been thinking of some side work

[homersipes]

So I am pretty mechanically inclined, can fix just about anything on small engines, chainsaws and such.  was thinking about trying to take my hobby into a small business, starting off by trying to get a few jobs here and there to get a bit of money in a designated account for this, to get all insured and licensed and such.  maybe make a posting on craigslist advertising some small engine work.  I figure 20 an hour for labor plus parts.  what do you all think??

[uptown]

Go for it. I've kicked around the idea myself for quite some time. The local garage around here wants close to 20 bucks to repair a flat tire. At those prices I could buy my own tire machine and balancer and do it for half the price. Only thing is what in the hell will I do with all those used tires and how much is the government going to get into my pocket with all their mandated crap?

[homersipes]

thats where I get all confused is the taxes and stuff, because I dont have a business license and all that if I made over $1500 I think I would (should) do a 1099.  but for the time bein it would be kinda under the table.  yeah tire repairs ar $$$$, I paid 30 to have a tire that I mounted on the rim, didnt have a valve stem, and dont know how to use balancer we have at the shop, so a balance and valve stem for $30. 

[CAP1]

Go for it. I've kicked around the idea myself for quite some time. The local garage around here wants close to 20 bucks to repair a flat tire. At those prices I could buy my own tire machine and balancer and do it for half the price. Only thing is what in the hell will I do with all those used tires and how much is the government going to get into my pocket with all their mandated crap?

 a decent tire machine is min. $3k. balancer anywhere from $1300 up.

 that said, you don't need either of them to plug a tire. what you are paying for is the mechanics time, and the convenience of not doing it yourself.

 it costs me 5/tire to properly dispose of them. taxes......i have an accountant for that, 'cause i don't know enough, nor do i have the time to learn.

 depending on what you're working on, types of repairs, etc.....it costs to get rid of oil in some places....some places you can get it picked up for free, and there's a couple businesses locally that pay for it.

 it usually costs money to get rid of antifreeze properly.

 then there's rent, insurance, etc etc etc etc

[jeep00]

Don't need it to plug a tire but these days most places patch them which means removing it from the rim then a rebalance is usually at hand.
Good luck with the business homer. With more lawn care than you can shake a srick at should be some market for what you want to do. Then find some dead ones fix them and resell them also. A good skill to have.

[vorticon]

plenty of money in small engine repair and picking up busted lawnmowers at garage sales. if you could get the construction companies in your pocket you'd be laughing. don't charge per hour, charge flat rate, cash only, for now.

[guncrasher]

if I give you some advise is dont charge by the hour.  it wont pay the bills specially if you are driving.  and I dont mean to rip people off either.  charge by how complicated the job is.  for example i charge my old boss 300 bucks every year to set up his quickbooks accounts.  it takes me about 3 or 4 hours.  but it has taken me a few hours to learn about quick books and how it improves his business.  then I have to go every couple of months and spend an hour or two training a new employee.

be fair in your business you can make a living without ripping people off.

semp

[Bizman]

I do something similar with computers as my only job. As has been said, charging enough to cover your expenses and still being considered as less expensive is a matter of art and cosmic powers.

When I started, I thought that repairing computers would require an equal amount of knowledge and skills as repairing cars. So I looked at the pricing of the brand repair labs and the small one man garages. The two man brand specialized shop seemed to have a pricing to both give them a decent income and still being on the inexpensive side for customers. So I copied their price per hour, including rides within 10 miles to compensate that I don't have a special workshop, as I mostly to the job at the customer's house. I'm not the cheapest in business, but just last Friday a new customer was happily surprised about how little I charged for diagnosing their old laptop as waste, saving their files to an external hdd and doing the basics for their new Win8 laptop.

Charging per hour isn't the only way, at least not in my case. There are projects that have a fixed price, like the so called "Inspection fee" or virus cleaning. My basic charge is €60 per hour, including 24% VAT. It may sound much compared to what a regular factory worker will get per hour, but that also includes all the costs the employer pays such as my retirement pension. Plus income taxes. Not to forget the pay for just waiting for their call.

Look around for what the price range is in your area and set a price level somewhere in between. Think about what you would be ready to pay for similarly demanding jobs. The cheapest may not feel reputable enough, and the most expensive make you feel like they're ripping you off... Remember that you have skills that your customers don't have! They are more than willing to pay for not having to learn the same skills. If they aren't, dump them .

I don't know anything about taxing and such where you live. Here they have a public service for new enterprises, giving advice for what to take into consideration be it a one man side job or starting a large factory.

[VonMessa]

If you charge $20/hour, you are ripping yourself off.  Seasonal service (plug, air filter, deck cleaning, blade sharpening) can net you about $45 and you can knock that out in 1/2 hour if you are efficient.

