Poo Poo my business idea quickly.

fatherofcaitlyn

fatherofcaitlyn

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I'm not getting anywhere with my job and CCNA training feels too much like work.

I'm thinking about doing a modest change and I need random strangers to tell me how bad the idea is.

Ready?

Friday $5 Oil Change. Going door to door selling oil changes in people's driveways.

Why Friday? I only work Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, I drop my daughter off at school at 8:30AM. Then, I spend the day running errands, wasting a lot of time at kongregate or here, and avoiding studies for my CCNA.

Only $5? No. I want to charge $5 more than the cost of materials for an oil change. Wal-Mart charges over $30 for an oil change. Autozone charges around $20 for the materials. I can charge $25 and the customer doesn't have to drive 7 miles to Wal-Mart. High mileage blends or synthetics would create a wider margin.

Why Oil Change? I have modest mechanical abilities and modest tools. I can change oil on a cold engine in 15 minutes. In theory, I could do 20, take a long shower and eat lunch while Caitlyn is in school.

...

Let me try some defenses to possible criticisms.

1. You got oil in my driveway, asshole!

I'll buy a tarp, put it under rhino ramps and drive the car on top of it.

2. You damaged my car.

Two way limit of liability waiver. I can't sue for oil burns and being crushed by a random car. You can't sue if your transmission gives out, you lose money in the stock market, your house burns down, your spouse cheats on you or anything else negative or positive.

3. You'll spend all of your money in gas.

Dijkstra's algorithm, a cell phone and a spreadsheet. You call in, I open a spreadsheet and I schedule you as close to your neighbor. I live within 3 miles of at least one thousand homes and 2000 cars. I might even convince apartment complexes to let me change oil in a designated spot instead of their tenants creating hundreds of oil puddles in their parking lot. Viva the suburbs!

4. What about the waste oil?

If business is slow, Autozone takes up to 20 quarts from somebody per day, no questions asked. I'm sure Advance Auto and O'Reilly have similar policies. If business is booming, I'll get to that.

5. $5 seems like very little profit. It is. Until you consider Autozone gives a $20 gift card for every 5 purchases of $20 or more. The customer buys 5 oil changes, Autozone buys the sixth. $5 per oil change turns into $9 per oil change. That waste oil? It can be sold in bulk or burned through a heater.

Speaking of sold in bulk, how about buying in bulk? My last neighbor works for an oil bottling plant. I'm thinking I could buy the oil in bulk from her company if it was more profitable than Autozone rewards. I didn't say the customer got to keep the receipt from Autozone. I'm sure I could buy oil filters cheaper if I approached FRAM with an order of a 100 of the same oil filter.

6. This is a complete waste of your talents. Absolutely. Explaining to some jackoff for 15 minutes where the start button is on their computer screen matches me to a "T". If I get a client base of 500 cars per month, I'm spending 125 hours per month changing oil. I'd only be making $4500 in CASH per month. That's the equivalent of $54K per year if I claim everything. That extra 35 hours per month could be spent on getting a Master's Degree, rekindling my love of programming or watching young but legal women take it in the pooper.

Thoughts?
 
You've thought it out pretty well, and it can't hurt. Go for it.

You have to remember though: people are still working on Fridays, so you might have trouble finding clients.
Going door to door is also kinda iffy. I don't know about you, but I get pissed off when someone I don't know knocks at my door. That's a reaction you'll want to avoid.
And how will you get your name out? You talk about having people call in to schedule an appointment, but no one is going to call if they haven't heard of you.
 
Stick it in her pooper!

Seriously, the only issue I see is getting people at home on a Friday, and willing to let a random joe work on their car. Especially if he wants them to sign a limit of liability waiver. Somebody wants me to sign that, but could be damaging my $10k+ valued property, I walk away from the transaction.

Don't create the waiver, but incorporate as an LLC. Report some income, pay some taxes, and get protection from suit.
 
actually thats not a bad idea. its always a hassle to go to oil change places and wait around till they can get to you and if you can provide the other services that they do why not. the avg oil change usually runs you 19.99 to 39.99 depending on what you ask them to do. i think it could work its the conveinence of getting your car serviced while at home but people will want some sort of proof to know that you know what youre doing and not a scam artist. id also suggest you up your price to 10 or 15 because 5 is way too cheap. good thing too is if someone see you doing it and asks you could have more business right there on the spot.
 
