# General Business Category > Entrepreneurship and Business Management Forum >  Small business biggest challenge

## ians

What is the biggest challenge for the survival of a small business?

Capital.
Business plan
Turnover
Customer base
blah blah blah ...the list just goes on and on

My opinion, customer payments, I am not talking about the R100 000 payments, they will bust you within a couple of months if not paid, I am talking about those little ones. 

You ask why, I have been going through some changes in past few months, looking into ways to become more effective, spending less, trying to find what it is that affects my business the most and how. Today I came up with one of the biggest issues and what affects my growth or what could eventually cripple my little business. Some might say but that's what an overdraft facility is for...mmm your overdraft can only carry you for so long. 

I have been winding up the sole proprietor operation, and boy was I in for a surprise with the amount of money I have had to write off and outstanding debts. 

Going forward now with the CC I decided not to make use of an overdraft facility and I can now see why having an overdraft tis not always a good idea in a small business, (this is my take on it)you tend to run up the overdraft and sit there with this debt over a period of time which just never seems to go away, much like a credit card ( that's why my credit cards have R500 limits) The reason for this,  those little outstanding payments which over time end up restricting both expansion and general day to day operation.

What I have found is that R500 or R1200 little amounts start adding up, you think, well I will just write them off, but every month there is a little more and a little more, until eventually your overdraft is maxed out or you apply to increase you overdraft and because you are turning over xxx amount the bank increases it. The problem is that it can only go on for so long then it will restrict your operation.

So how do you overcome this problem, I would like to hear from other small business owners how you overcome this problem.

An interesting fact, not one of my customers who had companies when I started my sole prop operation over 20 years ago is still operating, every single one of them has gone bankrupt or sold the business.

Maybe that what I should strive for this time around, to build the CC to sell.

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## Justloadit

Just remember to sell a business, it must be able to run with out you at the helm. If it can not do this, then it is not salable, as the person buying it will have to run it the way you do, and simply this is not going to attract any buyers.

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## wynn

Depending on your markup and number of bad debtors, there is a break even point where it is not feasible to give credit!

Assume a 50% markup on the same item or service, if one in three don't pay then you are just wheelspinning for no return at all, and the figure climbs exponentially for every percentage less than 50%

At 20% markup you need to do five more transactions to break even so that is a loss of six potential deals.

Sometimes it pays to just ignore the deals that require credit and concentrate on cash deals.   :Wink:

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## pmbguy

I share your frustration. I also have a small business (Office Automation) and I also have issues with cash flow from time to time. In my particular case I have a handful of big businesses that have a 2 month payment policy. So I get a large order for equipment from them and then I have to wait for 2 months to receive payment. My suppliers are all 30 day accounts, some even cash. I manage to negotiate with some of my suppliers to wait until my client pays me, but this only applies to a few of them, most of them won’t budge. My clients with this payment policy (2months) are huge business and they simply don’t change their payment policy for nobody. I tried to negotiate terms but they just flat out refuse. I remain polite with them about the matter as not to compromise our relationship, But this really adds unnecessary stress and it makes me mal.  
Personally I don’t turn down business because of this delayed payment policy when they place very large orders, I will rather empty my savings account or sell my gold, but never turn them down. So I won’t turn down business because of cash flow, but I will outsource (if possible) the job if I feel I can’t provide the quality service I would like to provide for that specific client. That way I don’t lose face and still made the dollar.
Having said all of this I still feel that it is not fair that some of these big guys don’t pay 30days like the rest of us mere mortals

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## Justloadit

Try getting as 60 day account from the big corporates, they tell you to take a hike, just not fair.
I am fortunate that my client is 30 days, but earlier this year, some months were 60 and 90 days, boy did I sweat blood. Anyway it seems they are back on track. My problem is it takes me 8 to 12 weeks to complete the orders, and my 30 day account just disappears, making the financing of the business a bit of a night mare. Fortunately my biggest supplier gives me 60 days, which helps. I never abuse this and am always in contact with my supplier, just in case I need more from him.

