Harry Jennings
Jacksonville, IL (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal
Evil Monkey Kustoms
Find More Startups
Startup
Location:
Jacksonville
Industry:
Automotive
Year Founded:
2014
Number Employees:
1-10 people
Business Stage:
Creation/Idea
Entity Type:
"S" Corporation
Description:
I am an ASE certified mechanic and auto body repair tech. I've worked in the field for years and have always had the desire to open my own custom / hot rod shop. I've done a lot of research in the field and here are some things I've found. First, there is a lot of demand for quality workmanship. The problem is that completing a vehicle may take an entire shop one year to complete just one car. This means that many shops have cars lined up waiting, with a waiting list many years long. This also means a low turnover rate for the shops.
I've visited many shops and talked to many owners. The one thing they all have in common is that they have a team of employees that all work together, basically all doing the same thing at the same time. All the employees take the car apart, all of them strip off the old paint, all of them put it back together, etc. There are certain employees that have areas of expertise such electronics, welding, painting, etc. But for the most part they all work together at once.
This may not sound like a bad idea. If we look at history, this is exactly how new cars were built before Henry Ford came along. A group of employees built one car at a time, start to finish, just like the restoration shops do now.
I want to re-invent how restoration / custom shops build vehicles. I have an idea for a Henry Ford style assembly line for the restoration business. Part of the difficulty is that there are many different makes, models, and years of vehicles the shop may work on. However, certain things remain standard as you go through the process.
The first stage is disassemble. No matter what the make, model, or year is most vehicles were put together relatively in the same fashion, and come apart the same way. Once it is disassembled different parts will go down different lines. The body will begin having all rust, dents, etc repaired, the frame, suspension, and brakes will go to another area for repair, the engine and rest of the drive train will be at another stage. As all this is going on, a second car is now being disassembled. Once the first car is in the assembly stage there should be at least two other cars in the shop going through the process as well (one in disassemble and one in various stages of repair).
Restoration and custom builds is still a very long process. What I envision isn't exactly a non-stop Henry Ford assembly line, but it is still a huge leap forward from how the process is done now. Rather than taking years to complete a vehicle, it should be done in months or even days. Rather than completing one car per year, the should should be able to do 6-8. Long term the shop would have roughly the same employees, the same equipment, and the same overhead, with 6-8 times the turnover in product, giving a much larger profit margin.
The biggest difference is that the shop will have to be larger, to accommodate the different stages of restoration. Of course, there is the standard start-up cost of shop equipment, payroll, etc. I do predict this to be profitable in it's first year.