Why not instead of going door-to-door you go to like businesses and get all us working fools while in meetings at work or whatnot?

I know you posted to get people to shoot down your idea, but honestly, if someone came through my work every 2 months and offered to change oil for --- what would it cost me, 15 bucks? -- I'd pay it.
 
My suggestion is to go to businesses where people are working, so you can do it while they're at work, maybe put out a flyer or something.
 
You have to form a llc for this to have any chance. Also, without insurance for potential damage to a clients car, you pretty much have no chance. The llc will protect you but does nothing for the customer.
 
Like what was said already, become an LLC (it'll only cost $100-$200 depending on your state), up the price, and work with local offices. Forget the waiver, what mechanic that you go to makes you sign one of those? For your protection you get an LLC and you still insure yourself.

With the LLC not only can you write off your travel expenses, you can also get a tax license which will allow you to not pay the sales tax when you shop for supplies at Auto Zone or where ever as you'll be a reseller.

I would research that bulk sales of the used oil, there's got to be a market somewhere for it.

I would raise prices for individual jobs when you have to travel to someone's house. You're selling convenience and people pay for convenience. If you want to have lower prices, offer it to the local office that gets five people or more to change their oil. The discount is offered only for bulk orders like that. Or you could offer a discount for your individual customers when they prepay for a years worth of service, a loyalty program.

Do your research, I know there are companies like that here in Phoenix and there could be something like there wherever you are. But if it looks good do it. Don't over analyze it. I just launched a new company a few weeks ago renting graphing calculators. www.graphtor.com Go start your company!
 
Well, there are a lot of considerations with something like this, most of which you have already thought out and have a plan to cover. Good looking out.

However, in my opinion, this will not work out for you. What am I basing that on? What I know to be my response if someone came to my door offering what you plan to. When people come to my door, I am already predisposed to saying "no". I believe most people are the same way. Furthermore, you see a $5 discount and convenience as your selling point; I think most car owners will see the counterpoint: "I'm only saving $5 and I am letting some door-to-door salesman operate on my $30,000 investment".

Know what I mean?
 
[quote name='Ender']"I'm only saving $5 and I am letting some door-to-door salesman operate on my $30,000 investment".
[/QUOTE]


this


You either need some ads or some good word of mouth to get you off the ground. If someone came to my door, I wouldn't trust them with my car, afraid they would steal it or something. Though if one of my friends had it done and I heard good things, I would probably do it.
 
Yay for lowering your expectations. lol

I suppose if you live near a lot of lazy arse near you or people that are obliviously that bad at a simple task and also too cheap to go to their nearest Oilstop then sure, You'll do well.
 
Go for it, you've got nothing to lose, but definitely listen to some of the suggestions here.

[quote name='SithFran']
I just launched a new company a few weeks ago renting graphing calculators. www.graphtor.com Go start your company![/QUOTE]

While I admire anyone starting his own company, I don't get why someone would spend upwards of $50 (from the rough calculation of glancing at your website) instead of just buying their own calculator for a little bit more money and having it as their own. Maybe it's just me.
 
I saw kmart was selling castrol 5 quarts for $11, and 50% off all FRAM oil filters. If you can find deals on oil like this or buy in bulk like you suggest maybe you could drop the price lower to give people more reason to be willing to let you change their oil.

Your main problem will be gaining people's trust. Once you've changed a few people's oil and gained their trust they'll get you to do it every time if you make it more convenient for them such as going to their work like has been suggested.

Make business cards. A business card will help you look legit and help you to not look like some guy doin some random bs for cash.

Also see if you can come up with some small bonuses to get people to let you change their oil for the first time. Checking tire pressure / adding air if low, Cleaning windows, etc. Maybe just for first time customers or something.

Also putting up flyers and ads in the newspaper and craiglist can't hurt.
 
^Yeah, you could take some tips from Hung, have your wife (assuming) be your pimp and help you find "clients".

[quote name='keithp']While I admire anyone starting his own company, I don't get why someone would spend upwards of $50 (from the rough calculation of glancing at your website) instead of just buying their own calculator for a little bit more money and having it as their own. Maybe it's just me.[/QUOTE]

I dunno... It's actually sorta decent I think. I still have mine, but doubtful I got the whole $99 worth out of it since I only used it when I was in school for those classes. No... wasn't a math major, do you know a lot of people that are?
 
Around here, we have a guy the comes around in a van to our work, charges $20 to do an oil change in the parking lot. I've used him a couple of times, and he does great work.
 
