I'm considering a Snap-On Tool franchise.
Anybody out there with any advice or words of wisdom ?
research, and lots of it.
Talk to all the snap-on dealers you can find. Try to find former dealers, preferably some who did not retire from the business.
Don;t know how you are financing but be careful. They used to really push using your home for collateral. If the business fails, you have to look for new housing too. Not a good place to be.
Pay close attention to what your contract states regarding territory and if they can unilaterally alter (especially reduce) your territory.
and when you do become a dealer, be sure to remember me and send me some of the snap-on nekkid girl calenders.
I was with Snap-On for several years, some of them were great. I was the top dealer in the area a couple of years, I made pretty good money. One of the biggest problems was mechanics moving around and leaving You hanging. I also didn't like thge Manager climbing on My truck and selling every deadbeat a bunch of tools that I would take months collecting for if I could.
The next thing now is there are no more service stations, very few small garages, and so You have less clients. Looking back I wouldn't do it again. Bill
Wow, thanks for the replies......good stuff !
I was once a Snap On customer and did pay everything off and I vowed never to buy any more Snap On Tools. There very good tools but you pay alot for the name and the competition is just as good for less $$$.
I do miss those Snap On calanders
Keep the replies coming please.
Mackey,
I had an uncle who was considering a career change and took the Snap-On pre-training before being awarded a route.
He backed out when he realised that how most of these salespeople get sales is by getting young new mechanics hooked into credit to purchase over priced tools they couldn't afford.
He had too much conscience to be a good salesman.
Yea, unfortunately I figured it would be like that.
I was once a young mechanic and got hooked on the Snap-On truck.
I did pay it all off and to this day don't do that any more.
The quality is not as good as people say and they are over priced.
If I need a new tool I go to the big box stores and if it's a specialty tool I buy it on-line.
If its not too late, don't do it.
Sanpon expects you to finance most of your customers yourself.
Thay say the average turn is 5:1 in other words is someone owes you 100.00
they tell you you can expect a weekly payment of 20.00
Thae reality is more like 10:1 I think the co average is more like 8:1
Yet whan you get your invoice once a week they expect you to pay them 4:1
or, if you owe the 20 grand they want 5 grand. If you can't pay you are put on hold. No more tool shipments= lower and lower sales.
Just my opinion, I did it for 17 years.
Hi, I am also considering taking on a snap on franchise. The area is well established and apparently takes good money, however I am very dubious about any thing that seems to good to be true.
Can any one offer more info into the pit falls and what to check out before going into it, what sort of things made dealers leave? Is it best to buy or lease the van? Do you end up getting any thing out of it when you eventually finish the round? Also how does it work with the outstanding debt owed to the current dealer, does snapon pay them off and then you pay snapon as you collect the money of the customers?
Any help is grealty appreciated.
TIA
Hmmmm. The warnings earlier on the thread look pretty convincing to me.
Beyond that, with the recession there are a glut of people selling tools of all kinds. I'd guess this would be a particularly tough time to be selling new tools.
I have been a snap on franchisee since March and this is what I can tell you. Some folks are making a lot of money doing it. Everybody is working their butts off to do it. The sales developers and franchise developers, who work for corporate work 80 plus hours. expectations of franchisees is similar. expect to get up in time to stock your truck, gas it up and be at your first stop by 8 or earlier if they are there. you can expect to go till 5 most days (because that is when they close) though maybe you can go to 6. then park the van (strict rules on where and they have black boxes to make sure all is correct) clean it and do your close of the day. stop at 5 be home by 7. two days a week you will have a pile of boxes waiting for you when you arrive home which need to be checked in and categorized for the next business day. other days you can do books, research product and promotions etc. you even have the opportunity to work saturdays to get those time consuming deliveries made that take to long during the week. wash the truck regularly please. again, some guys make a boatload of cash though I don't know when they spend it. Some guys don't do so well. I have issues with selling things for 27.5% interest. and if someone doesn't pay guess what, you are the collection agent. fun. Btw, that applies to the guy before you who sold to people who you wouldn't have in your house before you left. all your responsibility. Yes you do finance small purchases with your money, though mostly that isn't as big a problem as it may seem. you would write off a certain amount of bad debt. my big caution is to look at the economy. if you are in a particularly depressed area and people are really frightened by the potential economic picture they are less likely to buy. Also, in an area where mechanics are aging the old established guys just don't need the tools. young guys need the tools but often don't have the money. Still the young guys are your target audience. do your homework, ask lots of questions, look around at the area that you have offered, be sure you are comfortable with the time commitment and the collection credit business. (it helps to have an automotive background, a lot) If it is all good, then good luck go for it. if not find something else to do.
Quick question for you...
How much was your initial out of pocket investment (cash)?
How much financing do they make available for you realisticly?
The work van has to be new?
Can you tell me more about the work van issue?
Ed...
Racinrev hasn't been back since that one post.
Tags: snapon, franchise, good money, more like, need tools, over priced, selling tools, when they, young guys
