RyanGMW

Well, the owner of the future shop rented it to my competition so I don't have to break my lease. I waited too long to make a decision and she went with them instead. I have 11 months left in my lease, and I will ride it out. We are busy and I'm making some very good money right now so I will just deal with it. I want to buy a shop so this leaves me time to gather up a down payment and set some money aside for improvements. I appreciate everyone's feedback and advise. Side note- This forum is truly refreshing compared to some of the car forums I'm on. They are overrun with a bunch of punk kids that are disrespectful to one another.

I get this alot... I eventually started putting my apprentice at the desk when I saw them coming so their pointless questions didn't waste any of my time. I kept my head down in the shop and kept working. Or sat out back drinking coffee until they left. Seeing these people coming is easy. Once you learn to read customers, you can tell who is going to be this kind on non-trusting customer. I get it more than others because of my age. I'm only 30yrs old so I get it all the time "how can you know anything since your so young?" "Do you think you can fix it since you probably haven't seen it before?" My favorite: a woman stood at my counter as I wrote her up for her oil service and laundry list of complaints. I sat and listened/talked to her as I inputted all her complaints in my shop software. She looked down and said "Oh look, a mechanic that can type!" I looked up at her and said "I'm not just a TECHNICIAN, I'm also a business owner with 2 college degrees." The look on her face was worth more money than she could afford to spend. Don't let these people get under your skin. Usually the more they talk the more their bill costs. Time is money, you waste my time and you will spend your money. Been working well for me so far...

I just signed up, these are pretty slick... Beats everything else I have seen that is out there!

Hey Everyone... I'm in the position to move my shop to a bigger, better location. I'm at 24 months into my 36mo lease. I rent 3200sq ft in a 20k sq ft building that has been vacant until now. The new tenant is a video arcade with a snack bar. Not a good fit for my high-line German auto shop... I have the chance to rent a shop that is 4500 sq ft with 5 bay doors and a glass showroom for my show car and waiting area, right in downtown on a main street. I have needed more space over the past 8 months and my business is growing very quickly right now. I think this space could be just what I need. Any pointers on how to break my lease? I was the only one here when I moved in, now with this new tenant coming I lose my highway frontage signs and will have no right to the parking spaces out front of my shop, its first come-first served. The kind of crowd this business attracts is also a huge downside for me... One bargaining chip is my landlord is about to pay $15k to have the power meter split so I'm on my own and the rest of the building is for the other tenant. If I leave now, he won't have to spend that money and the other tenant may take over my space too if they can use it for storage or whatnot... Any input is greatly appreciated! Ryan G.

It's a lot of work. I love my shop and it is the best thing I ever did for my financial well being. It has been 2 years since I opened and I just surpassed 1mil in sales in that time. There are been many tweaks and changes, but as I grew I learned how to deal with them. Fired my first employee, hired another, worked my butt off and I have a lot to show for it. If you have your head on your shoulders and a good tech in the back, you can make it. I set myself apart from the rest by focusing on just BMW's and Mini Coopers (I'm a BMW master tech), and slowly expanded into other German makes. We operate at a 60% profit margin and are on target for $750k this year. I say go for it! Best of luck...

Hey everyone- My name is Ryan Gangemi and I own a German auto repair business (BMW/Mini/VW/Audi/Benz/Porsche only). We started out small in a private location and moved into a commercial building June 1st 2011. I'm a 30yr old BMW Master Technician and I run the shop myself while my wife does our books from home. I have 2 employees, one is a Mini Cooper master tech and another is our apprentice technician who does a lot of custom work (engine swaps, suspension/brake custom work, ect). We are adding another tech to our staff soon with over 20 years of tech experience and service manager experience. I have been browsing through the forums and it looks like there is a plethora of useful information here. We have been booming lately, with over 650 new customers in the past 18 months. Business has been better over the past 2 months than ever before, and word has spread quickly in our town about us and we just keep gaining steam. I look forward to learning lots from other board members and I hope to help where I can as well. Our website is http://www.ryangmw.com/. See you guys around!

Like you, I have a low car count, higher ARO with euro cars only. These didn't seem to work well for my clientel. Most of our customers talk about their Bimmer to their friends, they for on forums and talk, and the word of mouth will carry you the best and give you high end clients that will spend the money on their cars. I sent out 380 to BMW owners in my area and got 2 cars to come in. Cost $312 and turned $450 in gross sales... so I almost broke even... sure left something to be desired, but I was new and willing to try anything to get more cars in the door. The only thing that has consistently brought in new people has been my old ones...

Did the guy pick up his car today? I would like to know how he/you responded. In my experience, these people get upset and then are calm soon after and apologize. Nobody wants expensive car repairs the week before Christmas (or any other time for that matter) but you just have to be patient with them, let them talk and eventually you will have their money and hopefully respect as well. I have yet to have a customer I couldn't talk down from whatever cloud they were floating on that day... These are usually the most satisfying times in this business!