Hello,

This industry has definitely landed me so many opportunities to grow. Started from a detailer, to painters helper, to parts guy and finally a writer. I’ve always had the goal to open up my own shop soon as I felt ready to pull the trigger. Unfortunately I feel as though my plans were put on hold after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which landed me hospitalized and dealing with meds for the rest of my life this past December.

I do have a member of the family that’s willing and wanting to open up a shop together. He’s a painter and has been in the industry for nearly 30 years. I’ve build up a good rapport with vendors and clients over time and I feel as if this doesn’t happen now, then I will never know the “what if” aspect to it. I’m 26 with no kids or any other big responsibilities in life but work and pay whatever bills need to be paid. I have UltraMate on my laptop already but would rather acquire and utilize ccc or Mitchell cloud once business does pick up.

You as a business owner, what would you recommend? I’m sure learning through trial and error & having the funds to back up a business is one thing, but how did you start? We’re not looking to opening up something big but looking into a garage bay for starters until something better is at our disposal over time. Licenses such as resale, toxic waste disposal, etc. we’re those complicated to obtain? Location, how long did it take to locate a facility suited within your price range? Any advice would be much appreciated.