the abandoned repair shop is DRIVING ME INSANE
the abandoned repair shop is DRIVING ME INSANE
How much longer can I last? The abandoned shop is slowly driving me insane, but there are good things to report as well after only four months. The bad news is there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish the things I want to do.
Demilare 250w Led High Bay Indoor Light I used in the main shop, 12 in total
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The original story of my abandoned shop!
https://youtu.be/dADqDcT3ps4
WORK TOWARDS GETTING A SHOP MANAGER/SERVICE WRITER. THEN YOU CAN DO YOUR OWN THING. IT MAY TAKE 1 YEAR TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS
ok now you need to do about 2-3 truck flip / builds ( ford or chevy) with BBC or LS turbo ( LS is cheaper) , nice rims, paint etc and then sell them , this would be you bread and butter money to do more of these flips since you can do this fairly easy with your knowledge ,
I have to say, I was rather disappointed you turned me down a few times while you were in Utah for exhaust work. Then to find out you went to Colorado.
Ended up getting the exhaust done elsewhere and it truly is a hack job they did. I had done all the other work myself. Solid axle swap on a 02 Chevy 8.1 liter, 10 inch lift, with hydraulic assist.
Congrats, man. I’m here in SLC (I restore old Land Rover Defenders)… real estate is a joke in Utah. … Get Eric O. over there as a consultant. If anyone knows how to manage a shop, it’s that guy.
The ugly is you moved to Colorado! What were you thinking! A once beautiful state is now another California!
dude i would love to come to work for you. you seem pretty cool. but sadly im in alaska but do plan to move to the Tennessee area at some point. but either way you said your in Colorado.
Wow congratulations man. Good luck man.
I really admire you and I just wished I could of done that in the past also š
Second tech just means more work going in not more going out. Not a bad thing, not a great thing.
I think you need a bigger shop and a few more of you š
I wonder what happened to you after Truck Tech. Miss Powernation, but glad I’ve found you here!
Start planning an exit strategy now. 35 year veteran of the car wars, it has been very good to me, but it has taken its toll. Take care of your feet and wear hearing protection.
What part of Colorado??
Dude you’re moving up to the east side.
I watched you on the show way back, and wondered where you went LT! Im really glad I ran across your channel. As an Auto repair/Collision repair shop owner, If I can give you some advice it would be, to Enjoy the fruit it bares, and even the one that fall & rot. When I opened my shop years ago, I was spending too much time working and getting the shop organized in the way I wanted, and Far too much time working. Luckily it didnāt cost me my family! So enjoy it, and remember, No matter how much you make, Ya canāt take it with you, So ENJOY IT!!!
LT I love the videos, I was wondering if you could help me make more power on my stock 04 f150
Love the Lincoln.The waiting room looks great. I like the pine on the wall
110 120 whatever it takes. Lol
Congrats! I always love to see younger guys jumping in and starting a business. Tip 1: Figure out what your most profitable part of the business is, that is what you say "yes" too. over time you phase out the lesser money makers and that’s the "no’s" sorry we can’t do that
Congrats š
If the past owners had a bad rep, paint the shop to change the look completely, and give it your Tolman’s Performance name. Paint your best work on one bay door. I retired from automotive in 1985 after a back injury (that has since mostly healed). Best of luck. When I ran my handyman business, a $45/mo ad in the horrible local paper’s Service Directory gave me more business than I could handle.
Dude I didnt even recognize you from the show I watch the yt channel that that show and a few others get posted on im SOOO happy I found your yt man
Wishing you the best!
Hire some WyoTech grads š¤š¼
I wondered where you eneded up. I watched what originally started as Power Block for ever. Trucks was always my favorite. Stacey David was the man. You were one of the new faces that I actually enjoyed. Most guys were ok, but you fit far better than most. Glad to see you back at it an doing what you’re good at. Best of luck!
Thereās a reason old Service Stations have the restrooms far away from the office. If someone takes a dump in there, you might have to leave the building š·
LT, Iāll give a few simple tips and these are coming from the son of a father who ran his own shop for over 30 years. Donāt force your kids to be involved, let them do it at their own pace. He never pushed me to work in the shop, but when I had time away from practice or games (played baseball & hockey) I would stop by to help because I wanted to. Also, be there for your family, dad always made time to be there on Sundays for us as well as he never missed one of my games, unless it was out of town. Even then, he surprised me with a few appearances. The point Iām trying to make is that you need to find you a strong GM, someone you trust with your business, this way you can always put your family first. Best of luck to you!!
