I was wondering about these kinds of shops. I would like to open one up if I can. What I am thinkin about was this: Gauges of every kind, IN STOCK; Custom Exhaust, ie. stacks, up to 5in to the rear, IN STOCK; Gauge Pods, IN STOCK; Injectors, IN STOCK; Chips, IN STOCK; Turbos, 12cm up to 21 cm IN STOCK; HTT Stage 3 and 4, IN STOCK; Fuel Lines, IN STOCK; Shocks, IN STOCK; Jake-brakes, IN STOCK; Custom Bumpers, Sorry mail-order; Aftermarket Headlights, IN STOCK; Aftermarket tailgates, IN STOCK;

BTW Most of this stuff will be in stock! The reason behind this madness is that when I went to get a pyro for my truck at the local auto parts store they said to buy online. When I look in the directory for anything under diesel there was only 2 shops and all they did was service the trucks. That is all for my meager part of the US of A. We have quite a few truck pulls out here and a lot of mods are on these trucks. The only place to get kind of stuff is either in Chicago or special order (meaning that we have to wait ). Did I forget anything?? My part time boss runs a machine shop and is looking to retire shortly. He converted a mechanics shop to what it is now. It has a car lift rated for 10,000# and it still works as he uses it to do stuff to his truck if need be. He offered me the shop IF I stay and help him BUT he wont be able to support me full time. What do you guys think about this proposition? I am close to: Chicago (1 hour to suburbs), The Quad Cities (1 1/2 hours), Rockford (45 mins).

Need some input. Thanks Yall

dieseljon

PS, I used to live in the suburbs...Didnt like it after we moved to the country. Now I hate driving in there.

 

You better have a lot of capital to buy all the parts and sit on it for a while.

 

Start small (gauges) and work big (custom exhaust). I know it is alot but that would be the ultimate list/game plan.

 

bump... I guess I should ask, is this worth it or not? Am I missing anything or do I need to downsize the list? Any input would help.

dieseljon

 

Only thing you need to think about, there are LOTS of people trying to sell the same stuff you are selling. With todays "global" economy, it's actually possible to order it today, get it tomorrow. The idea that you have about having the stuff in stock is a GREAT idea, I wish there was a truck accessory store here locally that actually HAD something I wanted. They have a store FULL of stuff, just never seems to be what I need.
If your selling idea is that you WILL have it instock, then you need to evaluate YOUR local market that will be taking advantage of you "in stock parts"... Short of that, you will be in direct competition with the other 1,745,734 hits you get when you google truck accessories.
Good luck!

 

You're never going to turn a dime just selling bolt on stuff out of a brick-and-mortar establishment. You will be more expensive than the online places, and your local market won't be large enough to support you.

You could run a generic autoparts store/ speed-shop and focus on Diesel's, but Diesel's alone won't keep you afloat unless you send parts all over the country. You better recruit some good talent if you want to attract sled pullers, too; most of those guys buy stuff from big shops and get it all shipped in.

I just don't see the viable marketing strategy for a Diesel speed shop.

 

so if I expand to all around performance BUT specialize in diesel AND do it over the internet too, think that will work?

 

I think you need to research and put ALOT more thought into it. It seems you haven't considered all the variables

 

Not really... I will do more research and see what I can find. Thanks for all the replies!!

 

What it might come down to is are you going to have the customer base to make the shop turn a profit? In the subarbs of Chicago, I doubt it. If you move it out and south you should be good. There are a lot of crazy farmers who I know (being one of them) That would love a shop like this.

I have auctually thought about opening a shop around my area too. I know there is a lot of diesels in our surrounding area that have already had the small stuff (like programers and exaust) but would they want to go all out and modify their trucks? I think so. Hopefuly soon I can get my hop going!

 

Chicago is not what I really want to get into BUT everybody from Chicago ar emoving out our way and buying brand new pickups for less and then putting on the aftermarket stuff almost right away . There are ALOT of farmers here that could use gauges and exhaust upgardes with what they do. Also there are alot of teens who have a pickup tricked out but still use them for their respective farms and work.

Where in IN. are you? North or south or middle? I work with wally-world and they just opened a new distribution center in Gas City and lookin for expr. folks to come down and work there.

dieseljon

BTW I am one of those teens!

 

Reputation will build your business faster, stronger. Once people know who you are and where you are and what you do, that makes it work. Research it heavily. Not a small decision to make. I'd have to agree, you need to have something specific you do to draw people in.

 

first if you want to compete with any internet site that is selling discounted parts you will need ot buy in bulk. You will need a retail center to order from manufactures. A quick guesstimation in start up is goi to be around 200k to do it. if you can swing that PM me and I will fill you in.