GreasyGinger
Regular Contributor
LEGACY MEMBER
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
This weekend was a turning point for myself and my business. I've been a member of this forum 7 years, completely in awe of some of the guys on here being able to be absent owners and working only a couple hours a week.
At first I tried all the gimmicks. Selling shirts on Facebook, copywriting on Upwork, web design. All the sexy, hands off money making ideas we see on the internet. Nothing worked for me. I had no experience or skills in any of this stuff. I decided that I should stick with what I know.
I'm a licensed auto mechanic, and I'm a really good one. So I decided to load my tools in my van and hit the road with a mobile mechanic business. It was setup as a business from the start, this was my exit from the rat race, it was never a "side hustle". I set up a website and Google My Business, had business cards and custom baseball hats made. I put a big sign on the side of the van. I put up ads on Kijiji and Craigslist. I remember my first customer, who is still a customer to this day. It was an old BMW that wouldn't start, it was -30 degrees outside and it was an issue with the immobilizer that I hadn't seen before. I was freezing, hands felt like they were going to fall off from frost bite. F*ck me, I thought, this was a stupid F*cking idea.
I kept on, and within 4 months of evenings and weekends, I was pulling in profits that were double the wages I was making at a shop, I tore the band aid and I went fulltime. I remember waking up the day after I left my secure job. I said to my wife, "Holy shit, it's all on me now." It was a sense of freedom I've never felt before. It felt good. It felt right. Every decision is now on me. Every dollar that comes in is a product of my hard work. This was the summer of 2019. Business would continue to grow steadily and I was making good money. I did 50k in sales in my first year, half of which I was only part time.
Then the pandemic started. My phone went dead silent for 2 weeks. Nothing, not a single voicemail or text message. I'm going to have to hang my head in shame and dust of my resume. I couldn't have that happen. Then something amazing happened. My business took off like a rocket. With everyone being told to stay home or too scared to leave the house, people were looking for exactly what I was offering, a service that came to you. Lucky enough, I was ahead of the game and already set up. I was booking appointments weeks out, getting enough phone calls where I could dedicate certain days for being in a certain part of the city. As I got busier I was able become more efficient. I was doing $30k a month in sales. Just me and a van full of tools.
With the cash stacking up I knew I needed to either expand the business or be destined to roll around on people's driveways fixing their cars in the cold. I was going through the commercial real estate listings and came across a struggling shop that couldn't pay the rent. The owner of the shop didn't have a clue how to run a repair shop and also wanted to only dedicate a couple hours a week to it. It was pretty clear his staff were robbing him blind, I could see that from the 30 minutes I was there. The owner was behind on the rent and the landlord was willing to roll my purchase of his equipment into the lease just so he could be made whole. In the end, I didn't like the location and decided the deal wasn't as much in my favor as I originally thought. I was obsessed now, I needed to open a shop.
I connected with a commercial realtor and gave him my requirements for a shop space. There's a lot of red tape for a shop space. Besides zoning, you need proper ventilation and drainage. I also learned that a lot of landlords don't like automotive use. It's messy and ruins parking lots. Can make a property look like a wrecking yard if you have the wrong kind of shop open up. After about a year of searching a unicorn became available. An auto shop of 30 years had been run into the ground by the son of the former owner and he was being evicted from the space. It was perfect, 2500sq ft, enough for 3 lifts and already licensed by the city. I jumped on it but the leasing agent didn't give us much hope as she said there were many offers on the space. My realtor suggested we offer over the listed rate and see what they come back with. After 2 weeks they finally came back to us and accepted the offer. The landlord gutted the space and built a new office to my specs. We signed the lease at the end of 2021 and move in date was scheduled for summer 2022.
July 2022 we got the keys and I had everything set up from day one. Lifts went in week one, compressor and tire equipment came in week two, I installed the air plumbing and spent a whole month cutting $1000 cheques everyday. I kept the van on the road this month as I couldn't really afford to stop bringing money in. Week three the electricians came in wired everything up. I had my GMB location moved to the shop and changed the name. End of July I drove my first car in for repair as the compressor was just being turned on for the first time.
I ran the place by myself, with sales slowly growing month over month. $40k, $50k, $60k. It was much easier to upsell and get things done in the space with people coming to me and leaving cars with me. On the road I was lucky to fit 3-4 appointments a day. In the shop I could easily do 6-8 cars. October 2023 I made my first hire, a young man who is eager to learn the trade. My new apprentice has been a win. He's a quick learner and really enjoys the trade. He keeps the shop clean and is all around a great employee. I've treated him really well, pay him above average and I paid for his college training.
