Help me convince my wife this is a good idea (serious content)

Most of you remember my MOC (Mobile Oil Change) business plan I developed a short time ago. My wife is determined that it will all end in tears, and refuses to budge on her opinion on it. I had grown tired of fighting with her about it, so I let it go for a bit and let things simmer down. The other day I ran into my dad's old boss who used to run the local Overhead Door franchise. While still running that he started a radio station here in town (no small feat, radio is EXPENSIVE!) A few years ago this guy sold that radio station, and started a small chain of laundromats and dry cleaners. I'd call him a successful entreprenuer. He also sells insurance, shopkeeper's insurance as well. I mentioned to him that I was wanting to start a business, and wanted to talk to him about that and insurance as well.

Well that kind of reignited the spark, got me to looking into this again. When she saw the business card, and I mentioned insurance, she looked at me sternly and said "It's not happening." I know that not everyone is going to succeed in business, and many people fail (including her father, which is why I think she'd so gun shy about this.) He had a pretty decent mowing business, but his mistake was selling it to fund his campaign for sherriff. He never made it out of the primary, and they've been struggling ever since.

Everyone in my small town that has nice houses, nice cars, all own some sort of business. Around here if you want to go anywhere in life, you have to do your own thing. I've always wanted to be an entreprenuer, and I think that's the only thing I'll ever be truly happy with. It really goes back to when I was a wee little tyke. At the tender age of two I became infatuated with monster trucks, and pretty much from then on I wanted my own. I didn't want to drive for Bigfoot, I wanted to beat Bigfoot. I think that sort of spirit stuck with me and now I'm t rying to start my own business and she's trying to hold me back.

Basically, I need help convincing her that this isn't a bad idea. There's no location to maintain, very low overhead, and not a whole lot to startup costs. I'm a bigger fan of the "Catch more flies with honey than vinegar" style of doing things, and being stern and mean will just make things worse.

Help me o' GRM!

Have you had the conversation with the dude about insurance? Have you spoken to an insurance carrier? I think it's a solid idea. The only things I'd really worry about is oil containment and disposal. Take some time and make a business plan. Be honest with yourself on the costs etc. Don't use cost estimates.....find out what it costs. You don't want to find out half way through that it costs double what you thought.

I have not started a business, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I'd put together a simple business plan to show her. Figure out what it will cost to start, and what it will take to turn what kind of profit. How much would/could you reasonably charge? How much profit will you make on each one? How quickly will you be able to do them?

Then there are the logistics: how are you actually going to do the oil changes? Floor jack and drain pan? Crawling under a bunch of cars every day is going to suck. Some sort of trailered lift? How much used oil will you be able to take and dispose of? How much of how many different varieties of oil will you be able to carry with you? You're going to need multiple "levels" (regular dino, high mileage, full synthetic, etc.) and weights of oil. Insurance? Disposal fees?

How will you manage scheduling? Will you take care of that all yourself, or will you need a secretary to coordinate your schedule?

You need that anyway to know for yourself if this is actually a reasonable business model.

Not to be a naysayer, but I'd wonder about how much profit you could actually turn doing mobile oil changes. Quick-e-lubes are common and not too expensive. I doubt you'll be able to charge much more than them. They're also able to keep a pretty constant stream of people coming through. You're going to be very limited by travel time. You'll probably spend more time traveling than actually doing oil changes. I think you'll be lucky to make $20 profit on an oil change and to do more than one per hour.

To make it work, I think you'd need to focus on being able to do multiple vehicles at one location. Maybe small businesses with a couple of cars in their "fleet" so that you can bang out 3-5 oil changes at one stop. You're going to really have to figure out your market.

I think starting your own business is a cool idea, but mobile oil change might not be a great model. Or it might, I really don't know.

So, make a business plan. Prove to yourself first that you can actually make money doing it. Once you have some numbers to support yourself, you'll be able to convince your wife.

Yeah, what sachilles said. It's a sound idea but not a cheap one. You're overhead will be a vehicle (not a small one either, you got lots of pounds of oil and grease to haul around) and the EPA that ain't gonna make things easy or cheap.
What market are you going for? The individual or fleets? Fleets either have techs themselves or a company that does maintenance in the field. If you are going after the passenger car market, that's tougher. I would think you wouldn't do well if you were out to get individual customers as you'd be driving all over the place (12 mpg @ 4.++ a gallon) to collect $20 a pop. I'd go to businesses and offer your services to employees so you can get $200 a pop. That begs the question, what about the filters? Most filters are accessible from below. If so, how do you raise the vehicle up and how does that effect your insurance? EVERY TIME I change oil I start the car and watch the gauge/light to make sure pressure goes up. You will forget to put oil in there once so you'll want to start it every time. How do you get keys? If you need to contact the employees to get keys the managers are going to shut you down because you are disrupting business.

