Sigh.... I'm in search of a money tree, any ideas where I can find one?

[Mike-san]

Can you work some sort of tie in with the sportsbar business next door ? Some kind of cigar lounge in there ?
Hang in there Bud !

 

[Matt_337]

That's a good suggestion. People will always drink.

 

[queenlives]

Cost rising is a huge part of my business right now ( auto sales) Used cars are at their highest value in a long time. I am paying double to get some cars ( mostly cheaper sub $4000 cars ) meaning a car that used to cost me 1000 is now 2000 and so on. They are next to impossible to get. We do On lot financing ( buy here pay here ) and do not take advantage of people with super high 24% interest rates but we had to raise it to help cover some of the cost.
I used to get say 4-500 down on a car that costs me 1000 now I get 3-400 down on a car that cost me 2000. Meaning if I sell and finance 30 cars in a month at that cost it now costs me another $30000.00 to do business. THAT is a HUGE increase. And we have felt it.

However any good business person will tell you that you have to adjust to times that are changing. I believe in the MSI ( multiple streams of income ) method..

In order to try to offset the rise in cost to do business I analyzed what we spent the most money on. I came up with the repossession end of the business. We spend A LOT of money on repo's. So I then formed a new company and started a repo business in mid Feb. Since then I not only do my own repo's I have gained at least 10 clients sending me an average of 15 new repo's a day. At $250 a pop that adds up quick. It covers the additional and is actually already a profitable business.

My advice ( not that you really asked for it) is to branch your business out. Look for (MSI) opportunities and take advantages of them.

My.02

interesting post. i'm curious, how long in your "new normal" (increased cost) mode did it take you to realize / break the code on the new repo business?

 

[SOURCE 1]

interesting post. i'm curious, how long in your "new normal" (increased cost) mode did it take you to realize / break the code on the new repo business?

:smile: It has always been a back of the mind thing over the past 10 or so years. But nothing I ever really wanted to tackle. However seeing the amount of checks I was writing to repo companies and after discussing it with several other car dealers that do the same thing it was a no brainer to me. I would say cars skyrocketed in cost in August/Sept of 09 after the "cash for clunkers" program. Got even higher around tax time in 2010 and have not come down from that point. I started feeling/seeing the pinch in July and researching some fixes for it. Decided on this process in September. Researched and opened in Feb '11. Another REALLY good reason for this business is it gives me first " bid" on some (15-20 a month) of the repoed vehicles. So I not only have the increase in revenue but also another outlet to secure more vehicles for less money.

 

[queenlives]

:smile: It has always been a back of the mind thing over the past 10 or so years. But nothing I ever really wanted to tackle. However seeing the amount of checks I was writing to repo companies and after discussing it with several other car dealers that do the same thing it was a no brainer to me. I would say cars skyrocketed in cost in August/Sept of 09 after the "cash for clunkers" program. Got even higher around tax time in 2010 and have not come down from that point. I started feeling/seeing the pinch in July and researching some fixes for it. Decided on this process in September. Researched and opened in Feb '11. Another REALLY good reason for this business is it gives me first " bid" on some (15-20 a month) of the repoed vehicles. So I not only have the increase in revenue but also another outlet to secure more vehicles for less money.

gotcha, thx! good for you for accepting and profiting from the changes in your biz conditions.

 

[SOURCE 1]

gotcha, thx! good for you for accepting and profiting from the changes in your biz conditions.

Thanks!