Rani Day Auto Repair

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
FABO Gold Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2011
Messages
26,116
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23,019
Location
Colorado
I have come to realize from some close friends and people who are friends here that I am not brave enough to do my own thing.

I am always paranoid that my ideas are not good enough and I always chicken out of ventures. And I usually wait for someone to tell me what to do instead of going with my instincts and listening to myself.

So this is the official start of Rani Day Auto Repair

I am in the process of getting registered as an official business with tax ID and the whole nine yards. Then I am going to branch out from here.

I am starting extremely small but if I don't start now then when am I going to make my dream come true. So thanks to all my FABO friends and look forward to getting bigger everyday......I don't mean fat.
 
I've always said i'd rather try and fail than never try........ we have to give ourselves the chance to be successful AND if you are doing something you love, it really isn't WORK anyway!!!!
a wise old cowboy told me 50 years ago, pick a job ya love, and ya will never work a day in your life! true!
unless you KNOW everything there is to know, you will always be learning, and if you are doing, you will sometimes make a mistake, that's how we learn. and to most of us, learning is fun. ( otherwise there wouldn't ne so many people on here learning about their cars and how to fix it!!?????
and 50% discount to ALL fabo members!!!!
 
Very cool! I think it would be worth the drive to see you in coveralls covered in grease! Im pretty sure you could get my motor running!!
Good luck!
 
If you don't at least try, you may ask yourself later why not, and regret it. My brother tried an auto parts store, it failed, but he always wanted to try it. He did it in such a way that he didn't lose everything he had worked for. BUT HE AT LEAST TRIED!!! Go for it, you can do it!!
 
Good luck Rani. Catchy bussiness name, I like it!!!
 
Good Luck with your new endeavor. Do all legal stuff to protect yourself LLC, permits and such. Have fun! From what you have posted you have the talent and training.
 
After spending a ton of my life owning/operating auto and equipment repair businesses I would like to offer the best advice I have for someone new to it.

DON"T take every job that comes along. (this will eat up your time and cause you grief)
It's tempting to do exactly this, but try to only take the jobs you are comfortable with or like doing.
Tell the rest that you just don't have the time at the moment.

The other is documentation.
Get signatures for authorized work, and use phone authorization for when the owner can't be there to sign.
A phone auth consists of calling the owner of the vehicle and getting an ok for added items to the job that were not anticipated before you start the job.
Document the time, date, reason for the revision to the work order, and who you spoke with. (this one has saved my butt a few times.)

Example:
I had a guy that needed a new engine (Honda) and I did the swap for him.
He called a couple of days later and said he had an oil leak, so I told him to get it back to me ASAP and lets see whats up with it.
We made three different appointments and he never showed up for any of them, saying he was just too busy to get it in.
Next thing I know he is trying to sue me for the entire job because he was driving to work one day and the oil light came on.
He was "such a busy guy he just didn't have time to stop" (what he told the judge) so he kept going and of course blew up the motor.
The ONLY reason I didn't have to eat that entire job was that I kept records of all the phone calls and appointments he didn't keep.

He also told the judge that I would only accept cash and never gave him reciepts for anything, but I had every peice of paper that he signed in triplicate, as well as every appointment he missed along with his excuse why, all documented.

People will try pulling some messed up stuff for money, and it's amazing how small of an amount they will sell thier soul for.
 
Great! Good luck and go for it. Don't forget to get liability insurance. I've seen too many businesses get sued.
 
Best of luck to you.....you got a problem with us fat folks???:violent1::D
 
So very happy for you Rani :cheers:
You can do it :cheers: screaming at the top of my voice :color:

Put an umbrella over that cool catchy business name :glasses7:
 
Good Luck in your endeavor!!

what is you plan on the small work start? Just working on old cars?

Hopefully you will be able to branch it in a few years--!! Lawrence
 
Thanks everyone for the warm response ....I was actually worried.

Right now I have a small customer base from school. Mostly Girls which seem to be my niche market because they trust I am not going to take advantage of their lack of car knowledge which most mechanics have developed a reputation of taking advantage of women because they know that most women don't know better, the perception works to my advantage, even though I doubt that every mechanic really does that.

But now I am doing easy stuff. Tires, flat tires, brakes, Battery drains, clutches, had a couple transmission builds so far, Timing belts, and serp. belts.

I would like to get an A-100 van and go mobile because I have done some of these repairs in the parking lot at school. I have also had friends call my dad's phone after hours and I went out to fix flats or jump a dead battery......that kind of thing.

My parents don't really like the mobile thing if its a job for someone I don't know. But that is something to work on.

just a slow and small start.
 
:prayer: Good for you young lady! You will do great at this. I think you will be surprised at how your customer base of women of all ages will grow. It's a shame that many unscrupulous mechanics will take advantage of a lady because she doesn't have much knowledge about cars. I saw that first hand when I started working on my wifes Slowsmobile Calais after we got married. She had been taking it to some Quick Lube place, and they had been doing tune ups, brakes and oil changes for her. Charged her for plugs, and the car had the original spark plugs in it, and also the original plug wires that they supposedly replaced. As far as your parents being concerned about you going on road calls, being an older guy....I can understand their concern. You are an extremely smart young lady, but your small stature might be what has them worried about somebody in the middle of nowhere trying to harm you. If you do take on mobile service and road calls, go to Wal Mart or Bass Pro, and get you some Bear Spray. If someone tried to bother you, hit em right between they eyes with that, and while their kicking and screaming....whack em in the head with a tire iron! Good luck to you, and we're all rooting for you! :D
 
That's a fantastic name for your business, Rani.
 
Good for you Rani.
I could see the niche market of working on women's cars alone keeping you in steady work once the word is spread around a bit. Clever, never would have thought of that.
Build a reputation of doing a quality job keeps good customers coming back if your community is small like where I live.
I have always looked at jobs like this. If someone else can do it, their is no reason I can't.
You will find you have no time for the fears and they are unfounded.
Try to fill your schedule with jobs that can be done quickly to keep the money coming in faster.
The younger you start your dream the be better. You will do fine just get out there and do it for yourself. If you do it for someone else they will take the enjoyment out of it.
Don't forget to save some time for your own cars. This I never seem to do.
 
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