Some Insight from Ernest Hemingway

I have the same fear. I’m trying to really live but it’s difficult when I work at least 20 hours a week, go to school, and run 2 businesses. Besides the business part, I don’t control my time. If you control your time, you control your life. Work and school is something where I just go through the motions and jump through the hoops. There are too many days that I feel are wasted. Too many days where I’m not really working towards anything and my wheels are just spinning under me.

I need more instances where I feel alive. More instances that get my adrenaline rushing that let me know that I’m alive. Playing it safe never really got anyone anywhere. Life should be measured by how many near-death incidents you’ve had; not by how many days of vacation your employer “allows” you.

That’s what we’ll be working towards starting in 2013. Hope you’ll join me.

You Don’t Get to Decide When You Die – Live Accordingly

These are some rough sketches that my dad did for me. I think he’s an incredibly talented artist who’s creativity has been oppressed by other responsibilities. I hope to incorporate his artwork into this blog and eventually offer prints and original paintings for sale to help keep you motivated through your hardships. Whether it’s making it through the day, growing a business, getting out of debt, or creating the life that you have always wanted. Or a combination of a bunch of things.

We waste a lot of time. Doing something tomorrow or one day turns into doing it never. We think we have a lot of time and that we’ll live for many more years but the truth is, we don’t really know. We don’t know when we’ll die. Part of what makes life exciting is not knowing the answer to that question. But it also makes us take a lot of things for granted. We don’t really live as if we’re dying.

But we are. We die a little more each day until our time is up. Don’t be afraid to live the life you’ve always wanted to live until its too late. Life is for living, not for working. There’s more to life than spending most of your life working in a building being surrounded by people that you probably didn’t choose to be around. You should spend more time with friends and family and not your annoying co-workers who don’t add value to your life.

Bob Dylan is One Smart Dude

This quote resonates with me particularly well because I totally agree. This is the lifestyle that I’m searching and yearning for. It’s why my priorities are what they are.  It’s the reason for this blog.

Business Advice to a Friend

A friend of mine wants to create an online furniture store and a few of the questions he had were:

• How do I turn it into a legal entity.
• How do I deal with copyright issues if I want to use the same name of a company that’s in a different industry?
• How should I get the word out and promote the blog?
• Is there anything else I should think about?

I figured others would have the same questions so this is why I’m posting my brief conversation with him.

* * *

First and foremost, I suggest that you turn your venture into a legal entity other than yourself. This turns most of the liability and risk involved to your business instead of your personal self. If someone sues you, they can only go after your business’ assets instead of your own like your house, car, etc.

If you will be the only owner, I suggest you become a sole-proprietor limited liability corporation (LLC.) Along with the protection against possibly getting sued, you get tax breaks and a resale number/tax ID number that you can use to get supplies and other stuff at wholesale prices.

We used our accountant to set everything up for us. There is a specific site for each state to do it as well. Sunbiz.org is the site for Florida. A little exploring and you should be able to find one for Pennsylvania. There is a fee to renew your entity each year. This varies from state to state I think.

I’ve heard that legalzoom.com is a good place to set things up but haven’t used it myself so can’t tell you what I think about it.

I have no idea what the copyright issues would be if you try to use the same name as another company that is in another industry. That’s something you’d probably want to ask a copyright lawyer about. They are expensive so have you thought about maybe using another name to avoid the issue altogether?

Once you have a legal entity set up, I’d suggest creating a PayPal account to make it easy to do accounting for the business and create an easy way for customers to pay you.

I’d use godaddy.com to buy a domain. We’ve used it for all of ours and it’s a rather simple process….if the domain is available. The domain should be as simple as possible, something catchy, something easy to remember, or better yet, a combination of all 3.

Next you’ll want to find a site to create your store with. We use shopify.com for our original store. Rather simple but a bit pricy. Thebigcartel.com is cheap but you can’t do as much. Etsy.com would probably be a good site as you’ll be making handcrafted furniture and such. That’s what I was going to use for my furniture store. I’ve heard good things about the community as well.

