[ProdigyCustoms]

A few things on different subjects. None of this pertains specifically to this post, just general comments about the business


1st and foremost, Geez, Thanks guys for all the kind words!



2nd, Controlling cost is a huge issue. Many shops work by the hour and give a estimate of what a project will cost, say $10K, then one day the customer realizes they are over $10K in and the car is only in primer. So the customer runs out of money because he only budgeted $10K, he is already at $12K and is still $10K to $12K from finished. So the shop horribly under bid either by accident or on purpose to get the job and deposit.



At our shop we do enough work on the majority of services so we can give a firm cost number for things like Paint and body. I actually had another shop I had never heard of call me and ask how the heck can we do that? Before the conversation was over he admitted he was incapable of hitting a "estimate" within 10% to 20% and could not risk loosing money on a job. Before it was over he got nasty with me because I could give a good number! It was kind of hilarious how agravated he got with me. He went out of business 6 months ago for non paying customers. One of those cars is here. My / his customer paid all along until he had more in the project then the original quote and was less then half way through process, and the work done was so bad we stripped it to the bone, re installed another set of quarter panels to start over! That car is in the booth ready to spray, and yes, it is snowballing a bit too. We do enough cars, we know how long it takes to install a quarter panel, mini tubs, and we know how long it takes to paint a car after sheetmetal and rough in bodywork is done. There MAY be some open items we cannot determine until the car is naked, but once it is naked we can fill in those blanks also. Any pro shop should be able to do this, certainly any shop should be able to hit a estimate within 10% to 20% anyway. We have ZERO billing issues with customers, because we do not change our price unless the customer adds to the scope of work. Todd can verify our rock solid pricing for a given scope. As well as others here.



3rd Scope of work changes. This is a big issue we do have. Someone sends a car I for x and Y work, (100 hours), then adds W and Z (another 100 hours) while it is here. Just last month we sent home a car that came in from California for a subframe, mini tub and rear suspension. We scheduled it in and before it got here he added a big motor and transmission. Then once it got here and we got started, he said hows about looking over the paint, We painted it. Then what about the interior, shouldn't we replace it with a DSE insert, some seats, some seat belts, Are those door panels good enough now that everything else is so pretty? and if were doing door panels should we go ahead and replace the glass and add power windows? So in the end a 150 hour suspension and mini tub project turned into a full build, 600 hour project. We let this one grow a bit, but when we sent the final bill the customer could not pay the bill quick enough. He was thrilled!



4th, The down side, it puts the next project behind. The Bull Run car is another perfect example, we originally were not supposed to do any bodywork on that car. Touch up a couple bubbles, spot it in some paint and do full body and paint another day after the race. But when we dug in it it was so bad it made no sense to spend $5K on a spot in job when that money could go towards doing it right. We ended up re sheetmetal the entire car, 300 additional hours later, she was fantastic. But it puts us behind on the next project.



5th So thanks for your recommendations, but right now we are slammed busy and cannot touch anything new for at least 6 months. We had 6 projects in a row more then double, some quadruple hours. And 2 of the 4 cars in the shop now are snowballing. All my customers are very understanding, but we want to get the load a little more manageable right now. We are a small shop, 5 guys including me, and I manage and do parts more then spin wrenches anymore. And I do not want to hire more guys and add space, tried that and let both of them go in short time! I love my low overhead and the entire crew has been here for years. So they are easy to manage.



6th, Keeping it local, Every car here is from out of state except 3. One if from 300 miles away in Tallahassee, the other 360 miles away from Key West. and one suspension job is local. We have cars sent from Canada and California for just 150 to 200 hours work, to full 1000 hour builds. We are talking about a project coming from Australia right now. Unless you need to see the progress and want to have the shop visits as part of the build experience, do look out of town if nothing local makes you comfortable. It can be done with E mail and pictures, along with specified milestone payments that prevent your getting in to deep at any point in the project.


So we are discussing June / July appointments right now