Who's a tool dealer (Snow Trooper, etc) - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

D60 · 07-23-2004, 08:29 AM

There's a Snap-On route/franchise available here locally. I was half considering it, but can find too many reasons to talk myself out of it.

But, maybe I'll change my mind

Anyone wanna release ballpark inital investment? I'm guessing it's gotta be well over $100k with the truck and inventory?

Do you guys feel you're able to make a decent living? I don't expect specifics on your income of course.

What are your typical hours?

What do you like about the job?

Complaints? Would you do it again if you had to start over?

Can you take vacation?

Anything else?

brimy311 · 07-23-2004, 09:09 AM

i looked into becoming a cornwell dealer, this is some of the info from that

Must have at least 10$k in the bank to get started, you must purchase a truck, and a laptop computer. You only put a down payment on 10% of the tool inventory, then you pay the loan on them.

they encourage you to drive 10 hour routes monday through friday.

You can take vacation, you are self employed, but you make no money when you do take vacation.

now cornwell is the most leniate of all the tool companies. Snap on is the most $$ and most strict, so things may be a little different. With most routes, you are given by the tool company and give X amount of customers. You can't sell outside of the route, and must get permission from the tool company to sell tools to new ppl. Cornwell does do this, they are the last tool company that allows freedom there.

making money depends on your route, if you have good customers or a lame route with all non buying customers. Some ppl make like 100k a year, others make like $30k a year. They say that you need to have 6 months of living money saved for when you start as well. The guy with cornwell said you will be really struggling for the first 6 months, then start to pick up. He told me to expect to make about 20-25k for the first year.

nevadayj · 07-23-2004, 09:26 AM

One of my customers was a VP at Snap-On corporate and told me that you should expect to put out about $270K to get started in a new route. He claims three years to get you money back. The Snap-On dealer here call bullshit. He thinks about 5 years for payoff. He works 4-5 days a week normal hours.

Remember the bad debt part of the deal, though. You will have some people that dissappear on your route.

I have looked and belive that if you were to buy a existing route, you can do well. I would not buy anything but a Snap-On route if I were looking. There was a Cornwell route for sale around here for $80K with the truck and inventory. That should tell you something.

Hopefully Snowtrooper can verify this.

K2Orion · 07-23-2004, 02:59 PM

Quote:

now cornwell is the most leniate of all the tool companies. Snap on is the most $$ and most strict, so things may be a little different. With most routes, you are given by the tool company and give X amount of customers. You can't sell outside of the route, and must get permission from the tool company to sell tools to new ppl. Cornwell does do this, they are the last tool company that allows freedom there.

Why is this?
I can't understand why if you find somebody who wants what you sell, you aren't "allowed" to sell to em.

I used to work at a shop where the Snap-on guy stopped by maybe every 6 weeks, because we were a small shop and didn't buy often. I didn't really get to know the guy and I only bought +- $100 worth of stuff from him. That was all I could afford and really all I needed from him at the time.
Now I run heavy equip and my "shop" is my bulldozer so the Snap-on guy doesn't come calling often.

When I tried to get hold of the only Snap-on guy I knew, the 1 from the old shop, he avoided me like the plague. Granted I wasn't gonna buy a $20K box, but a sale is a sale, right???

brimy311 · 07-23-2004, 07:33 PM

This is just one of those things that mac, matco and snapon due to be sure you are not cutting in on someone elses route and gives you the impression you stilll have a boss. Other then that i really don't know why they do it.

Cornwell makes good tools, better prices then snap on mac and matco, but there are alot less cornwell guys then the rest. From stuff that i have, cornwell guy will give me a new tool if my is even strached up. Snap on will not give you a new tool unless it is broke to the point that it can not be used for what is designed for.

Some more little info for ya....

Warrenty stuff.