You’ll definitely want to have a blog along with the site. I wouldn’t suggest Facebook as it whores itself out to companies for money. I get bad vibes from companies who promote on FB and personally pay no attention to them. A waste of money if you ask me.

I’d definitely create a Tumblr as people like to reblog pics and what not. Talk to your followers, ask them their interests, why they follow, etc etc. Be a person; not a company.

Look into thefancy.com and pinterest.com as well. You could create usernames on these or you could just have people post your pics and stuff on these sites because they want to. Focus all your attention on a social network or not at all. Twitter is ok but I’m not much of a fan. You’ll just have to test it out for yourself. It could be a good way to network with other furniture builders and learn from them.

You’ll definitely, definitely want to have great pictures of your furniture and goods.

Don’t ever pay for advertising. Let things grow organically through word of mouth.

You’ll need to figure out how you’re going to ship and with which provider. We use the Postal Service 99% of the time and have hardly had any issues.

Packaging is something that you’ll want to think about as well. Everything is intertwined when you build a brand and shitty packaging won’t help.

Pricing is another interesting point which will take another day lol.

Recommended readings:

$100 Start Up by Chris Guillebeau

Trust Agents by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan

* * *

We’ll probably be exchanging more messages so stay tuned to see how things turn out. Do you have any other suggestions or tips for him?

Where is Your Current Path Leading You?

Life is linear.

It’s full of cause and effect.

Everything happens for a reason.

What you put in is what you’ll get out.

 

I ask myself the following questions everyday when I’m on my lunch break at work:

• Why am I here?
• What am I doing this for?
• Do I want to do this for the rest of my life?

I can’t answer the first 2 questions yet, but the last question is always answered by a resounding “NO WAY.”

I had a meeting with my manager last week and he said that I can do whatever I want within the company because I definitely have the skill set to do so. I take that as a great compliment but do I really want to do whatever I want within the company? Do I want to turn into him?

My best guess is that he’s in his sixties. I know he has gout which affects him greatly. I know he’s on salary so he gets the same wage regardless of how many hours he works. He’s working 50 hours next week which means he opens and closes everyday.

I hate working 35 hours a week and opening and closing the same day twice a week.

What he’s doing isn’t called living; it’s called working way too fuckin much. I often wonder, “why is he doing it?” or “why can’t he retire yet?”

Everyone I work with is miserable. One guy keeps on having kids because he gets 3 months of paternity leave. I wish I was joking…

Two other people constantly wonder if they’ll get fired soon. Another is trying to get a job somewhere else. Another is around 50 and is still living paycheck to paycheck.

I don’t want to turn into these people. I don’t want to live to work and work to live. I want to enjoy living, meet interesting people, and experience incredible things throughout the world. I don’t want to wait until I “retire” either.

I won’t have the opportunity with this job. I won’t have the time. I might have the money but I won’t have the health.

How about you? Where will you be in a few years if you continue on the same path? In 10 years?

* * *

If you’re scared shitless at that question like I am, stay tuned to the blog. I’m getting everything together to do a complete relaunch at the beginning of next year. Until then, stay positive and keep moving forward.

Reflections of Someone Who Triumphed Through Difficult Times

It’s times like this, usually at night before I go to bed, that I have some time to reflect and really think about things.

This past year was the exact opposite of the year before. I hit rock bottom last year. I lost a job, my parents fired me, I broke up with my girlfriend, moved out of our apartment, lost most of my furniture, and lost my mind. Last October to December was rough.

I was fortunate enough to get a last-minute plane ticket to Germany and spend a month with friends and family that I hadn’t seen for 5 years. That was such a great time in my life. I met new people and did new things. I came back refreshed and with a new outlook.

The spring was full of bullshit encounters with my ex trying to get my furniture back. I’m happy to say that those scars have finally healed.

The bubble burst on our business and sales ran dry basically overnight. I had to find a job…any job. In the slowest recovering region in regards to the recession, that wasn’t easy.

Also, because of that, I had no money to go to school in Chicago where I was going to fulfill a life-long dream of playing college soccer. I spent the previous 2 years training and trying out for professional teams but that didn’t quite work out and this was going to be the next best thing.

