Looking to Start a Shop in the Birmingham Area

zkparker

zkparker

Honda 350 guy
I posted this in another forum but wanted to put it here too just in case. Please feel free to comment:

I have a random question for anyone who wants to answer. I am looking to start up a shop around the Birmingham area for custom parts/ maintenance for bikes. It will be me and another co worker of mine that is a mechanical engineer. We are looking to have solidworks and a CNC machine. Both of us currently work as design engineers. Just wanted to get anyone's input on if anyone around the area or beyond could see the benefit of having a shop like this. Please feel free to comment either positive or negative.
 
Best of luck to you. Let us know when it opens up, I'm sure several of us local would love to come by, hang out, and get in the way.
 
Sounds good. I will definitely keep you posted if we end up starting one up.


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Have either of you ever run your own biz? No matter what your trade, running your own thing is entirely different than working for someone else. If you do it right, you will work harder than you ever have before so be sure you're ready.


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LISTEN!...

I have had a business or two all my life and it is something I think everyone should at least try... Don't be afraid to slow it down when things get "slow" and go to work somewhere to make ends meet, but always keep it above idle... NEVER take a job and not finish it, you have to finish everything at all cost even if it comes at a loss. Don't buy a machine thinking you can make money off it unless you have a signed contract with a deposit that covers most of the cost for it. Rent equipment before buying or demo it if you can, don't buy anything you don't absolutely know to be useful. Lastly... get an accountant or some third party to pay bills and pay you and your partner... transparency with a partner is essential to prevent any animosity.

Short and sweet man, I wish you all the best... MADE IN USA is how we will begin to get out of the mess we are in.

Encourage this man and support his business locally if you can!! :eek:
 
Good luck !! Me and a freind have wanted to do this in my area...just to scared i guess with kids and mortgages and such. But i suppose most of us in here have those. I wish you the best !!
 
What Tune said. I have bought a lot of machines over the last year from people who thought they could run a shop, go out, buy a half mill in CNC equiptment, and 6-12 months later, the bank is selling it for them.
 
Are either of you machinists? Lot of people think it's as simple as writing a program and loading it up. If you have never ran a machine, manual or CNC, you can run into trouble with what your machine can actually do. It's not hard to break a $50K machine because you tell it to do something it can't.

Get a good manual mill and lathe, and learn how they work. You're going to need them anyways.
 
I'm a business owner myself, and my uncle owns a metal fab business with a waterjet, etc. Its not an easy thing to do, but if you're determined enough and have the ethic to work pretty much all waking hours and every day, then go for it.

Make a solid business plan, and my number one rule is KEEP IT SMALL and KEEP IT ALL

And yeah do yourself a favor and don't go out and take a massive loan, refinance your house to open a shop. It doesn't work. Build yourself up from a small shop, build relationships. Work your way up from a concrete foundation and you'll do fine.
 
adventurco said:
I'm a business owner myself, and my uncle owns a metal fab business with a waterjet, etc. Its not an easy thing to do, but if you're determined enough and have the ethic to work pretty much all waking hours and every day, then go for it.

Make a solid business plan, and my number one rule is KEEP IT SMALL and KEEP IT ALL

And yeah do yourself a favor and don't go out and take a massive loan, refinance your house to open a shop. It doesn't work. Build yourself up from a small shop, build relationships. Work your way up from a concrete foundation and you'll do fine.
Click to expand...
This first paragraph is pretty spot on. I work 7 days a week, every week. Go on vacation a few times a year 3-4 days. Then work 15-18 hour days the couple weeks following vacay to get caught back up. Owning a business requires a lot of work. Hard, long, often times un-fun work. It's worth it, if you have the work ethic to do it. But it's a hell of a lot more work than a 9-5.

And someone mentioned an accountant. Get one. It is a necessity, especially with a partner.
 
I appreciate all of these great responses. This is exactly what I was looking for. Pros and Cons. To answer one question that I saw about running a CNC or similar thing, yes we both have had experience working with these machines. Not a lot but some. Good thing, the other guy has a good hook up with the engineering school in the area that has these machines that we can use to help us figure everything out. We would be sure to have all of the experience with these machines that we can before we drop money on our own. I do not know if any of you looked but I am only 24 so I am not trying to jump into anything I cant handle. We would start out slow and make certain parts that wouldn't cause too much headache and go from there. Seems like it a tough gig to get into if you aren't willing to work a good bit of hours. Guess if I am passionate about it, it will be worth it. Building bikes has always been my passion. Well at least since I was 14. Thanks for all the input and keep it coming.
 
Don't let J-Rod scare you... He takes time off, shit he's been off more than I would offer for vacation in a year over the last few months according to his posts, but probably makes up with hours otj... he's also either independently wealthy or that metal spinning gig pays okay :eek:
 
I take plenty of trips. Mostly work related, though.
Metal spinning pays ok with motorcycle parts, plus all the races, swap meets and such, are tax deductible. Spinning it for nuclear plants pays wayyyyyyyy better.

I've been doing it since 2011 as my own shop. Jumped in head first at 22. Lot of trial and error. But found what works for me and ran with it.

Good luck to you.
 
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