New off road shop!

N

njsmuddyjeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
New Lenox
hey guys im thinking of opening a off raod shop in the chicagoland area i will be mostly selling bolt on suspensions but i also do a lot of fab out of my garage now that will go along i plan on making my own bumbers and guards and long arm kits and yada yada.....
well the question is do u think there is enough ppl in the area that will make my bus take of?

nick
 
Depends.

On how good your are.
On your prices.
On your products and how you stand behind them.
On what you can handle.
On what you can sell.
On what labor your can offer.
On how much you will spend for insurance, space, payroll, heath ins., etc.

Rev
 
Rev Den said:
Depends.

On how good your are.
On your prices.
On your products and how you stand behind them.
On what you can handle.
On what you can sell.
On what labor your can offer.
On how much you will spend for insurance, space, payroll, heath ins., etc.

Rev
Click to expand...

On how you present yourself on the internet, and how you decide to type out words or not...
 
XJ_ranger said:
On how you present yourself on the internet, and how you decide to type out words or not...
Click to expand...

Huh..That's exactly what I was thinking!
:wave1:
 
its not really a question of people in the area .
its a question of you drawing people in.
anyone can open the doors on a business and say i own a shop.
not everyone can keep the doors open.
you need to be able to get your name out to ever four wheeler around.
you need to get you name on every truck you have.
you need to make people happy that they will recommend you.
you need to make money.
you need to control overhead.
if you can handle all that you will make money people will come you will be busy and you will be working long hours doing what you enjoy.
but it takes time to make money. most start up businesses dont make money for a year in retail.. you have less overhead so you could do it sooner if you work hard..

Background: i am a commercial developer/ landlord / self storage owner/ licensed electrician/ vinyl sign graphics guy.
i see business open and close all the time. in our 1 plaza we have 14 retail spaces and 14 office spaces we see what people do wrong. they open the doors and wait for them to come..
dont get a shop in new lenox though..
try in joliet or rockdale some where less expensive.
your going to have to bring people in it really doesnt matter where you are for your business. i know a guy lives in lockport, has a shop in wilmington because the price is great( he fabs roll cages for race cars..) people from all over go to him it doesnt matter where he is.
 
The shop would consist of most of the popular lift kits including fab and RE and then it would be all kinds of labor from shorting Dana 60s to installing them on ur truck. It would be a two sets of building one for the machine shop and the other with bays for whatever truck came in and then eventually i would like to be able to do everything when i got more workers its just me and my dad and my best buddy are goign to do all the fab work and the installs. I would eventually like to maxamize to kinda like a NTB for trucks from brakes to oil u know everything but for now it will be a 4 wheel shop and i know it takes a lot to get moving. My dad owns 4 differnt companies now and he works his tail off. But hes getting ready to retire and wants a more push job while i take over everything.
 
I think an offroad shop could do well in this area. There are enough rich kids thats moms and dads buy them everthing, and enough true wheelers to make it. I agree with the land being to expensive in this area to start a shop but if you already have the land then why not. Do you already sell stuff that you fab (bumpers/rockrails) The reason I ask is I live in New Lenox down in Cherry Hill, and am will be buying a rear bumper, and Rockrails soon. What kind of Jeep do you have? I may have seen you around.
 
Don't know anything about starting up/running a business but wondering based on your description of what you'd like to see the business eventually become, would it be better to go with a franchise type store, like 4wheelparts? I would like to see something like that in the Chicago area. Probably takes ALOT of up front money to start that up I assume. Good luck on whatever you decide, I know I'd check out whatever you open.
 
I've had this same thought for sometime now. One of the big things you need to have a handle on is running a shop. I manage a tuffy here in Indiana just for experience for the day I open my shop. This is a tough business and being a specialized shop is going to be even tougher. You must diversify during your slow time. So maybe you could do a little Fab outside of the off road industry when things slow down.
 
Last edited:
I agree with that ...
Also we are good friends with a guy that owns a Car Quest Auto Parts formally NAPA so we will get cheap parts for all kinds of trucks. so our shop wont just be lifts and gears etc. but it will also be basic maintaince....
 
custom welding is a good slow time task. There is always something to weld. And you have to think about insurance a waiver will only get you so far. what about ASE certified techs, you would want at least one in steering and suspension even if it is you.
 
it's tough. Even managing a repair center is tough and I have corprate backing. I still put in 70 hrs a week in the store and another 8 hrs at home banging my head aginst the wall trying to figure out how to make it better. My marriage is going in the crapper and my kid hardly sees me at all. But they have a lifestyle that needs to be maintaned thats why I do it and to one day open my own offroad shop. GOOD LUCK

Pm me with the website when it is up and running I'd love to check it out
 
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