Instead of being in Chicago meeting my teammates, I was a newspaper delivery dude for 2 months. I worked 2:30-4:30 am, 7 days a week making about $150 a week. Deduct gas and wear and tear on my car, and it was more like $110. Ugh.

I was fortunate to get a job at a Mexican restaurant as a “cook.” I spent most of my time washing dishes. The restaurant was in turmoil and we got a lot of new cooks and a new back-of-house manager. I never got more than 20 hours a week. At $8/hr, it just wasn’t cutting it.

Through my mom I was really fortunate to land an interview with a big bank. A month later, after my background check and all that was completed, I was hired.

Wearing a tie to work and being clean-shaven was something that was totally new to me.

About 2 months into the gig as a 20-hour part-timer, the girl who was hired along with myself decided to quit without notice. I stepped up and took over her hours. My hours went to 25, then 32, and now 36 hours a week. We had a meeting the other morning and someone asked about the position and my managers said that they didn’t put out a request for someone new because they gave those hours to me. I guess they’re happy with my performance.

My mom talked to her branch manager and he said that my managers can do what they want with the hours so if they have someone who seems capable and they want to keep them in their branch, they’ll do whatever they can to keep them.

I guess this is my “trial period.” As long as I keep on doing what I’m doing, I’m pretty confident that I’ll be going full-time soon. It’s almost unheard of for someone to go full-time after being with the company for such a short time but I think I’m really in the right place at the right time. I’m extremely fortunate but I believe that all the bullshit that I’ve been through has brought me to this place and that good things come to those who keep on fighting through hell. Along with the hours, there’s a good possibility that I’ll get a raise.

I don’t mean to brag or boast; I hope this inspires people who are going through hell to keep on going because it paid off for me. Crazier things have happened. Don’t give up; that’s usually when things start turning themselves around. Just when you’re about to give up, something crazy like this can happen.

7 Reasons Why it Doesn’t Suck to Work for Someone Else

I used to totally be against working for someone else.

I’m almost 23 and the longest job I held was as a receptionist/file clerk at a doctor’s office for about a year and a half. The only reason why I kept it for so long was because it was decent pay and it helped fund my pursuit of becoming a professional soccer player career. Travel, hotels, training, food, and gas gets pretty expensive after a while.

I get bored easily if I do the same thing day after day. I get bored when there’s no opportunities to advance. I get bored when things are relatively constant. I like to always be learning something new and doing new things.

For the past 4 years, I’ve also been working on my family’s business. I personally never made any money from this. My payment was that I was able to live at home. There probably were A LOT of 80-hour weeks. A lot of sacrifices were made. A lot of experiences that I missed out on. A lot of friendships and relationships also crumbled because of it.

But I was totally fine with that. I was doing something that I was truly passionate about. You know what they ask, “if you didn’t get paid, would you still do your job?” Well in my instance, that quite literally was what was happening. I was meeting new people from around the world and we worked on a bunch of awesome projects. We were creating some beautiful stuff. I’ve learned priceless things about business that will benefit me for as long as I live.

Unfortunately, these things don’t mean a damn thing if you still live with your parents.

That’s why, a couple of months ago, I decided that I need to make some money by working for someone else. Apparently, the region I live in, is the second-worst region in the entire United States as far as recovering from the Recession goes. Only Detroit was worse. Go figure.

With that being said, the job market wasn’t exactly hot for a young person who didn’t have any “traditional” work experience or a degree.
The only job I was able to get was as a newspaper delivery person. The hours were great…..2:30-4:30 am, 7 days a week. Geeze, I wonder why I was able to get that job?

I lasted only 6 weeks there. The great thing about that job was that I had to give them a 30-day notice if I wanted to quit. Awesome! Thankfully, they found a replacement quickly and I quit about 2 weeks after I gave my notice. I learned some great life lessons but I was still unsuccessful in the money department.

