Thanks very much Geert for your kind words. I think we need another 2 years before the profit is catching up. The first 3 was very hard, all savings gone. Today we break even with tiny profit nothing to smile about except that the turnover is growing. We are not looking to be milionaires just being Aussie battlers in France with a lifetyle of minimum stress and minimum goods, only heaps of A models to enjoy + roaming the world to met likeminded people.

Neiter we will be milionares, but I enjoy being a gardener, and my wife working for her hedgehog and squirrel sanctuary.
It is hard work, but we enjoy it, but in 6 years time I can retire and than i want to do something completely different. If possible far away from Holland , the EU and greed.

That is a brave move coming from Oz to fix snails in France, you've got to respect that. I suppose if I wanted the move to the outback of Australia and set up shop fixing Holdens, I'd need some major balls to try it

Didn’t realize that the last article is no 4. Here are the first 2 articles from 2009.
I can relate to Geerts view on his life (style) in the Netherlands. I felt the same way after nearly 25 years in Australia. Living in big cities Melbourne and Perth, doing the Aussie dream (American) 2.3 kids, cat and dog, mortgage, work and so on. The stress level was in the red zone, trying to earn money and raise 3 kids and the rest of it. At the same time, felt that city life (folks) was more and more about money and greed. Could no longer cope and wanted a better and simpler lifestyle, just like French country living. It was very hard to convince the wife. She used 35 years of her life in Paris, Grenoble, Brest, Rennes to try to get out of France, which did happen in 2000 (Raid Australia) only to be put back in to Brittany in 2009 after meeting me I 2000. What a bastard I am but the prospect of country living, running a small 2cv garage, brining up our son and most of all, move away from stress and people living in the fast lane. Is it better here, yes definitely despite the little money the business is generating? As mentioned before, we are not here to make big money but to live in peace and harmony with good old fashion ways of living. Brittany and its nature is just spectacular, the people are very friendly across the board regardless of education. We are just lucky that we hit France at the right time, where the 2cv is on a comeback. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t succeed in achieving our dream. Now this kind of move is not for everybody, it is indeed a risky adventure but the rewards are far greater than staying back in city life, suffering everyday. Many people dream about changes for something better, well go for it. Better stop now before getting off the track

Hi Viking,good to see your business is on the up.
When I Started my business back in 1993,having worked for a company in the marine trade since 1974,we struggled for 5 years.Then,it was as if the flood gates opened,the work just kept coming,and hasnt stopped since.
5 years is what it takes to get a business off the ground in the repair trade,be it cars,boats,bikes or what ever.If you can stick it out for the first 5,you should be OK.
Good luck and best wishes for the future,oh, and wheres my sticker

Exact same with company I work for. In a way.
We repair boats and supply new boats etc. Sales of boats are next to nil, but repairs, lids. Our repairs board is full till mid November. Doesn't sound good, but at 4 bots a week for te last 3 weeks and the next few that's loads

Good luck Viking. It's hard, my boss was homeless for a while !

Thanks boys
Floodgates are open Dave, work is flooding in but profit is left behind. Maybe someone placed a profit filter on the floodgate.

Dave stickers should be in your parcels, didn't you get any? If not I'll stick some in a envelope.

Question came in why we didn’t have any profit. This is general for all new businesses. If the new business has some cash and not in the need of loans, it is a much better start. Our cash was used on stock + daily living expenses including shifting from Australia to Brittany, not a cheap exercise. Finding the right suppliers are so important too. Without the right purchase prices the potential profit is somewhat compromised. No point turning over millions without having a profit.
Several business people in the know told us that 30% margin is the lower limited to sustain a business but between 40 and 50 % on parts would create a healthy business. Today, we are not near that as prices continue to increase on the purchase side and at the same time, most 2cv parts suppliers are falling over each other to sell sell sell at down right stupid prices. Very good for the end user but hopeless for us suppliers. Not knocking the government but taxes are heavy burdens on new business without or little profit to begin with. Our garage is much better but hardly any work in the beginning as we were completely unknown. 3 years later and work is coming in left, right, center but it is only now that the profit on work is on the increase. Surely in another 2 years the hard and worrying times are over. By that time the total parts sales, could reach a certain level were some profit can pay wife Lorraine for her efforts. The garage should well and truly cover me and that’s it, I think unless we employ people but that nightmare is something to consider.
Now please don’t read this as me complaining. It is just a small story about how we are going. We are very happy with our dream and particular with people supporting us. Cheers to them and everybody else.
Viking

People who have not started teir own business have not a clue of how things are in reality.
If I hear about your experience in setting up your own, it reminds me of starting my business in 1981.
It takes 5 years to be able to make some profit ! I agree that taxes are not contributing to achieve that .
There is one mistake i would never make again: I would never employ people again!
Suddenly you are more manager , you are no longer a gardener, or in your case a garagist, and you have a lot more problems and worries. So I would think twice before taking on any staff, or you want to become a very big 2CV / Garage, in that case it is a complete different story. But than you have to go to the bank for a big loan etc.etc. etc. Try to finance yourself without the "help"of banks and keep it small. That is my advice. Good Luck .

Couldn't agree more Geert. We have no dreams of being big or have any loans at all. It is much better to be small and consolidated. As you mentioned before, greed is not something we are interested in. It is often a jail sentence to borrow money and to expand, no thanks. No hope of traveling or going to meetings, work work work, money money and more money.