A change in career

Hi guys.

Ive been working in the building trade since leaving school (plasterer) To say I'm sick of it is an understatement. Ive got major trouble with my back and have been advised by my doctor to look at a career change. I currently run my own business and have done for over 10yrs with good success

So ive been thinking about setting up a motorcyle performance parts business to run along side a garage specialising in track/race bike prep, tyres & General servicing. over the years iv worked in motorcycle dealerships (P&H Motorcycles), ive also worked for track day company's (FE & Easy Track) as an instructor. I have managed to secure a position within a world endurance race team for this year as a member of the pit crew. Along side all of this, I'll be going back to college this September to gain a national diploma in motorcyle maintenance & repair. Ive built many race/track bikes over the years from old Suzuki SRADs to Superstock spec BMW S1000RR's

So the main questions I'm putting out there are this. Do you think the service I'll be offering will be of any use?
Have you or anyone you know done a similar thing?

All feedback will be greatly appreciated

 

Personally I have no clue if the idea will fly or not, but good luck to you if you decide to do it. I did a career change in my late 20s and never looked back, so much so I may do another one in the next decade.

 

It sound good to me. Our local guy retired recently, and he was always busy. Now we have to travel miles or use the Honda dealer.

 

My few thoughts on this:

Your plastering skill has done you well, you says its a business have you others who work for you? Could you trust them to carry on doing so while you do other things or would you prefer to wind it up / put on hold ?

Re the parts side of the business I would be really nervous about this - the Internet has made it really , really cut throat - there is always somebody , somewhere prepared to undercut you. End of day most parts can arrive next day so unlikely to hold you back and I just think the risks are too great of holding stock plus the ball ache of running a shop or internet business alongside working on bikes would drive me nuts.

Where I really think you really can work well and build a good business is in the track bike / maintenance / prep. side and also regular servicing side.
I also think the work to gain a trusted qualification to back this up is essential as anyone can say 'Oh I'm really experienced in this area' etc.
If you can then add to your CV that you have worked for the endurance team it further adds credit.

Just a thought but it would good for you to be find an area / bit of an airfield taxi way or similar where you can give track bikes a proper test run - how many times on trackdays do people spend loads to have a bike give problems as it has not had a proper test as only place to try is on track where you have spent loads on the day etc. maybe a hotel time is limited etc.

Also don't overlook liability insurance for your work, and then also cover for peoples bikes in your care - accidents can happen and if somebody comes after you for a claim for a replacement engine or a bike goes missing it could clear you out (sorry that's the nerdy working for an Insurance company in me)

Also don't forget the time and effort to setup a web presence etc.

I know there is a lot of stuff written above, drop me a PM if you want to discuss any of it and hope it is of use

 

Thanks for the in put guys.

I'm looking to eventually wind the plastering up at some point, but untill I can make a decent way of things with the bikes etc I'll still be on the trowl.. Ive made a lot of good contacts over the years within the bike industry and know quite a few of the main suppliers of motorcyle performance parts. Iv looked in to opening accounts with the company's who can supply me with Brembo, Translogic, Akrapovic, Arrow etc . I can also get superb deals on Ohlins suspension?.All seems pretty straight forward. Items wouldn't be held in stock, everything will be bought in on demand. As I'll have very little over heads I'm confident I'd be able to offer a competitive price over some of the bigger company's with more employes and bigger premises etc.

ill look in to the idea of testing the bikes. Ive who is able to help with that... Iv been running my own plastering company for over 10yrs, good insurance cover is essential. I certainly won't be venturing in to any business venture without adequate cover

 

i think its a great idea.. however you will need to consider that you may struggle to take in revenue for the first 12 months till people get to know you / trust you. personally would take baby steps into this and perhaps run it along side the plastering business? part time / part time if that makes sense, that way you have some income coming in plus dipping your toe in the water to see if its worth something more! personally I always go back to good people Ive dealt with over the years.. so you may have trouble attracting fresh blood so to speak! god luck as I'm sure if you put your mind to it you can make it a success! at least the part time plastering may help your back a little

P.S. - plasterers are like hens teeth up in Aberdeen and if you can get one, they are not cheap! £300 for a typical bedroom ceiling lol..