After a couple of weeks of aimlessly filling out applications wishing and waiting for something to stick, an old friend of mine got me a job at a restaurant as a cook. Me….a cook? My repertoire of meals consists of bacon and eggs, cereal, and nachos. I wish I was joking. I’ve been there almost 6 weeks and lets just say, cooking is not for the faint of heart. Hours of dishes and bullshit chores take a toll on you.

But it could be worse.

My General Manager loves me and he says that I’m the future of that restaurant and that I have lots of potential.

That’s all what I was really looking for. Someone to give me an opportunity. Any opportunity. May not sound like much, but its great to get praise from complete strangers. Especially when you step way outside of your comfort zone and it pays off.

I also start a second job in exactly a week. This might actually turn out to be my career. I’ll be a teller for a large bank. My dream was never to be a banker, God no!

But they’ve given me an incredible opportunity. A life-changing opportunity.

My mom has been with the company for most of my life. Her managers helped me prepare for the interview and did all they could to help me. I’ve yet to meet them in person but it’s incredibly great when complete strangers want to genuinely help you. I think they’re more excited about me getting this position than I am!

This company will reimburse me for my tuition and books so it looks like I’ll be getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance after all. (I also used to strongly be against traditional higher education.) Grandma and grandma will definitely be happy to hear that. I’ll also get a 401k and health insurance. Might not sound like much, but entrepreneurs who work for themselves would kill for things like that!

Perhaps the biggest thing that I’m looking forward to is the fact that there are many opportunities to advance. Opportunities such as working for them somewhere in Europe! I was born in Germany but my family immigrated to the United States when I was a baby. I’ve always wondered what life would be like if I lived there and I promised myself that I would move there as soon as possible. Well, it looks like it’ll be possible sooner rather than later.

Judging by the title, you’re probably wondering where in the world the “7 Reasons Why it Doesn’t Suck to Work for Someone” are. Sorry about that. I thought you needed the background info to get the full effect. Here they are.

1. You don’t have to come up with all the answers. As an entrepreneur, you are the boss, the secretary, the head of marketing; you’re everything. If there’s a problem, you have to fix it. If there’s a question, you have to answer it. Even if you don’t have the answer. As an employee, its nice to be told what to do. There must be a reason why they’re telling you to do it, right? Don’t take this for granted.
2. You get to learn the systems of the company that you work for. Someone spent a lot of time, energy, and money figuring them out. Systems run the world. There is a system of travel, a system of learning, a system for growing food, etc. In growing your business, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Take what you can from the systems where you work at and tweak it to make it better to relate it to your business. Free education on how to create a business right there.
3. Having a source of income outside of your business is a great way to alleviate stress and pressure for your business to succeed. As much as you think you know what you’re doing, you really don’t. As much as you think you can control and build your business for success, you can’t. Shit always happens. Businesses can quite literally close overnight. Natural disasters can mess up a good thing. Your competition can cream you if you aren’t careful. Appointments and contracts can dry up within days. Since you have a different source of income, you can leverage this against your risk of loss. Leverage is a really good thing to have.
4. Making money, any money from anywhere, is great. You can use the money that you make from your job in your business to improve it. This source is better than getting a loan from friends or financial institutions.
5. Having an outside source of income buys your business time to be successful. The notion of “if you build it, they will come” is bullshit. It takes lots of time to build trust, credibility, and a reputation. It could take months or even years. Or not at all.
6. Cash flow is really what you need to grow any business. If you don’t have a constant cash flow, you’re screwed. Bills will be paid late and you’ll be charged late fees and get higher interest rates. If you can’t pay your employees (if you have any) on time, well guess what…you won’t have employees much longer. Some quarters will be better than others. Most businesses do not have a constant cash flow. I have a great friend in Michigan who told me that you basically save all that you can that you make in the summer to cover the downfall of business during the winter so you can survive to see the next summer. If you have outside cash, you can use this to cover any shortfalls in business that you might experience.
7. If you’re really fortunate, some jobs will include benefits. Some are better than others. In my case. tuition and book reimbursement is an incredible benefit to me. Not only will this potentially advance my career with this company, having my degree will make me more appealing to any other potential employers. Getting my degree was something that I was eventually planning on doing anyways but basically getting it for free gives me more incentive to get it quicker.