Say you break your 3/8" ratchet, take it to snappyhead and he replaces it with one off the truck. Well then he has to restock that ratchet with his own money for the next day. And at the end of the month, he can send in the brokens and then they send him the tools back...so then you have double stock!! If he messes up and something does not fall under warrenty, he has to eat the cost of the tool!!

now with cornwell, Same situation....corny gives ya the 3/8" ratchet, he still has to call and get another on the truck for the next day, but cornwell gives you an instant credit to your account for the tool over the computer. So it never comes out of your pocket, and you never get double stocked! And no matter what, cornwell with warrenty your tool, regardless if you used an impact on non impact sockets, or if you used a 30' cheater pipe and bent the ratchet in half....they don't care...just give them a new one.

Cornwell is a good company, a little cheaper then the rest, and they actually were the first tool company. Snap on broke off of them, and mac-matco off snap on, and mac and matco split down the middle. Depending on your area, depends on wether you see snap on or cornwell. Around here the cornwell guys do really good. The guy with top says for cornwell lives north of me a couple hours, drive a smaller semi type truck with a 40' trailer full of tools! he makes over $290k a year doing tools, but he has a great route. Other routes are only making ends meet.

brimy311 · 07-23-2004, 07:35 PM

One more thing, Cornwell dealers makes the most off each tools (mark up) followed by Matco, mac and then snappy.

bobbed83toy · 07-23-2004, 10:32 PM

out here we have, mac, cornwell, snap on, matco, my experenice with snap on is that if your ratchet is bad.. he will replace the guts... and he does it right there on the spot.. my mac guy takes good good care of me.. heck he let me borrow a 3000.00 scanner for a week..... so needless to say he gets alot of my business...

Storm Trooper · 07-24-2004, 10:53 AM

snap-on wont even consider you for a real franchise unless you have at least 60k in the bank. they at that point will finance you the rest to cover your initial 130k (at cost) inventory, the computer euipment, business supplies, and other misc costs. the you have the truck to think about, you can find a nice used one for about 40k. a new one will range between 60-110k depending on what size and level of bling you get. just remeber the bigger truck you get the more big ticket items you can have to sell instead of just hand stuff. but you have to think about your route also, if its super tight then you dont want a huge one.

dont expect to make super money for the first 6 months or so depending on the status of the route when you pick it up. I cant really get into actual profit margins online, but like anything some stuff is big some is hardly anything. If you get things going good and do about 10k a week (national average) and have trained your customers to pay (there will always be non paying problem children) you will make a nice living, the operational costs are big but, they depend on your location also, some guys routes are huge sq miles wise, they spend thousands on fuel, i feel bad for those guys. my average day is about 12-14 hours, but thats because i want it to be. i am usually on the route 8-5 and see roughly 20 shops with an average of 5 techs a shop, some places will have 1 and others will have 15. you will have to take the time to blance out your money each day, put up your stock, ship stuff out, clean and organize your truck, put some stuuff together, deal with issues ect. bust your ass and make more money, like anything in life.

its a lot of work but it is the best thing i have ever done

anything i left out? typed this in a hurry, moving today

BillaVista · 07-24-2004, 12:21 PM

Obviously there's no personality test

Storm Trooper · 07-24-2004, 01:19 PM

/\/\/\

my customers love me

andrew · 07-24-2004, 04:39 PM

I am not sure about how busy your garages are but in Ct. we are slow .
I heard just this week 2-3 different tool dealers were turning their trucks in due to slow sales . I have no other info .I dont know how long they were selling .just what I heard . Something to consider .

bigtime · 07-24-2004, 10:47 PM

I've been a Snap-on dealer for about 3 years in the bay area and love it. The inital investement isn't that bad if you compare it to other retail businesses out there. If you are willing to let the company finance the it for you, you can get into a turn key business for $50k or less. You are going to want to have some cash in the bank to make it for the first few months, but hopefully the dealer you are taking over for has left some accounts receivable, so you have something to start with collections wise. I wouln't worry too much about the bad debt. I find that my bad debt hovers around 1% at the end of the year if you run a clean business. If you manage your business and your margins correctly that 1% is acceptable. My days last about 10-12 hours including paperwork at the end of the day, I know of dealers who put in less time, but you get what you put in. The harder you work, the better chance you have to build your business.

