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I just bought a mobile skate sharpening business

The Skate Truck

The Skate Truck

Registered User
Jan 19, 2010
28
2
Boston area
I'm in the middle of a carear change. I ran my own auto repair garage for 21 years and I have had enough. I will be taking a full time job with all the bennifits my family and I need. However, I really liked being my own boss and I did have fum for the first 10 or 15 years. Anyway this came up, I inquired about it and flew out 1500 miles to check it out. After getting together with the owner, talking with him and seeing how nice a guy he was I made the deal and ended up driving the rig 1500 miles back home to MA from MN. (My ass is still aching from the ride)
Heres what I bought a 1996 International set up as a snap on tool truck equiped with Blademasters newest and best machine with flat bottom dresser, a blademaster power riviter, Onan 10k generator, inventory, web site and domain name and lots of extras. This guy spent some serious time and money on this set up and he was heart broken to let it go. He seamed happy for me and wished me luck.

www.theskatetruck.com
 
good stuff, experienced with skate sharpening? hope you succeed, really like hearing the go for the dream stories.
 
Park that thing outside the rink during major tourneys on weekends and your set. :handclap:
 
I don't get it...

Rinks in the States don't normally have skate shops in them?
 
Lots of rinks in Canada don't have shops as well. This is a neat idea, curious how much money can made doing this. Looks like fun.
 
That's real neat! Great for outdoor events!

You said you had a full time position that gave you benefits, so even if you don't really make a lot of money, you don't have to worry all that much. Sounds like you'll be having a blast!
 
timekeep said:
Lots of rinks in Canada don't have shops as well. This is a neat idea, curious how much money can made doing this. Looks like fun.
Click to expand...

Here in Toronto, none of the public rinks have on-site sharpening anymore.
 
Here in Jersey, most of the rinks have pro-shops.

With terrible hours that are mostly during the day, and with kids working when you can get there and they do a hack job.

Good idea. Drive out to a different rink 5 days a week during different times? Definitely has potential.
 
Just getting online to check this thread, lots of questions. I'll do my best to answer all.
1) Codemanh, Anytime buddy, just shoot me an email if your in the area.

2) Harv, yes and no. If the rink has a pro shop issues will arise. Park it in front of the hotels where there are hundreds of hockey famalies registered. They will walk by the truck several times a day. Going and coming from breakfast, lunck, dinner, game, etc...

3) cptjeff, I bought it in MN but im in MA. I do plan to stay some what local, within 50 miles with the exception of tournaments. I already have 2 rinks who dont have a pro shop who said come by anytime. Both are also willing to pay me to put thier logo on the side of the truck. The other side was left blank for sponsors. My plan is to fill the whole side. Also am dealing with the city council to try and get a space out front of our local rink. There is no pro shop in the rink.

4) bank shot, some do some dont most (not all) of the rinks around here do a sucky job skarpening and people will go else where fro sharpenings.

5) Modsquad, the guy actually did very well. He is the president of a franchising company and his time has been very limited. I know that first hand because I spent 3 days with him and his phone never stopped ringing. I dont believe you can dish out that amount of $$ for the innitial investment and be able to make it as your sole means of income. I bought it for a great price and I plan on doing it part time.

6) Defgarden, outdoor events is another plan of mine and yes I will be working another full time job

7) there will be days where I will do very little and there will be days when I will clean up. Some guys are getting 48 for traditional sharpenings and $10 or more for flat bottom. My plan is $5 for trad and $7 or $8 for flat bottom. 100 pair on a weekend would be $500 to $800. Also 6 pack punch cards. Pay for 5 sharpenings up front and get the sixth sharpening free.

This thing is also set up with a Blademaster pnumatic rivet press and a full supply of mouth guards, tape, skate guards, laces, used skates, blades, tuuk holders, honing stones and a full line of other nessities.

Thanks to all you guys for wishing me luck. I want to get my kid started doing this so he can work the truck while i'm at work.
I'll keep you guys posted.
 