When you’re in a situation like this your fave word should be delegate!!! Brest of luck with the shop.
Remember this if anything there is a reason why you bought the shop though it is hectic stay true to yourself and those around you
Congratulations! 1st time viewer, subbed, keep the bread & butter work flowing, treat your guys right, it’ll come!
bro, if i was there, i’d totally trust you to do some wrenching on the ‘vette… i owned my own business once. it was a transportation/delivery service in massachusetts. i started it so i could be my own boss. as it grew, i found myself losing customers because i couldn’t cover all the area needed to survive. so i took on employees. okay, problem solved, right? gained new customers, problem solved, right? wrong. now i gotta be on the phone 2x,3x MORE because i now hadda dispatch drivers and deal with customer complaints if the drivers are ‘cantankerous’ i wound up getting hit by identity thieves and the nest egg to pay for repairs to my vehicles, advertising, etc, disappeared overnight. i wound up having to sell my 2nd vehicle for way less than it was worth to make sure my employees got paid/gas reimbursed, and i spent more time on the phone trying to deal with customer complaints (the emplyees used their own vehicle, like uber/doordash/etc) and the most common complaint was either the vehicles or the drivers smelled like smoke or the driver’s were non smokers and wouldnt let the customers smoke… its not easy. yeah, it was nice being able to tell people i owned my own business, but in the end, thats not me. im just a driver, happiest on the road, NOT dealing with people. lol.
Good job and congrats. Sorry I came off the way I did the comment I said months ago
@lawrence LT Tolman
It’s a shame Your shop is in Colorado… I’m a Car Technician, learned in Germany… Your shop would be exactly what I always wanted to work in.
BUT it’s in Colorado, and not here in Germany… My girlfriend and mother of my daughter doesn’t speak English very well, so moving to the US (what is my dream since I was 18 or so) is not an option…
So I’ll do the next best thing: watching Your videos and dreaming of one day visiting…
Excellent on screen presents
do you miss doing the truck show?
hey man i only have youtube experince with fixing my own cars ive been looking for a mentor for learning how to fully build a car u said u didnt have ppl to work at your shop but cars make happy and would like 2 work 4 you if you wouldnt mind teaching me
Get in contact with the car wizard.
While our goals never materialize as fast as we would like, you are making great progress. I envy you.
If you place ctv around the shop you can add all the work that comes in. Then you can pick somthing to add to the Chanel with a disclaimer that the work can be placed on YouTube that and and all footage is yours and you have the wright to use or destroy any footage that you want. If you can work out a person to edit as required or front end. ALLWAYS PAY YOURSELF.
Big fan of yours, seen every episode of your ācable showā glad I found your YouTube!
Donāt sell yourself short on your time management skills. If there is anyone who can pull this āconceptā off itās you LT
Business first as it is very important to take care of the business and youtube is a second for this part of life. Obviously family is also very important. Glad everything is working well for you with the shop and I hope it gets even better!
Time management… a real conundrum at times. I have 5 projects of my own, 2 paying jobs/builds, my day job, stuff for my folks… not as much as you have going obviously, but it gets overwhelming. "One bite at a time"
Coming along nicely,all the best to you
Oh darn it, I was hoping you were still in the Salt Lake area. My 98 7.4l Suburban needs some attention.
Lt im down to come work for you right now Iām doing mechanic work out in California but Iām ready to move back to Colorado
It sounds like you are on the right path what I did to learn to say no is to sit down and write a business plan that only encompasses the things I want to do, the things Iām good at and the things that make money. So itās very easy when someone comes at me with something that does not fall within these parameters, I just say āIām sorry that is not within my business planā I donāt have to use it much but when I do i immediately feel relieved.
Any expensive tools laying around?š¤
Understand the family thing, and Colorado is a beautiful state, however, I believe I’d rather be in Utah or Idaho from a business friendly standpoint. Neither likely have the business based opportunity for a business relying on local customers though. Good luck with your enterprise!
Business isnāt for the faint, Iāve been doing it for 6 years and last year I decided to add doing YouTube videos and I can relate to you on time management. Just need to build a schedule and try and stick to it. Iām a one man band and so thereās days where I donāt stop until I fall asleep but itās worth it.