Your Honest Opinion Requested
I was in the Navy for 26 years and am now retired. I have seen the Navy Hobby Shop Garage here on base go from a 3 bay pig sty to a 20 Bay kingdom with 10 of the best lifts and all the tools you could ever want!!!
AC/Heat, lights, welding, paint booth, tire mounting/balancing, engine hoist, parts cleaners, free rags, oil and tire disposal, technical assistance, tech manuals and steam cleaners. You name it, we had it.I have also see more than my fair share of serious injuries and stupid people who should not be allowed to get near a tool let alone use one!! People who wouldnt listen and people who know everything.
People will steal form you, lie to you, offer you sex, leave hazmat at your site and threaten you with law suits for something that they caused!!! They will bring stolen cars to your shop and strip out what they want and leave it there!
There will be people who will start a project and get deep into it and run out of money. Your going to be stuck with a dismantled car in your bay and NO WHERE to put it!
Speaking of HAZMAT, have you figured out what your going to do with it?? There will be fuel spills, oil spills, and antifreeze spills. Your going to need to figure out how to deal with it.
People will borrow/check out tools and replace your good ones with their bad ones! They will figure out how to use something completely different than what it was ever intended to be used for! Making it useless for what it was originally intended to be used for!
Don't forget about insurance, trash removal, security system, water, electricity and sewer bills. Oh yea,,,hazmat!
Employees! You will be lucky to find someone who you can trust and when your back is turned, they will let their buds in and they will abuse the place. Some employees will steal you BLIND!! The good ones will move on way too fast!
People will completely TRASH the bay that they rent and walk off like it is your job to clean it! Your not just going to be dealing with mature C5 owners. Your most likely going to be dealing with the young teenage ricer crowd who has little or NO respect for your business or authority!
Vacations! What vacations!
Man, I hate to be doom and gloom but, I have seen one of everything at least once and a couple of things it time and time again. Owning your own business is tough! The Hobby shop is used by sailors. We have a little more control over them than you will with the public. Its still very difficult even under strict military discipline.
Good luck!
BC
I salute you Chief!
.....3rd Class Petty Officer Rocket
I was in the Navy for 26 years and am now retired. I have seen the Navy Hobby Shop Garage here on base go from a 3 bay pig sty to a 20 Bay kingdom with 10 of the best lifts and all the tools you could ever want!!!
AC/Heat, lights, welding, paint booth, tire mounting/balancing, engine hoist, parts cleaners, free rags, oil and tire disposal, technical assistance, tech manuals and steam cleaners. You name it, we had it.I have also see more than my fair share of serious injuries and stupid people who should not be allowed to get near a tool let alone use one!! People who wouldnt listen and people who know everything.
People will steal form you, lie to you, offer you sex, leave hazmat at your site and threaten you with law suits for something that they caused!!! They will bring stolen cars to your shop and strip out what they want and leave it there!
There will be people who will start a project and get deep into it and run out of money. Your going to be stuck with a dismantled car in your bay and NO WHERE to put it!
Speaking of HAZMAT, have you figured out what your going to do with it?? There will be fuel spills, oil spills, and antifreeze spills. Your going to need to figure out how to deal with it.
People will borrow/check out tools and replace your good ones with their bad ones! They will figure out how to use something completely different than what it was ever intended to be used for! Making it useless for what it was originally intended to be used for!
Don't forget about insurance, trash removal, security system, water, electricity and sewer bills. Oh yea,,,hazmat!
Employees! You will be lucky to find someone who you can trust and when your back is turned, they will let their buds in and they will abuse the place. Some employees will steal you BLIND!! The good ones will move on way too fast!
People will completely TRASH the bay that they rent and walk off like it is your job to clean it! Your not just going to be dealing with mature C5 owners. Your most likely going to be dealing with the young teenage ricer crowd who has little or NO respect for your business or authority!
Vacations! What vacations!
