An update on my early 20s, mid 20s, late 20s...

CG6Lemon

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Joined this forum when I was a kid with his first car. Learned alot of information about cars, meeting new people/friends, giving back to the community, gained a new sense of life purpose with auto detailing, made a life changing decision at age 20 to stop going to college, worked hard to pursue my dreams/goals, so much ups and downs, being broke and had to borrow money to survive basic necessities, pushed forward all the temporary pain and finally reached my end goal which took 7 years of hustle and grinding 7 days a week.
Follow your passion and dreams and you will make it happen. It might take days, weeks, months, years, but eventually all the effort will pay off. Shout out to all the OGs of 6GA still around that made me a better person and self improvement/growth.




At the age of 20 i worked my first long term job at a body shop and wanted to own a detailing business as well.
My plan was to learn the actual hands on skills required to be a detailer and the knowledge to run a business.
I worked 4 years at the body shop first which was my full time job to hone my skills and knowledge and make the necessary mistakes in order to gain real life experience and not just by reading and watching videos.
My 5th year at my full time job was my 1st year offering my services pt on the weekends only which lasted 3 years of working 2 jobs and 50-80hrs a week in the beginning phase.
Business will be slow the 1st year because that will be the year you plant your foundation down and settle down the roots so to speak from scratch.
This would include own website, social media, building up your tools, chemicals, and take care of basic business back end stuff.
My 2nd year part time i had an increase of 50% more work. By then i was more settled in with doing the actual work on cars versus getting your company name out there and having people be able to find you online.
By my 3rd year pt, i was already into a management position for 3 years at the body shop so i learned valuable skills what it takes to run a business.
This year i transitioned from my 7yrs ft time to my 1st year ft business. In my situation i had the potential to make more with my business so my end goal was to do it full time.
With all this said, you will not make much your 1st year and you will be investing almost all of your money back into the business. Be prepared to put in long days of hustle to push toward your goals. If you want it bad, you will make it happen. Im currently 28 and it took me 7 years to learn, make mistakes, improve, continuous education to be able to call myself my own boss.
 

capsidx

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It’s nice to get insight on someone who’s walked down the road and is so open to give advice like this. It will help a lot of people for sure including myself. I wanted to open my own shop, performing swaps for people etc. I think this post kind of pushed me closer to doing that. Or at least getting started as cheesy as that sounds.

Glad you’re making it out there man. Not many people want to leave their 9-5 because of the security. I think some of us realize there is no true security and once you realize that everything changes. I cant wait to to take that first step like you did and be able to go home when I want, tell angry customers to eat a d1ck and work at my own pace.

Thanks for this inspirational post man. Really!
 

WHEEELMAN

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Pat yourself on the back my man, you did good. I think your decision to quit college and go into a field of work/business you "enjoy" was spot on.

In my opinion, for todays work market, college is overrated. Todays work market, for the most part, in the USA is service/trade skill driven - Auto Tech, HVAC, Auto Detailing, etc.

The Medical (Nurse, Nurse Practitioners, Doctors) field is a good field for college because there is a slight shortage. But, your first 5 years or so would be just to pay off student loans, if one did not have a scholarship. To me, that ain't worth it. I would have gone your route and looked for a trade skill I would have enjoyed while starting out making average money, then slowly building my pay scale upwards as my experience increased.


After 20 years of working for a major healthcare provider, I am living a comfortable life. I worked my way up through the ranks and have a good position in a growing division at work.


As you stated: "Be prepared to put in long days of hustle to push toward your goals." ....persevere and there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

I have done that at work by working a $hit ton of overtime in the past. For 2 years straight I worked overtime during the week and almost every single Saturday so I could save up to buy a House. Finally made it happen at the age of 35.


Glad you posted these words of encouragement.


- Michael
 

DarkSideAccord

nadeshiko fobz ftw..
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congrats lemmie! :bber:

glad to see u take that leap of faith... hopefully everything will work out :beer:
 

Accordx

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I have a lot of respect for what you're doing, it's pretty inspiring to see someone work from the ground up like you've done. Glad it's working out well for you and you enjoy what you're doing.
 

CG6Lemon

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Appreciate everyone checking in on me...
Chris, michael, roy, greg, andy

Also capsidx and accordx
 

Eclipse99fwb

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Congrats on your success this gives me hope to pursue my dream of opening my own mechanic business. College is very overrated these days. I obtained a college degree to only get offers of starting minimum wage, really makes you think when you could make more at McDonald's, plus 50k in student loan debt sucks. I started to pursue my hobbie at the time of working on cars full time starting out at oil lube shop, now 3 years later working at a specialty shop on hondas and toyotas ( also next to a auto detail shop so very much respect as i have seen first hand how hard your line of work is!) I plan on starting out part time on the weekends and nights to build up clients. Thank you again for posting your experience and advice. Best of wishes for your future success! Also any other advice you have please share.
 
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