Not to kill your dreams, just the opposite. I would love for you to succeed where I failed (running your own business). I just want to make sure you have all your bases covered. When I was looking to start my own business the natural thing was some sort of automotive maintenance/repair. Insurance costs were KILLER!

Sounds like a marriage problem, not a business problem.

Work up a business plan, calculate real costs based on quotes, estimates from real people and places. It takes time to write a good business plan, and even if you choose not to go into business for your self, it's a lot of great information to put together.

She will have more peace of mind if you are able to show her that this is a real plan and not a flight of fancy. It will also be harder to say "It's not going to work" when you have lots of information to back your plan up. It may also pay to look into companies that are offering this service now and see about franchise opportunities or they may offer some advice for you if you are not in their immediate area.

Do you truly know her reasons for disapproval? The father's business may be it but she may have other issues that are influencing her opinion too. You will have a better chance in battle if you know all the weapons your wife plans to use. Seriously though, when the time is right, approach her and ask her for some specifics without putting her on the spot. Let he know that her concerns and input is valuable, but certainly the decision to go forward will be yours to make.

Good luck!

DILYSI Dave wrote: Sounds like a marriage problem, not a business problem.

I suspect that how solid or convincing your business plan is developed is not the issue. Financial or lifestyle security is probably more at the heart of the issue. In a lot of people's world view, security is landing a steady job, benefits, couple of weeks vacation, predictable paychecks...

The key I think to her buy in or at least acceptance is working through what the real issue is, which I don't think has anything to do with the specific idea or business model. But that's just me.

What does your entrepreneur friend think of the idea?

You'll never convince her. You can either not try and give up a dream or do it any way. I'd say do it anyway as a side job on the weekends. Also look for a way to make money with your accumulated waste oil like waste oil heating.

If I had listened to the nay sayers when I opened up both of my companies I'd still be a work force drone with nothing to say " I built that." and be proud of my self.

My plan was to buy and carry the oil as-needed. Would it be cheaper to buy a gigantic drum or a certain weight oil and buy it for dollars on the gallon? Yes, but that wouldn't help my start up.

I was planning to do a little of both, offer fleets oil changes and promote reduced employee downtime. I was also going to go after the consumer market and promote the lack of having to wait in line, since nobody has any patience and is busy busy busy anymore.

I was also going to offer group discounts, where if four or five co workers kicked in and got their oil changes together, I could travel less and still get some jobs. Word of mouth is big around here, and I would really count on that as a major part of advertising. The best kind is the free kind, right?

My entreprenuer friend thinks its a good idea, but I spoke with him very briefly on it because I was putting wiper blades on his work van, and had other customers to get to (I work at an auto parts store)

Which leads me to my next argument. I already have employment, I'm currently part time, but have just recently been granted full time, starting officially in January. My original idea was to do this on the side, before or after work depending on when I worked that day. I would schedule people ahead of time, to hopefully make it easier on me.

I've found an online MOC forum, but it's kinda slow. I have, however, read older posts and have gotten a TON of information. I've also looked at other MOC business websites, and have done about as much research as I can do on my own online without talking to someone already in the biz.

Phranc, what businesses do you own?

Thanks for the input, guys.

I cant really help with the wife part, but a mobile car wash guy around here has arrangements withe several office parks. One day a week he sets up shop in one of their lots and all the workers who want their car washed park there and pay him in the morning. He then washes all those cars in one place and saves travel time.

He benefits, and the property manager gets to advertise it as an amenity for the tenants. Good luck!

if you put together a sound business plan, and she refuses to acknowledge it, your problem is not the business plan.

your problem is determining why she is resistant to the point of being unreasonable. You must learn that part or you will fail anyways.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Sounds like a marriage problem, not a business problem.

There is a lot of truth in that sentence. I don't think we can help you with that. She either gets it or doesn't. Lucky for me, mine did.

As far as the business idea, I say go for it. That is something you could start part time with reasonable investment, and word of mouth will be your best advertising.

I wouldn't waste much time doing $20 oil changes. Trying to compete with the big guys is a quick way to go broke. They have the buying power to get the prices in the dirt. They also don't have to make money on every oil change, you do. You need to concentrate on selling the "quality" service, not just the oil change. People with money don't mind spending it on exclusive services and that's who I would target. I don't see any reason your prices can't start in the $50 range and go up from there.

Good luck with the wife.