What have you got to lose?
Click to expand...

You're going to have to buy liability insurance. This will eat all of your $5 per job profits, and probably more.

Or you could forgo liability insurance. I wont get into what could go wrong with that plan.

Of course you might never screw up. That doesn't mean Americans don't like to sue regardless.
 
Also:

1. A lot of rental agreements forbid changing oil on rental property (mine does).
2. A lot of local ordinances forbid changing oil on a public street.
 
I feel sorry for those that live in apartments and cannot do that or even wash their own car. It's fucked up because it's another expense that could be avoided...
 
How much are individual disposal fees for the oil? Sure, you could dump it in a creek or on a playground somewhere, but I'm sure that's not kosher ;)
 
[quote name='JolietJake']Well imagine if half the people in the complex decided to wash their cars on the same day.[/QUOTE]


Or if they all flushed their toilets at the same time! THE HORROR!!!!!!

/s
 
As an ex-insurance guy I can tell you that the amount that you have to pay for insurance is going to be far more than the profits you will generate.

You'll probably want to set up a business license and get a lawyer to set you up with an LLC which will keep you from getting sued personally. After that you'll have to get liability insurance for the business (between $2-3k per year) and add your personal car to that insurance plan which will jack that price up pretty high. If you hit a child or another car driving to a client, your current insurance would not cover it if they found out you were using the car for business purposes.

Not to mention all of the bookkeeping, IRS junk, etc. that you will need to do to keep the business going.

I use to help small businesses get set up with insurance and what not and I can tell you that if you don't have a firm business plan with set milestones and the knowledge that you have to spend money to make money, it will be a failed business venture.

Of course you can always do the "fly by night" thing and forgo insurance, business licenses, and IRS stuff and be like one of those shady handymen that drive around in their broke pickup truck with a "business phone" that is actually a cell phone number. :p

Good luck.
 
You may already know about this but a lot of newer cars track when its time to change the oil and alerts you when you are due. So when you do change the oil you have to reset the timer on the cars computer. I'm not sure how many makes/models are this way, but I know you have to do it on my car. So you would have to buy that tool as well.
 
ccna is pretty simple to get tbh. it doesn't mean shit in the industry. im back at school to get an actual degree because cisco training isn't all you need. I have about half of the ccnp done but i thinking about scrapping it.

about your business plan. sounds awesome. I saw some guys who were walking around a sealing off driveways for about 20$. I think people dont mind spending a little cash if a good opportunity walks to their door. Just find a good neighborhood. hell start with around your area with people you know. see if you enjoy doing it.

Beware of the HoA. In Vegas they are a bitch to work with if you even have a little oil stain off your drive way due to cars being parked on the street. In Chicago we dont give a shit about oil stains. :D Best of luck w/ oil changes.
 
I can't believe you guys have to pay for getting rid of oil. Here we put it out with the garbage and they take it for free. Granted it's usually only one or two gallon jugs though...
 
walmart might charge $30 for an oil change, but there are a couple places around the corner from my house that charge $15, i go to one of them.

also, you need insurance, if something happened you could screw over yourself and family long term. but its not a bad idea, and i like the idea about going to businesses. i work in a business park, probably a thousand cars in a sqaure mile around here.
 
I can see the insurance as being a major cost for this type of work. Thankfully, I don't have that issue.

As for the bookkeeping, that's really not going to be a big issue. A quick class or book on quickbooks or something similar should be enough to get you going. If you have a trusted tax guy they'll probably also help set you up for a small fee if not for free, I'd ask them to do it for free as they'll be getting more business in the future along with making it easier for them to do their job at year end.

Get your friends and family to spread the word as their friends will trust them. If you know some of the parents at Caitlyn's school ask them to spread the word or do an oil change for them so they can honestly endorse you. It'll take longer but those referrals are golden compared to cold calling.

And yes, you'll get the naysayers or people who don't understand what you're offering. It's not anyone's fault, it just may not work out for them. Take what KeithP said about my company. For him it was vital to have his own calculator for his schooling, what he doesn't see or get is that alot of college students only need a graphing calculator for the semester and then will never need it again. They probably got by high school without one and so never needed it until now. Those are about 90% of my customers right now. The rest are parents of high school students that refuse to spend the money or it could be that they can't afford the full cost upfront but can budget a small monthly fee.

