Seeking advise on PC and polishing as a living

[LeeParsons]

I'd like to hear any advise you guys can give on doing this as a living. I've been in business for myself for years, construction services and after the second back injury have to do something else now.

I have a decent setup in my garage, 6'X3' oven, hobby gun (for now) blasting cabinet, polishing machine, etc. I've been doing my own stuff and stuff for a few friends.

Where should I head with marketing my services, car clubs, car dealers, newpaper? Any ideas? I've visited one of the local cruizer meets and handed out cards and talked with people. Any other ideas?

Thanks guys,
Lee

[sswee]

LeeParsons,
Rowlett sounds familiar but can't place it for sure. I'm about 60 miles east of Austin. Bastrop has 2 or 3 custom shops that do street rods or restorations. If you have anything like that around you, it's a good place to get your name out in circulation. May cost you a couple of jobs cheaper than normal. It takes a little time to get a good name going but worth it. Best advertisment is some quality work in the right places. Best of luck. SS

[pickleboy]

hey sswee rowlett is east of dallas, just accross lake ray hubbard, i used to live close to there when i was still in texas.
lee just as steve said go to car shows and custom shops. i cant remember the name but there is a big popular one on n.w. highway/ buckner blvd and i30. also try the motorcycle shops in the area. go to all the customs shops u can find. hand out cards and flyers, and take sample pieces. best bet is to also make a color sample set. just like in anodizing the colors on the computer are not always the same after cure. what i do is to shoot a small piece of scrap metal with every new color i spray. keep these as samples so if someone wants to know what a color looks like or they are trying to color match you will be set.
best of luck in the new biz bro
cliff
ps: dont do to many cheap jobs or all the people you do them for will tell their budies and you will end up working for nothing. just my thoughts.

[myillwillinc]

i want to do the same here in birmingham alabama, i want out of the computer industry. i just started back into working on cars.... can u be sucessful in a home setup or do you need a shop?

[pickleboy]

you can be very successful in a home shop if you are willing to go get the work. it will start slow till you get a reputation just like any service company. customandsound(chuck), dale, trsick(bob) and blademan(wayne) can attest to the amount of work that is out there if you are willing to go get it. best bet is to research the local area and find out if you have any/ much competition. if so go to theier shops and look around like you have work for them. also get a feel for the market price for jobs you want to go after. hope this helps bro and best of luck.

[Blademan]

Do some looking around, see if by chance there may be a manufacture in or near your area and see if it something that could be pc..I'm in a pretty remote area and would starve if i depended on bikers and hot rodders for a living. luckly enough for me I have a major marine parts manufacture in basically my back yard and thats the bread and butter for sure.

[customandsound]

the money is good the work is not hard so it make going to work every day a easy thing to do.. But with my powdering polishing and all the other stuff i do .. i am happy.If it was not for the huge house payment and car payments i would not be doing it

[customandsound]

the best advice i can give you is don't give up.

when you are going to do this for a living you need to think of alot of stuff.

1. How do i get my customers.
2. How much do i charge.
3. Do i need special premits.

to help answer them:
1. you are going to need to put in long hard hours going to show and passing out cards or flyers. You may want to find some one that dose go to shows and make them a deal if they are willing to let you powder coat or polish some parts for them either free or at a cheap rate. the cost of the powder and a few buck to help on the bills.

2. You will make as much as you want. I am sure will will tell you are rates .. But you need to take in the cost of the lights electric and fuel ect. so you would want to make some where around 25-40 bucks an hour.. I try to make around 40-50 a hour to cover everything. Polishing my prices start at 35bucks an hour and i charge 199.00 per wheel auto and 145 per cycle. powder coating i charge $350 for a set of wheels total time to strip and prep is a few hours then powder and curing is another few hours.

3. Every township state city or boro has differnt rules you will need to check with your local zoning officer.

Now when you do have a customer show up at your place you need to have 2 areas 1. that had a bunch of parts done and displayed for show it don't matter what it is.. and this area got to be neat.I lost alot of work when i got flooded and i worked out on my home.. I did not have everything set up the way i liked. But after a while i got them to understand. the other area is where you will be doing all your work. Don't let any one see how you are doing it cause there is no stopping them from getting there own set up and starting there own place.I have had it happen.

But put the customers need's in front of your own. I takes a lot to make them happy .. Out of all my time doing this i had 1 person complain.It took him 1 year to figure out what he was going to do with a set of junk wheels that were trash.

so there is alot of good and alot of bad at doing this for a living...

But if you don't want to put in long hours at first and alot of time in the sun talking and showing it is not for you. I started my own place when i was 15 and i am 33 now..

Well i can sit here alot longer and type ... But in closing good luck ..
chuck