Hi,
Another newbie here, I've posted before but not done any introductions. As I've got a question to ask the forums advice on, I thought it polite to do a brief intro first.
Since I was a kid, I've liked the idea of working with cars, but never had the funds/time to give it a go (and too risk averse to borrow loads of cash to start out).
i've bought and sold quite a few cars in my time, and there was a period a few years ago when buying and selling the occasional modern classic kept my head above water but I've never done it as a business until the start of this year.
Having sold my previous company which I build up over a decade, I finally had some time on my hands and some money to invest in stock, so when a friend who's worked in the trade most his life (for main dealers) approached me about working together it sounded like a good opportunity.
From reading this forum a lot recently I think we've learnt many of the lessons that first timers do, and as we approach our second year trading we're a bit older but a lot wiser.
A few of our mistakes have been:
Buying stock when we felt we needed stock, rather than waiting for the right car to come along at the right price
Underestimating the likelihood of older cars needing unforeseen repairs beyond the one's we've been aware off when buying
Having too many cars in prep at one time and none available to buy
Overpricing good stock initially rather than trying to get a quick turnaround on it
Overpaying for cars at auction (primarily fees)
Focussing on cars with too low a price point on the basis this should help stock turn
I'm sure I could add another dozen or more to this, but the long and the short of it is we've probably overpaid for stock as we've not left enough fat in the margin for unforeseen items. Going forwards a bit of a less is more approach and trying to buy when the price is right rather than because a car fits our target stock profile.
This forum has been great for education and also for realising that some of the problems we've seen aren't unique to us (e.g. high auction prices relative to retails). Also good to know we're not alone in getting a good car stick for few weeks, then get a shedload of inquiries the day after it sells.
Our insurance renewal is due up soon and we're wondering if anyone has any recommendations? We used Bollington as a broker and I can't remember who the actual policy is with but we had expected a slight drop on renewal as we're no longer a new policy holder but this doesn't seem to have happened. Last year we struggled with options as cars were stored on our drives, or at a local farm (open yard), but we've now got covered storage at a different farm, though we still need cover at home too as moving cars in/out storage when viewing/doing prep can be a headache, and i like the idea of actually using them a bit to spot issues before we sell them on as it's often the small stuff (e.g. passenger door locks) that catch you out.
Any advice is much appreciated.
