New Shop On The Block???

[GIL]

This is totally hypothetical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st off-how much do you spend on ski parts, complete ski's per year?

2nd off-would you spend more if-there were a shop with fast and GAURANTEED turn around time on engine work, GAURANTEED available
and ship dates on hulls/hull parts/hood kits/poles, and this shop let u know
if the parts u wanted were in stock at the time you ordered them, and id not, they gave you an ETA on your parts that was accurate?????????????????????

I AM NOT POINTING OUT ANY INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS'S THAT ARE OUT THERE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If we all had our dream company to buy stuff from, would we spend more? If everything were under 1 roof, would it make a diff?

Obviously the whole problem with my theory is MONOPOLY, hence the higher prices.

 

[Fathom]

I have tried many suppliers and have had poor service from many.

If a shop has decent turnaround and good customer service, they get my money and loyalty.

If I get poor service (lack of communication, wrong parts sent multiple times, etc. I will look for another supplier. It's that simple.

 

[Vumad]

I don't have the money to buy new, so I generally wouldn't buy from a the shop. I go with the buy mass piles of crap and put something together method. By the time I'm done selling what I don't need, I broke even on the parts I did need, so I end up spending a lot of time but no money.

 

[superjet0587]

The only way i would spend more is if the shop was actually on my block, but im glad there isnt one i dont think i could afford it

 

[Frosty]

I have tried many suppliers and have had poor service from many.

If a shop has decent turnaround and good customer service, they get my money and loyalty.

If I get poor service (lack of communication, wrong parts sent multiple times, etc. I will look for another supplier. It's that simple.

X2 - when i find a good reliable supplier i stay with them. I would even rather pay a little more but get killer service and communication than to save money and get crap.

 

[CG Racing]

In a perfect world, everything would always be on time, no shipping mix ups, deadlines met with no snags, and so on. Please let me know when this perfect shop opens, I will start buying from them. First I need to figure out a way to get to La-La land on a 500 HP, 2lb superjet that does not use gas and has no moving parts to break. Hopefully along the way I will find some water cops to throw some double ups for me and write tickets to people not having fun.:biggthumpup:

 

[CG Racing]

The only way i would spend more is if the shop was actually on my block, but im glad there isnt one i dont think i could afford it

oh yes there is...:approve:

 

[SXIPro]

Exceptional Customer Service is truly a lost art. Not just in this industry, but across the board. It really is sad.

It's pretty bad when we are astonished just because someone shipped something accurately and on time, and even more amazingly thanked us for the order....shouldn't that be the rule and not the exception??

 

[GIL]

7 poll results so far resulting in 13,000.00 spent so far!!!
Average business cost is 50% of sale. With that said, 7 people have generated 6500.00 net profit! Im dying to see what the total is after
a week on here. I'm gonna guess and say total spent is going to be
a average of 2000.00 per year per person! Lets say 200 of us spend
2000.00 per year. 400,000.00 in sales, 200,000.00 cost=200,000.00
per year net before payroll, insurance, rent, advertising, and so on.

So, lets really crunch this thing-
200,000.00 div by 12 months=16666.67 per month gross profit. Now lets hire some people.

LPW or TEAM SCREAM-6000.00 per mo
WATERCRAFT FACTORY or WDK-6000.00 per mo
Laborers for shipping and handling-2000.00 per mo x2=4000.00
Phone and internet sales coordinator-3000.00 per mo
Advertising budget-1000.00 per mo
Rent-2000.00 per mo
Ins.-250.00 per mo
Total fixed expenses=22,250.00 per month for a net profit of-
NEGATIVE 5583.33 per month.

Guys and gals, maybe we need to cut our suppliers some slack! I realize, some of them really suck, how well would you perform for pennies per year?

KEEP IN MIND, this is all guessing numbers and stats at this point, I bet I aint too dam far off tho.

Steve aka WATERCRAFT FACTORY, do u put 100,000.00 per year in yer pocket?

How bout u Jeff aka WDK?

Paul aka LPW?

Chuck aka TEAM SCREAM?

Stuff that makes me go hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[Frosty]

Exceptional Customer Service is truly a lost art. Not just in this industry, but across the board. It really is sad.

It's pretty bad when we are astonished just because someone shipped something accurately and on time, and even more amazingly thanked us for the order....shouldn't that be the rule and not the exception??

good call. We've grown complacent as a society and learned to accept mediocrity and poor service.

 

[guiness92]

Thats a good theory and all but... I really dont think any of the above companies rely on the people of this site to keep their business's going. I would venture to say this site is in the 5% range of their yearly sales. This is just speculation on my part though.

 

[Big Kahuna]

I am going on 17 years now, WOW!!!!!!!!!! over the years I have learned who is best to order from. Some places have come and gone....... I do not cater to one company for everything, but kind of spread it out to different places depending on the item...

For all OEM parts, Give John at Greater Yamaha a buzz, he has been taking care of me with excellent service for 7 years now with zero problems.

Riva, about 50% on satisfaction.

Parker Yamaha, cheaper than most, customer service is sketchy, but you dont get the same person twice it seams, you need to build relationships.

these are just a few...

