Question for business owners, need a little help

toyota231

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Kernersville NC
I know there are a few people on here that own a business and i have a few questions for them, specificly for anyone that owns a dump truck/ hauling business.

First of all im trying to start my own hauling business and im looking at buying a newer dump truck (to keep maintenance down, ect.)

My main question is how did you get the money to start a business? Whether it be a loan, government grant or already had the money. Im looking at getting a government grant and i am wandering if anyone else has tried this and how it worked out. Supposidly you can get up to $500,000 dollars to start a business that you dont have to pay back, but i would like to know about how long it would take to get the loan. Im trying to get started within the next few months but from what i have been told a grant could take up to a year, and i dont want to wait that long. Im worried about getting a loan and then something happening and not being able to pay the loan.

Any suggestions and/or help would be appreciated
 
I used some equity in a house I had, the bank gave me the rest at 8%, it sucked making that payment every month but it sure felt great to make the last one.
 
You'll need a solid business plan to get the loan...
 
Unless you are a minority the grant may be hard to get.
I didn't borrow any money for my Landscape business. Started from scratch and built it up. I've had as many as 7 employees and as few as 1 (me). I've owned 2.5 ton trucks personally but was more into the trucking/hauling end when I worked for a company years ago.
My question to you would be; who are you going to haul for?
The dump truck business is very competitive and most of the good work is already taken by the guys who have been in business for a while. You can possibly lease your services under another carrier for a while until you get on your feet but never let them know that you are wanting to expand or they will cut you loose or give you just enough work to go broke on.
Consider buying a slightly beat up truck and sub out your services to haul rip rap (the big erosion control rocks) to contractors and homeowners, and construction demo to the landfills. Not as many carriers will haul stuff that damages the beds of the trucks.
Construction cleanup is another way of getting started in the business and you can use a 2ton truck instead of a tandem or tri-axle.
Good luck on your venture.
RQ
 
Being in and around trucking (dump) for a long time, I would say not to start now. fuel prices has everything kinda screwy right now for example all rock quarrys went up more than a dollor a ton on the product on Jan 1 07 so the develpers in my area has put alot of projects on hold. Not to mention in the past 4 years fuel has doubled and owner/operator rates havent had an increase. just my.02 good luck
 
I have a few hookups on work to start out and that should keep me busy until i get my name out. I have a friend who's dad owns a few dump trucks and he always has more work than he can handle so i can get work through him, as a matter of fact im going to work for him for a few months while i get this rolling and he has really good contacts for work. My mom, dad, and step dad have all been in the trucking industry a combined time of about 60 years so i can get a lot of help on that side but the financing is what i dont know a lot about.

Now as far as what ill be hauling, probably asphalt, gravel, petty much whatever i can ( a lot of road projects going on in our area). I have been looking at newer trucks to keep down on maintenace and cost for a while while the business gets built up. I looked at two trucks yesterday and i really liked both (one 2005 pete 335 tri axle and a 2005 T-800 KW quad axle). Im also going by the experiances of a few owners around here as far as what trucks to look at. As far as buying a new truck or a little beat up truck either way its gonna get beat up with me so it doesnt matter.

Im worried about the fuel prices and all a lot, but i really want to get something started. This is something that i have been wanting to do for a long time and even with the downsides i still want to do it.Thanks for all the advicefrom everyone and keep it coming.
 
toyota231 said:
I have been looking at newer trucks to keep down on maintenace and cost for a while while the business gets built up.
Click to expand...

Just from my experience, mainly with tractors as opposed to full body dumps.

By the time you factor in the cost of the payment difference, the new truck will never cost less than an older one. Now it can be a little more tricky getting financed for a used tractor, but a good friend of mine owns ~ 30 trucks and hasnt bought a new one in 10+ years. He doesnt buy old junk, but a few years old (generally from someone who tried and failed at the OO deal)

He told me he transferes the entire new truck "payment" amount into an account every month and has the truck payment auto draft from there. After one cycle, not only has the truck paid for all its repairs and maintenance but also pay 80+% of its replacements full cost. So after one cycle, you ahve a paid for truck...

Now all that said, there is a lot more to consider with a dump as the hydraulics and bed do wear out quicker an are more expensive to repair/replace.

Just throwing out my $.0199
 
Financing is tough, I have a client that does Truck Financing but the rates are for the folks with lousy credit.

The whole $500k deal, forget it, just start small and build it up. Small Biz loans are about impossible and what you are really talking about is just a "truck" payment.

Get some of these friends to write you a "contract" stating they will send you $xxxx per month/week of work, take that letter of intent into the truck dealership and tell them you want to finance it. The big dealers have finance depts for new and used just like a car dealer.

Be prepared to make a down pmt (just like buying a car) unless you are Mr Perfect credit and the stars are aligned. Then open yourself a checking account for JUST YOUR BUSINESS.

Deposit ALL OF your income from the truck into that account, use it to pay for fuel, truck payments, tags and insurance. Try like HECK to leave the rest in there and build up a nice cushion, living on beanie weenies for a while.

Then EVENTUALLY start pulling money out on a reg basis to live off of...but what you DONT want to do is pull it out, blow it on the weekend and your truck pmt, fuel pmt, etc be due the next week.

I really like the concept above of finding out the "payment" for a new truck and putting that amount in an acct to build up too...and again the extra should help on any repairs, tires and future downpmts.

Working for yourself is both the best thing and possibly worst thing that will happen to you. If you will be a GOOD businessman, you will love being your own boss. If you are lousy with money, it will be worse than a job you hate...

Sam
 
I guess my biggest debate is whether to get a new or used truck. Ive been talking with a few owners that i know and what im getting from them is look for a newer truck, go ahead and spend the money and have something with a warranty.

I forgot to mention that to start out my mom is going to be the "owner" mainly since she has experience in the biz. She has already been approved for a 2005 Peterbuilt 335 Tri Axle dump truck at $79,000, but my only problem is it only has a 300hp C7 CAT and im afraid thats not enough motor for the truck. Ive also looked at a 2005 KW T800 quad axle w/ a 475hp CAT. It was a really nice truck but for $98,000. Both still have some of the factory warrranty left.

I have looked at some used trucks but for the prices ive seen it just wouldnt be enough difference in price to justify an older truck. But again im not sure and thats why im trying to get opinions, so good or bad keep them coming.
 
300 hp Cat in a triaxle is plenty of motor unless you're in the mountains (don't know where Walnut Cove is). You won't be walking all over people but you've got to remember it's a dump truck!
As many people that you already know in the business I'm sure you'll be fine.
RQ
 
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