this just happened with us. a friends skyline was on the ramps for a clutch change and soda blasting some bracketry. turns out the gearbox was on its last legs (chunks of metal everywhere) and so its been tying up the ramps for the last month+ whilst he finds and purchases a replacement

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Sprint ST165 aka "The 500BHP Sledgehammer" #6 in the Toyota Sprint Series. GT3071 1.9bar

Yes when you get into it its not as easy as just renting a building and starting a buisness and the goverment wonders why more people dont do it, most of the places im veiwing have been found by third parties and following a strict criteria purely just to save me some time but like said some are inclusive and some are not as for the fluids we where talking about this today and there is a couple of possibilitys to deal with this the hardest thing was finding propertys that cover a broad band of automotive/machine type rules and regs,
i have only started a few posts on other OC forums
and seem to be getting good feed back from what im aiming for and my buisness partner is well in to 4x4`s and he has had a great response so its just waiting to find the right place as the ones we have viewed lately arnt really what we wont to start with and for the long term either as most would start small but for this to work right we figured we need at leaste 6-8 ramps plus room for booths and parking/space for long timers/friends lol. plus im not fulfilling my vission on my ST205 in a 6x12.

Starting and running a business is far from easy. There are many pitfalls to catch the unwary / inexperienced. I'm not sure what your past experience is, but you're always welcome to talk things through with me as I've probably made most of the mistakes that can be made and learnt from them. I would love to see this project succeed as I think it will benefit many people and help keep classic cars on the road.

For example, the first thing that rings alarm bells for me is you mentioned 'business partner' I had my fingers very badly burnt and I had a good one. Before signing anything or parting with any cash make sure you have a written partnership agreement in place. Don't spend a fortune on a solicitor, my experience with solicitors has never been good. You can download one from netlawman.com and fill in the blanks. Pay special attention to the get-out clauses and what happens in the event of one partner wanting out / dying / going bankrupt etc.
You may find it better to go ltd company, especially with the possibility of 'claims' as this will help protect you if it all goes wrong. There is no longer the level of red tape that used to be required or the expense.

To give you a guide on factories, mine (which you've seen) is about 1800 sq ft and costs about £12000 / year incl. vat or which £8000 is rent. That excludes rates which are 100% subsidised at the moment but would be about £2000.
This is probably about half the cost per sq. ft. of most that I looked at.

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

I was just doing a bit of googling last night. If you search for DIY car garage you'll turn up some links for similar ventures elsewhere (none in our/your area). Might be worth a recce to see how they run it and get ideas.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

This is turning in to a realy good post for me as this has been a dream of mine for 2 years now so to start getting all your imput is (and running out of storage for all the gear ive collected) a great time as i feel even more positive having the usual suspects on side on here, this is the kind of feeling im after for the buisness a place for THE D/C and other O/C members to come have there input and make things happen for all involved, Chris i will take you up on your offer in buisness pitfulls as this is where my skills drop off the radar lol,i did/was planning on doing this alone but i think my patner who is a doc in engineering and physics, software/programer genius and other things i couldnt comprehend is the total oposite of me but at his core he is a petrol head and at this point it feels right to have him on board, thanks for all that have responded thus far Cheers Bazza.

great idea, and something else to consider would be arranging reasonably priced local accommodation for anything more than a drive in/drive out job?

Just my 2 p's worth .

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[color=#000080]ST205 WRC 1994
Hybrid turbo
Apexi AVC-R
Apexi Power FC (Not being used ATM)
Apexi Power commander (Not being used ATM)

What like an on site caravan lol, could be a good idea that get some deal going with local B&B`s its funny the more input thats gets put into this the more it sounds like west coast customs or would that be southcoast customs lol keep it coming peeps.

I'm thinking more along the lines of South Coast Sh*theaps

Ahh, the snobishness of BM drivers

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

just the realism of a serial gt4 owner
If it's in the garage its wither
A) broken
B) being repeatedly fixed until a) applies in accordance with the old "if it ain't broke" rule

Just a quick update after many viewings across the southcoast we are waiting for paper work finals on a smaller than hoped for property but adequate across the way from the ford transit factory the property should be just about suitable for the many services we want to make available, hope to attend a curry night just after crimbo to gather some input/advice practical and legal from those in the know so see you all soon and merry xmas and a happy new year.

Good luck on your new venture, I hope it works out, great idea.

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[color=#000080]ST205 WRC 1994
Hybrid turbo
Apexi AVC-R
Apexi Power FC (Not being used ATM)
Apexi Power commander (Not being used ATM)

Wish you all good fortune in your new venture Baz. If you are free on the 29th Dec we are having late lunchtime meet at the Fairmile. Hope to catch up soon.

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four Special GT 590bhp @ 1.8bar
1989 Van Diemen RF88/89 Formula Ford 1600
2008 Nissan Patrol GU 3.0L ZD30DDTi 154bhp

Bit of an update with RARshop Emsworth, been flat out at my day job and sorting the new venture, had a hold up on hidden charges but all sorted now will be moving in on thursday 28th the new 4x 3.5ton two posters will be going in middle of april, flat bed recovery lorry coming next week,forklift is already here to take the brunt of the work so in the mean time just getting cleaned up and everything in and all machines set up,so if any of the usual suspects are passing your more than welcome to pop in pop in @ own risk lol, free coffee on offer lol oh there is also a couple of very good curry houses a stones throw away which might need a try. hope to be fully up and running by the end of april, times of opening to start with will be 4pm-10pm all day sat-sun as this has to fit around my current employment for now.

RARshop = Rent and Restore workshop. web site is in progress.

Great News Baz,

Look forward to coming down and getting my car on the ramp.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK