initially I bought and paid for parts to be reimbursed, as noted a few rubber payments and those get really deep into pockets QUICKLY where I would then give a list of what and where to buy The Client bought or had delivered what I requested and I was only there for labor or job did NOT get done. On first opening of business, State and County licenses in hand, tax number and all the forms required at hand(courtesy Legal beagle) I had THREE MONTHS backup house payment, utilities and food expenses put back, came Close a time or two awaiting some larger companies to pay as they would work 60-120 days receipts. Quarry was quickest pay, trucking firms were the Absolute SLOWEST, gave up on cars and small trucks early on as the clientele was looking for bargains not necessarily speed nor quality, that is where most of the rubber came from. I was actually paid up on house and my junker service trucks when my boon died off. Had a few months ebbed into almost nothing side work then it slid back on until moved to the Utility job and no longer had the taste for all the extra side work nor the time as at the Utility even mechanics got called in on Storm Duty. Best year was 84, made close to $150k gross, not including working at garage full time, worst year was 86, early on was slow only grossed $34k in 11 months then in 87 got hurt and lost a number of clients from down time, 88 was some better 94 broke $100K again but never returned to high numbers ever again. Did NOT have a vacation for five years, a weekend or day her or there but never a full week, greedy and almost made myself sick doing that. After that warning took at least a week off every year.
Net or gross?
Seems like a answer to a problem that does not exist.
The customer list I have developed I would not want to give up. I like working for them and they like my work and give me their full trust . Having new customers that I don’t know that picked me because of my “ratings” would frustrate the heck out of me. sounds like a good deal for mechanics that don’t have customers.
I've seen this idea floated in a number of industries but never seen it actually go anywhere. Unless you count cookie cutter stuff like HVAC and contractor specialties. The HE industry is not just for a heavy equipment mechanic. Everybody has different levels of service in engines, hydraulics, electronics, tracks, tires, not to mention the variety of the pieces they work on from mining shovels to construction to snowblowers to generators. And then there are the different brands. Too varied to fit in one envelope.
Exactly. It seems to cater only to wannabe mobile techs. The established ones will not have any motive to join. That said, customers who already have a contract mobile tech that they like won't have any reason to hire these johnny-come-latelys would they?
Personally I'd rather build a business from the ground up. My own truck, tailored and set up how I need it. Most importantly, my name on the side.
Sounds like a gig for the want to be guys that are to lazy to do there own leg work it's a decent idea but most people lack the motivation and discipline to be an independent guy Field guys go for about a 100 an hour around here if this outfit is doing your books providing your insurance and financing you I bet they keep no less than 35 percent off the top probably closer to 50 by the time you figure everything else your not making 2 to 3 times wage your maybe doing 1 and a half of wage and your beholden to a truck lease and over head and you will never be the end all be all decision maker Dont even talk about specialty tooling costs
Because uber is only interested in providing the best drivers and transportation, and screens their "partners" (because they aren't employees) for only the best of the very best. They just want a cut. They couldn't care less who hauls you around. That's going to work out great. You can easily quote any repair from a online database, and easily dispatch a "technishon" to easily solve a complaint of a "noise when running". Flat rate to the technishon- $250 and all the problems will be solved. Great business plan.
Exactly. So what happens when Murphy rears his head and you run into complications? Is the mechanic working for free because bolts are rusted or stripped?
I would bet its less than 10%...….and those guys have pretty good gigs. It is highly unlikely you would get any from that pool.
Only reason this type scenario is offered is due to the offering person seeing the dollar signs associated to it for THEIR side. Going independent is not for the faint of heart, is a learning curve and can be costly where this 'Opportunity' does not come off as much of one and is what appears to be an imaginative way of getting new techs for a cheap buck or same, same working For The Man. Sounds vaguely similar to the old Owner Operator Driver Training and Sell you a NEW Truck for a Dollar Down scam. 1970's tactic that lasted about a decade. Feed you long enough to get you really hooked then shut the money off and repo the truck/business.