What about liability insurance?  For example, if a mower blade comes off and hurts someone it is your fault if you were the last to touch the machine.

Pull the plug on every mower you fix and check the crank for wobble as some people are fond of hitting stumps, etc and bending their crank. If it does, leave the plug out, call the customer and WALK AWAY from that machine.

Chainsaws: make sure all safety features that the saw came with are in good working order before the customer gets it back.  Sharpening chains can net you about $15/chain and you can knock that out in 5 - 10 minutes with a bench-mounted sharpener.

These are just small examples.

As for taxes, I doubt that you could go the 1099 route as you would technically NOT be a sub-contractor.

I am not trying to be intimidating, just showing you a few reasons that you need to CYA.  There is definitely a market for that type of work and also a profit to be made.  It is hard to find a mechanic that people can trust but, once they do, they will keep coming back to you.

Good luck.   

[homersipes]

yeah thanks for the advice guys    I already do the service work for all of my neighbors, which has mainly been carb work because everyones lawnmower surges and runs like crap thanks to the new gas.  I did do some hourly work at a small shop a while back and thats about all he had been doing.  He turned a lot of people away that had the old stuff, which to me is WAY easier to work on. 

As for taxes, I doubt that you could go the 1099 route as you would technically NOT be a sub-contractor.

this is a true statement, I dont know why I was even thinking that 

[RngFndr]

Or, you can operate "By Appointment Only".. Which I know quite a few people are doing that..
With all the new Leeches lining up to suck blood of any business owner, some small guys have
closed up their places of Business, and have gone to a  "By Appointment only" business model..
In other words they make house calls, lol.. Still plying their trade in their community, thank God..
It's called the "underground economy".. Gonna be a lot of that in the near future..

I still do some work on occasion, "helping out a friend".. No law against that is there??
At least for now..

[ghi]

Good luck, but the problem is this small engine machines are too cheap to buy new or good used; I paid aprox  200-250$ for a lawnmower, 80-100$ for trimmer, 600$ for a snow blower; as long as are made in Asia and sold here for this price, doesn't make sense to fix; people are buying extended warranty and run this toys for 2-3 years, if breaks down after  get a new one.

[homersipes]

as far as not being any work, seems to be plenty around here.  I did some work at a shop a little while back because he was so swamped with work he couldnt keep up.  His shop is actually closing due to family issues or something, that and I heard from word of mout that he shafted several people over.  I kinda like the by appointment idea. 

If you charge $20/hour, you are ripping yourself off.  Seasonal service (plug, air filter, deck cleaning, blade sharpening) can net you about $45 and you can knock that out in 1/2 hour if you are efficient.

this is true, so if I were to charge 20 an hour and set a minimum of an hour labor charge regardless of time I would make 20 for the job, because youre right it takes about half an hour to do plug, airfilter and sharpening.  maybe charge a $50 for a tune up and regualr service, but if needs any tear down would be 25-30 an hour?   

[Bizman]

20-30 per hour is equal to giving for free. Come on, man, where's your dignity???

About 80% of US working people make over 12 000 a year. If they have been able to afford some machinery, they sure won't argue about anything below $100. You're no social worker, are you?

Charging by every starting hour seems to make people angry, but a fixed threshold for the first hour sounds like a good idea to cover the mileage inside a given area.

House calls by appointment is wonderful! I used to work as a travelling salesman. Calling the customers begging for audience was very time consuming and sometimes even humiliating if I didn't really have anything new to offer them. Now its vice versa. My customers call me and ask if I possibly could come rather soon to help them. And when they call, they know they have to pay for my services and they also are willing to pay.

I have a rule of thumb: The repairing costs by case must be below half of the price for a new machine suitable for the actual needs. That makes repairing cost effective also for the customer: Fixing a $200 lawn mower for $80 adding a couple of years to its lifespan is $120 cheaper than a new one. Plus the customer might feel like he's doing his best to reduce his production of waste. Most people like to think green if they are led to think they benefit from it... Anything below a hundred is change, 150 is decent for a couple of hours. Add some extra visual elements like canned air and such to assure the audience that they're dealing with a professional.

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[gyrene81]

along the lines of what Bizman said, look around Homer, make a few calls to shops doing that sort of work and see what they charge, then determine what you can do to compete and still make a profit. sometimes quality trumps cost, especially for repeat business which in turn can bring in new customers. if you can do a better job than others, you can sometimes get away with charging a little more. keep in mind that you're going to have equipment maintenance/replacement costs to contend with too.

in case you haven't done it yet, also look into your state business license and tax laws. some states don't require sales tax on labor charges but others do and you will have to know that or you will get yourself in a bind.