Man, I hate to be doom and gloom but, I have seen one of everything at least once and a couple of things it time and time again. Owning your own business is tough! The Hobby shop is used by sailors. We have a little more control over them than you will with the public. Its still very difficult even under strict military discipline.
Good luck!
BC
I salute you Chief!
.....3rd Class Petty Officer Rocket
I'd also suggest solicting car clubs for memberships. Heaven knows your life will be a lot easier if the place is always filled up with Porsche guys, Corvette guys, Classic muscle car guys, etc. since they'll be more mature and as club members they'll draw each other in and police themselves.
Good luck with the venture. I've always thought a place like that would be good to have available.
Last edited by rcs128; Feb 10, 2007 at 06:04 AM.
I know you can't compare Milatary personell, to the clients your likley to get. Milatary are WAY more responsible, than the population at large.
For all the reasons, posted by others, I can't amigine you making a profit. But, good luck if you try it!
God Bless America!
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts





I'd also suggest soliciting car clubs for memberships. Heaven knows your life will be a lot easier if the place is always filled up with Porsche guys, Corvette guys, Classic muscle car guys, etc. since they'll be more mature and as club members they'll draw each other in and police themselves.
Good luck with the venture. I've always thought a place like that would be good to have available.
Obviously Liability is our biggest concern. We have been exploring the Club Route where only members can use the Clubs shop for X amount.
This enables us to screen customers. We would have equity members (the owners) and non-equity members (the customers) who would pay a membership fee. Maybe only $10. Members using the Club's shop and tools may be the way to go.
Most small business failures are because the individuals involved are under capitalized and do not have the business experience and knowledge to develop and execute a sound business plan. Just because you're a great cook doesn't mean you know how to run a restaurant.
If it works out to be a viable business that's great. If not we'll just keep the place to store and work on our own cars.
I was in the Navy for 26 years and am now retired. I have seen the Navy Hobby Shop Garage here on base go from a 3 bay pig sty to a 20 Bay kingdom with 10 of the best lifts and all the tools you could ever want!!!
AC/Heat, lights, welding, paint booth, tire mounting/balancing, engine hoist, parts cleaners, free rags, oil and tire disposal, technical assistance, tech manuals and steam cleaners. You name it, we had it.I have also see more than my fair share of serious injuries and stupid people who should not be allowed to get near a tool let alone use one!! People who wouldnt listen and people who know everything.
People will steal form you, lie to you, offer you sex, leave hazmat at your site and threaten you with law suits for something that they caused!!! They will bring stolen cars to your shop and strip out what they want and leave it there!
There will be people who will start a project and get deep into it and run out of money. Your going to be stuck with a dismantled car in your bay and NO WHERE to put it!
Speaking of HAZMAT, have you figured out what your going to do with it?? There will be fuel spills, oil spills, and antifreeze spills. Your going to need to figure out how to deal with it.
People will borrow/check out tools and replace your good ones with their bad ones! They will figure out how to use something completely different than what it was ever intended to be used for! Making it useless for what it was originally intended to be used for!
Don't forget about insurance, trash removal, security system, water, electricity and sewer bills. Oh yea,,,hazmat!
Employees! You will be lucky to find someone who you can trust and when your back is turned, they will let their buds in and they will abuse the place. Some employees will steal you BLIND!! The good ones will move on way too fast!
People will completely TRASH the bay that they rent and walk off like it is your job to clean it! Your not just going to be dealing with mature C5 owners. Your most likely going to be dealing with the young teenage ricer crowd who has little or NO respect for your business or authority!
Vacations! What vacations!
Man, I hate to be doom and gloom but, I have seen one of everything at least once and a couple of things it time and time again. Owning your own business is tough! The Hobby shop is used by sailors. We have a little more control over them than you will with the public. Its still very difficult even under strict military discipline.
Good luck!
BC


Would rent the space (lift) like some of the storage places and then have a seperate charge for the use of tools. You could issue a badge with bar code on it that the person uses to record usage charges.
