Marine repair shop....small business start up advice.

[Bamaman1]

Re: Marine repair shop....small business start up advice.

Cities, Counties and States don't allow individuals to setup businesses in residential neighborhoods. They want you in a visible commercial location so you'll buy business licenses, pay taxes and forward sales taxes.

Marine mechanics is no longer a shade tree profession. You must invest 1 year of your life and $20K at a vo tech school like MMI to learn how to do repairs on modern boat engines. CAN/BUS controlled electronic modules communicating thru computer wires cost between $1K and $3K per module. 100% correct diagnoses are required, as electronic modules are not returnable to any dealership. This requires very, very expensive diagnostic scanners--usually reserved for boat dealerships. These expenses are why dealerships are charging $110 per hr.

Have you looked at what it costs to setup a Verado outboard? We're talking a $2900 setup fee--and up depending on what options are chosen. Fly by wire throttles and gearshifts are expensive to purchase. A Verado tachometer/speedometer is $900 + labor to install, and provide 15 other functions/information. How would you like to figure out how to fix one function that didn't work? I don't even understand what they're talking about, with color GPS/fishfinders that are linked up to a digital speedometer electronically.

It takes a complete computer geek to work on boats now.

If you don't have the training, diagnostic equipment and temperment to fix these high tech monsters--find another profession. And, it takes big cash to run such a business.

Either do it right, or don't do it at all. Like I said, the days of the shade tree marine mechanic, or auto mechanic, are gone forever.

 

[StevNimrod]

Re: Marine repair shop....small business start up advice.

Each state has different requirements, and you can generally get away with more in a rural area. Sam is only interested in getting paid, and not having complaints about your operations. That is to say this is not one size fits all.

Being a "real" business, as far as the State is concerned, is a simple matter of filing the required legal documents. Many people operate wildly profitable enterprises from a second bedroom converted into an office.

There are three ways to go about dealing with capital - have it already, earn it, or borrow it. In either case, you still have to spend it wisely. This is why I question the wisdom of arbitrarily (and only for example) deciding to go out and tank a bunch of money on education, electronic tools, etc. In business what you do is either profitable or not, and you can easily spend 40k on training and tools for boats you'll never work on. If 80% of boaters in your area have carbureted engines, what exactly is the upside of that education/scanner/etc. you just paid for handsomely? When does that break even? Is it worth an extra 40k to capture the other 20% of the market? Point is, you have to actually sit down and figure this stuff out. If you don't, you're just setting yourself up to make a bunch of bad decisions and waste a bunch of money. There is absolutely nothing wrong with excluding a market segment that is simply too expensive to service. This is actually a good thing and part of identifying your niche.

A big +1 to what Bubba said. It would be hard to put a dollar amount on having the freedom to take an hour long walk with your daughter at 2 p.m. some idle Tuesday, or knock off at noon and go fishing with your friends.