mancars

I am sure this might have been cover before but a fresh look might just open few more ideas. Where do most of your leads come from? For me high end deals come from AutoTrader and quality leads with usually one to two phone calls closing the deal. Gumtree - lower prices, lots of texts with Cash Tonight Mate to this I will normally ask for Gold Only Tonight and you can have the car. You also end up with lots of Accident Verification claims. So, gumtree is annoying. But I have sold few cars through them be it the low end ones. Facebook - Not sold any through Facebook but have tried. You get alot of comments, competitors jumping on the band wagon. The ones who make stupid claims, the silly offers, and £10 part exchanges. So, not had too much time for Facebook. What are you views guys and girls?

You have made some very good points. Actually the points which worry me the most, and this is the solution I am trying to kind of resolve. regarding warranty claims - I think I need to outsource this and something I will have to stress with the customers and on the invoice. I know you will get some idiots, but I suppose that is the case with any business you are in. The good job is majority of the people are normal and understand the difference between a small home trader to a full dealership. The cars I sell come with full service history and are generally well looked after cars. Hence why I was asking about profits. As the moment my profit is not good enough to have a business which would be worth my while. Most of my cars are sold on the first view. Which says something about the cars i stock. You are probably correct about making easier money elsewhere - but I like cars, I like wheeling and dealing. So, it just seems to fit what I am doing at the moment. However, who knows what the future holds. Thanks for your advice - it has opened my mind a little further. Not for the good but the truth sometimes hurts. No offence taken.. It's all lighthearted.

That is a really good idea - make sure you learn YouTube SEO - it's much easier than google. Also, it might be worth adding Google Adsense - as it's something which will be watched after you sell the car but you can still to continue to make something from it. What about doing a E-Book on how to buy a classic car and what too look for? Maybe a video training for anyone looking to either get into buying classics to flip or they just looking to start collecting them. Extra passive income never hurt anyone. Just some ideas! That is my problem..

Video is the way forward in marketing. It looks like you know this already. Is this for cars or something else?

Hahah.. It does keep my awake a night. But we only have one life, so might as well try to find our true path. It might work it might not. One is marketing, and the other is photography. Not sure how to take your comment.

By being organised getting up at 5.30am - doing one part of my day by 8am - kids ready and school run. Back for 9.30am - 30m to check auction if auction day. Try to fit cars which will go through within 1 hour and 30 minutes. Never pay for cars on the day! Normally go the day after when I can jump straight to the desk and sort the paperwork within 15 minutes. The rest of the day - I deal with various activities from answering emails, doing another part of my business and so on. Try to have 3 hour break in the evening. If not too tried after everyone has gone to sleep I will try and either read something constructive which will help me improve my skills.. Not easy, but as I want to build a business which will give me freedom than I am willing to miss out on TV..

We all have to learn from time to time. I always love to help people and when I need help I ask. Rather get some pointers from experienced individuals than learn the hard way. But I am also known to learn the hard way. I don't have one! I am self-employed looking to try 3 different business and see which one takes my fancy.

What Makes You Think That? lol Thanks for taking time to help out. So what would you say is a acceptable target profit as an average for 1k to 2k cars?

Be easy on me as I am new to the forum. I have got back into car dealing recently after few years out. I have never done it as a full time job, but more as some side income. I have the trade insurance policy already. I know the basics of buying cars at auction, and have a silver account with BCA which I want to turn into GOLD very quickly. Mainly due to lower fees. This time round I would like to have a more structured approach to the business - where I actually make some good money rather than just playing around. Let's say I wanted to make 15k before tax selling cars part time. The cars I am dealing with are under £2k - I think they are much easier to sell. I use Auto Trader and Gumtree for most of the leads. What profit margin should I be aiming for and how many cars do you think I would need to sell in order to achieve my annual profit target. I look forward to your help..