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## IanF

Our rule is first order is at least 50% with the order. Balance on delivery. I have a standoff with an old customer who wants us to do a calendar design and then they will pay a deposit, she went bankrupt a few years ago and owed us R15k. Now her terms are payment with order. I would rather lose her as a customer than take a risk.
Then we did some printing for a bank on Thursday and quoted them cod, they paid cash when we delivered. 
The more confident you sound and feel when discussing your terms the more they are just accepted.

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## roryf

We work on the principal that if in doubt don't supply.Even if the deal looks good,it is just not worth chasing bad payers.We have some accounts and they are all good payers.The bad payers go onto a COD basis or they must pay upfront and if they don't like that they can go elsewhere.Harsh but it works well for us and every year our auditors are suprised by us having no bad debt.

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IanF (28-Oct-13)

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## adrianh

I agree with IanF, if it is custom work then the client must pay 50% up front. You simply say that you have to cover the cost of materials or whatever. I no longer allow any customer to leave the store without having paid in cash or EFT. I will not let anything leave my sight unless the money is in my till or has cleared in my bank account. If they don't like it then they can take a hike. Not only does giving credit to customers create a nightmare to get the money in, it also caused a huge amount of admin, admin that you don't need as a small business.

My customers sometimes complain about price and I simply tell them that the price is what it is, if they keep on complaining then I tell them that they need to learn to save and failing that they should take up a hobby that they can afford...I simply don't care for people's nonsense anymore, I will give them a 10% discount if they take a 10% lowering of their salary.

Whenever a client starts whinging about getting the best price I prepare to send them to the opposition, if they are not willing to pay a fair price then they must go elsewhere.

Another thing about COD. I don't get to pay my electricity off over 3 months, nor my petrol nor my milk, so why should a client get terms on a R1,500 job, stuff it, they have to pay for all the stuff that I mentioned in cash so likewise they should pay you in cash.

I turn business away very easily, I have a motto that I live by "A quality service and product for a quality customer" if the customer looks even remotely dodgy or looks like it is high volume low profit work or he is going to give me a hard time I will far rather give him a miss. There is nothing wrong with turning work away, I send all the ahole R 10 tyre kickers that come my way straight to the opposition!

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## CLIVE-TRIANGLE

Along these lines, a number of companies (big and small) take settlement discount as a matter of course and whether or not it is your payment terms. Heck, some even take it when they pay late!

I'm interested to know who else experiences this, and do you allow it.




> I turn business away very easily, I have a motto that I live by "A quality service and product for a quality customer" if the customer looks even remotely dodgy or looks like it is high volume low profit work or he is going to give me a hard time I will far rather give him a miss. There is nothing wrong with turning work away, I send all the ahole R 10 tyre kickers that come my way straight to the opposition!


I have a friend who frequently has to tell a prospective client that "we have just reached my 'f#$k off' price!"

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## ians

It depends on the job, some customers you quote, request a deposit and progress payment and final when completed. If only they where all like that, the ideal business plan.

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## Miro Bagrov

I think one of the major challeneges to small businesses is a lack of access to support and management advice.

Everyone would rather hire a cheap worker or two, and try to deal with all the issues mentioned above (capital, expense control etc.) by themselves. 
Business owners are afraid to involve anyone else in management because they think someone will steal their business ideas (or other reasons only they know). 

Businesses get stuck in being small because they spend 100% all their effort in operations and 0% on growth. That's why small stays small.

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## ians

I agree, and guilty of exactly that.

I don't agree, with people trying to steal business ideas, I have an electrical business there is no idea to steal, it is simply I do electrical work.

I have pointed this out on many occasions, it is more about letting go and trusting other people to do the job as I would do it. 

I know, I have a saying in my business "if you want something done right do it yourself" this sentence is one of the biggest restriction in most small business growth.

You have to let go and trust that other people will do what they are paid to do, this is where a good supervisor, manager comes in, but if you are too busy "running the business" who will manage the staff and make sure things are done right?

What I see in many a small business is a person who has qualified as an artisan or something and feels he can make a go at it in business. The mistake is becoming a good electrician or plumber or even accountant for that matter doesn't make you a good businessman. 


The day you decide to start a business there are certain rules 

Rule no.1...make sure you are a good businessman. 

there are a lot more, if you google them, there are studies and thick books which could take you a life time to read, yet the fail rate of business is a lot higher than the success rate by a huge margin, maybe too many people writing books and studies and too little putting them to practise.

