Help would be appreciated

DCFC79

lindens wrote: »

why cant you just go out and get a permanent job instead of risking this business idea?

Good point, the OP could get a permanent job and look at the self employed route at the same time.

Maybe he is currently doing this but we aren't psychic.

meer53

outstanding wrote: »

because the most a job will pay is around 1000 a month. this doesn't leave me with enough for it to be worth start paying his debts with what's left at the end of the month.

secondly, this isn't a "risk" entirely, the van i purchase is going to stay at the same market price for several months which means i can always sell it to re-coup the costs.

im sitting here paying for the mistakes my father made, im hardly going to make the same ones. please think before writing.

Lots of jobs will pay more than £1000 per month. If you're set on repaying these debts at all costs, you could have two jobs.

I also think that making more than £1000 from a car valeting business is a bit unrealistic. If you're already thinking about how much the van will be worth when you sell it, then it's all a bit negative really.

A permanent full time job would be your best option, not borrowing money.

fwor

I think that everyone so far has been avoiding saying what they actually feel in terms of gut instinct: what you are trying to do is pretty much impossible.

Car valeting isn't a "get rich quick" business, and it will only grow through reputation - so it's likely to be a matter of years before it's making any real money. Trying to take significant amounts of cash out of it immediately (i.e. within the first two years or so) will not be sustainable.

What you've described so far looks like desperation, and in my experience people who are desperate to make quick money seldom do.

You need to understand and accept that you are not responsible for your father's past decisions, and you cannot fix the substantial problems he has created.

Once you accept that, you can get on with your own life and maybe - in a few years time - you will be in a position to help your father. If you don't, I suspect that his debts will just drag you down in the same way that they did to him.

Caroline_a

We have a mobile valeter who comes into work. Posh van, etc etc. If he's lucky he'll get 2 or 3 to do. They take him most of the morning and he would take around £25 a vehicle. Most people (including me) go to the excellent Polish lads about a mile away from work, where you get up to 6 people working on your car and can have it done inside and out for £12.

OP I cannot see how you can hope to make any money from this - out of the £75 (maximum) he would take in a morning he has to pay for his van, petrol, materials, etc etc etc.

Have you done any market research? and additionally do you have any experience of the market?

outstanding_2

Tixy wrote: »

If you want to borrow money for a business venture and have no income currently then you are going to need to build up a business plan and crucially financial projections to show to any potential lender - whether that is the princes trust or a high street bank or other funder.

If you haven't done that yet then that has to be your next step before you'll be able to get this business idea started.

In terms of starting to help your father repay these creditors - it will realistically take you some months to build up a new business from scratch, presumably they are aware that you won't be able to start making payments for a while?

I'm aware i won't be able to pay for a while after starting my own business. The first 8 months according to my calculations..
I will be getting a business plan written up, a very decent one at that. Does a loan pretty much depend on hew good your business plan is? Thanks!

outstanding_2

Caroline_a wrote: »

We have a mobile valeter who comes into work. Posh van, etc etc. If he's lucky he'll get 2 or 3 to do. They take him most of the morning and he would take around £25 a vehicle. Most people (including me) go to the excellent Polish lads about a mile away from work, where you get up to 6 people working on your car and can have it done inside and out for £12.

OP I cannot see how you can hope to make any money from this - out of the £75 (maximum) he would take in a morning he has to pay for his van, petrol, materials, etc etc etc.

Have you done any market research? and additionally do you have any experience of the market?

I'm want to get into the "detailing" side of things.. I am also going to attend a course which specialises in this. What I want to be doing isn't necessarily just a "car wash" the reason your local valeter makes £75 a day is because he probably hasn't been and isn't investing enough time into how he would expand his clientele list.. You will succeed I'm anything you're passionate about and out your heart into.

And lastly, people who have the luxurious advantage of pushing around a half a million pound set of wheels isn't going to be attending the "excellent polish lads" anytime soon...firstly because they usually don't have the time and secondly because those "lads" are the sort that are known to spray wd40 grease on the accelerator and brake pedals to make them "nice and shiny" and I'm sure you can imagine what happens next..catch my drift?

