LDiaz
Well-known member
- Location
- Lang & Diaz Dealership. Elgin Ave
RP Characters: Sam Lang & Lewis Diaz
Business: Lang & Diaz Luxury Motors
Pros -
Cons -
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A bit of background info...
Sam & I have now been running our own private business 'Lang & Diaz Luxury Motors' for around about 4-5 months. At the very start of our business venture, we would simply try and acquire a few vehicles and sell them via Tweedle using nothing but our telephone numbers. As time rolled on, we then (occasionally) started to showcase some of our stock in the Auto Exotic Public Car Park (as we are both employees of AE). This attracted some attention from passers by, but we were still heavily reliant on our social media advertisements (displayed below) for the vast majority of our sales.
Moving forward again, Sam and I decided to try and find a new place to "set up shop", as AE would be restarting it's vehicle sales department. Therefore, we thought it best to move our private vehicle sales business away from the grounds of AE to ensure we did not get in the way, and to provide a clear differentiation from the AE vehicle stock and our own.
With the above in mind, we have now found ourselves a new home right across the street. Once Sam and I "clock off" from our jobs as AE, we go and set up shop on the corner of Spanish Ave. And since doing so, we have seen an astronomical rise in foot traffic and sales! - We are no longer as reliant on our social media advertisements as we once were. As soon as we advertise that our "dealership/forecourt" is open, we get people from all corners of the City coming to view our stock and hang around for a chat.
We have been receiving constant praise and amazing feedback (not only for our prices and service etc) but also for the amount of stock we are consistently able to obtain and sell back to the community, as well as how well we have utilized the space that we now occupy - Most people comment on how refreshing it is to have a 2nd hand car dealership in the City. Moving to this space has been so successful, that we have had to now employ (and pay) 3 members of security to help us keep an eye on our vehicles, and to this day we have only had 1 vehicle stolen as a result of this (but many more attempts from people to do so) - We also reach out to smaller catering businesses in the City once the forecourt is open, to ask if they would like to "pitch up" on the grass to sell refreshments etc, so we are providing lots of opportunities for others to also benefit from our business idea.
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Sales
In the first 2 weeks, Sam and I had recorded the following Sales figures:
I believe these statistics alone must rival those of most of our current dealerships in the City, that are actually official businesses.
We also offer finance to customers, which enables them to be able to put a deposit down in order to take their desired vehicle off sale. In order to accomplish this in a safe, trustworthy and sustainable manner, we have a very strict process in place for this:
EDIT: Since initially raising this suggestion, we have now opened a raffles department
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Staff
Owners: Sam Lang & Lewis Diaz
Security Lead: Gav Lang
Security Team: Deano Deanerson, Chris Pazza, Cletus
Raffles Lead: Millie Lang
Raffles Assistant: Holly Baker
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Our struggles
Currently, we are fighting the elements in order to try and keep our vehicle stock safe, and stop people being idiots around the forecourt. We have reached out to the Police and CID, as well as Gruppe 6 to try and get a supply of barriers to help us, as they have advised they would be eager to help us out as they all strongly support our business idea.
Unfortunately however, due to the limitations and constraints of the City, we have burned through about 20 barriers in the past couple of weeks because they simply just "de-spawn" whenever there are too many people or vehicles in the area. In addition to this, they can also be stolen (which we are not sure if this has happened yet or not). Finally, they take far too long to pick up, and when you are having to do this a multitude of times per day, it really adds up and takes its toll!
One of the biggest worries we have, is that whilst the forecourt is open, Sam and I are very reluctant to go anywhere as we constantly worry about people messing around and trying to steal our vehicles. Although we have employed a few members of staff, they also have their own commitments and things to do in the City so they are not always available to help us out. Meaning some of the time, we are having to leave one another at the forecourt on our own should we need to go to City Hall to buy/sell a vehicle.
There is also a pillar in the way of the space that we use to park the vehicles, it would be great if this could also be removed! (pictured below)
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Our Request...