I can tell you from personal experience, starting a business part time is more than likely going to fail. I put full-time hours in my business and was barely working. Then I started working a regular job. As soon as my small-business became part-time if fell off QUICKLY.
A few other random thoughts (because I thought about this exact thing just a few years ago):
You'll wan to use a oil extractor to empty the sump. Stripped drain plugs (your fault or somebody else's) are NOT your friend.
Scheduling will be tough. Maybe an e-mail a week before you go to a location. Anyone wanting service can respond with Y/M/M and oil preference.
You'll have to keep a stock of filters and oil for those folks that don't feel they have to e-mail you.
You can give your used oil to folks that use it in a oil-burning furnace to reduce disposal costs.
If you wife is not on board, it will be incredibly difficult to survive the lean times that are sure to come.

Ask her to explain her misgivings. Seriously. If they are just because, well, she said so... you can say "way to be supportive hun" and decide if you want to try starting a business first or getting a better woman first, then starting a business.

You need to establish how many cars a day you expect to service, how many miles from start to finish daily, remove the cost of fuel, oil, filters and other consumables. Then establish what hourly rate you will get.

Remember to include daily maintenance on your vehicle, insurance plus the cost of dumping oil. This will establish if the business has a profit margin worth your time.

As for disposal of the oil, check out the local garages, they often use oil burners for heat and may even pay a few $ for it.

As for the wife, in all seriousness, if she isn't doing the work, she gets no say unless you go broke, then you'll get "I told you so" for the next 50 years.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

madmallard wrote: if you put together a sound business plan, and she refuses to acknowledge it, your problem is not the business plan. your problem is determining why she is resistant to the point of being unreasonable. You must learn that part or you will fail anyways.

Yes, this is exactly why you put together the business plan. You may find along the way that you can't afford to do it, that the local market won't bear it, or that your imagination leads you elsewhere, but you can also tell a lot about her stance when you have more solid information. I think you have a chance of swaying her, but not when you have an unknown up against a recent upgrade to full time at your current job. If she doesn't think you are serious enough about it to put together a business plan, no doubt she will question your conviction to see it though. If you decide to go through with it, you're gonna need a business plan anyway, if you decide not to go through with it, you are sure of exactly why not to. I would set aside any discussion with her about it until either she brings it up or you have a completed business plan and facts, numbers and contacts in the biz. It's not going to help your case to further it until you have something more persuasive.

One other thing, along with all of the different oils, don't forget that a filter change goes along with the oil change. Cost of inventory ?

Won't address the marriage issue, but let me point out something: the lube chains use the oil change as a come on. Once you are in the door, the guy comes to show you that nasty air filter or the worn wipers. THERE is the profit for them, along with fuel injection services etc (which I'm not sure I would want to do in a parking lot somewhere). So you may need to consider adding those quick profit items as well. If you can turn a $35 sludge swap into a $75 sludge swap/wiper blades/air filter, your profit margin starts looking better and better. Of course you'll need some inventory, but how much... most manufacturers will publish a buyer's guide listing the A/B/C/D movers, you want the A's in stock with you.

You are not going to compete on price, fuggeddaboudit. You are selling CONVENIENCE, just like 7-11 etc. Market from the POV of 'you really want to spend all day Saturday at the dealer or Jiffy Lube? Or take time off from work?'

Curmudgeon wrote: Won't address the marriage issue, but let me point out something: the lube chains use the oil change as a come on. Once you are in the door, the guy comes to show you that nasty air filter or the worn wipers. THERE is the profit for them, along with fuel injection services etc (which I'm not sure I would want to do in a parking lot somewhere). So you may need to consider adding those quick profit items as well. If you can turn a $35 sludge swap into a $75 sludge swap/wiper blades/air filter, your profit margin starts looking better and better. Of course you'll need some inventory, but how much... most manufacturers will publish a buyer's guide listing the A/B/C/D movers, you want the A's in stock with you.

This is a very good point. This also brings up an issue. Since from my research you really need to do volume at each location (large offices etc.) you'll need to be able to contact the owner about up-selling. This (along with needing keys to the cars) is going to be viewed as a disruption that a manager (read: the guy who allows/disallows you to do this) will use as reason NOT to grant you permission to solicit there. Now, if you do his oil changes for free......
With that kind of inventory, you are looking at a large box truck. With the hazardous materials on board you'll need D.O.T. certification.

Curmudgeon wrote: You are not going to compete on price, fuggeddaboudit. You are selling CONVENIENCE, just like 7-11 etc. Market from the POV of 'you really want to spend all day Saturday at the dealer or Jiffy Lube? Or take time off from work?'

