After doing some soul searching last night.. we might as well forget about this pipe dream of mine.
Why have I given up so early? Its not so much about giving up. The inspiration comes from way down deep inside me somewhere. Its more than just a passion to simply own one of these TAs. But looking realistic at it... I probably have 75% in me that can labor out what it takes, and another 20% id would be relying on out sourcing for doing simple things that I can do, I just don't LIKE doing. That would be only one issue. The main issue I see is that no one out there is gonna loan me money to get started. I have decided it would be futile to go to family over this as they would discourage me anyway. I am broke as a joke for awhile yet. I have to sign a years lease on the 2 car bay building up front. That means I have to obligate myself to a full year to start this. Its a bit risky at best considering I do not have the $500 for the first months rent, nor the $500 deposit. I would need at least $1,000 up front, and would probably a certificate of occupancy with the city which is around a $100... then you have water and electric on top of that which I do not know how much it runs. I have enough tools and raw materials to get started on a project though.
If I do decide to do this, I need to do it right and not in a way that is gonna jeopardize me losing the building for the first year. I did not check to see what penalty there is for reneging on a contract. So... Acquiring the building would be the first step. I don't have the $1,000 up front, and there is no sense in trying to use money from the work coming in. That is a major mistake I know and don't wanna go there. We have to ask ourselves the question. What is a reasonable amount of time to paint a car? My black 68 I was told two weeks. It took nearly 2 years. And that was with a professional shop doing it. They did not spend that much time on the car, but between insurance jobs coming in, they would not work on it. I am going to peek at the pics to see how long it took me to paint the blue camaro out in my driveway. Ok just a quick glance...the dates on the camera are wrong... Looking back at it, I got the car on a summer month like in june.... I had it in paint by december because I was worried about cold settling in.. So id say 6 months is more than reasonable to work with. So if we say 6 months... $3,500 we would need just for the building alone... Then we have to look at the liability factor of painting WITHOUT a paint booth. Can we do it without a booth? Sure. At least until a city official comes nosing around on the property. So really this is all just a crap shoot pipe dream. I am not going out on the limb and borrow the money. I have A1 credit, but no income. Sorry I have waisted your guys time, I just don't see it happening. If someone can see something I may not see, feel free to let us know. It possible that when and if I get my settlement check and If I dont spend it all on a TA or something I might continue to look into this venture. We will see but can't make any promises.