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Advice on side work

Greasyfitting

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2021
Messages
61
Location
Savannah, GA
I'm thinking about starting some side work focusing on doing maintenance on trucks and equipment. I'm pretty confident in doing maintenance , and most repair work I'm trying to figure out if I should supply the filters , parts , oils or if the customers should so I can start making a game plan. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
 

Acoals

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2019
Messages
1,342
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
Jack of all trades/Master of none
I'm thinking about starting some side work focusing on doing maintenance on trucks and equipment. I'm pretty confident in doing maintenance , and most repair work I'm trying to figure out if I should supply the filters , parts , oils or if the customers should so I can start making a game plan. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Always supply the parts. Most shops won't even use customer parts, or at least not without charging elevated rates. It's hard enough to get the right parts from parts guys at good dealers.
You also mark parts up, increasing profits.
 

Aceofspades

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Messages
72
Location
Ga
I don't do maintenance, but I don't mind customers providing the materials (if they get the right stuff). Sure, you didn't get to mark them up, but you didn't take the time/ trouble to get them either.

Good luck! I wish I knew of somebody good doing the same thing in my area.
 

westerner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Messages
194
Location
Northern Arizona
Interesting topic, the whole 'side work' gig.
I spent a few years along these lines. My 2c, worth exactly what you paid....

If you are gonna go 'cash', then you must maintain that discipline from bid to payment. Any of your vendors must be on board.

If you are gonna go 'above board', then you must bill for the overhead incurred. Ruthlessly.

Margins are slim, and you are leaving money on the table either way.

A wise old 'contractor' once stated the 'One in Ten rule'--
If one out of 10 potential customers does not fall down, clutching their chest and fainting away after hearing your price, you are going TOO LOW...
 

Vetech63

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Messages
6,438
Location
Oklahoma
Being self-employed, my insurance will not cover a failed repair that I didn't supply parts for. Repair parts quality is left up to me for the type of repair it is since I will be responsible for the entire job. I have billed customer accounts for parts way back in the past and when one of those fail (which they do at times) that parts manufacturer doesn't cover anything other than the part itself......I'm out the labor and travel time/mileage. I have to make a percentage above my cost on parts that are supplied for any job. This percentage is based individually now days on how well each customer pays their bill. A normal turn for me is a Net 30 day........some will pay sooner, some on time, and some will go over. I can't charge the same percentage on a job that pays me in 30 days versus a job that pays in 60 days.

I start losing money on a job that hasn't paid me yet once the invoice hits 31 days. If I have a $500.00 invoice and the customer pays me in 45 days........then based on my system, I lost 15 days that my $500.00 could have been invested in another job. Believe it or not, I added up the numbers one year.......it was in the 10's of thousands I was losing a year. That $500.00 could have tripled or quadrupled had the money been available to me within that Net 30. On really expensive work (I've done 3 jobs this year so far that were over $15K each) that extra 15 days or more really racks up the loses.

If you want to make a good profit in business, you have to mark up your parts within reason. Otherwise, you are working for straight labor. You also have to make sure your customers keep their end of the bargain which is to pay you within your terms.
 

renovator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
69
Location
New Mexico
You should supply parts. That's the only way you can control the process. It may seem reasonable to install customer-supplied parts, but that can go south quickly and waste lots of time. I learned this the hard way.
It's fine to talk about mark up and profit, but be careful. Don't expect (potential) customers to happily pay full shop rates if you're working out of thier driveway or the back of your pickup (unless it's a service truck). You need to charge for your skills, time, parts, and supplies, but it's not right to charge shop overhead and insurance unless you are actually paying for that.
Be prepared to back up what you are charging. Keep good records and be prepared to defend. Customers will challenge you before they will challenge a shop. Also expect to not get paid by some customers. They will know that you won't have the time or resources to pursue them. Depending on how you structure your business, you may not have any legal recourse.
Your customers may not always respect your availability. They may expect you work for them when you are at work at your regular job. If you're good and your reputation spreads, you can get spread very thin, very quickly. You need to make your availability very clear from the beginning.
Speaking as someone who did side work early on, it didn't work out well for me. It sounded good, but in the end, both the side work and my regular job suffered. I sucked it up and started my own business. It worked out great until the economy went south.
This is probably more than you wanted to hear.
 

Knepptune

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
757
Location
Indiana
I do a little side work if I know the people. To me the biggest thing with side work is that it has to work for me.

I fix stuff all day. I don’t need any headaches. I’ll come fix your stuff but you are paying cash as soon as I’m done, you’re in charge of picking the parts up and paying for them, and I will get to it when I want to. If that doesn’t work find someone else. I don’t do as much side work as I used to but I actually make more money and have way less headaches.

I thought it would be cool to have a little side business until I spread myself to thin, had my money tied up in parts for customers, and working all the time. Until I adopted my current attitude I dreaded my side jobs. And it took up to much mental space when I was at work. If I was wanting to build a side gig into a business I might approach it differently.
 

Tyler d4c

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2016
Messages
1,827
Location
Salix Pa
Ensure you aren’t stepping on your employer’s toes for one. A construction company with a fleet probably won’t care but a dealer or independent shop might (and in my employer’s case definitely will!)
Been there done that the time I got b!tched at for it if I knew then what I halfway know now it would have went differently. When I'm not on your clock what I do is not your business unless you pay way more then I'm worth. May be a poor attitude but it's the one I've come to have.
 

Jonas302

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
1,198
Location
mn
I have lost a few good mechanics over side work concerns If your not performing on the clock because you were up all night working on stuff its an issue , Tools not with you because you left them at your other job thats an issue, using the shops technology for your own work ect

Not to discourage all side work but when it impacts your day job its time to be shown the door and open your own shop
 

suladas

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Canada
Know of a few guys who worked at dealership during the day and side work at night, one of them it cost him his job. He would borrow the fancy scan tools, have customers coming by his day job, etc. They told him to pick one, refused to stop the side work and went to another dealer. I don't see an issue with doing it on the side but it's got to be separate and not affecting your main job. The other risk is liability for the dealership, if the customer is at the dealership at any point they could come back on the dealer for warranty or if they screwed something up.

One downside about using someone on the side is lack of warranty, had a few times where they fawk stuff up and never once will they fix it. Like current truck hose clamp wasn't onto heater core, so after a few days hose pops off and pisses coolant everywhere and got to screw around putting it back on, a hose that never should have come off anyway (guy replaced turbo).

I mean on the side it was $50/hr compared to $120-160 depending if you go to independent or a dealership. So it's a lot less but it does have it drawbacks.
 

westerner

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2020
Messages
194
Location
Northern Arizona
Know of a few guys who worked at dealership during the day and side work at night, one of them it cost him his job. He would borrow the fancy scan tools, have customers coming by his day job, etc. They told him to pick one, refused to stop the side work and went to another dealer. I don't see an issue with doing it on the side but it's got to be separate and not affecting your main job. The other risk is liability for the dealership, if the customer is at the dealership at any point they could come back on the dealer for warranty or if they screwed something up.

One downside about using someone on the side is lack of warranty, had a few times where they fawk stuff up and never once will they fix it. Like current truck hose clamp wasn't onto heater core, so after a few days hose pops off and pisses coolant everywhere and got to screw around putting it back on, a hose that never should have come off anyway (guy replaced turbo).

I mean on the side it was $50/hr compared to $120-160 depending if you go to independent or a dealership. So it's a lot less but it does have it drawbacks.

The guy will not succeed if he does not stand behind the job, regardless of all else.
The guy will fire you as a customer if you bitch about a job no worse than the factory one, at 1/3 the cost.
 

suladas

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Canada
The guy will not succeed if he does not stand behind the job, regardless of all else.
The guy will fire you as a customer if you bitch about a job no worse than the factory one, at 1/3 the cost.

No idea how busy he is, but if the dealership did the work, i'd be calling them to send a tech out or having it towed in I wouldn't even consider screwing around with it myself even if it's only 15 mins to fix it. With him, he just shrugs it off as whatever it happens. I expect as good of job as if a dealership did it, i'm not expecting any shortcuts and you should be charging an hourly rate you're happy with. If you are doing things like replacing turbos there is no grey area it has to be done right. He will never touch another thing I own, he might be cheap but that is the only benefit he is no mechanic.
 
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