Thanks for the helpful answers by other posters..

dealer_wins

A business loan for a new company requires at least a 50% financial commitment from yourself, and quite possibly 75% depending on the type of business.

meer53

outstanding wrote: »

I'm want to get into the "detailing" side of things.. I am also going to attend a course which specialises in this. What I want to be doing isn't necessarily just a "car wash" the reason your local valeter makes £75 a day is because he probably hasn't been and isn't investing enough time into how he would expand his clientele list.. You will succeed I'm anything you're passionate about and out your heart into.

And lastly, people who have the luxurious advantage of pushing around a half a million pound set of wheels isn't going to be attending the "excellent polish lads" anytime soon...firstly because they usually don't have the time and secondly because those "lads" are the sort that are known to spray wd40 grease on the accelerator and brake pedals to make them "nice and shiny" and I'm sure you can imagine what happens next..catch my drift?

Thanks for the helpful answers by other posters..

Why don't you get a job working for one of the high end valet companies ? Then you can get your training whilst working and pick their brains for your business plan ?

If you're wanting to get into the luxury end of the market, your business plan and investment will need to reflect this right at the start.

matttye

outstanding wrote: »

because the most a job will pay is around 1000 a month. this doesn't leave me with enough for it to be worth start paying his debts with what's left at the end of the month.

secondly, this isn't a "risk" entirely, the van i purchase is going to stay at the same market price for several months which means i can always sell it to re-coup the costs.

im sitting here paying for the mistakes my father made, im hardly going to make the same ones. please think before writing.

How are we supposed to know what mistakes your father made? We're not mind readers. You'd do well not to be rude to people who are trying to help you.

I think it would be a big mistake to try and start a business which may or may not earn money when you need money now. A job will provide guaranteed income but a business won't.

But you're free to make your own mistakes.

TriathNanEilean

Outstanding, firstly and most importantly, your desire to honour your father's debts does you credit. I get the impression that being told that you have no legal obligations in this is unimportant to you, so I shall leave those aside.

I also get the impression that you are a proud person and some of the advice in this thread (most of it, I believe, trying to be helpful) has not been what you want. So I shall describe briefly my own situation from 20 years or so ago when I too considered setting up my own business. There are no other similarities in our situations (for which I hope you will for forgive me for saying I am thankful for; for your situations is a very tough one).

I believed I had the (a) expertise and experience in the area I wished to work in. Also (b) enough cash to get started (fortunately it was a low-cost to begin with area). I was (c) willing to work hard for long hours. I didn't have (d) the accounting/taxation skills & knowledge that I would need but felt I could learn these before starting.

However, I decided not to, and just kept my main job and did occasional weekend and evening work in this area on a job-by-job basis (usually working for fixed amounts for someone else, who made the real profit).

Why did I decide this? Because, talented though I thought I was, I felt I didn't have (e) the selling/marketing skills that I would need to get new customers easily. Nor (f) the skills to engage with banks/funders when I might need to borrow more as the business grew. Nor was I (g) temperamentally suited to living with the responsibility of, as I thought of it, gambling with my future. That is just how I thought of it - other people may have thought it more a wonderful opportunity and perhaps it was but the fact that I worried shows I didn't have the right temperament.

So what am I trying to say to you? That the desire to make money from a business and the willingness to work hard is nowhere near enough. For example, you have been defensive and a little annoyed at some of the responses here, and have shown it. But this business of yours will, I expect, require you to deal somehow with annoying customers without betraying your feelings. Can you do that?

And perhaps most importantly, if you borrow money and the business does not succeed, or does but the profits are only enough for you to live on, that won't accomplish your goal. It may even make your family's financial situation worse.

By all means go ahead with this idea (and I wish you luck if you do). But do it for the right reasons. You want to for your own future. You have researched fully and truly believe it will work. You have the skills needed to help it work. And you are confident that if it doesn't work, you will not be in a hole that will take many years to get yourself out of. Then, years down the line, you may be able to help out your family. But don't do it *just* for that reason.


[Hmmm. I know, tl;dr. Couldn't help it once I got going ]