TheCamel

I would reccemend you go for it, but never leave the EPA stuff to someone else. The fines for violations are enough to make you lose everything... Being in the military in a Government business for a vehicle maintenance shop I know quite a bit about the Hazmat and EPA regulations, Body shops are the hot ones... The books can make or break you in this area. proper documentation is the key. If you have a contractor for picking up the waste, have them checked out as well. You and your partners are responsible for the product from cradle to grave. So if you buy 13 gallons of product, you need documentation for that 13 gallons and where it went. Make sure the contract with the contractor specifies they take responsibility for the items once they are in their possesion. Material Safety and Data Sheets (MSDS) are a top priority! If you are cought without these items and the chemical is found on your property you will be cited. To give you an idea of the fines, minor infractions such as improper storage of containers is a $10,000.00 fine, per day, per violation. Major fines like improper dumping or disposal can hit $100,000.00 per day, per violation. You also need to look at Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. Also make sure the building has had all recent Fire code and building code inspections prior to signing in on this. Getting a building into compliance for these could eat up your investment in no time at all. Having a business backround is great, but you need to educate yourself in all aspects of the business before you put your name on the dotted line.



Good Luck, your going to need a lot of work on your part to protect yourself.

9BASE3

Rob, Sean,



Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty new at this and the information you give helps much!





Rob, The building was for sale. One of the investors knew the seller and worked out a deal to lease it.. I guess it was a "just in case the business fails we aren't stuck with 700,000 dollars worth of building".. The option to buy (with what we pay in lease for the next 2 years included) is still open. I guess the friend network is like that sometimes?



I don't know for sure if progressive is the actuall insurance company involved.. It may be another.. The main body shop investor is from a reputable body-shop in the area (50 or so miles) and is leaving his place to start here. Closing his place that is.. This place is way bigger, and in a better area. The bike investor is a tatoo studio owner.. I'm really the only one with nothing else to fall back on.



You're right about owning the building though..



And the part about someone leaving and reopening close by is covered. Thanks god..



Believe me... I don't just want the shop to own a cool car. I've always had awesome cars (In my mind).. That's always been where my money goes... Cars.. I'd like to be the guy taking the credit for turning a car into a work of art.. I really love this ****.. If I could do it full time I would. All the little custom parts and fixes and workarounds I've done for the few cars I've owned has been great. I'd like to offer it to others.. I just don't get bored of it... I've had sevens lined up at my house for me to look at (Hence all the threads in the 3rd gen section LOL)... My old house always had friends cars there... And I always said "damn if I owned a shop..."



I'll look into everything closer as soon as I get time to sit down with my lawyer..







Sean,

That's the FIRST thing the bamk asked me... "Is your EPA **** in line?" We have all the means to store and dispose of it, just need to make sure it's done right!! Thanks for the time to reply.. Means alot!

9BASE3

More like a "I'm with a customers Honda" thread... LMAO!

Rob x-7

just consult a good lawyer and a good accountant, in the end

a new business is always a gamble.

You can never lose with real estate, even if business goes belly

up you can still lease to someone else.

Make sure that lease with option to buy is on paper and not a

hand shake aggreement.



I would also check to see what kind of help the body guy has

lined up, a shop with no painter or heavy man is useless.

I wouldnt rely on just running a ad and see who shows up for the

job.



obviously check to see that the local zoning laws have been taken into

consideration. New body shops and any shops dont fall under

any grandfather clause as far as zoning or equipment regualtions

that OSHA, EPA, and the local fire marshall will want in place.

teknics

spend 2 FULL WORK DAYS (random days of two individual weeks) at the shop. that'll show you a bunch of things:



1) Employee's work effort

2) Steadiness of work

3) Amount of "large money jobs"



and other ****. At the shop i work at from 8am-1pm we look like a $20,000 a day shop, from 1pm-5:30pm we have about 5-6 cars to work on unless enterprise rentals drops a bunch off.



BTW rental car companies ARE great to make contracts or agreements with, the cars are always coming in, are never "rush, rush", and you can generally pick out a lot of things during a tire patching to reccommend to be fixed and they agree to it without hesitation (they dont want customers breaking down in the car, causes a possible loss of customer returning to them for a car)



kevin.

Dramon_Killer

Convert all 7's to Supras!