2024 has been wild. My phone won't stop ringing and I'm now averaging $70k a month. However I was starting to burn out. The constant phone calls and having to be "on" all day was starting to get to me. I was miserable at home. My wife and kids started avoiding me as I was irritable constantly. My apprentice would call in sick and I would break down. Getting angry about when I would finally get a sick day. It was impossible. I had to make some changes.
I posted two job ads, my wife thought I was insane, but I needed some help. First hire was a young girl who really wanted the job. Her grandad had a body shop and she had been rejected from every automotive job she had applied for. I know why, her resume sucked for automotive. A bunch of retail experience, nothing even service based but to me she was perfect. A clean slate, a friendly face and a knack for customer service. She has been a rockstar and I'm really lucky to have her there.
Second hire was a licensed mechanic like myself. I wanted someone with the experience and tools so that I could maybe take some time away from the shop. Finding skilled trades people, even when I'm offering a higher than average wage, is tough. I interviewed many older guys who had failed at running their own shops, or were averse to working on newer cars and above doing some of the lower level tasks like changing oil and tires. I eventually did find someone more like myself. Around my age and with about the experience as myself and without the big chip on his shoulder. He's been with me a month and although we have different ways of doing things he's fit right in.
So now to the point, my passive income dream come true. I'll never forget November 8th, it's a remarkable day. My wife had booked a holiday with her mum, our main childcare provider. Kids have a week off school this month that fell during this time. Dad had to be on duty for the weekend. I had a key made for the shop and everyone knows their role. I've seen it. I've seen my office person come in and open up shop. I've seen my apprentice and new mechanic at work. The only thing I really do that is solely my job is assign work and prioritize jobs, but I left that up to the office staff and new mechanic.
So November 8th comes, I sleep until 8am, which is when the shop opens, I wake up to a frantic text message about the internet being down at the shop. I guide my office girl on resetting the router and I don't hear anything else from her for the rest of the day. My mechanic felt the need to keep me in the know of every little thing happening, which isn't what I wanted. I sent him a message in the afternoon saying that I trusted them to get things done and that I didn't need a play by play. Numbers looked good for the day. November 9th the shop was open again, this time I didn't hear a peep from anyone until the afternoon, just a quick question about parts availability but nothing that needed immediate attention. This was the dream, I've done it.
Now, I'm still going to be at the shop everyday. I have a $1mm in sales goal for 2025 which judging from the record setting month I just had at $90k should be totally attainable.
At first I tried all the gimmicks. Selling shirts on Facebook, copywriting on Upwork, web design. All the sexy, hands off money making ideas we see on the internet. Nothing worked for me. I had no experience or skills in any of this stuff. I decided that I should stick with what I know.
I'm a licensed auto mechanic, and I'm a really good one. So I decided to load my tools in my van and hit the road with a mobile mechanic business. It was setup as a business from the start, this was my exit from the rat race, it was never a "side hustle". I set up a website and Google My Business, had business cards and custom baseball hats made. I put a big sign on the side of the van. I put up ads on Kijiji and Craigslist. I remember my first customer, who is still a customer to this day. It was an old BMW that wouldn't start, it was -30 degrees outside and it was an issue with the immobilizer that I hadn't seen before. I was freezing, hands felt like they were going to fall off from frost bite. F*ck me, I thought, this was a stupid F*cking idea.
I kept on, and within 4 months of evenings and weekends, I was pulling in profits that were double the wages I was making at a shop, I tore the band aid and I went fulltime. I remember waking up the day after I left my secure job. I said to my wife, "Holy shit, it's all on me now." It was a sense of freedom I've never felt before. It felt good. It felt right. Every decision is now on me. Every dollar that comes in is a product of my hard work. This was the summer of 2019. Business would continue to grow steadily and I was making good money. I did 50k in sales in my first year, half of which I was only part time.
Then the pandemic started. My phone went dead silent for 2 weeks. Nothing, not a single voicemail or text message. I'm going to have to hang my head in shame and dust of my resume. I couldn't have that happen. Then something amazing happened. My business took off like a rocket. With everyone being told to stay home or too scared to leave the house, people were looking for exactly what I was offering, a service that came to you. Lucky enough, I was ahead of the game and already set up. I was booking appointments weeks out, getting enough phone calls where I could dedicate certain days for being in a certain part of the city. As I got busier I was able become more efficient. I was doing $30k a month in sales. Just me and a van full of tools.
With the cash stacking up I knew I needed to either expand the business or be destined to roll around on people's driveways fixing their cars in the cold. I was going through the commercial real estate listings and came across a struggling shop that couldn't pay the rent. The owner of the shop didn't have a clue how to run a repair shop and also wanted to only dedicate a couple hours a week to it. It was pretty clear his staff were robbing him blind, I could see that from the 30 minutes I was there. The owner was behind on the rent and the landlord was willing to roll my purchase of his equipment into the lease just so he could be made whole. In the end, I didn't like the location and decided the deal wasn't as much in my favor as I originally thought. I was obsessed now, I needed to open a shop.