Middlemen are not going to get much respect from people who work hard for a living. But then most middlemen are skilled at letting insults and criticism roll right down their backs.
It's still going on, stronger than ever- the ol' Lease/Purchase racket. Finance the truck, maintenance, cab card, insurance, tires, everything and haul their "great paying" freight. Generally doesn't attract the top 20% of hands. The other great scam is freight factoring, hey....wait a sec.....I've got an idea......I'll offer to pay independent mobile mechanics A/P net 30 invoices immediately for 10% (20% non-recourse). Brilliant!
It's the same deal Amazon is offering to its delivery drivers. Buy or lease their vans, wear their cloths, work their hours but you are still a contractor? Heath insurance, state industrial insurance, liability insurance, local, state and federal taxes and you still have to do a business license and meet all the state and federal requirements for any business. I have all that already without having to answer to someone's beck and call and don't have to worry that the dispatcher is going to play favorites and only send me to the "good" jobs.
Sounds to good to be true. They dazzle you with independence, hassle free logistics, no paperwork or having to look for customers. Just bring your good credit and sign here. You are your own boss, but we will tell you when, what, and where. But that's it other than that you are free to make your own decisions. This is a new way to make you an employee and you pay for all your supplies and expenses. So the employer gets a new employee that not only do they make money off of your skills. THEY CHARGE YOU INTREST TO WORK FOR THEM AS WELL. No thank you. I will stick with the intrest free job I have. And if I do decide to go independent then I'll buy the truck.
There may be a market such an arrangement somewhere else but likely not here. I don't need a dispatcher to keep enough work, hell I turn most of what is offered down. Qualified, cross trained mechanics are going to hard to come by, that will be the largest issue with that venture. You can do such a thing with something like tire repair. Not knocking tire repairmen , it is a hard and dangerous job but is something that can be taught. IMO if someone is not mechanically inclined no amount of school or training will make them a mechanic, or technician if you call it.
Said much of it there. All too many 'Code Reader' wannabe's out there now, cannot diagnose as too busy pulling parts for phantom codes that likely will not fix a problem. Kids out there trying but lack the basic understanding of systems, Electric, Hydraulic, Pneumatics, Cooling and Lubricating all basically do the same thing, energy flows point A to Point B or C, turn a switch, push a valve, run a pump all flow from one place to another, gets pretty simple as to diagnostics for hammer and punch mechanics. Engine, Trans, Climate Control gets a WHOLE Lot more dicey with digital square sine wave signatures and time of dwell for circuit control but still doable if can understand what it is attempting to do.
You do realize most of those mechanics are going to retire in the next five to ten years right? And there is no way I’m leaving an established company to go work for something like this. I get benefits, company supplied specialty tooling, excellent paid vacation time, training, etc not to mention a very respectable hourly rate. The heavy equipment mechanic world may use computers to do some diagnostics but it doesn’t run on computers- it runs on word of mouth and reputation. You have to cultivate customer trust. I couldn’t leave and work for myself right now- I have no reputation among potential customers. And I don’t do flat rate, and never will. That’s a recipe for disaster in the heavy world. Oh and another thing that Uber and a bunch of these companies like that business model like to do is you are a 1099 contractor. Maybe that’s where the “make 2-3 times as much” comes from.
Oh no that scam is still going on. I believe some of the companies have been sued over it, not that that has stopped it. I looked into trucking several years ago and that was a popular scam pushed by the bottom feeders.
Have there been any surveys done on the customer side of this? I may have missed it but who pays for the parts and who pays who to get them . Will this leasing agency cover using parts for diagnostic purposes. Who is responsible for environmental issues? I will agree the market is there. May be a drone could be used to deliver parts to site with an app on a smart phone so bezos could be in on it and then it would be possible to order all the parts your Cat will ever need straight off the website. Easy peasy.... one of those kind of days.
Yea, well if they start flying cutting edges for 992's over my house I sure hope the have lots of insurance.