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100 a day? if you have a rink that is full from 6AM to 6PM, there are going to be 500-600 kids on the ice and you think you're going to get 20% of them every day?

I hope you hook up with your local rink that doesn't have a shop and work something out, because taking that thing on the road is going to be very difficult to make any money.
 
Yeah - see if you can license the old Hockey Night in Canada theme, and get someone to make an audio file of it that sounds like an ice cream truck's song. I'd come visit you just to hear that.
 
Chadd said:
100 a day? if you have a rink that is full from 6AM to 6PM, there are going to be 500-600 kids on the ice and you think you're going to get 20% of them every day?

I hope you hook up with your local rink that doesn't have a shop and work something out, because taking that thing on the road is going to be very difficult to make any money.
Click to expand...

The 100 pair figure was for a weekend but even over the course of a part time week it will be more than that. I know people who do over 100 pair on a Saturday alone. My buddie did 136 pair in one day at $6 a pop. Yes it was a full day and his back was killing him.
I have another machine I am considering mounting in the truck and possibly having my son run a machine on busy days. There are over 350 kids in our local youth hockey program and over 120 in our school hockey program. No proshop in the local rink and NO ONE else in town sharpening skates. Closest sharpener is a 30 minute drive.
100 pair dosent sound so far out of the question now that the facts are laid out. There is no doubt this operation will make money under the right circumstanses. The 2 things I have going for me is, 1 what i just mentioned and 2 I got a hell of a deal on the truck and equipment. I wasnt the one who made the initial $75K investment.
It's win, win for me. If I dont make a dime and decide to part the truck out I'll make over $15k.
The other option is to convert it to a top less ice-cream truck. Theres a million dollar idea right there! lol!
 
The Skate Truck said:
The 100 pair figure was for a weekend but even over the course of a part time week it will be more than that. I know people who do over 100 pair on a Saturday alone. My buddie did 136 pair in one day at $6 a pop. Yes it was a full day and his back was killing him.
I have another machine I am considering mounting in the truck and possibly having my son run a machine on busy days. There are over 350 kids in our local youth hockey program and over 120 in our school hockey program. No proshop in the local rink and NO ONE else in town sharpening skates. Closest sharpener is a 30 minute drive.
100 pair dosent sound so far out of the question now that the facts are laid out. There is no doubt this operation will make money under the right circumstanses. The 2 things I have going for me is, 1 what i just mentioned and 2 I got a hell of a deal on the truck and equipment. I wasnt the one who made the initial $75K investment.
It's win, win for me. If I dont make a dime and decide to part the truck out I'll make over $15k.
The other option is to convert it to a top less ice-cream truck. Theres a million dollar idea right there! lol!
Click to expand...

Please don't bring any logic or your buddies experience into this. It makes it a lot tougher for guys on HF to hate on it then. :sarcasm:

On a serious note though that thing looks awesome and probably a dream come true for you. Good luck and have fun with it!
 
A "mobile skate sharpening bussiness"

Aren't all skates mobile? Or they wouldn't need sharpening. Am i missing something?
 
ekcut said:
A "mobile skate sharpening bussiness"

Aren't all skates mobile? Or they wouldn't need sharpening. Am i missing something?
Click to expand...

If you are serious then Yea you certainly are missing something. The business is mobile not the skates. It is run out of a truck which will stop at rinks, motels, ponds, tournaments, etc.... The pictures above should tell you all you have missed.
 
I really like the idea from the standpoint of a hockey player.

I don't know how feasible of a business model it is, but I do wish you the best. And if you can make a profit parting out the stuff if it doesn't work out, even better.
 
Sometimes you have to think outside the box-skate sharpening/beer/cigarettes. I would guess most of the money could be made by repairing, changing steel and holders. He can also sell advertising since he is a mobile billboard. If he's going to rinks that don't have shops for tourneys than anything such as tape or skate socks could easily be marked up a few dollars for profit. Interesting idea, never knew anything like that existed.
 
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