This is what I was pointing out to folks when I was surveying this idea. The only difference is I was going to include smaller, routine maintenance/repairs like brake pads, belts, t-stats. Most folks I talked to said they'd be willing to pay 10-15% above the "going rate" for stuff. So, while you don't have the over-head of a shop, you have fuel, maintenance and repairs that they don't. The big thing here is the price-point you are buying at. That 15% above and beyond is eaten up quickly, but there is still money left to be made.
I know where you are coming from. I didn't need to get rich, but the "be your own boss" thing is worth a lot to many folks.
I really do wish you the best. Please keep us up to date. In fact, if you are serious about writing a business plan I have a very good, very expensive work-book that I got when I took a small business class. I'll give it to you, just pay the shipping. I'm pretty sure I still have it (only 2 years old).

I wouldn't go grabbing a box van just yet.

About inventory: it's possible that you could, at first, stock oil filters and oil only. If you get somewhere and the car needs wiper blades etc you get the customer's OK, then run pick them up and install them. Look at it this way: if it's 10AM, you get the squeal of approval and you need to run pick them up, what does your customer care as long as they are on the car before they leave at 4:30 to go home?

Once you get things up and running, then maybe you could look into a box truck. Starting out, I'd get a used van or even a big enclosed trailer (assuming you have something that'll pull it).

Its a bad idea.

You haven't done your homework.

You are trying to sell us with emotional statements like:

BoostedBrandon wrote: Everyone in my small town that has nice houses, nice cars, all own some sort of business.

and:

BoostedBrandon wrote: I've always wanted to be an entreprenuer, and I think that's the only thing I'll ever be truly happy with.

and:

BoostedBrandon wrote: At the tender age of two...

and:

BoostedBrandon wrote: Word of mouth is big around here, and I would really count on that as a major part of advertising. The best kind is the free kind, right?

While trying to argue it out with your wife:

BoostedBrandon wrote: Which leads me to my next argument...

These are DEFENSIVE EMOTIONAL responses, not RESEARCHED or REASONED RESPONSES.

You haven't done your homework. You don't know the real costs, don't have real input from people in a similar business, don't know who your competitors are, don't know what regulations you will fall under, and have not dedicated enough time to your entrepreneur friend because you were busy changing windshield wipers. If you are not ready to commit the necessary energy to this, don't expect anyone else to.

The FIRST thing you need to do is a heck of a lot of research. KNOW what you are up against. Don't try to convince us what a great idea it is because it feels good.

Now, here's the good news. It CAN BE a good idea, after you finish your research.

Now about your wife...

You are creating a loose/ loose adversarial situation. This is the stuff divorces are made of. This is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the business. Don't approach it with this "Her vs. me" mentality.

Once you know the reality of what it will take, and have made your EDUCATED (not emotional) decision, you need to understand that you will NOT be able to convince her. It's not about getting her to AGREE. It's about getting her to be SUPPORTIVE.

So, the approach is basically, "Honey, I understand you think this is a bad idea. I respect that, and value your opinion. But I need your support on this one. It's very important to me."

Then define it as a specific commitment. "Can I have your support if I follow my dreams for 1 year (or other time frame) in the following manner.... (describe the details of the plan). If it is not successful (define success- goals, etc) at that time, I promise to close it down and be focused on our other priorities". "I will also commit to NO MORE THAN (specific dollar amount) to be taken from our personal finances."

That way, you can agree to disagree but still be supportive of each other for a defined plan in a defined period of time, with commitments from both sides.

She'll support you. She won't agree with you, but she'll support you.

And you CAN succeed (at both your business AND your marriage). But you are gonna have to work for it.

I hate to piss on your Cheerios, but I'm still not convinced that this is a good idea.

Most people are not us. They don't really give a rat's ass about cars. Some people will only go to the dealership. Some people will only do it themselves. A few are committed to Jiffy Lube or a local garage. Some others will never change there oil. They may not even know that a car has oil in it. They'll just replace the car when they need another one. You're betting on a tiny segment of population.

As I was reading your original post in this thread and I first read the words "Overhead Door" and "laundromat", I said to myself, "Now he's heading in the right direction.", but then....

It goes against my nature to discourage someone from following a dream, but this still sounds like a business that a college kid tries to make work over the summer or until he gets an actual job offer. I don't think it's sustainable for the long term.

Woody: My cousin has done it quite successfully. But he did his homework.

I know this:

If I owned a business, or if I owned property that I leased to a business, and I found out that someone was doing oil changes in my parking lot, I'd put a stop to it before he got the first filter off.