Might be opening up a Diesel shop in SE Michigan

[emcarthur]

Hello everyone, Ive been thinking of opening my own shop for a quite awhile, and I have a rough estimate what I want to do. I would work on Cummins, Powerstroke, and Duramax. I would like to offer a wide variety of services, such as lift kits, tuners, complete builds, and many more. As well as just routine maintenance. The shop I found will also have room for a store front, so I would like to have a retail section also. Just any type of input, positive or negative would be appreciated. Thanks.
Eric.

[thesmokinstroke02]

Where is the shop gonna be at?

[emcarthur]

Just North of Lapeer, right on M24 in Deerfield Township

[Ewils35]

i was going to say if you needed help with lift kits and such i could help out but deerfield township is quite a drive for me.

[thesmokinstroke02]

you sir have a pm. im in lapeer area

[Cat_Rebel]

Who are you, have I seen you before?

[Cat_Rebel]

Okay never mind the last post. Judging from your other posts, I am going to assume that you are new to this whole thing. (could be wrong) It's hard to get a start at a shop when you have no reputation. Let alone no truck of your own to show customers. I don't spend money or send people to shops unless I trust the guys alone with my keys.

I understand where your coming from, but that still won't pay the bills if no one shows up.

[Big_Stroker]

What do you even know about the diesel performance world and these motors?

[symbols]

Well, here is my experience so take it how you want. I opened a shop when I was about 22 yrs old. I had been a mechanic for a few years and was almost master certified (I was only lacking the manual trans cert I think). I had enough side business that it was taking up my entire personal life so I decided to make the jump. I had enough money to float me for about 6 months after everything I spent getting the shop and shop tools I needed. The only place I could see working financially was outside the city limits and a little off the beaten path. I was only 30 mins from where they used to bring but as soon as I told them I moved and they were going to have to drive for me to look at there vehicle most stopped coming. I picked up several new customers from around the area but it wasn't enough to keep the doors open and less than a year after opening I had to shut it down.

[emcarthur]

Thanks everyone for your input, taking it all into consideration. Keep it going!