Simply put, Sam & I would like to inherit the land in which we have now chosen to operate our business from. Our request is for the access points in the area to be blocked up with bollards (examples below), and for a series of "anti-theft" bollards (like those at MRPD) to be implemented in the 2 main entrances to the land, to allow us to be able to maneuver vehicles in/out of the forecourt with ease when desired (this also then eradicates the annoying issue of having to wait over 30 seconds for someone to remove a concrete barrier every single time we need to move a car!) - We would request that the access to operate the anti-theft bollards is given to our staff.
Not only does this provide more security to the area, (as no one will be able to remove any vehicles whilst the anti-theft bollards are up), but the inclusion of bollards is more aesthetically suited to the surrounding environment, and looks a lot better than concrete barriers. This also looks a lot more professional.
I have left a gap in the bollards around the grass section, to still allow caterers to be able to access the space and "set up shop". It also gives everyone a safe social space without the risk of being hit by poor drivers etc.
We would also like to request for the huge pillar & the 'badger' logo's on the building to be removed... Maybe one day in the future, it could be our name logo there instead?
Finally, we would like to explore the possibility of having a way to transfer ownership of vehicles via an internal business process, therefore mitigating the need for us to have to go to City Hall to transact with customers. In addition, it would be nice if we could not incur a transfer fee for this, in the same way major dealerships don't.
(I could not find texture files for any automated bollards so they are not included in the below pictures, but we would like them in the 2 main entrances as mentioned)
We would also like to have some permanent bollards here (missed them in blender by accident)
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Social Media
Business: Lang & Diaz Luxury Motors
Pros -
- Substantial RP benefits gained from introduction of a new business, with a different approach to most dealerships
- Provides players with other more trusted avenues to shop for vehicles
- Increases interactions when purchasing a vehicle, and provides opportunities for people to see and test vehicles first hand
- Less reliance on props for security (which then disappear over time)
- Allows Sam and Lewis to be able to focus on the customers, and not worry about people trying to steal the vehicles
- Provides a more professional look and feel to the "forecourt"
- Creates a safer environment for all
- Creates an opportunity for the business to be official, with listed staff - Enabling them to have access to operate the bollards etc
Cons -
- Dev Work Required
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit of background info...
Sam & I have now been running our own private business 'Lang & Diaz Luxury Motors' for around about 4-5 months. At the very start of our business venture, we would simply try and acquire a few vehicles and sell them via Tweedle using nothing but our telephone numbers. As time rolled on, we then (occasionally) started to showcase some of our stock in the Auto Exotic Public Car Park (as we are both employees of AE). This attracted some attention from passers by, but we were still heavily reliant on our social media advertisements (displayed below) for the vast majority of our sales.
Moving forward again, Sam and I decided to try and find a new place to "set up shop", as AE would be restarting it's vehicle sales department. Therefore, we thought it best to move our private vehicle sales business away from the grounds of AE to ensure we did not get in the way, and to provide a clear differentiation from the AE vehicle stock and our own.
With the above in mind, we have now found ourselves a new home right across the street. Once Sam and I "clock off" from our jobs as AE, we go and set up shop on the corner of Spanish Ave. And since doing so, we have seen an astronomical rise in foot traffic and sales! - We are no longer as reliant on our social media advertisements as we once were. As soon as we advertise that our "dealership/forecourt" is open, we get people from all corners of the City coming to view our stock and hang around for a chat.
We have been receiving constant praise and amazing feedback (not only for our prices and service etc) but also for the amount of stock we are consistently able to obtain and sell back to the community, as well as how well we have utilized the space that we now occupy - Most people comment on how refreshing it is to have a 2nd hand car dealership in the City. Moving to this space has been so successful, that we have had to now employ (and pay) 3 members of security to help us keep an eye on our vehicles, and to this day we have only had 1 vehicle stolen as a result of this (but many more attempts from people to do so) - We also reach out to smaller catering businesses in the City once the forecourt is open, to ask if they would like to "pitch up" on the grass to sell refreshments etc, so we are providing lots of opportunities for others to also benefit from our business idea.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sales
In the first 2 weeks, Sam and I had recorded the following Sales figures:
- Vehicles sold: 44
- Total value of Sales: £33,365,000
- Total cost of Purchases: £23,980,000
- Total profit: £9,385,000
I believe these statistics alone must rival those of most of our current dealerships in the City, that are actually official businesses.