Which brings me to another point, how many people can tell me how to run your business, I am sure many of you can relate to this especially the ones who have never actually had their own business, but they can tell you how to run your business and what you are doing wrong

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## IanF

> Along these lines, a number of companies (big and small) take settlement discount as a matter of course and whether or not it is your payment terms. Heck, some even take it when they pay late!
> 
> I'm interested to know who else experiences this, and do you allow it.
> 
> 
> 
> I have a friend who frequently has to tell a prospective client that "we have just reached my 'f#$k off' price!"


The trick is not to offer terms. When I get the call saying if I pay now can I take discount I say no rather pay later, then then pay 10 days later with no discount. The price for them is looked at to see if it is still worth while.  I love the F$%#k off price that is reached quite often dealing with Bridezilla's and changing artwork.

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## adrianh

Bridezilla - Yeah, I can vouch for those...I am yet to come across a more wasteful painful breed.

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## Justloadit

I sometimes tell my potential customers, that I can not afford to do your job, but thank you for asking.

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## Dave A

Every business has different challenges when it comes to getting timeous payment. Ultimately it's a case of identifying where and why you are being taken for a ride, and then put measures in place that control and reduce the risk.

*And then stick to them!*
Which at times can be tougher than you might think. But it is critical.

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## tec0

I am going to go  :Offtopic: 

In my opinion a business of any size have 3 major drawbacks. 

I would like to start with the suppliers. Now I only know the “tech” industry and based on that I can say that you cannot be competitive because the supplier base is limited and there requirements are beyond belief. 

After all how do they expect you to stay 
CompetitiveProfitable  
In a saturated market?

How can you comply with supplier requirements if you can’t get competitive pricing? 

Thirdly is the endless TAX battle and I believe that must actually become a subject in its own right because it seems like extortion!  :Banghead: 

Then there is a question of stock insurance and transport insurance and life insurance that seems to be the norm. Basically your business starts with a massive overhead that is seemingly impossible to do without. 

Take in account how much your business cost you a month? For most small businesses “depending on how small” this is still a large amount. Rent can set you back about R15k a month “as an example” or R1500 a day depending on location. And FACT IS business is 60% about location. 

Now you need insurance, security, training and cash points. ALL of this cost money. 

So the biggest challenge is “*cost effectiveness*” 

If you business is not cost effective its game over.

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## adrianh

tec0 - it all comes down to being shrewd, SPAR survives next to Pick n Pay and the Café on the corner survives next to SPAR. There are ways to deal with tax and business is not always about location.

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## tec0

There are 3 computer shops in our immediate aria about 15min away from where I live. Two are located in close proximity to each other “walking distance” one is doing very good the other very bad. 

Both have competitive pricing, goods are of the same quality “same supplier” and they carry more or less the same stock. The one is making it but the other is losing it. Why? Simple answer the one is located inside our local Shop the other is located closely to a less popular shop. So as a matter of convenience the one shop is factually doing better. 

Now the third shop is out of the way and closely situated to the mall now its biggest competition is the local franchise shop “incredible connection” Truth is our “incredible connection store” is very competitive. So that computer shop is suffering. There stock is about six months old! There sales are so bad that the owner let go of all his staff. 

I read what you are saying but it is what I am seeing that that is the decisive factor.

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## Dave A

> After all how do they expect you to stay 
> CompetitiveProfitable  
> In a saturated market?


Establishing a viable business model is the shop owners responsibility, not the suppliers.
The interest of the supplier is to get its product to market and get paid by their customers (in this case those shops).

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## tec0

Business has a few factors that contributes to its success. 

Firstly is clientele.Secondly its goods and services supplied and renderedThirdly support and warrantee/guarantee if applicable. 
Now your supplier determines the second and third aspect of your business. The first aspect however is based on research. Fact is your business is a dead duck if no one needs what you are selling. Another factor is competitiveness... This is directly link to expansion, service provided and quality of goods and services.  

Then you have overhead, running cost and taxation to deal with. 

But your biggest risk in my opinion is your supplier. 

In my case as my supplier grew bigger their demands became more and more unreasonable. Unfortunately they did retain the right to change the parameters of the agreement when you signed there none negotiable contract.  

Thus I was no longer cost effective... Factually I was Working for my supplier because they wanted larger and larger orders then it just became impossible. I opted to import directly but even with massive funding behind me I couldnt pull it off. Why? Because of contracts between fabricators and existing suppliers. So basically they own import rights. 

So the biggest challenges;

Find trustworthy supplierKeep overhead lowLocation

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## tec0

> Establishing a viable business model is the shop owners responsibility, not the suppliers.
> The interest of the supplier is to get its product to market and get paid by their customers (in this case those shops).


I agree with you however lets take a simple product lets say you buy 1 cup of gold for X amount. And sell that cup of gold for y making z amount in profit. You are doing well everyone wants your gold and is willing to spend money on it as it is a sound investment. 

Now your supplier says wait a minute I now need you to buy a minimum of 10 cups of gold! Or you can no longer buy from us the only suppler in the country What do you do? Your clientele is good but it is not that good. You are making money but not that amount of money. 

Now because you cannot comply to the new demands of the supplier the only supplier your business goes away because you have enough business to sell 1 cup of gold not 10 cups of gold.

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## HR Solutions

Location depends on what type of business you are operating.  Location has no influence on our business.




> “the only supplier”


How is this possible ?

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## adrianh

Well, as the saying goes "If You Want to Run With the Big Dogs, You Got to Learn to Pee In the Tall Grass"

If the clientele is so good then why don't you simply get orders for the volumes that the supplier requires and get a loan against the orders?

Where there's a will there's a way. Nobody ever got rich because of giving up when they hit obstacles, the learn to work with them, go over them or go around them.

It all boils down to locus of control, do you control the situation or do you let the situation control you?

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## tec0

> Location depends on what type of business you are operating.  Location has no influence on our business.
> 
> How is this possible ?


Sadly it is possible if you want to know more Google "Exclusive Distribution Rights"

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## tec0

> Well, as the saying goes "If You Want to Run With the Big Dogs, You Got to Learn to Pee In the Tall Grass"
> 
> If the clientele is so good then why don't you simply get orders for the volumes that the supplier requires and get a loan against the orders?
> 
> Where there's a will there's a way. Nobody ever got rich because of giving up when they hit obstacles, the learn to work with them, go over them or go around them.
> 
> It all boils down to locus of control, do you control the situation or do you let the situation control you?



Some markets allow you to be creative others not so much.

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## adrianh

Which ones don't allow you to be creative, give us a couple of examples.

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## tec0

> Which ones don't allow you to be creative, give us a couple of examples.


I am sure that you are familiar with the term “affiliation” let me clarify “the act of becoming formally connected or joined”. Basically if a business uses a particular brand and your business is not affiliated with that brand you don’t get the service contract nor do you get to sell their stuff the end. 

There is no working around it there is no getting your foot in the door or anything like that. It is or rather it comes down to the simple fact; you are in or you are out. Now to get in is a crazy mixture of paperwork, getting qualified and financial investment. Not to mention you have to comply with ALL their standards.

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## adrianh

> I am sure that you are familiar with the term “affiliation” let me clarify “the act of becoming formally connected or joined”. Basically if a business uses a particular brand and your business is not affiliated with that brand you don’t get the service contract nor do you get to sell their stuff the end. 
> 
> There is no working around it there is no getting your foot in the door or anything like that. It is or rather it comes down to the simple fact; you are in or you are out. Now to get in is a crazy mixture of paperwork, getting qualified and financial investment. Not to mention you have to comply with ALL their standards.


You can't blame companies for vetting their resellers. Imagine if Joe's corner garage started selling new BMW's without the appropriate knowledge and knowhow. What you need to realize is that you as the reseller is responsible for creating an environment that is suitable to the supplier because if you can't then somebody else will. Just think about any of the franchise operations, KFC, MacDonalds, Wimpy etc. you can't do as you please, you have to adhere to very very strict rules and standards...they boot you out quick quick if you don't comply.

Bottom line is that it is your responsibility to ensure that you either satisfy their requirements or come to a suitable arrangement with them. So, why don't you take a loan, like we all do and create the required compliance?