07-23-2004, 08:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
D60 Zeus of the Sluice Join Date: Aug 2001 Member # 6398 Location: CO Posts: 3,369	Who's a tool dealer (Snow Trooper, etc) There's a Snap-On route/franchise available here locally. I was half considering it, but can find too many reasons to talk myself out of it. But, maybe I'll change my mind Anyone wanna release ballpark inital investment? I'm guessing it's gotta be well over $100k with the truck and inventory? Do you guys feel you're able to make a decent living? I don't expect specifics on your income of course. What are your typical hours? What do you like about the job? Complaints? Would you do it again if you had to start over? Can you take vacation? Anything else? __________________ "Take 300 people and on average 290 of them just generally suck at life"

07-23-2004, 09:26 AM	#3 (permalink)
nevadayj Granite Guru Join Date: Apr 2002 Member # 11578 Location: Minden, NV Posts: 922	One of my customers was a VP at Snap-On corporate and told me that you should expect to put out about $270K to get started in a new route. He claims three years to get you money back. The Snap-On dealer here call bullshit. He thinks about 5 years for payoff. He works 4-5 days a week normal hours. Remember the bad debt part of the deal, though. You will have some people that dissappear on your route. I have looked and belive that if you were to buy a existing route, you can do well. I would not buy anything but a Snap-On route if I were looking. There was a Cornwell route for sale around here for $80K with the truck and inventory. That should tell you something. Hopefully Snowtrooper can verify this. __________________ Boat dealer extraordinaire!

07-23-2004, 10:32 PM	#7 (permalink)
bobbed83toy Registered User Join Date: May 2000 Member # 948 Location: Oceanside ca Posts: 1,983	out here we have, mac, cornwell, snap on, matco, my experenice with snap on is that if your ratchet is bad.. he will replace the guts... and he does it right there on the spot.. my mac guy takes good good care of me.. heck he let me borrow a 3000.00 scanner for a week..... so needless to say he gets alot of my business... __________________ tin benders 2002 2003 carnage champs [URL=http://www.tinbenders.org] [B]TIN BENDERS[/B][/URL]

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07-23-2004, 09:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
brimy311 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Member # 4952 Location: k-zoo,michigan Posts: 1,781	i looked into becoming a cornwell dealer, this is some of the info from that Must have at least 10$k in the bank to get started, you must purchase a truck, and a laptop computer. You only put a down payment on 10% of the tool inventory, then you pay the loan on them. they encourage you to drive 10 hour routes monday through friday. You can take vacation, you are self employed, but you make no money when you do take vacation. now cornwell is the most leniate of all the tool companies. Snap on is the most $$ and most strict, so things may be a little different. With most routes, you are given by the tool company and give X amount of customers. You can't sell outside of the route, and must get permission from the tool company to sell tools to new ppl. Cornwell does do this, they are the last tool company that allows freedom there. making money depends on your route, if you have good customers or a lame route with all non buying customers. Some ppl make like 100k a year, others make like $30k a year. They say that you need to have 6 months of living money saved for when you start as well. The guy with cornwell said you will be really struggling for the first 6 months, then start to pick up. He told me to expect to make about 20-25k for the first year.

07-23-2004, 07:33 PM	#5 (permalink)
brimy311 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Member # 4952 Location: k-zoo,michigan Posts: 1,781	This is just one of those things that mac, matco and snapon due to be sure you are not cutting in on someone elses route and gives you the impression you stilll have a boss. Other then that i really don't know why they do it. Cornwell makes good tools, better prices then snap on mac and matco, but there are alot less cornwell guys then the rest. From stuff that i have, cornwell guy will give me a new tool if my is even strached up. Snap on will not give you a new tool unless it is broke to the point that it can not be used for what is designed for. Some more little info for ya.... Warrenty stuff. Say you break your 3/8" ratchet, take it to snappyhead and he replaces it with one off the truck. Well then he has to restock that ratchet with his own money for the next day. And at the end of the month, he can send in the brokens and then they send him the tools back...so then you have double stock!! If he messes up and something does not fall under warrenty, he has to eat the cost of the tool!! now with cornwell, Same situation....corny gives ya the 3/8" ratchet, he still has to call and get another on the truck for the next day, but cornwell gives you an instant credit to your account for the tool over the computer. So it never comes out of your pocket, and you never get double stocked! And no matter what, cornwell with warrenty your tool, regardless if you used an impact on non impact sockets, or if you used a 30' cheater pipe and bent the ratchet in half....they don't care...just give them a new one. Cornwell is a good company, a little cheaper then the rest, and they actually were the first tool company. Snap on broke off of them, and mac-matco off snap on, and mac and matco split down the middle. Depending on your area, depends on wether you see snap on or cornwell. Around here the cornwell guys do really good. The guy with top says for cornwell lives north of me a couple hours, drive a smaller semi type truck with a 40' trailer full of tools! he makes over $290k a year doing tools, but he has a great route. Other routes are only making ends meet.