We also offer finance to customers, which enables them to be able to put a deposit down in order to take their desired vehicle off sale. In order to accomplish this in a safe, trustworthy and sustainable manner, we have a very strict process in place for this:
- Once the customer agrees on a sale price, we ask for a deposit of less than 10%. Once the deposit has been issued to Sam or I, we send over the following (via text):
- Once the customer responds with "Accepted", the agreement is live and they have 10 days (as stated) to pay for their vehicle.
- This information is then tracked in our database, with links to each individual section of the contract that has been sent to the customer
EDIT: Since initially raising this suggestion, we have now opened a raffles department
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff
Owners: Sam Lang & Lewis Diaz
Security Lead: Gav Lang
Security Team: Deano Deanerson, Chris Pazza, Cletus
Raffles Lead: Millie Lang
Raffles Assistant: Holly Baker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our struggles
Currently, we are fighting the elements in order to try and keep our vehicle stock safe, and stop people being idiots around the forecourt. We have reached out to the Police and CID, as well as Gruppe 6 to try and get a supply of barriers to help us, as they have advised they would be eager to help us out as they all strongly support our business idea.
Unfortunately however, due to the limitations and constraints of the City, we have burned through about 20 barriers in the past couple of weeks because they simply just "de-spawn" whenever there are too many people or vehicles in the area. In addition to this, they can also be stolen (which we are not sure if this has happened yet or not). Finally, they take far too long to pick up, and when you are having to do this a multitude of times per day, it really adds up and takes its toll!
One of the biggest worries we have, is that whilst the forecourt is open, Sam and I are very reluctant to go anywhere as we constantly worry about people messing around and trying to steal our vehicles. Although we have employed a few members of staff, they also have their own commitments and things to do in the City so they are not always available to help us out. Meaning some of the time, we are having to leave one another at the forecourt on our own should we need to go to City Hall to buy/sell a vehicle.
There is also a pillar in the way of the space that we use to park the vehicles, it would be great if this could also be removed! (pictured below)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Request...
Simply put, Sam & I would like to inherit the land in which we have now chosen to operate our business from. Our request is for the access points in the area to be blocked up with bollards (examples below), and for a series of "anti-theft" bollards (like those at MRPD) to be implemented in the 2 main entrances to the land, to allow us to be able to maneuver vehicles in/out of the forecourt with ease when desired (this also then eradicates the annoying issue of having to wait over 30 seconds for someone to remove a concrete barrier every single time we need to move a car!) - We would request that the access to operate the anti-theft bollards is given to our staff.
Not only does this provide more security to the area, (as no one will be able to remove any vehicles whilst the anti-theft bollards are up), but the inclusion of bollards is more aesthetically suited to the surrounding environment, and looks a lot better than concrete barriers. This also looks a lot more professional.
I have left a gap in the bollards around the grass section, to still allow caterers to be able to access the space and "set up shop". It also gives everyone a safe social space without the risk of being hit by poor drivers etc.
We would also like to request for the huge pillar & the 'badger' logo's on the building to be removed... Maybe one day in the future, it could be our name logo there instead?
Finally, we would like to explore the possibility of having a way to transfer ownership of vehicles via an internal business process, therefore mitigating the need for us to have to go to City Hall to transact with customers. In addition, it would be nice if we could not incur a transfer fee for this, in the same way major dealerships don't.
(I could not find texture files for any automated bollards so they are not included in the below pictures, but we would like them in the 2 main entrances as mentioned)
We would also like to have some permanent bollards here (missed them in blender by accident)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Media
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