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## HR Solutions

Import yourself.

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## Blurock

> Import yourself.


...and export a job!

Never import just for the sake of making a profit. There are many pitfalls and you must have a REALLY trustworthy supplier. One of the downfalls is that you have to pay up front, which wrecks your cash flow. Guarantees are often non existent or if the wrong or faulty goods are sent, you are stuck with it. Language suddenly becomes a problem.

Only import what you really have to, even if the local product is 10% more expensive. At least you can negotiate with the local supplier (NB supplier - not agent). You may also get credit terms which will allow you to pay even after you have sold the goods.

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## Blurock

> Now to get in is a crazy mixture of paperwork, getting qualified and financial investment. Not to mention you have to comply with ALL their standards.


There is a big difference between a distributor and an agent. In both cases certain standards have to be met and maintained. Now this is what I expect of my distributor:

If you want to sell my product, you have to carry stock, so that you can supply my customers on demand. By investing in stock, you also show your commitment to the product. 

You have to know the product and must be able to give sound advice to our customers. You must also know the products of competitors and market trends in order to apply the correct sales strategies.

What is your business reputation? Will my customers receive good, friendly service? What is the image and appearance of your outlet? Do you subscribe to the same high standards that is expected of the brand? (compare a spaza shop to a franchise outlet and a fancy upmarket restaurant, or a second hand car dealer to a luxury car franchise).

I will not allow you to sell my products from your bakkie or the boot of your car. That does not support the image of the brand and in business image is everything. Why does petrol attendants and franchise waiters wear uniforms? Why are they measured on their service?   

We have invested a lot of money on R&D and getting our products to market. I do not want to give a licence to someone who does not have the same commitment and can stuff it up in one moment of madness. If I have a choice, I will rather deal with the established chain who has a reputation and a market presence.

That is why suppliers are strict on their selection of distributors. It all boils down to economics and profits. Does that make sense?

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## adrianh

I agree about importing yourself. When I wanted to buy my first laser I spoke to many people. I decided to purchase a particular machine from a supplier in JHB. His asking price was R160K and he offered to fly down to install the machine. That seemed a bit odd to me given that a laser isn't a particularly complex piece of machinery (to my mind anyway). I got all my ducks in a row and then the guy started to mess me around. Anyhow, I did a bit of research and found that 90% of Chinese machines are actually manufactured by only two or three companies. The little companies then OEM the machines, add their own paintwork and labels and then sell them as their own brands. I found the company that was selling to my prospective supplier and started to speak with them. I was able to land the machine on my doorstep for R70K including upgrades that would have cost a further R30K in SA. Ok, I am in the fortunate position that I have taught myself to be able to assemble, maintain and repair the machine so its ok not to have support. The point that I am trying to make is that there is a lot to be said for importing stuff yourself if you know what you are doing.

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## tec0

> You can't blame companies for vetting their resellers. Imagine if Joe's corner garage started selling new BMW's without the appropriate knowledge and knowhow. What you need to realize is that you as the reseller is responsible for creating an environment that is suitable to the supplier because if you can't then somebody else will. Just think about any of the franchise operations, KFC, MacDonalds, Wimpy etc. you can't do as you please, you have to adhere to very very strict rules and standards...they boot you out quick quick if you don't comply.
> 
> Bottom line is that it is your responsibility to ensure that you either satisfy their requirements or come to a suitable arrangement with them. So, why don't you take a loan, like we all do and create the required compliance?


Tell you what, if it was that simple I would do it tomorrow. Reality however is, it is not that simple. Funny that you mentioned the car thing. My friend owns a car "new" and he took it for a service and they ended up blowing his engine or so the claim. They billed him for the work and told him to "fix" the car it will cost him more then what the car is worth. He took the car to "some dude" that had a reasonable reputation and he got it working. 

True story.  :Detective: 

Funny thing is I fix these systems. I don't have the support nor the parts but I manage to get them going with scavenged parts if need be. So the question is why don't they open the door and test and see who can and who can't do the work? Because I can tell you now there "tech support" isn't all that wonderful. Because I am the one getting the call when mister "i am the man" can't fixed...