07-23-2004, 07:35 PM	#6 (permalink)
brimy311 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Member # 4952 Location: k-zoo,michigan Posts: 1,781	One more thing, Cornwell dealers makes the most off each tools (mark up) followed by Matco, mac and then snappy.

07-24-2004, 10:53 AM	#8 (permalink)
Storm Trooper Banned Join Date: Dec 2000 Member # 2540 Location: Meadow Vista, CA and University Place, WA...moving soon Posts: 2,705	snap-on wont even consider you for a real franchise unless you have at least 60k in the bank. they at that point will finance you the rest to cover your initial 130k (at cost) inventory, the computer euipment, business supplies, and other misc costs. the you have the truck to think about, you can find a nice used one for about 40k. a new one will range between 60-110k depending on what size and level of bling you get. just remeber the bigger truck you get the more big ticket items you can have to sell instead of just hand stuff. but you have to think about your route also, if its super tight then you dont want a huge one. dont expect to make super money for the first 6 months or so depending on the status of the route when you pick it up. I cant really get into actual profit margins online, but like anything some stuff is big some is hardly anything. If you get things going good and do about 10k a week (national average) and have trained your customers to pay (there will always be non paying problem children) you will make a nice living, the operational costs are big but, they depend on your location also, some guys routes are huge sq miles wise, they spend thousands on fuel, i feel bad for those guys. my average day is about 12-14 hours, but thats because i want it to be. i am usually on the route 8-5 and see roughly 20 shops with an average of 5 techs a shop, some places will have 1 and others will have 15. you will have to take the time to blance out your money each day, put up your stock, ship stuff out, clean and organize your truck, put some stuuff together, deal with issues ect. bust your ass and make more money, like anything in life. its a lot of work but it is the best thing i have ever done anything i left out? typed this in a hurry, moving today

07-24-2004, 12:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
BillaVista Registered User Join Date: Mar 2001 Member # 3547 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 6,719	Obviously there's no personality test

07-24-2004, 01:19 PM	#10 (permalink)
Storm Trooper Banned Join Date: Dec 2000 Member # 2540 Location: Meadow Vista, CA and University Place, WA...moving soon Posts: 2,705	/\/\/\ my customers love me

07-24-2004, 04:39 PM	#11 (permalink)
andrew Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Member # 15818 Location: ct Posts: 208	I am not sure about how busy your garages are but in Ct. we are slow . I heard just this week 2-3 different tool dealers were turning their trucks in due to slow sales . I have no other info .I dont know how long they were selling .just what I heard . Something to consider .

07-24-2004, 10:47 PM	#12 (permalink)
bigtime Registered User Join Date: Jan 2001 Member # 2889 Location: Sausalito, CA Posts: 28	I've been a Snap-on dealer for about 3 years in the bay area and love it. The inital investement isn't that bad if you compare it to other retail businesses out there. If you are willing to let the company finance the it for you, you can get into a turn key business for $50k or less. You are going to want to have some cash in the bank to make it for the first few months, but hopefully the dealer you are taking over for has left some accounts receivable, so you have something to start with collections wise. I wouln't worry too much about the bad debt. I find that my bad debt hovers around 1% at the end of the year if you run a clean business. If you manage your business and your margins correctly that 1% is acceptable. My days last about 10-12 hours including paperwork at the end of the day, I know of dealers who put in less time, but you get what you put in. The harder you work, the better chance you have to build your business.