To sum things up, not everything sucks about being employed by someone else. Just don’t sell out, get comfortable, and keep doing it for the rest of your life. Almost everyone has done this. They’ve given up on their hopes and dreams. They exist but they aren’t alive.

Get what you can out of the experience of being employed and use it to chase your dreams. Yes, it sucks to go to work to do things you might not necessarily enjoy, but you’re luckier than some to even have a job. It’s a privilege to be employed. Take advantage of it.

What Makes an “Expert” an Expert? And Life Help from Ken Block

Today’s Thought-Provoking Questions of the Day from the Micro Business Kid:

• What makes an “expert” an expert?

It’s not having a fancy degree or anything like that; it’s about someone’s experience in a certain field. It’s also very relative. Anyone who has more experience than you in something would be considered the expert compared to you. If you’ve never operated a business, then I would be considered a “business expert” compared to you. But if you were to compare me to Warren Buffet, he’d be the business expert. Make sense? The term “expert” is misused all the time; people use it to appear better than someone else or more educated or whatever. Bullshit. It just means you’ve done it longer than someone else. You can be nice and share your expertise with the world or keep it to yourself. You’re not some untouchable figure; you’re still a human just like the rest of us.

• This is one that you’ll have to answer yourself:

You exist – But do you live? Does being alive look like being inside a cubicle from 9-5 for 40 years of your life or does it look more like this?

* * *

These questions are designed to make you think. There are no right or wrong answers. I got the ball rolling on the first question so you know what I think. What about you? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

An Interview with a Photography Boy-Genius

Today’s interview is with photographer, Braulio Negreira. We first met him as a follower of our blog on Tumblr a couple of months back. He’s slowly turned into a pretty good friend and is even a photographer that our company uses. Now here’s the kicker….he’s only 16! I feel like he has a real bright future ahead of him and it’s a joy to know him and help him grow as an entrepreneur.

• What’s the name of your micro business and where is it located?

Braxen Photography is located in Fremont, California USA.

•  How long have you been in business?

I’ve enjoyed photography as a hobby for about two to three years, but as an official micro business I’ve been around since March 2012.

•  What does your micro business do?

I use my passion and photography skills with Braxen Photography to provide automotive event coverage, photo shoots, and product photos for companies like Vip’d Out and Habermann & Sons.

(Me: this product photo shoot came about after he purchased some shirts for us and asked if we would post his work if he took pictures of our stuff on our blog. I didn’t high expectations (because I didn’t know of his photography skills at the time) for the pics but my jaw literally dropped when I saw them. That’s when we knew we had to work with him)

• Why did you decide to start your micro business?

I decided to start my micro business as a way to display my passion in a form so that many others could enjoy it. I also had the tendency to scatter my work on various blogs and pages, so by putting everything under the Braxen Photography name, a hub was created so all my photos could be in one place. This would also allow others to communicate with me which is really important to me.

•  Who else is a part of your team? What are their roles?

Braxen Photography is my brain child and I’m the only photographer but I do collaborate with many other companies for publishing purposes so I’d say that they’re a part of my team.

•  What are some memorable moments that you’ve had in your micro business?

I’d have to say some memorable moments would be getting my first products to shoot and getting sign on to the Vip’d Out team to cover events for them. This milestone has also grown the client list available to me to shoot which will definitely help grow my business.

•  What are some moments that you’d rather forget?

I’d rather forget getting blown off by a few people even though they said they’d love to have me on board but I guess that happens to everyone.

(Me: Yeah, it unfortunately does happen to everyone. Even though someone may promise you something, nothing is set in stone until it is actually happening. Don’t let these things discourage you. Keep on going and you’ll eventually find someone who would really love to work with you.)

• What’s something that you know now that you wish you would have known when you first started out?

I wish I would have known that an email or a single image could make such a drastic difference and that being approachable pays off.

