Formalising a car export business
Discussion
I'm not sure if I've used the right term in my title.
Basically I have 'fallen into', for want of a better term, a new business, exporting cars for breaking. It started out as a favour for a friend, however I am now onto my fourth client thanks to each client referring a new one to me. My first client was a friend, the second was that friend's family member, then the next was a friend of the friend - basically the link gets more tenuous with each new client, and therefore the level of trust involved in me holding money for these total strangers and then eventually, their stock in my possession until there is a full transporter load - I basically need some help formalising the way I do business with these people, drawing up T&Cs for new clients and finding out how I can limit my liabilities. For example already I have ended up holding stock for a couple of months longer than originally specified purely because cashflow on their side ran into problems before a full load of vehicles was ready to go.
Does anyone have any leads for people that can help with this kind of thing, that won't cost me the earth. Planning advice very helpful, as would be any trick/tips/anecdotes from people who have done similar.
cheers
Basically I have 'fallen into', for want of a better term, a new business, exporting cars for breaking. It started out as a favour for a friend, however I am now onto my fourth client thanks to each client referring a new one to me. My first client was a friend, the second was that friend's family member, then the next was a friend of the friend - basically the link gets more tenuous with each new client, and therefore the level of trust involved in me holding money for these total strangers and then eventually, their stock in my possession until there is a full transporter load - I basically need some help formalising the way I do business with these people, drawing up T&Cs for new clients and finding out how I can limit my liabilities. For example already I have ended up holding stock for a couple of months longer than originally specified purely because cashflow on their side ran into problems before a full load of vehicles was ready to go.
Does anyone have any leads for people that can help with this kind of thing, that won't cost me the earth. Planning advice very helpful, as would be any trick/tips/anecdotes from people who have done similar.
cheers
Oh I already do. I live in town so couldn't be hosting the vehicles myself. Once this takes off then I'd need to look at renting a yard or a barn, but for now the cars get parked on various mates properties for a nominal fee, which of course is passed on to the buyer and I also take a small admin fee on top as part of my pricing structure.
What I need help with is establishing the rules of engagement. Stuff like what happens if a client falls out of touch for an extended period or fails to pay me my fee, if I am within my rights to request payments of my fee before the car is loaded for transport or if I have to wait for delivery to the client... then how to cover myself in event of things going wrong bearing in mind I am working with clients based outside the UK etc etc. And then it'd be nice to talk to someone with some experience building something similar, about how I could scale the idea up into an actual daily business.
What I need help with is establishing the rules of engagement. Stuff like what happens if a client falls out of touch for an extended period or fails to pay me my fee, if I am within my rights to request payments of my fee before the car is loaded for transport or if I have to wait for delivery to the client... then how to cover myself in event of things going wrong bearing in mind I am working with clients based outside the UK etc etc. And then it'd be nice to talk to someone with some experience building something similar, about how I could scale the idea up into an actual daily business.
If your clients are abroad realistically there isn't much you can practically do if they stitch you up in any way so you need to get your money upfront IMO.
If you had lots of resources and they were based in the EU then maybe you could get some recourse but from your post this doesn't seem to be the case.
I'm not clear on how your current arrangement works but it sounds like people send you money which you then use to pay for cars. These are stored until you have sufficient numbers to ship in a container.
This being the case you need insurance for the cars in storage (not for the road obviously but in case of total loss by fire or theft etc.)
Money up front and insurance to cover you until cars are in another persons care would be sufficient IMO (plus the obvious HMRC, Council etc implications of running a business).
If you had lots of resources and they were based in the EU then maybe you could get some recourse but from your post this doesn't seem to be the case.
I'm not clear on how your current arrangement works but it sounds like people send you money which you then use to pay for cars. These are stored until you have sufficient numbers to ship in a container.
This being the case you need insurance for the cars in storage (not for the road obviously but in case of total loss by fire or theft etc.)
Money up front and insurance to cover you until cars are in another persons care would be sufficient IMO (plus the obvious HMRC, Council etc implications of running a business).
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