Kevin at Legdrag is good.

Blowsion has always been good.

Chris Maro's

Curt that use to own Jazz was always good.

 

[norcal ex]

Average business cost is 50% of sale.

This not correct actually. I work part time at a ski shop and i get all of the numbers. To give you an example from ADA... their heads cost 350, but the shops can buy them for 250... the retailer is only making 30% on that sale of 350 plus they have all of their over heads to cover. Depending on the items the prices are different, but very few company make 50% profit after all of their overheads.

 

[Big Kahuna]

depends on how you structure your pricing, you could be making 50% Overhead and Profit.

when I bid jobs I may put 50% on top of the cost, but of that, about 30% is overhead, profit is only 20%.

 

[GIL]

Simply amazing, 30 people polled so far, 62,000.00 spent so far for a average of 2066.67 per person per year!!!

 

[thegoldenboy]

I thought of it here, simply because Canada has no support. Not necessarily a shop with machining capability, just a small dealer with little to no inventory, riders can wait for parts as longg as I could get them in a timely manner.
If I could do as much as save people on customs and shipping it would be worth it. We have no support up here and our market is very small.

All I'm looking for in a shop is someone who can ship to Canada for a fair rate. Blowsion was good with this. Not calling UPS and have them write everything up. Take the extra 5 mintues to satisfy a Canadian customer.

 

[snowxr]

7 poll results so far resulting in 13,000.00 spent so far!!!
Average business cost is 50% of sale. With that said, 7 people have generated 6500.00 net profit! Im dying to see what the total is after
a week on here. I'm gonna guess and say total spent is going to be
a average of 2000.00 per year per person! Lets say 200 of us spend
2000.00 per year. 400,000.00 in sales, 200,000.00 cost=200,000.00
per year net before payroll, insurance, rent, advertising, and so on.

So, lets really crunch this thing-

LPW or TEAM SCREAM-6000.00 per mo
WATERCRAFT FACTORY or WDK-6000.00 per mo
Laborers for shipping and handling-2000.00 per mo x2=4000.00
Phone and internet sales coordinator-3000.00 per mo
Advertising budget-1000.00 per mo
Rent-2000.00 per mo
Ins.-250.00 per mo
Total fixed expenses=22,250.00 per month for a net profit of-
NEGATIVE 5583.33 per month.

KEEP IN MIND, this is all guessing numbers and stats at this point, I bet I aint too dam far off tho.


Stuff that makes me go hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think your idea of profit is a bit off. The average mark-up from dealer pricing to retail is less than 40%.
Don't forget medical insurance.
$2000 won't get you much of a building to rent around here. Approx 2000 sq. feet.

As much as I wish I was wrong, there is no easy way to start a shop and make a good profit without manufacturing your own parts. ( in china. U.S. labor is so expensive ) Can we afford to do that to ourselves?

 

[GDFL]

What about when john doe calls and has specific questions for the guy porting the cylinders? He has to get away from a cylinder to talk on the phone and then he's behind. Multiply that by 20 calls a day (since you're the best shop around) and all the sudden you're screwed. A secretary won't do much to fix it. People are still going to want to talk to "the man" because the secretary won't know jack about what jets to use with these carbs I just found that I want to maybe put on this motor that might get a lightened flywheel later on....... see how it goes?

 

[MILF]

What about when john doe calls and has specific questions for the guy porting the cylinders? He has to get away from a cylinder to talk on the phone and then he's behind. Multiply that by 20 calls a day (since you're the best shop around) and all the sudden you're screwed. A secretary won't do much to fix it. People are still going to want to talk to "the man" because the secretary won't know jack about what jets to use with these carbs I just found that I want to maybe put on this motor that might get a lightened flywheel later on....... see how it goes?

Exactly..... Well said and so true!!!! Speaking from personal experience, I was no help in the shop because I couldn't possibly help with the technicial questions coming in and I do know a little (non-technicial) about the business. I have seen Paul spend most of his day answering calls and questions from people (with tons of patience)whether they are spending money with LPW or not..... I think it is one of his favorite parts about this business!

Not much profit in this type of business after overhead, supplies, parts, etc.... I think I will stick to Catering..... Way more profitable!:cheer::cheer: Just not as much fun!!!:biggthumpup::biggthumpup:

 

[Proformance1]

There is some very realistic info coming out in this thread. Part of the reason why I try not to complain about any of the shops on here, or elseware, regarding pricing, is because I am a former automotive machine shop owner. We had profits in the neighborhood of 15 - 75% on parts. Labor was pretty much just straight time, competition makes you adjust your prices accordingly. If I bought a new hone tank that made honing work better and faster, we would make more profit off of honing, but the equipment ate up a lot of that price, so there was just less labor, but more over head. Gross sales were huge numbers for the year, money in my pocket was pretty much very small. The reality of running a business is staggering. Electric bills of $1000/mth, phone bills $600/mth. Leasing or owning office shop space, insurance, workers comp, benefits, taxes, accountants, water, chemicals and disposal, etc. The only reason I mention it here is that a lot of people don't think of everything that goes along with running a small, legal business. Like an S-corp, corp, etc.