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## adrianh

> Tell you what, if it was that simple I would do it tomorrow. Reality however is, it is not that simple. Funny that you mentioned the car thing. My friend owns a car "new" and he took it for a service and they ended up blowing his engine or so the claim. They billed him for the work and told him to "fix" the car it will cost him more then what the car is worth. He took the car to "some dude" that had a reasonable reputation and he got it working. 
> 
> True story. 
> 
> Funny thing is I fix these systems. I don't have the support nor the parts but I manage to get them going with scavenged parts if need be. So the question is why don't they open the door and test and see who can and who can't do the work? Because I can tell you now there "tech support" isn't all that wonderful. Because I am the one getting the call when mister "i am the man" can't fixed...


so tec, let me ask you something just ss a matter of interest, you seem to know so much about modern cars and you seem to think that they can be easily fixed. 

Do you own diagnostic scan tool?
Do you know how to  use it? 
Do you know what ODBII is? 
Do you know what K-line communicati0n is?
Do you know what L-line communication is?
Do you know what CAN-BUS is?
Do you know how to fault find any of those commuication busses?

Ok,we still haven't touched the car, we've just spoken about diagnostic tools.

If you think for one moment that you can go near a modern car without a scan tool and a fair bit of knowledge about the stuff that I just spoke about you are mistaken. The days of a mechanic and an auto electrician fixing a car are long gone. I wouldn't let abackyard mechacnic near my car unless he owns t1his stuff and knows how to use it.

tec0, you seriously need a reality check. Go to you local proper car workshop and watch them diagnose faults using scan tools like the Launch x431 or the Bosch KTS340 and then come and tell us about fixing cars.

Most cars can be diagnosed using those tools, the only issues are that you cannot reset the odo's and you cannot reprogam keys on some because the key programmers need to connect to the factory in Germany.

So, if you get off you butt and get an education and learn how to use the appropriate tools then you could also work in a workshop and repair cars. But if you think thst you are going to do anything of real value without any form of training then you ar mostaken

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## HR Solutions

A clever man this.

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## tec0

> so tec, let me ask you something just ss a matter of interest, you seem to know so much about modern cars and you seem to think that they can be easily fixed. 
> 
> Do you own diagnostic scan tool?
> Do you know how to  use it? 
> Do you know what ODBII is? 
> Do you know what K-line communicati0n is?
> Do you know what L-line communication is?
> Do you know what CAN-BUS is?
> Do you know how to fault find any of those commuication busses?
> ...


Yea I saw those people in action with all there tools and probes. They didn't fix the car in the end of the day. I worked on systems far more complicated but never got the training because it was too expensive  :Frown:  Again true story...

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## Dave A

> If you think for one moment that you can go near a modern car without a scan tool and a fair bit of knowledge about the stuff that I just spoke about you are mistaken. The days of a mechanic and an auto electrician fixing a car are long gone. I wouldn't let abackyard mechacnic near my car unless he owns t1his stuff and knows how to use it.


When it comes to the electronics misbehaving, perhaps fair comment. But I've found the moment the problem involves something mechanical, the agents with their smart electronic diagnostic tools have repeatedly proved to be a poor second to a well trained, experienced and diligent motor mechanic.

And it seems the "non-agent" market is adjusting to the diagnostic equipment hurdle (which I agree is very real). I learned over the weekend that some rather savvy individual in Durban has assembled the electronic diagnostic tools to handle all sorts of vehicles. When a motor mechanic hits a snag that needs electronic diagnosis, they go to him to do the necessary. Works like a charm for all concerned, apparently.

Which I guess takes us back to the main thrust of this particular thread -

Overall, markets adjust to the prevalent conditions. To survive, businesses need to adjust themselves too.
It's a case of find a way, or fail.

