Would you do this all over again?

Travis,
I think you just spoke for every body shop in the country, as I hear this day in and day out.

I have been in the paint business a long time and the one thing that has never changed is this.
A paint store guy thinks a sale rep has it made.
A sales guy, thinks the paint store owner has it made.
A salesman thinks his boss has it made.
Chemical reps think i have it made.
A paint store owner wants to own anything but the paint store.
A bodyshop guy thinks the paint store owner has it made.

Bottom line is all jobs have the same amount of problems and headache and the only difference is they are different types of headaches.

A good friend who owned two paint stores back in the 80's, we would always joke about how we would rather own a Dairy queen, well one day he sold his two stores to BASF and called to say he bought two dairy queens.
Inside of one year he sold both and said this was a bigger pain in A++ then running the paint stores. LOL
 
Barryk;21087 said:
Travis,
I think you just spoke for every body shop in the country, as I hear this day in and day out.

I have been in the paint business a long time and the one thing that has never changed is this.
A paint store guy thinks a sale rep has it made.
A sales guy, thinks the paint store owner has it made.
A salesman thinks his boss has it made.

A paint store owner wants to own anything but the paint store.
A bodyshop guy thinks the paint store owner has it made.

Bottom line is all jobs have the same amount of problems and headache and the only difference is they are different types of headaches.
Click to expand...

Since you put it this way, I have to ask.. Lol.
I deleted a few non-applying items, but i left the ones that applied

Where does this leave me. lol
Shop owner, painter, body man, fabricator, paint store owner, sales rep, and tecnnical support, motocross supply store owner. I think that covers the majority..


Now how about that dairy queen?? Lol. jkjkjk.
 
I've owned a shop for about 12 years now, ran one for a year or so before mine, and sure some days I get irritated and wonder what i'm doing, but overall i'm pretty happy with getting into the business, the last few years have been the best, and at about the worst as far as the economy has been considered within the time i've been here.

You will run into many more challenges and road blocks than what you could imagine. but it's a experience either way. Some good and some bad, just hope you can make it through the bad to enjoy the good.
 
I just recently put my 2 weeks notice in at where I work(office job dealing with miserable people all day every day) to take a painter position at a well known restoration shop in my area. I'm actually very excited about this. It is going to give me a chance to do paint and body more and also learn metal fab. I have a cushion to fall back on as I am always welcome back at my current job if this new venture fails me. Bottom line, is you never know unless you try.
 
Thanks, hardest part will be going from my garage to a booth, oh and using PPG stuff. Maybe overtime I can convert them over to SPI. Like to start with the epoxy atleast.
 
OJ''d86, Good luck with the new job, give us a lowdown on the shop when you get some time in-they may do things a lot differently than you're accustomed to.
 
Bob, I will def keep you guys updated. Lucky for me though alot of what I have learned has come from the owner of this shop, so moving in shouldnt be an issue, and I expect to learn a lot more, both painting and metal working.

A quick rundown of me. I am 34 with a wife and 3 kids, I have a background in CAD design, and robot programming. I do have a cushion to fall back on, but I need to know if this will make me happy. I am flat out done with the corporate world, it just isnt for me. I come home miserable, and I leave the house in a bad mood not even looking forward to going to the place I will spend the next 10 hours at everyday.

moral of the story, dont ever let the stats that are on the paper scare you from anything. If its something you want to do and it looks close, go for it! Try it, if it fails so what. It wont be the last time you ever fail in your life at something. If you never fail, it only means one thing, you arent trying hard enough.
 
I agree with most here. I love hot rods an customs and bikes, but Im not much of a buisness man. 1 to 3 jobs a year maybe would be tops for me. Ive been out of this field sence 97 because I burned out working for someone else. Just getting back in slowly. To my benefit I have a job working 28 days out 14 at home. I never want to work for general pulic collision work ever again. Its a hobby that will hopfully make me a little extra money. Who ever I do work for Knows up front, its so much per hour plus materials and paint. I dont have to take whatever comes along. If they dont want to pay I send them on nicely and no hard feeling. 90% of the people out there have no clue what it takes to do a quality job so we are only dealing with a small group. Keep it small and try to remember why you love this work so you can continue to love it.
 
Bob Hollinshead;21365 said:
OJ''d86, Good luck with the new job, give us a lowdown on the shop when you get some time in-they may do things a lot differently than you're accustomed to.
Click to expand...

So far so good. I had my first run in with a ppg Rep today. Lol. Basically dogged me for using spi and gave me a chemestry lesson on resins and how spi clears wont work with ppg bases. He asked me how much the spi costs, and then proceeded to tell me "you are paying more money for the UV protection with ppg"

I asked my boss what clear I was going to use on a car I am getting ready to spray probably monday so I could order from the jobber, He said I want you to shoot what you are comfortable with and what you believe in. So he ordered me some UV today.
 
orangejuiced86;22455 said:
So far so good. I had my first run in with a ppg Rep today. Lol. Basically dogged me for using spi and gave me a chemestry lesson on resins and how spi clears wont work with ppg bases.
Click to expand...

That's just to get you to buy their clear haha. Had the same thing from a ppg rep that came in our shop. Told him all I buy from them is their base. Asked what clear I used and said SPI. He didn't really have much more to say, just shook his head and said yeah that will work but our clear will work better, he couldn't explain how. Our sherwin Williams rep told me to use dura glass on my engine block to smooth it out. He also tells me there is no corrosion protection in any epoxy primer, needless to say that's the last time I asked him a question.
 
Panelwagon62;22457 said:
That's just to get you to buy their clear haha. Had the same thing from a ppg rep that came in our shop. Told him all I buy from them is their base. Asked what clear I used and said SPI. He didn't really have much more to say, just shook his head and said yeah that will work but our clear will work better, he couldn't explain how. Our sherwin Williams rep told me to use dura glass on my engine block to smooth it out. He also tells me there is no corrosion protection in any epoxy primer, needless to say that's the last time I asked him a question.
Click to expand...

There is no corrosion protection "in" anything, corrosion protection is a process, not a thing. You can just as easily tell that tool that there is no corrosion protection "in" S-Ws much touted vinyl etch primer either, not without application of subsequent topcoats. It's all in the system, a methodical process of denying the elements access to the metal of the vehicle body.
 
orangejuiced86;22455 said:
So far so good. I had my first run in with a ppg Rep today. Lol. Basically dogged me for using spi and gave me a chemestry lesson on resins and how spi clears wont work with ppg bases. He asked me how much the spi costs, and then proceeded to tell me "you are paying more money for the UV protection with ppg"

I asked my boss what clear I was going to use on a car I am getting ready to spray probably monday so I could order from the jobber, He said I want you to shoot what you are comfortable with and what you believe in. So he ordered me some UV today.
Click to expand...

LOL. That's funny. The guy doesn't even have a clue about SPI products....he just shows it there with those sayings. That's just normal talking points for jobbers/reps when the hear of someone using the competitions products.

That is why i like my sikkens rep. When he found out I was using SPI, he didn't have a bad thing to say. Sure he wished I was using his stuff and he did try to get me to use more, but that is his job. Another regional rep was in the shop a few months ago and he asked what clears I was using and told him the same, SPI. Not a word... He knew that I used sikkens for years before.

Now if I can just get these matrix people to quit pushing their stuff.....LOL. They found out I'm using SPI and they've been up here every week...even gave me a free qt of some cheapo clear to try.
 
orangejuiced86;22455 said:
So far so good. I had my first run in with a ppg Rep today. Lol. Basically dogged me for using spi and gave me a chemestry lesson on resins and how spi clears wont work with ppg bases. He asked me how much the spi costs, and then proceeded to tell me "you are paying more money for the UV protection with ppg"

I asked my boss what clear I was going to use on a car I am getting ready to spray probably monday so I could order from the jobber, He said I want you to shoot what you are comfortable with and what you believe in. So he ordered me some UV today.
Click to expand...

