| Author | Message | ||
     Mikej |
Hi, I've heard various stories about Snap-on franchise owners and am looking for a refresher course on them. Sort of looking at it as a business option workable in an economically depressed region where there isn't a whole lot of other work available. (Hmmm, that don't sound too good from the get go.) Anyway, comments anyone? Good or bad don't matter. | ||
| Jssport |
One of my best friends was a Snap-On dealer for 13 yrs, he just sold his route earlier this year. He would have had to buy a new truck as the old one was dying, and the standing job offers he had persuaded him to quit that business. It REQUIRES quite a large investment to get started, about 100k if you want a nice truck fully stocked. The worst part is dealing with people who get fired - quit - or move away. For some reason they don't think they have to pay their weekly bills or sell the tools while they still owe on them. That comes out of your pocket. A large part of the job is being a collection agency. A good part of the job is the contacts you make with different fabricators, and the deals you can work out with them for getting parts made or modified. It is a lot of driving and paperwork but there are finacial rewards if done correctly. JimS | ||
| Peter |
Mikej, I've had two Snap-On trucks in Australia at different times. I don't know if Australia works the same as America regarding setting you up, but if you want some details of the Aussie version, just email me. PPiA | ||
| Mikej |
Thanks Peter and Jim, I've sent off an inquiry to them and am doing some background research in the mean time. Sounds like it would be good to arrange a payroll deduction for larger employers who require their people to have their own tools, and to maybe have some non-payment insurance, which would require a good bank to work with. Anyway, something I'm looking into. I already decided that if I do it I should open up to direct customer sales, and maybe try and set up at some regional events to sell specialty tools (like for Buells and H-D's and such). But the tool vending is just one idea I'm looking into. | ||
| Budo |
A buddy of mine did that for awhile and he spent a lot of time running down bad checks and trying to find guys who owed him money. Sounded like a headache but that was a number of years ago and perhaps things have changed. | ||
| Ocbueller |
All good advice above. I believe the trick is to have an area in which customers are closely spaced together to limit your time on the road. Collection can be a problem. I've seen several guys fail with Snap-on in my area(Rural and Seasonal). None of them were good salesmen which probably contributed. A good sales manner and the right area should work well for you. SteveH | ||
| Peter |
It really does come down to how hard you are willing to work. Too many dealers expect the stuff to sell on it's name alone. I'd reckon on about 40% of your sales coming from there. The other 60% is up to you, the dealer. I always did a weekly run. I found out which shop on each day opened the earliest and which one closed the latest, then worked the day to meet those two ends. I managed to buy runs that were doing badly, and then took them up to good spots. However, they both went bad again when the people I sold them to took over. Why? Starting their run at 10.00am. Long lunch breaks. Stopping for a couple of hours at a shop to pass the time of day because they were good people, going for a swim at the beach because it was a nice day etc. I started having a problem in a small town with payments. One young bloke had bought an air sander from me, and then never had the money when I called, couldn't be found at other times etc. I gave him two months then went around to the group house he lived in on Sunday morning at 7.00am. Someone pointed out his room, so I walked in a gave him a clip around the ear to wake him up. Then we settled his account. News must have spread because the next week, all the blokes that were getting behind on their accounts all managed to get them back up to speed again..... I never had any more problems with that town, and sales actually increased quite a bit. When I sold that run, I collected all but $12 from one bloke who'd lost his job, had a family, and I just didn't have the heart to ask him for it. I believe bad debts will only happen if you let them happen. In my opinion, Snap-On is a good company to have a franchise with. They are well established, have great support for their dealers, and have good, albeit expensive, products. If you are willing to work at it, and use the program they provide, you will have a nice life. If you aren't, you will probably go broke. Having said that, if the area you are looking at is hurting and doesn't look like it will recover, I'd be wary although Snap-On always reevalute the area before you start, to make sure you have a good potential customer base. It does them no good to have unhappy, unsuccessful dealers either. PPiA | ||
| Henrik |
so I walked in a gave him a clip around the ear to wake him up. Then we settled his account. Someone remind me not to leave Peter hanging with the bar tab at Bonneville. That's *not* how I like to wake up  Henrik | ||
| Bullitt |