(Me: I’ve experienced the same thing with the Micro Business Kid. There are some posts that get hundreds of views and there are some that don’t even get 10. It’s really hit or miss but the more you do something, the better idea you get of what people want to see more of. Being available is really important. I’ve learned that you don’t really know who looks at your work until you really get to know them. These people may know someone “important” or may have some pull in their social circles.)

• If you could give advice to those just starting out, it would be:

Don’t be afraid to dive into the deeper end from the start but be ready to paddle to shallower waters if the need arises; you can always swim deeper but you can’t always come back from going under.

(Me: Don’t be afraid to actually get started!)

• What do you think is a key trait that you possess that has led you to have a successful micro business? Why is it important?

A key trait which I possess that helped me with my micro business is being social. Now that may sound very broad, but we can narrow this down to two distinguishable interactions. The first is be open. Since most of my business involves event coverage, you always have to be able to work with and around people. Always keep a decent face (you don’t have to smile ear to ear like a maniac) and look approachable. The second part is all up to you. Go on website, forums, blogs, anything that allows you to communicate with others. Make your own pages, send emails, and start talking with other people. It may feel slow at first, but after a little while, you’ll see the rewards of speaking with other.

(Me: Couldn’t have said it better!)

•  What do you think is most important to have while first starting a micro business; a business degree, connections, determination, etc.? Why?

I think the most important thing to have in mind when starting your micro business is to have set goals for yourself and your product. Start simple and work your way up. Also, having someone who supports you as a person following their dream is nice, even if they sometimes don’t support your product. Lucky me, I have 100% support.

•  Looking forward to the next 6 months or so, what new ideas or goals do you have for your micro business?

1. Continue to go to various meets/events.
2. Continue to shoot for Vip’d Out.
3. Get more practice in and learn new techniques
4. Shoot for Carsxhype
5. Continue to have fun with what I do while gaining more support for the public

•  What are some “myths” of starting a business that you’ve found to be absolutely false?

In the business aspect of it, I feel a definite myth that was broken for me was that you need a physical place to display your work, which is totally false. In the photographic aspect of it, a myth that I broke was that it’s hard to get noticed for your work as a photographer.

• Is there anything else you’d like to share or address? If so, what?

Well there’s only one thing I’d really like to say. As with everything, including life, there will be ups and downs. Don’t let the downs deter you from your goal and don’t forget that you won’t always be on a “high.”

* * *

That wraps things up with Braulio. As you can see, he’s a photography boy-genius. A down-to-earth kid, he’s pretty grown up for a 16 year-old so if you need a quality product shoot, don’t let his age deter you. He does great work and is a real professional. Check out his Tumblr, Facebook, and his Flickr to get in touch with him and check out his portfolio.

Life-Changing Help for the Vintage Motorcycle Shop Owner

If you don’t know much about our business, we started out as a vintage motorcycle shop that restored, serviced, and repaired motorcycles from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. During this time, we’ve encountered 4 types of customers: those who are awesome to deal with because they are patient and realize that restorations can take a long time, those who are nightmares because they expect a full restoration to cost about $100, those who horrible to deal with because they think a restoration will only take a couple days, and those who are the epitome of the title, “Worst Customer in the World” who think both.

By taking to other vintage motorcycle shops, I’ve realized that these bad customers are way too common in the industry. They’re horrible because they make most of us so miserable to the point where we contemplate closing shop. (We did; now we just work on our own motorcycles as a hobby and sell apparel to have an income while still being involved in the industry.)

Because of this nuisance, I’ve created the following document. It can serve as a disclaimer for vintage motorcycle shops that they can share with potential customers during the estimation process. This disclaimer serves a couple purposes; it screens good customers from bad customers, it informs potential customers of what’s involved in the restoration process in a professional manner, and creates leverage for the shop owner.

If you run a vintage motorcycle shop, I strongly encourage you to use this template and use it “as-is” or change it in whichever way you’d like to and start using it in your shop. All I ask is that you let me know if it has cut down on the number of dead beat customers you deal with. Deal?

If you don’t run a vintage motorcycle shop, read it and you just might get some inspiration from it to use in your business.

