by Tabitha Hergest

Created on: March 06, 2010

There are few things more satisfying - that can be discussed on a family medium, leastways - than turning your passion into a business.  After all, if you do what you love to do, then doesn't it follow that if you make money from it as well, it becomes even more dear?

Well, maybe - but it might also make you come to loathe it, if your love of it is based on your being able to practice it as you will, and not as your bank manager dictates.  But supposing your passion is so deep and thorough that no end of hazard and broken dreams can tear you away from it: then you have the basis for a sound business - after all, if you love to do something, then you are more likely to be good at it.  However, there is a very important caveat, in that a business that relies on the efforts of just one person is going to be limited in scope, so if you want your business to thrive, you need to be prepared to keep your own practical application to your own time.  In work, you have far more important things to do.

But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  The fundamental of good business is customer satisfaction - and that comes from knowledge, especially in such a high-ticket arena as Classic cars.  Of course, you could specialise in the "rent-a-wreck" end, where Classics can become the playthings of the lower paid orders.; but even so, you've got to know your stuff.  A discerning buyer will smell a fake a mile off if you advertise an Aston Martin DB5 with a 3.6 litre engine as original equipment, and such a faux pas will do your reputation no good amongst the fraternity of knowledgeable enthusiasts.  And make no mistake, the grapevine amongst Owners' Clubs and other organisations dedicated to the preservation of the Classic car is particularly thick and verdant, so it is particularly unwise to fool the cognoscenti.

It is often an idea to specialise in one marque, and very often in one era of that marque's history.  Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason did just this when he went into partnership with Derrick Edwards and Judy Hogg to form Morntane Engineering in 1976.  Of course, both Edwards and Mason were keen racers of the Aston Martins made in the inter-war period under the stewardship of Augustus Cesare Beertelli, so they knew their onions.  Plus, their expertise and, it must be said, contacts amongst the racing fraternity, quickly established them as a name in their chosen speciality, but because it was focused, their name would be at the forefront of the minds of the people who matter, with the requisite expertise impressed upon their minds.

Obviously, when considering a business such as the Classic car trade, there are many, many other things to take into account.  But the foregoing will give anyone planning to take the plunge a few things to think about.

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