Obviously your new boss has seen your work and doesn't want anything to change, smart!
 
crashtech;22466 said:
There is no corrosion protection "in" anything, corrosion protection is a process, not a thing. You can just as easily tell that tool that there is no corrosion protection "in" S-Ws much touted vinyl etch primer either, not without application of subsequent topcoats. It's all in the system, a methodical process of denying the elements access to the metal of the vehicle body.
Click to expand...
Yeah I know what your saying, but that is how it was said to me. I will word it better next time.
 
Guys,

This thread along with every other one on this forum has really helped me out. I'm 2 months away from making a total career change. Little background about myself. Was a Senior Buyer for a manufacturing corporation until 9/11, then at 25 I joined the Army under a new contract called 18X which basically as long as I didn't fail, I'd be a green beret in about 2 1/2 years. Well that all panned out fine, did 5 years in Special Forces as a SF Engineer sgt. then got out and have spent the last 5 years contracting oversea's. I'd always done all my own mechanical work and in SF did alot of TIG welding in Afghanistan but really got interested in paint and body after having an 07 Mustang fiberglass hood done for the wife's ride. When I got home from deployment a day after it came back from the shop, I could see pigtails all in it. The gaps were off center, it was just bad. So I learned on her hood how to properly cut and buff. It was scary but came out looking way better than what I'd just paid for.

So now I'm at the end of 5 years of contracting. With no debt at all, no desire to join the corporate world again, I'm about to embark on a paint and body career. I want to embrace the American spirit that I feel has been lost since the 60's of small businesses producing quality work. My wife's grandmother has given me her deceased husbands old shop. It's a 2 1/2 bay garage on 2 acres outside of city limits that he used for small engine repair. He retired from GM in Atlanta and worked on lawn mowers until he passed away. My wife's job will now pay the bills while I start this. I don't plan on going big. Just myself, which I know is going to be hard to get a name out there starting at 36 when most guys have almost 20 years on me. I'll be attending Wray Schelin's class in the fall so I can better understand metal bumping and shaping as well as starting tech school in January for auto body and paint.

I by no mean any disrespect to anyone on here coming in late in the game and saying, "I can do it." Being in SF, I heard it all the time guys who say they can without ever trying. I think having that SF mentality of never quitting and never settling for good enough though will help me drive on. I understand what you all do is truly a fading art, being replaced by high turnover low quality shops. I'm just putting myself all in, leaving a job that pays very well for an uncertain future.

My only question is if tech school for auto paint and body is worth it? My GI Bill is covering my school and I already have a BA in Finance with a minor in small business management so I understand how to run a business. I'm just concerned that when I get to tech school all they'll be focused on is the high turnover low quality mentality.

Also, my equipment set up is as follows (after following advice from the forums):
Millermatic 180
Miller 375 Plasma Cutter
Primer gun is a Sata 100 BF
Base is Sata Jet 4000 B
Clear is Sata Jet 3000 RP
Orbital Sanders Dynabrade 69025,69035
Various size Durablocks
Various size hammers and dollys
Compressor is about to be replaced with a Quincy QRDS7.5 (or is that too much for a single shop?)

Sorry for the long intro. into this but honestly you guys have been a great help. I have purchased all my equipment before I even started my shop because I didn't want to go into debt with the opening. Materials will be paid in cash so Barry can expect an order from me in mid October, right before I get home. I'm local to you Barry so I'll be by to introduce myself and put a face to a name. While I'm in school, I'll be practicing on my busted up panels because I have replacement panels for all my projects already sitting in the garage.

Thanks again and don't hold back. I've got thick skin. Once the projects get started, I'll start posting up pics.
 
the most important tool you need is good insurance . it's not if you'll need but when. i've been broken into twice over the years and that was before all the useless meth heads. now when they do it the last thing they do is set fire.
 
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