FWIW, as a longtime customer of Snap On, everything I've ever bought that amounted to more than a couple hundred bucks was put on a revolving account I opened with the company, not the individual dealer. He sells me the products at a profit and Snap On pays him out. Done deal. If I stop paying, presumably he'd chase me, since I still give the payments to him. But, if I disappear, it shouldn't hurt him financially, since he's not actually holding the note. This too - I've been a professional tech all my life, and bought tools from all the big players. Snap On quality is second to none, and I'll pay more for their stuff. Being a chiseler when it comes to buying the tools I make my living with always bites me in the end. A cheap tool will only let you down at the worst possible moment - when you need it! Otherwise, it's just resting in a drawer in the box. Most guys who have been at it awhile have already learned this lesson, and would gladly fling their cash at you every week. The sure fire way to tick them off? Show up at different times and days or miss showing up entirely. Techs HATE that, for lots of reasons. Peter hit it right on the head - some guys just don't have the discipline to run that route rain or shine. Those guys never seem to last, no matter whose tools they are selling. | ||
| Hootowl |
Quote from Battle2Win: "There's two kinds of tools. Snap-on and snapped-off." | ||
| Peter |
Henrik,  Bullitt, everything I've ever bought that amounted to more than a couple hundred bucks was put on a revolving account I opened with the company, not the individual dealer. That's different to how we worked in Australia. The dealer there holds the revolving account from his own money. We had a system called "extended credit" which was essentially a Snap-On credit card, and Snap-On collected payments directly from the customer. It could only be used for purchases over $750 though. Mainly when blokes where buying rollcabs etc. Snap-On then credited the dealer for the sale. PPiA | ||
| Mikej |
I spoke with the Snap-On rep on the telephone, initial contact type of conversation. He gave me the background understandings and reasonings as to why selling at a swap meet or major event (like Iola car show for instance) would not be allowed (indirect sales to other dealer's customers). But he did educate me on how to set up sales to "clubs" and get them registered as a dealer's protected customers. He also educated me a bit on how the zones are controlled, and on the region I'm thinking of opening up in, and on how their waiting list isn't really a waiting list (more like a prospect list, not first come first served, more like "most likely to succeed gets first dibs" if I understood him). More information to come in the mail. Then some investigative review on my part. The the pre-approval process on their part. Then a little exploratory visit by me to my intended region (a question here, an inquiry there, ... ). This starting of a supplemental business is a bunch of work.  Lots of background tasks before even talking to a bank. But, hey, it's all good at some level. Thanks for all the comments and insight so far. Keep them coming if you want to. MikeJ. | ||
| Anonymous |
This Snap-On Tool thread has me thinking of the song "Detatchable Penis" | ||
| Mikej |
Not familiar with that tune. How about posting the words, redirected to the PG-13 section if needed. Just curious on the comparison/analogy. | ||
| Anonymous |
Detachable Penis mp3 excerpt | ||
| Mikej |
Bummer, no speakers here at work. Oh well, I'll try later. | ||
| Peter |
Hahaha, Coincidence? I used to play that song in my Snap-On truck! It was big on the radio at home some years ago. Mike, Do you have to do 1 day each with 3 other dealers first? That was a requirement for us so that we could see what it was actually like first hand. PPiA | ||
| Mikej |
Don't know about that yet Peter. The rep said there are a series of interviews and appraisals to go through first in order to be considered for the next step. He said step one was to wait for the printed literature and documents he sent, then to fill out the application and send it back with a resume for their review. But this isn't as bad as going into the bicycle business. That industry makes it seem like if you don't currently have a shop that they would be disclosing national secrets if they gave you enough information to determine if a shop is even viable. I think it'd be easier to get top secret clearance at the CIA than to get into a bicycle dealer's association trade show and get their published industry financial analysis and demographic surveys. But, hey, if it was easy we'd all have a Snap-On truck in our driveway, wouldn't we. Hmmm, do they restrict where you can park your truck overnight? | ||
| Csg_Inc |
I did a house for a Snap-on guy once and yes we had to reinforce his driveway on the side he was going to park it. You need to check the wheel loads those tools get heavy. Also check the zoning requirements for parking commercial trucks on or off street in a residential neighborhood. The one we did the guy had to park behind a gate so as to not be visable from street. We did a nice gate on an opener so he just drove in and parked, closed gate, job done. |
