umesh 336 Posted July 2, 2016 The famous #19 by Paul Hardcastle [ Sorry showing my age now , for those youngsters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk ] On 1st of July I celebrated 19 Years in business , I can remember my 1st day as if it was yesterday , working from home - 1st thing was to get into the right frame of mind although I was only working from my study at home I had to get dressed in work mode, yeap a shirt and tie ! A few months later I moved into the showroom that I occupy that was Nov 1st 1997. It's been one hell of a roller coaster ride , loving everyday , I think i am a very , very luck man as I love what I do, I look forward to the next day to meet new people and new challenges and what the day brings. The support from family, friends , colleagues and most of all loyal customers has been incredible without that I would certainly not be here. The toughest years were 2006 -2008 due to personal circumstances and then the almighty crash !! I thought long and hard about ' throwing the towel in ' but I'm a fighter , I speak to many people some who think its been an easy journey , others are going through tough times- All I say to everyone is , if you have the passion and dedication you will succeed [ Luck plays some part ,lest not forget about that ] but it won't happen overnight, YOU have to work at it.! Times have changed , back then no websites ! wow can you image that - we have to adapt and keep up or get left behind. The biggest tip I'd give to anyone starting out in any business is be in for the right reasons, passion for what you do and ENJOY , don't be afraid to ask others , others actually want to help and share their knowledge , I just wish these type of forums were about back in those days. So how long have you been in business , what have been your high's - Lows and tips you'd like to share? Umesh 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted July 2, 2016 I started with £150 in 1989! I too have had plenty of ups & downs yet I always seem to remember the downs for some reason! It is a strange business,most of the time I love it,other times less so but all in all its given me & my family a decent living and I have met some great,some strange and some horrible people over the years. Times have certainly changed Umesh,I remember waiting for the Auto Trader rep to come out with his camera,take one grainy black & white picture,wait until Friday until the magazine came out and pray that they had not messed up the advert (often they did)! Oh the good old days! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
justina3 518 Posted July 2, 2016 Got to love a bit of Paul Hard castle remember when that song came out all the do gooders where having a right old moan about the video. Anyway it’s my 25th year in business this year, not always been selling cars but certainly involved in cars started back in the day with a car audio franchise and that soon expanded massively and so did the location we purchased a second hand car sales for us to have room to store all the cars we where working on, with the modern age of cars turning into a mobile pc and almost every car coming with something decent for audio the car audio business took a nose dive so we started to sell the odd banger here and there almost 7 years ago and now that’s the main income for the business. We still dabble and install phone kits reverse sensors and the like for the trade which is a handy source to pick up car stock, but mostly the engineers are fixing window regs and other faults getting the cars prepped for sale these days. As already mentioned you have to keep going and take what ever knocks on your door, my son has just started in the business and is as keen as mustard so I might take a bit of a back seat and carry on building my property portfolio. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
betginge 73 Posted July 3, 2016 (edited) Great stories I started 11 years ago, 17 years old a rookie mechanic in his last year I left my job working for a caravan / motorhome business, sold my 306XTDT and with a £1000 and old wedge shape rover 216 went to the auctions. I bought 3 cars that day 1997 Rover 420 , 1995 Escort 1.3 Petrol, 1996 nissan primera 1.6LX Bought them on the Tuesday day sale, Went to the local rag paper listed them all for the friday paper and sold them all 48 hours later. More than doubled my money. If I had bought 3 sheds that day I would not be where i am today I feel. Loads of ups and downs over the years, but over the last 3 years I have gone from part time sales from home and working as a mot tester to running my own garage and small sales pitch. But now looking to go into the big time. I enjoy the trade, and love going to the auctions and other dealers, some great people. Edited July 3, 2016 by betginge 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mat C 77 Posted July 8, 2016 July 8th 1998 Started at Citroen in Nottingham as a trainee sales exec on £4k a year basic + a 10 year old £100 Metro as a Company car 18 Years Later ( TO THE DAY! ) I have worked for Bristol Street / Pendragon / Inchcape / Pendragon ( Thought i'd have learnt from the first time! ) / Vertu / Inchcape / Myself :-) I've been around the world for free, driven supercars, stayed at the Shard, had £100k company cars, earnt a fortune, lost a fortune andI now earn less and have a £400 15 year old Audi to kick about in! but I can honestly say I have never been happier. I lost my GM job at Lexus in Sept Last year and thought about a change - 2 days after watching Jeremy Kyle and sitting in my PJ's I gave up thinking about a change - Sank my life savings - Girlfriends life savings - Borrowed - Begged and here I am now 10 months later in my little unit, Vat reg'd, Ltd company, stocking 15 cars, selling 12/13 a month and loving every minute. I want to run before I can walk and get frustrated at times, but I wouldn't change a thing other than I wish i'd left PLC world 10 years ago, however I learned how to do the job properly and look after people. I love my job. I meet so many different people, I get the buzz out of doing a deal ( high 5'ing myself ) I sit here with my little dog Malcolm and its great. My kids come on a Saturday and help wash the cars, they love it. I have never felt so free in my life. This forum really helps and its great to see so many people actually wanting to help each other - there's nothing better than free advice! This time next year................ :-) 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TDB 31 Posted July 9, 2016 Mat C........fantastic mate & all the very very best for the future!.....BRILLIANT! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
colnecarcentre 2 Posted November 12, 2016 October 1983, straight from school, into the family Citroen dealership..... First car sold a GSA Special in brown with brown velour interior!!!..... Then the memories of the part exchanges ..... Marina TC's, Allegro Equipe's, Fiat 126's and the odd 124. The virtues of the old vinyl roof's so we didn't have to paint, pin striping the oldest car on the forecourt and calling it a Special Edition. Getting to drive anything that was taxed at the time, over the moon when you got your first Citroen LNA as a demo...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted November 12, 2016 (edited) I'm quite surprised at the age demographic. I was expecting most guys on here to be in the late 20s/30s range. I'm 55 and looking at my pension and maybe early retirement Edited November 12, 2016 by metcars Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
betginge 73 Posted November 12, 2016 31 minutes ago, metcars said: I'm quite surprised at the age demographic. I was expecting most guys on here to be in the late 20s/30s range. I'm 55 and looking at my pension and maybe early retirement I do fit into the 20-30 demographic, Only just mind i'm 29 next month. Metcars, the government keep moving the pension age further back, I wouldn't bother thinking about retiring lol. I doubt I will ever get my hands on a state pension. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted November 12, 2016 3 minutes ago, betginge said: I do fit into the 20-30 demographic, Only just mind i'm 29 next month. Metcars, the government keep moving the pension age further back, I wouldn't bother thinking about retiring lol. I doubt I will ever get my hands on a state pension. Well, at the moment I'm being bombarded with cold calls from "ripoffandgrabbit.com" about releasing cash from my pension, as though I didn't know. Shocking really that my pension provider, a huge player in the market, has effectively just sold my details on. Makes a change to PPI and faux accidents? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
betginge 73 Posted November 12, 2016 Accident claims firm calling from india, I have a learned to deal with these Kn*b Heads. ''Hello Mr Grant '' ''My name is Raj I am calling about your accident you had. My Reply - ''' Raj, thank god you have called, I have your details hear for a miss sold PPi Claim you Had, I just need your Sort Code & Account Number please sir Phone goes dead, Works every time, and the calls stop for a week or so. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenGiant 287 Posted November 12, 2016 I usually go with "Is your mother proud of the job you do, robbing innocent people?" Click. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted November 12, 2016 1 hour ago, GreenGiant said: I usually go with "Is your mother proud of the job you do, robbing innocent people?" They're the sorts of phone calls I usually get! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phil H 124 Posted November 13, 2016 when they call me and tell me their name is David, I reply " whatever it is you're calling me about then I'm not interested as you've lied to me in the first sentence by telling me you're name is David when clearly it isn't, so therefore you can't be trusted and I'm not interested". Sometimes the phone goes down straight away, other times they try to explain that it's a synonym, just they trying to pronounce that is funny enough. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metcars 397 Posted November 13, 2016 18 minutes ago, Phil H said: when they call me and tell me their name is David, I reply " whatever it is you're calling me about then I'm not interested as you've lied to me in the first sentence by telling me you're name is David when clearly it isn't, so therefore you can't be trusted and I'm not interested". Sometimes the phone goes down straight away, other times they try to explain that it's a synonym, just they trying to pronounce that is funny enough. Usually it's "can I speak to Phil" to which you say "speaking" then they go straight into their opening gambit "I'm calling you from xyzneverheardofitbeforefinanceaccidentclaimpensionsadvice.com............" which cannot be stopped without just hanging up. Only once have I had one that called back after I'd hung up to try again! I have a mate that keeps a football whistle in his pocket for these calls, but has been reliably informed that it could lead to a claim for compensation for damaged hearing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MyPalAl 2 Posted November 15, 2016 Started in November 1986 as a fresh faced teenager at a Nissan dealership on commission only. Started up on my own in 2004, and been in the trade 30 years this week!! Absolutely love my job. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