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## adrianh

Yes, there is certainly a need for skilled mechanics, you cannot use a computer to diagnose a bent tie-rod or a piston with worn journal bearings, it takes experience and a good ear. The problem is that a lot of issues that a mechanic could resolve in the olden days using a timing light and a screwdriver simply can no longer be resolved that way. Modern cars have electronically controlled fuel injection systems which include mass flow sensors, knock sensors and sensors within the catalytic convertors. The electronics have rom maps that are used to determine optimum fuel flow rates given all those parameters. There is simply no way to work out what is going wrong with such a system unless you are able to monitor the sensors in real time. Timing is no longer set by twisting the distributor because cars don't have distributors any more. The ignition module uses a sensor to determine at what angle the crankshaft is and then pulses individual coils. You see, its these kind of issues that make it practically impossible for a traditional mechanic to work on modern cars without appropriate diagnostic tools. Take an auto-electrician for example: There was a time when each button switched power directly through itself (like the window up down button) this is also hardly ever the case these days. The window buttons on the drivers side, you know, the four or 5 buttons that are sometimes placed there for remote control, simply have 4 low power wires connected to the module 0V +12V CAN-H & CAN-L. So the traditional auto electrician is unable to repair a faulty window problem unless he can easily fault find using the diagnostic tools. That is why so many components are just swopped out, people keep swopping bits until the problem goes away.

After market diagnostic tools have been around for years. Bosch makes a range of tools and so do many others. There is a company in Cape Town that supplies an amazing tool for VW called VAG-COM. It is a module that plugs into a laptop with a bit of clever software. The problem with the diagnostic tools is that each manufacturer makes lots of function proprietary and they also change them all the time. You not only have to know what the error codes are, you also need to know what it means for a specific year model. The way after market suppliers figure this out is by tapping the diagnostic bus of a OEM tool on the particular make and model. Then it is a long slog to work out the unknown commands and codes. Manufacturers are very clever, they run various protocols at various bus speeds just to confuse the issue. There are cars today that have surpassed CAN-BUS and now use fibre optic MOST-BUS. The reason being that cars need high speed communications throughout their various control systems. 

An interesting signal is called the "crash signal". Cars fitted with airbags have a sensor fitted in the lower middle of the car. The sensor is really a 3 axis accelerometer. (Some cars are also fitted with yaw and roll sensors) This is how the appropriate airbags are told to inflate. Cars can even determine whether they are going into a roll by interpolating the lateral and horizontal acceleration information (That is how a drop top Merc 500SL knows to pop the roll bar up before the car is actually upside down)  Anyhow, when the car detect a sudden deceleration the crash signal is sent across its main control bus causing lots of things to happen at once; on really upmarket cars it is like a fast action shutdown; seat belt tensioners fire, head restraints position themselves correctly, the steering wheel is withdrawn, the motor is turned off, fuel supply is shut off, doors are unlocked, appropriate airbags are deployed and on some cars even the radio is turned off and the hazard lights turned on. Although I often rant about the price of cars, the technology within them is absolutely astounding. 

There will always be a need for a guy holding a spanner in the one hand, the only difference is that he now holds a sophisticated and very expensive diagnostic tool  in the other.

The term "diagnostic tool" is not totally correct - the same tool is also used to change setting within the cars electronics - one should really refer to it as a diagnostic/adjustment tool

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## RCerva

Hi. Most of my client I ask 80% deposit. Balance with completion.  If they don't like it they can go to someone else that is prepared to wait for their money.  I do automation jobs for factories and big guys like Mpact i would rather leave for someone else.  Some of their branches pay, but some of them you wait for months.  One invoice now nearly a year.  So even big clients are just not worth it.

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## Lizz

Any recomendations on Books that u can read to help me have all the skill to be a good businessman? Taking over a small company soon, am nervous but excited. Alot of potential to grow this small business so i wane go prepared...

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## SilverNodashi

> Any recomendations on Books that u can read to help me have all the skill to be a good businessman? Taking over a small company soon, am nervous but excited. Alot of potential to grow this small business so i wane go prepared...


There are way too many to read  :Wink:

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## Dave A

One book that covers a lot of ground...?

I'd go with Common Sense Business by Steve Gottry.

It covers the main aspects, and it's practical, sensible and readable.

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## PlatinumWealth.co.za

Definitely payments in our case (hosting)

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## HR Solutions

> Any recomendations on Books that u can read to help me have all the skill to be a good businessman? Taking over a small company soon, am nervous but excited. Alot of potential to grow this small business so i wane go prepared...



I woul recommend Bussiness for Dummies

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