I've been toying with the idea of buying out a guy's magneto shop. He has pretty much quit doing any mag work now. Do you guys think this would still be a viable business? I've got a lot of questions but don't where to start! So for now maybe just some general thoughts, ideas....suggestions?

First questions that pop to my mind...
What do you get for your dollars? Is this a building some equipment and stock? Manuals? Are you buying an established well known business name? Are you pretty good with that sort of thing or will he be training you? Are you retired and / or would this be your only source of income? Have you ever owned a business? If it's not a building etc. is you place zoned to allow a business to operate there?

Nobody will be able to... or want to (except maybe your wife if you're married) tell you what you should do for your specific circumstances, but these are probably some of the questions you should ask yourself to better evaluate the situation. If you go for it, good luck to you and hope it works out well for you! I'll keep you in mind if I get mag issues.
Bob

Done leave your day job if you lucky enough to still have one. Several years ago I had the opportunity to buy a board but thought awhile and decided I didn't have the time. I may be be able to find a phone number if your interested.

I'd be getting all of his equipment, stock and manuals. This was his full time business for almost 50 years. I've got a fairly big shop I'd be moving the equipment into. And as far as I know I'm far enough out in the country I don't have to worry about zoning. I've already been doing the wico and fairbanks morse mags for myself and a few friends when asked to.

I'm single but not anywhere near retirement. And unfortunately I did lose my job about a month ago, so I've been doing a lot of thinking, if you know what I mean! I don't think this would ever become a full time job, but rather something to do in my spare time.

Unfortunately I don't have one anymore. I'll see what happens with this before I start looking very far from home.

A few thoughts.
The seller should share with you his sales volume for the last few years. Gross and net are important, but also look at the trend.

When you run your business plan don't forget advertising. At a minimum ads in the various tractor magazines. Travel, lodging, and booth expense at shows, etc.

You never know what will happen, not all part time business stay that way. I'm averaging 45 to 50 hours a week in my part time job :-)
Good Luck, Dave

He's in his 90's now and just does one when the notion strikes him. Knowing that.....his volume has been about 15-30 a year for quite some time. But if you can manage to get him to do one for you it'll come back like new or better.

I hadn't really thought about advertising or anything like that..... Thanks.

Go for it . Mag shops are getting hard to find. If I don't do them myself I have to ship them off. I have a couple of them that need to be worked on now and do not have the time to do it. Give us your adress and see how much work you can drum up. Jerry

Roy it sounds like you won't have a whole lot invested in this venture, that's always good.
But you really need to get some sort of business plan together. You need to get a little more
advice and do some number crunching. You said zoning isn't an issue, but you will have to
pull business licenses. Then it may become an issue, you don't know. What about insurance?
You probably don't have to much of an exposure on liability, but peril concerns me. What
happens if you burn down your shop while rebuilding a mag. Will your home owners policy
cover you? What about your customers items lost in the fire. Talk to a few agents and get
an idea.
I don't want to be a voice of doom and gloom. just want you to go in eyes wide open.
A bussiness plan is essantial, it should have goals and a time frame. Most important an exit
plan if it just doesn't work.
I'd likly go for it, it looks like it could be a fun bussiness.
Good luck, Dave