 

I'll still be on the trowl untill the bike business can support itsself. Bikes are my life, if I can turn my hobby/obsession in to a career then I'd be made up. I started my own plastering business from scratch and turned it in to what it is today through hard work and dedication. I'm confident that if I put the effort it, it'll pay off. I'm not looking to earn loads of money, just enough to make a living

 

FairPlay to you for having the vision to do something you want to do and our passionate about,
I wish you all the best you could not only do parts but then branch into clothing - arc - gimoto leathers brands that need exspanding and the like in the uk ,

 

Think it's a mint idea buddy - one I've thougt about too but no good with a spanner Laguna in ashford do well and turn over £2m quid. Okay bike sales as well but large chunk of the business is around dyno and performance parts.

There's also a really cool shop in Stevenage old town - does clothes and accessories and odd parts. Seems to do well so a good formula IMO.

I for one would use you if your close to Internet prices as nothing like doing business with familiar people you can pick up the phone to for a chat about things your looking to buy.

I honestly believe if you are passionate about something and willing to graft, you'll succeed at anything you want to do. Good luck mate

Ps - how cheap can you get ohlins internals for? lol

 

Sounds like a good idea, go for it!

How did you get into the world endurance team? If you don't mind me asking. Is it a case of who you know rather than what you know to get a foot in?

 

I sold a silver 2003 R1 track bike, to a plasterer from Surrey called Russ, who instructed for Focussed Events, and knows my brother (Tim). Was that you?

I say go for it, business is business: plan, do your research, keep an eye on the cash flow.
I had an idea actually: collect and return MOT and servicing. Save me taking time off work when the MOT runs out.

 

Or just stick it in the post

 

Thanks for the encouragement and the positive views guys..

Yeah I bought the R1 hope you and the family are well mate. Iv been discussing loads of things with Tim about web design and marketing. Tim has been a great help

The pick up and drop off service is a brilliant idea along with MOT's. I'll have a look in to it..


A family friend runs the endurance team, so I made full use of the connection lol. If you want to get in to that side of things, if you fire off a few emails to a few teams (BSB etc) I'm sure you may get a result. I'm not getting paid of my time, but will have my expensive paid

 

So who do I send my CV too?

 

Repsolruss, go for it mate and if you are close to kent i can always come to you for parts and advice!!

 

I'm right next door to kent

 

Right, i'm not being negative but I've been here also doing the race workshop thing.

I started out in the car scene, father raced cars, then I raced them also, one year I won in class and fastest lap each meeting and went on to win the championship.
I built my own cars, engines, tuned them on rolling roads myself.

I opened up a workshop with a old friend, but he turned into a liability, doing things wrong and having to put them right.
We split up and carried on my own with 2 staff. We had great success with different customers, either wins and fastest laps with cars and engines we built on long circuit, sporting trials where we won the championship or on the drag strip beating cars well out our league much to our amusement.

I worked hard with little wages, putting money back in for ramps, lathes, state of the art computer system for the rolling road, always something we wanted for the workshop.

I loved mapping cars on the rolling road or building engines, my love and passion.

But,,,, I was feeding peoples hobby , giving them the car, engine equipment to win, but its just that their hobby, they paid but you can never charge them the full time that you spend on them, how much time do we spend fettling our bikes , but in a business you still have to make the job right, 3 hrs to make the exhaust fit right or rearsets not hit the swingarm is another 3 x £40=£120, if you car goes to Mr Volvo and give you a bill for £700 for brakes you have to pay, wife needs it for shopping, dropping kids off, for work.
But your hobby gets whatever spare cash you have or the credit card which customers are short lived.

I now work doing mechanical engineering, get a salary, overtime, and holiday pay( one lads holiday and one family one).
Got a few extremely nice cars and a nice bike I could never of bought if I still had my workshop.
Go for it, but please be careful.

 

I know it's all about quality of life and work life balance, but if you have studied and looked at courses of action plus worse case scenarios, if it makes you worse off than being a plasterer I would think again.