profitable?

dont know where to post this so ill post here, me and three friends. four people. were thinking of scrapping together. one has 53 acres so we were planning on putting another trailer on his property me and my fiancee and my friend josh live in the one trailer, my friend and the other one live in the other trailer. got enough property for sheds and to store metal and even work on cars on the side (friend josh is a mechanic) so that said, could four people, two per truck, make enough to survive off just that? each truck hitting up diff towns on a route? minus gas and insurance would that be profitable?

depends on how much stuff gets put out

Probably not for a while, not until you get some consistent clients/pickups set up. Very few people do this full time, and it is rough enough for one person to make a living, much less 4. Your best bet to make a go at it full time with that many people is to look at scrapping cars, but then you are looking at a different type of hardware too.

I would suggest you do a search on partnerships on this forum. It looks like most of them have been disappointing. I personally have no experience but would suggest you should at least put something on paper so everyone in your group knows the setup, their responsibilities, and how the money is divided.

It seems to me that a lot of the problems come when someone starts to not pull their weight.

Jon.

You might be the first scrapping commune in history. To put it in perspective, it is hard for a single individual to make a living scrapping full time. Add a working wife in the business may or may not make life easier. Now you add three kids (okay buddies) and how does everyone pull their own weight. Dream big and you might be very successful, many of us believe in the American Dream. Honestly, there is no way my wife and three best friends will ever meet each other, much less go into business together. That is like gas and fire. It was a tough decision at the wedding. We are still married and I see my friends often so it must have been the right decision.

First thing to do is develop a very solid Business Plan. This would include what each partner puts into the business, the roles of each person and how labor is to be allocated. You will also need to set up a Business bank account. DO NOT allow business and personal funds to mix - anywhere. Until you understand these concepts you are not ready for a joint business venture.

over the last year I worked as just a junker or scrapper, kept my bills paid acquired new tools and kept food in my stomach. I even managed to stockpile several tons of scrap in the form of cars, I've only got 7 cars left at the moment. To get to that point I had a partner for about a year and a half, we both kept our full time jobs and hauled cars in our spare time.

The above is so true in partnerships, no matter what happens someone or everyone is going to think they contribute more. I went full time the end of 2012 and steve kept his job. We went from best friends to a relationship that was worse than my divorce. We have since become good friends again and he is going to pick up cars for me at a flat rate when I am out working on cell towers. That being said owning your own business means making sacrifices, it can cost you everything and even friendships, at the least it will push its limits. With you wanting to go in with three other people I would avoid this at all costs. Whose in charge, who contributed the most, who needs money for their kids diapers, my cars outa gas. Just think of all the little things you buy and need every week and multiply that by 4. I don't care how close you think you are, this stuff will happen

After All that I've made it by myself the last 7-8 months, kept a guy paid until he got another job and I started the cell towers in October or so. I still buy a few when I come home. Had I not lucked into the best job ever I would still be hauling about 10 cars a week.

In my opinion the four of you should get jobs that can turn leads into scrap, that way you will have a steady paycheck. The mechanic is a no brainer. Get a job at a scrapyard, I get leads from my own yard every week. Get on your feet and then if your willing to lose everything sure, go for it. All it takes is grit and hustle

Check out patriots thread about a scrappers dream, he tells his story about going from picking up cans to doing demolition on a power plant. If that story doesn't give you inspiration nothing will

I'm not trying to discourage you from your dreams,as a matter of fact I encourage you. you just need to understand the consequence of failure, it can go way beyond money. Lots of highs and lows and whatever you decide to do good luck

That's an awesome post Cory, and a great success story, along with some very interesting, cold, hard, facts, which touch on the flip side of your success ( I almost believe you'd be successful at most anything Cory, with your present frame of mind. So, the flip side might go something like this,

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Originally Posted by Germanwolf

me and three friends. four people......me and my fiancee and my friend josh live in the one trailer, my friend and the other one live in the other trailer

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To me that adds up to 5? Which one owns the property? He'll likely want(and probably get) the biggest say in anything happening there. You don't need something in writing there, you need it chiseled in stone.

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Originally Posted by Germanwolf

we were planning on putting another trailer on his property

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Who's supplying the trailer, who's bringing it in and setting it up, who's footing the bill?

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Originally Posted by Germanwolf

could four people, two per truck, make enough to survive off just that? each truck hitting up diff towns on a route?

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It's getting fairly rugged out there man, not wanting to burst your bubble, but just today I noticed on a quick trip to town, I took the dirt route, usually a clean air, totally "green"(except maybe in winter ; ) drive.
1. Saw on side the road a huge pile of trash (never seen this before, and I've known these dirt routes since I was born), but not just any trash, a huge big screen tv totally stripped of any innards and boards, two tires with the rims missing, and a golve box spare they didn't bother to remove the "tin" rim from, all just tossed on the side of the road.
2. In town noticed a guy walking down an old trashy drainage, his gf/fiance/wife , although reluctantly, not far behind. As I passed by his pickup noticed some rusted stuff in the bed, maybe a hundred pounds at best (worth about $6 here)
3. When leaving a care facility saw, for the second time, an old wheelchair and folded tin roof gutter from yesterday, behind the maintenence, with a new addition, some galvanized vents, adding maybe another dime to the mix.

some people get "lucky", but the odds are dwindling, and the competition is getting severe.
From 1. I deduced one thing, word gets around
From 2. I could only pity the couple, doing all they could find to do
From 3. I could only figure new accounts are few, far between, hard to find, and very slim

We really don't need more scrap, we need more jobs, I think you'd do well hoping for one too, where you could have a steady check, and your own (even if steadily rented) place


If you're planning to attempt this venture, I wish you well, although what I really wish is we had more jobs here, but it seems they've mostly been shipped to other countries, same as the majority of our scrap has been

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Originally Posted by Germanwolf

minus gas and insurance would that be profitable?

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No further comment : \

Mick, corycouch and Bear, all well said. These post should give pause to anyone who thinks about going at it full time (especially with partners) and let them know many points they need to think about, and several pitfalls to try and avoid.