I certainly wish there was one of those places near me.
A bunch of local rodders said let's buy x number of acres, all build homes and have one centrally located fully outfitted shop which everyone could use. It would be paid for with monthly fees, like a neighborhood clubhouse.
I hate waiting in line, so I did my own shop instead...still a great idea if you can get past the hurdles.
We have one on the local military base here....
The only thing I find is that you have to have a tight schedule...in that I mean you have to have people pre-book their floor time so everyone doesnt show up at once...and that does happen !! (IE: inclement weather)...
They also have a "tool crib". This is where you can sign out specialty tools from the attendant. A CC is required and all tools must be returned or your CC is charged.
They dont have tool boxes sitting out for each bay as it is human nature to have sticky fingers. Lots of big ticket items went missing so they went to the "tool crib" idea...You can sign out any tool you would ever need..and it is broken down piece by piece...and they have about 8 or so sets of each !!
If ya need a 3/4 socket ..you go and sign it out....pry bar ..ya go and sign it out...welding goggles..ya go and sign them out etc etc etc
This system works awesome and the garage is always busy. The local school even runs a shop class out of it on selective nights where under heavy supervision the kids do oil changes etc. !!!
If done properly it would be a huge money maker...just do your research on your start up costs !!
Great idea ...go for it !!!!
If ya need more info I can get the base documentation and flyers for the garage the next time I travel to the base.
Cheers !
Last edited by BUBBAS 01Z06; Feb 10, 2007 at 02:39 PM.
I was in the Navy for 26 years and am now retired. I have seen the Navy Hobby Shop Garage here on base go from a 3 bay pig sty to a 20 Bay kingdom with 10 of the best lifts and all the tools you could ever want!!!
AC/Heat, lights, welding, paint booth, tire mounting/balancing, engine hoist, parts cleaners, free rags, oil and tire disposal, technical assistance, tech manuals and steam cleaners. You name it, we had it.I have also see more than my fair share of serious injuries and stupid people who should not be allowed to get near a tool let alone use one!! People who wouldnt listen and people who know everything.
People will steal form you, lie to you, offer you sex, leave hazmat at your site and threaten you with law suits for something that they caused!!! They will bring stolen cars to your shop and strip out what they want and leave it there!
There will be people who will start a project and get deep into it and run out of money. Your going to be stuck with a dismantled car in your bay and NO WHERE to put it!
Speaking of HAZMAT, have you figured out what your going to do with it?? There will be fuel spills, oil spills, and antifreeze spills. Your going to need to figure out how to deal with it.
People will borrow/check out tools and replace your good ones with their bad ones! They will figure out how to use something completely different than what it was ever intended to be used for! Making it useless for what it was originally intended to be used for!
Don't forget about insurance, trash removal, security system, water, electricity and sewer bills. Oh yea,,,hazmat!
Employees! You will be lucky to find someone who you can trust and when your back is turned, they will let their buds in and they will abuse the place. Some employees will steal you BLIND!! The good ones will move on way too fast!
People will completely TRASH the bay that they rent and walk off like it is your job to clean it! Your not just going to be dealing with mature C5 owners. Your most likely going to be dealing with the young teenage ricer crowd who has little or NO respect for your business or authority!
Vacations! What vacations!
Man, I hate to be doom and gloom but, I have seen one of everything at least once and a couple of things it time and time again. Owning your own business is tough! The Hobby shop is used by sailors. We have a little more control over them than you will with the public. Its still very difficult even under strict military discipline.
Good luck!
BC
On civilian street this will work well...
The hobby shops on bases are the last priority...of course they have problems with finances cuz' they charge jack ****....
Properly done....charging the proper rates....you could do well...very well....
Run it like a business...not like a non-profit organization...
Last edited by BUBBAS 01Z06; Feb 10, 2007 at 03:23 PM.
Good luck (let me know the location too) Robert from Green Valley














and even $35 with the use of all the tools
