Should I stick with uni? Long

[Chris E]

Hey guys

Just looking for some opinions from people who are in the automotive industry, and also those who are in the business/accountancy industry.

This is going to be a pretty long post so just stick with me lol.

I'm currently at uni and once I'm finished I'll basically be an accredited accountant and have a degree in business law.

Thing is, what I really love doing is working on cars. I am really good at business, marketing, accounting etc at uni but its pretty much a nightmare for me to think about sitting behind a desk for my whole working life...

My goal is to have my own workshop, obviously starting off as a mostly general workshop/ with a small performance side and moving slowly towards becoming a full blown performance workshop.

I know every kid my age (I'm 18) says they want to have a performance workshop etc, but I'm serious with it. I have one mate who is an apprentice fitter and turner, another who is an apprentice mechanic, who are both car mad. They are both keen on the idea and are pretty committed (started saving). I've started saving already and aim to have (cumulative between the three of us) at minimum $100k before we even think about starting up.

I've always been around cars/trucks/earthmovers, dads a mechanic (not working in that field anymore but), when I was younger my dad and older sister were in speedway racing. I know a fair bit already and we do all our own work on cars. Dads taught me heaps and I've learned heaps through reading/trial and error lol. I've changed auto boxes, done a manual conversion, swapped engines etc, steering racks, cvs etc etc but I know enough to know I don't know jack shit.

My plan is to finish uni and get my degree then get an apprenticeship somewhere where I can learn a lot about cars and the industry.

My question for you guys is do you think I am wasting my time with uni and should go straight into automotive?

I'm thinking that the degree will be good as I'll know exactly how to run the business, properly, and have something to fall back on incase it fails. Uni is also allowing me to save between 2-400/week depending on bills/how many shifts I do.

[VN_Luke]

99% of mechanics I speak to were once car mad ..... now they're grumpy and hate cars - I reckon in most situations you will eventually get sick/bored of what you do for a job.

... as such, my recommendation is to not let your job ruin your hobby - and if you're going to be working for 8 hours a day, pick the job that best compensates for it financially - so that you have lots more cash to spend on your hobby

[bezz]

I say stick with uni in case this plan backfires. Always good to have something to fall back on.

[Chris E]

99% of mechanics I speak to were once car mad ..... now they're grumpy and hate cars - I reckon in most situations you will eventually get sick/bored of what you do for a job.

... as such, my recommendation is to not let your job ruin your hobby - and if you're going to be working for 8 hours a day, pick the job that best compensates for it financially - so that you have lots more cash to spend on your hobby

Luke that's actually something I gave a lot of thought to, which is why I'm at uni now. Everyone always told me to be a mechanic but I said exactly that, I don't want it to ruin cars for me. But I figured that if the business does well enough, and we eventually are working on some nice cars it won't be so bad.

Oh, and I know exactly what you mean with mechanics getting sick of it...dads been out of the game for a good 10-15 years now and still every time he has helped me its" f$#^ing cars etc etc"...

[elemeNtz]

Do you love working on your car or everyone's car?

[MasterOfReality]

I reckon stick with the degree. You are only 18, so how do you know you hate what you will be doing? You have barely started.

I couldn't stand the thought of sitting behind a desk all day, but honestly its not that bad. Part of my work involves getting my site gear on and getting stuck into manual work, and I would take a clean office job any time.

Accounting isn't too bad when it comes to earnings. My girlfriend is 26, has nearly completed her CPA and earns close to 100k a year.

Going by your plan, I reckon it would be a minimum of 10 years into the future before it starts financially working out for you if you want to open your own place, and thats if you can stand out from the others.

[VN_Luke]

how about.... you do the boring office job for a while - make good cash etc. and put away money for starting your own shop at the same time (which will be a lot easier with a better income)

Once you have saved money from said well paying job (or even obtained a loan for starting a small business because you can afford to pay a loan...)... you can open up a shop, or purchase a business..... and get some other suckers to work in it for you and make you money !

Then just go visit your shop and play on the cool cars as you see fit hehe.

[HamaTime™]

Stay with uni. Get your degree...if you still want to do the automotive industry, then start.