Didn't mean to pick on you KeithP, it was just a good example to FOC that sometimes you just need to push through.
 
[quote name='blackjaw']As an ex-insurance guy I can tell you that the amount that you have to pay for insurance is going to be far more than the profits you will generate.[/QUOTE]

Thank you. Here we go.

[quote name='blackjaw'] You'll probably want to set up a business license and get a lawyer to set you up with an LLC which will keep you from getting sued personally. After that you'll have to get liability insurance for the business (between $2-3k per year) and add your personal car to that insurance plan which will jack that price up pretty high. If you hit a child or another car driving to a client, your current insurance would not cover it if they found out you were using the car for business purposes.[/QUOTE]

A business license and a lawyer to drop up a proper LLC are great barriers to entry. Car insurance on a business vehicle? When I delivered pizzas, insurance went up $30 a month. The car itself isn't an integral part of the business like it would be for delivering pizzas or a courier service. Considering the bulk of my customer base could be in my neighborhood, I may not even driving to a customer's house.

[quote name='blackjaw'] Not to mention all of the bookkeeping, IRS junk, etc. that you will need to do to keep the business going.[/QUOTE]

A simple spreadsheet of expenses and revenues would survive any IRS audit. 1 line per oil change. 500 lines on a spreadsheet per month if I'm kicking ass. Every three months, an envelope with a quarterly report and taxes goes to the Man.

[quote name='blackjaw'] I use to help small businesses get set up with insurance and what not and I can tell you that if you don't have a firm business plan with set milestones and the knowledge that you have to spend money to make money, it will be a failed business venture.[/QUOTE]

I still have a full time job that pays my bills and more. I can start small and let word of mouth sink or sail me. If the business does great, I cut back hours at my first job. If the business does poor, close up shop and return the extra oil filters to Autozone.

[quote name='blackjaw'] Of course you can always do the "fly by night" thing and forgo insurance, business licenses, and IRS stuff and be like one of those shady handymen that drive around in their broke pickup truck with a "business phone" that is actually a cell phone number. :p

Good luck.[/QUOTE]

I could do that, but it is best not to shit where one sleeps.
 
Pretty dumb idea.

Depending on where you are, you would be better off getting some white spray paint and stencil numbers and offer to spray the house numbers at the end of the driveway for those who don't already have them already for $10

Much simpler and more profit. (I've actually seen people doing that so it isn't like I came up with the idea)
 
[quote name='Sporadic']Pretty dumb idea.

Depending on where you are, you would be better off getting some white spray paint and stencil numbers and offer to spray the house numbers at the end of the driveway for those who don't already have them already for $10

Much simpler and more profit. (I've actually seen people doing that so it isn't like I came up with the idea)[/QUOTE]

That was an episode of "The Simpsons" and I'm looking for earth-shattering poo poo. Working as tech support for almost 4 years is a pretty dumb idea, too.
 
I would print fliers with your prices and your email address and if someone was interested they would contact you. I would also think of starting with family and friends first and ask them to spread the word to their friends.
 
Also, what are your goals? Do you want this to stay as (from what I've gathered) a pseudo-hobby/job or to eventually replace your current job?

That context might help focus further replies here.
 
[quote name='c0rnpwn']Also, what are your goals? Do you want this to stay as (from what I've gathered) a pseudo-hobby/job or to eventually replace your current job?

That context might help focus further replies here.[/QUOTE]

Like 70% of Americans, I want to leave my current job.

If this business can take off, I can scale back my hours at work.

If I can't find any clients or all of my clients are more irritating than my phone customers, I'll head back to my cube.

I would like to convert cars to electric eventually, but I need a mentor for that and none are in my area.
 
I think my wife, MOC, torpedoed my idea last night.

I have to file for a homestead exemption tomorrow at the courthouse. Since I'll be in downtown, I told her about talking to a lawyer to set up a LLC.

She wouldn't follow that a LLC could reduce the amount of damage a random lawsuit could do to us.

She wouldn't accept that the work would be done when she was at work or out of town with the kids or modest success would be more profitable than my current job.

Finally, she said, "I'm not going to have sex with an auto mechanic."

Ahhhh. There's my demotivation.
 
[quote name='JolietJake']Isn't it great to have such a supportive family?[/QUOTE]

I know. She is very risk intolerant. To her, going to a cube five days a week is acceptable.

I don't mind the cube, but the constant interruptions from those ill-tempered bastards called customers are annoying.
 
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