Lastly, if you’d like me to create some sort of disclaimer for your business or industry, please send an e-mail to microbusinesskid@tampabay.rr.com or tweet me. Not to toot my horn too much, but I also have some time available if you would like me to consult you in your business with any decisions, ideas, or issues you may have.

* * *

First of all, we here at (your shop name here) truly appreciate your business and the fact that you’ve chosen us to work on your vintage motorcycle. We eat, sleep, and dream vintage motorcycles so we’d like to thank you for the opportunity.

Before we get to work, we just wanted to let you know some things about older motorcycles so we’re on the same page.

Vintage motorcycle restoration and repair is an art form and like all great art, takes time. We cannot simply attach a computer to your motorcycle to diagnose its problems. Mostly everything is done the old-fashioned way; by using our senses. We do mostly everything by hand and we listen to the engine and other parts to make sure everything is running correctly. We also smell the various scents that the bike gives off to figure out if it’s running too rich or too lean among other things. There is no “MMI” or school to learn how to work on vintage motorcycles. We do have previous experience as car mechanics, but most of our learning on how to work on vintage motorcycles through hands-on experience.

Due to their age, vintage motorcycles vary greatly in condition. We’ve seen some which sat outside for the last 30 years with wasp nests in the carburetors to some that have been kept in a spare bedroom for the last 30 years. You don’t really know what you get until you take the bike apart and inspect every single part. Because of this, projects may take longer than originally planned. If you pick up a motorcycle that has sat outside for 30 years and hasn’t run that entire time, it is ridiculous to think that it will only cost $200-300 to get it in show-room condition again. If that’s the impression that you’re under, we politely ask that you take your business elsewhere.

There is also a good chance that projects could cost more than originally estimated. In some instances, we may open up the engine and discover that you have a cracked piston. This is something that you would want to take care of even though it is very costly. All parts work together as a system, if one part doesn’t work correctly, nothing works. If you are trying to restore a vintage motorcycle for as cheap as possible, then good luck elsewhere. That’s not us. We pride ourselves in doing everything correctly the first time and we hope that you can appreciate this as a customer and vintage motorcycle enthusiast. According to Sailor Jerry, “Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good.” Please keep this in mind.

We try our best to give you an honest, detailed estimate. We’re vintage motorcycle experts who are trying to make an honest living just like you are. If we say you need something that wasn’t included in the original estimate, it’s because you truly do need it to get your bike running again.

In most instances, replacement parts haven’t been produced for the last 20 years or so. Because of this, actually tracking down the parts can be time-consuming. Also, because they are no longer produced, they are getting rarer and therefore more expensive to get our hands on. A lot of the time, parts can only be found in Europe, Asia, or Australia which can cause large delays in the project than what was originally quoted.

With that being said, we will always let know if your vintage motorcycle restoration will be more costly than originally quoted before we take the next necessary step in the restoration process. If you do not wish to continue the restoration and spend more money, please let us know and you will only be responsible for the parts and labor costs up to that point.

If there are delays with your project, we will try to let you know as soon as possible. It can be difficult to evaluate the project to figure out if there may be delays because there is always a chance of unforeseen circumstances coming up that can cause delays. For example, it may take longer to receive parts than originally planned. If things are taking longer than planned and you haven’t heard from us yet, please give us a call.

We hope that we’re on the same page now after you’ve read this disclaimer. We’ve created this document to inform you of unfortunate yet common nuisances which are involved with vintage motorcycle restorations. By signing below, you acknowledge that you’ve read the entire document and realize that vintage motorcycle restorations can be more costly and time-consuming than originally quoted even though we try our absolute best to give you a precise estimate as far as price and time needed goes during the estimate process. That’s why it’s called an “estimate.”

Thanks for taking the time to go over this material. We look forward to getting started on your project as soon as possible.

–  The proud owners of (Your shop name here), (Your name here)

Customer Signature: X                                                                                                   Date:

(This is in no way a binding contract. This signature solely represents that you acknowledge that you’ve read the document and understand it fully.)