Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

woody66912

woody66912

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
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690
Re: Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

I would try to get a job at a dealership, their's is alot more to learn then just repair. Set a goal of working there for 5 to 10 years, this way the dealer pays for training. This way you will learn how the biss works. Your toughest repair will be nothing compared to a pissed off customer, your going to have to know how deal with this on a daily basis. Your shop wall will look really good with some certification on it along with some word of mouth from your past employment. My .2 cents.
 
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Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
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May 15, 2011
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1,895
Re: Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

I admire a 17 year old with the entrepreneural spirit. But finish high school first.

If you have the talents mechanically, take a auto repair course at your local community college. Marine repair courses are rare except at places like MMI which is an extremely expensive place to train ($20K?). Much of the information learned in auto repair classes bleeds over into marine mechanics, especially with inboard outboard's engines being auto based. The marine world needs mechanics that really know how to diagnose and rebuild engines the right way.

You will find you can make more money fixing cars than boats, and auto repairs are 12 months out of the year instead of just a 6 month business. Save your talents and energy for part time marine repairs on weekends, etc. There's plenty of work out there from April to September if you have a good reputation.
 
nolimits80

nolimits80

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Dec 23, 2012
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8
Re: Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

Thanks everybody for the good words. Never did think about all the liability stuff that goes along with it. Great advice and info, and really made me think about all of this. I guess I'll just stick to the word of mouth and friend jobs so I don't get into trouble. I got the idea because I worked for a guy who knew everything there is to know about mercruiser and boat repair because he learned from a certified merc mechanic and professional gel coat and painter. He had a little business out of his backyard out in the country and granted he was an adult, he did pretty well with just doing boat repair in the summer and he asked me to come help him because he was swamped with work. I learned ALOT from him and have done lots of work for people doing trailer restoration and complete gimbal housing rebuilds just from reading for hours on the internet and learning from him. I plan to go to college and go for either big rig diesel or marine mechanics at MMI or Wyotech or something. This was just going to be a summer deal that would get me some cash flow so I can fix all my stuff and put gas in my tank. I'll keep in mind what all of you said. Thanks Alot!!!!
 
Teamster

Teamster

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
1,923
Re: Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

Stay away from big rig diesel repair, Not as much money to be made,...

However heavy equipment diesel repair pays much, much better,......A friends son went to tech school somewhere in MN for heavy equipment repair, His summer internships payed better than most big rig mechanics make, And his full time job at a heavy equipment dealership pays stupid good money,....
 
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Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: Starting my own boat repair business out of my backyard. Good or bad idea??

Yep, stay away from heavy truck repairing. You end up working on brakes and trailer repairs, and the work is terribly physical wrestling huge wrenches and engine parts. My ex-son in law went to Nashville Auto Diesel College, and he still owes $10K on student loans at age 31. And I think he makes about half what he's worth working at a Mack Truck dealership.

I'd suggest you try to find a community college or state technical college to start your education through. Get a master tech certificate, and you can write your own paycheck at any car dealership anywhere. The days of the shade tree mechanic are gone with CAN/BUS modules all over the cars, and it takes a very trained technician to work on modern day automobiles.

My family owns a big city Lexus dealership and you wouldn't believe how much the 17 mechanics make per year.
 
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