need advice to start a new business (import/sale cars)

[evil chevy]

HI,

I'm thinking about starting a company importing/selling american cars/hotrod....

I don't know where to start, what needs to be done, in which order, how to get money.
I would like to deal with USA and Europe.
what kind of budget do i need to start???? what is the best way to get this money??

I will really need some advice to start the best way.
Thanx in advance

Jimmy

[dick dastardly]

Are you sure you can make money in this field? It seems to me there are a lot of companies already established in doing this in the UK.

[Truckosaurus]

Try importing and selling a single vehicle first, something like a new Mustang that's fairly popular. Then you'd be able to work out exactly what the costs and pitfalls were and if you don't turn a profit then it's not the end of the world.

[evil chevy]

I did import a car and know how does it work and what kind of money can be made.
It is true that a lot of company allready do that, but they make money and few of them a lot, so why no beign one of those.
I don't want to be limited to just the american cars market, but was my idea to start.

A good location, good contact in the US, friendly and of course good prices can make it work (i think).
I'm into american car for 8 years and know those garage, they are no really what peaople want, i been there, spoke to them and never found a place where i wanted to buy anything.

I'm a graphic designer and know about advertising and communication.

wanted to open my own graphic studio (I'm freelancing at the moment) but would liketo try something diferent.

[GarrettMacD]

evil chevy said:

I'm freelancing at the moment)

Could you not use your spare time to put together some sort of business plan? Or even do some research? How about calling a recognised import centre and asking lots of questions, posing as a potential customer? Or try to get friendly with one of the sales staff and bribe or blackmail them into giving you insider info?

Also, in you first post you say that you don't know where to start. Then in your next one you say that you have already done it and know all the costs. Which is a bit confusing...

[evil chevy]

When i say i don't know how too start I mean that don't know what to do to get finance, legal work, what need to be done toopen a buisness which will work.

I know theprocees to import a car as a personal import, what modification need to be done, i also have few contact i the US to find car at good price.

I never started a business before and as I'm not english (I'm french), I don't know theprocess to start a business in London.

That is why i'm looking for advice to have more chance to do it well.

[evil chevy]

I'm freelancing and have a day job as a Graphic team elader in a company.
But i may loose this job in a couple of month and will have to think about getting a new job, that is why i was thinking to start this car dealing company my other choice ill be to start a design studio in London.

[GarrettMacD]

evil chevy said:

When i say i don't know how too start I mean that don't know what to do to get finance, legal work, what need to be done toopen a buisness which will work. I know theprocees to import a car as a personal import, what modification need to be done, i also have few contact i the US to find car at good price. I never started a business before and as I'm not english (I'm french), I don't know theprocess to start a business in London. That is why i'm looking for advice to have more chance to do it well.

OK, assuming you know the whole process of importing the cars then you need to form a company and get yourself a registered address for the company. If you don't physically handle the cars then you can operate from your spare room via email, mobile, landline, website and either a PO Box address or someone like Mail Boxes Etc.
(There was a report in The Sunday Times about a guy who started importing cars from Europe in this exact manner, from his spare room, and a couple of years later he was handling around £5 million in sales...)

As a French national you are an EU citizen, so you can start a company in the UK in pretty much the same way as a UK citizen would. You will need proof of residency in the UK and a few other documents, but it's by no means a difficult task.

Get as much competitor information, especially on their marketing methods. Then work out how much margin they operate on, and see if you can undercut them. If you have no back-up service, like warranty, finance or mechanical servicing, then really the only advantage you're going to have is to sell at a lower price. You just need to keep lower overheads and a lower margin, and keep a tight reign on your spending.

I have no idea where you will get financing from, but using the example of the guy in The Sunday Times, he used about £800 of his own money to form the company and place a few classified ads. He just converted the leads into sales, and then he was on his way.

Can't help with the actual business of importing cars though! Maybe someone else will pop along with advice.

Cheers

[Eric Mc]

There are many things you need to consider before setting up a business.

You obviously should have a working knowledge of the business sector you want to get involved in. It seems from your original postings that you have some awareness of what car importing is about but may be lacking in other areas of car selling. It can be a very tricky and complicated business because with importing businesses, knowledge of shipping agents, import duties and taxes and complex VAT regulations is essential in order to ensure matters run smoothly. There are also very specialised VAT regulations covering the sale of cars - particularly second hand cars.

On a more general level, you have to decide HOW you want to run the business - i.e. as a "Sole Trader (i.e under your own personal name) or as a limited company. You might even want to run it in partnership with someone else. That could be done either through a business "partnership" or by haveing the other person become an additional shareholder/director in a limited company.

Again, knowledge of what is involved in running businesses in these various formats is essential before making a decision.