I connected with a commercial realtor and gave him my requirements for a shop space. There's a lot of red tape for a shop space. Besides zoning, you need proper ventilation and drainage. I also learned that a lot of landlords don't like automotive use. It's messy and ruins parking lots. Can make a property look like a wrecking yard if you have the wrong kind of shop open up. After about a year of searching a unicorn became available. An auto shop of 30 years had been run into the ground by the son of the former owner and he was being evicted from the space. It was perfect, 2500sq ft, enough for 3 lifts and already licensed by the city. I jumped on it but the leasing agent didn't give us much hope as she said there were many offers on the space. My realtor suggested we offer over the listed rate and see what they come back with. After 2 weeks they finally came back to us and accepted the offer. The landlord gutted the space and built a new office to my specs. We signed the lease at the end of 2021 and move in date was scheduled for summer 2022.
July 2022 we got the keys and I had everything set up from day one. Lifts went in week one, compressor and tire equipment came in week two, I installed the air plumbing and spent a whole month cutting $1000 cheques everyday. I kept the van on the road this month as I couldn't really afford to stop bringing money in. Week three the electricians came in wired everything up. I had my GMB location moved to the shop and changed the name. End of July I drove my first car in for repair as the compressor was just being turned on for the first time.
I ran the place by myself, with sales slowly growing month over month. $40k, $50k, $60k. It was much easier to upsell and get things done in the space with people coming to me and leaving cars with me. On the road I was lucky to fit 3-4 appointments a day. In the shop I could easily do 6-8 cars. October 2023 I made my first hire, a young man who is eager to learn the trade. My new apprentice has been a win. He's a quick learner and really enjoys the trade. He keeps the shop clean and is all around a great employee. I've treated him really well, pay him above average and I paid for his college training.
2024 has been wild. My phone won't stop ringing and I'm now averaging $70k a month. However I was starting to burn out. The constant phone calls and having to be "on" all day was starting to get to me. I was miserable at home. My wife and kids started avoiding me as I was irritable constantly. My apprentice would call in sick and I would break down. Getting angry about when I would finally get a sick day. It was impossible. I had to make some changes.
I posted two job ads, my wife thought I was insane, but I needed some help. First hire was a young girl who really wanted the job. Her grandad had a body shop and she had been rejected from every automotive job she had applied for. I know why, her resume sucked for automotive. A bunch of retail experience, nothing even service based but to me she was perfect. A clean slate, a friendly face and a knack for customer service. She has been a rockstar and I'm really lucky to have her there.
Second hire was a licensed mechanic like myself. I wanted someone with the experience and tools so that I could maybe take some time away from the shop. Finding skilled trades people, even when I'm offering a higher than average wage, is tough. I interviewed many older guys who had failed at running their own shops, or were averse to working on newer cars and above doing some of the lower level tasks like changing oil and tires. I eventually did find someone more like myself. Around my age and with about the experience as myself and without the big chip on his shoulder. He's been with me a month and although we have different ways of doing things he's fit right in.
So now to the point, my passive income dream come true. I'll never forget November 8th, it's a remarkable day. My wife had booked a holiday with her mum, our main childcare provider. Kids have a week off school this month that fell during this time. Dad had to be on duty for the weekend. I had a key made for the shop and everyone knows their role. I've seen it. I've seen my office person come in and open up shop. I've seen my apprentice and new mechanic at work. The only thing I really do that is solely my job is assign work and prioritize jobs, but I left that up to the office staff and new mechanic.
So November 8th comes, I sleep until 8am, which is when the shop opens, I wake up to a frantic text message about the internet being down at the shop. I guide my office girl on resetting the router and I don't hear anything else from her for the rest of the day. My mechanic felt the need to keep me in the know of every little thing happening, which isn't what I wanted. I sent him a message in the afternoon saying that I trusted them to get things done and that I didn't need a play by play. Numbers looked good for the day. November 9th the shop was open again, this time I didn't hear a peep from anyone until the afternoon, just a quick question about parts availability but nothing that needed immediate attention. This was the dream, I've done it.
Now, I'm still going to be at the shop everyday. I have a $1mm in sales goal for 2025 which judging from the record setting month I just had at $90k should be totally attainable.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
.. Cupat, veloph e qehi uav ug Kujpzcuz't qmezcuul.. Og vjiz tactdsoci vu vji des desi qsuhsen, vjiz hiv e 10% fotduapv up effovoupem tiswodit moli gmatjit, cimv siqmedinipvt..
Imagine holding a winning lottery ticket, but letting it expire in your wallet—uncashed. Millions lost.
