“Parts issues are huge,” said Dan Nudelman of Dan’s Machine Shop in Livermore, California. Saying “no” to a customer isn’t easy, but, as he explained, “I’m sitting on 15 engines, and I have to tell people ‘no’ because I don’t have the room and can’t produce it out quick enough.”

Sometimes it’s better to be selective than all-inclusive. Here, several motorsports entrepreneurs explain when and why they turn down certain jobs—and how to do so while keeping their reputations intact

The goal of any entrepreneur, especially in the racing industry, is to build a business so successful that it creates high demand for a specific product or craftsmanship.

The last 12 months, however, have included labor shortages and supply chain interruptions that have led some companies in racing to actually turn away business.

In the recent PRI Motorsports Retail Business Survey, when asked their best business decision the past 12 months, several respondents said they turned away work rather than accept it.

PRI Magazine contacted several racing businesses to ask the reasons why, in a challenging economic time, they are turning away business and being more selective with the jobs they accept.

Which Jobs to Accept

When asked about which jobs or type of work to accept, Dan Nudelman of Dan’s Machine Shop in Livermore, California, cited “supply and demand.” Nudelman has been running his machine shop for the past 30 years and started this line of work with his father when he was 13. Today, he specializes in the “old school muscle cars,” including Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes. He said, “Knowing what is not out here and what is and how it changes every day, it’s hard. 

“Like everything, the parts issues are huge. I have to be forward with these guys. I don’t know how long sometimes it can take. I just had one of my customers come in a while ago who said he can’t find a part of a 454. I say, ‘Welcome to my world.’

“I’ve been in this business 54 years, and I’ve never seen it like this,” he continued. “It’s frustrating. It’s hard when you have to bounce from job to job. My jobs are small. I’m just a one-man player. I had another guy, but COVID-19 took him out, and I haven’t been able to recoup another person. I’m the teardown guy, the cleaner guy, the machine guy, the assembly guy. I’m sitting on 15 engines, and I have to tell people ‘no’ because I don’t have the room and can’t produce it out quick enough.

“I’m just being very cautious and careful. If I get these engines out, then I can move forward,” Nudelman added.

Steve Morris runs Steve Morris Engines in Muskegon, Michigan. Morris has a larger operation with seven employees and describes his business as “a busy shop with lots of work.

“We’ve developed a very good niche field of boosted engines only,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent of everything we do is boosted. If it’s not in the boosted market, then it is something we would turn away. We wouldn’t have time to do it.

“The other thing is, if it is so far out of our normal niche—say if somebody wants a 2,000 hp AMC 360—I can make it happen, but they will have to wait for it, and that’s not our normal deal. We would probably have to turn away that thing, too.”

Morris acknowledged the supply chain challenges have affected his business. “We are currently waiting on parts and have some 20-odd jobs waiting on parts to finish.”

Roger Williams runs Williams Precision Engines in St. Paul, Indiana, and has been machining engines for 30 years. Williams has two employees, plus himself. He discovered a solution to the conundrum was to align himself with a professional tractor pulling team and devote most of his time to that operation.

“Over the last number of months, parts availability has become the biggest issue,” Williams said. “I’m not even taking on any new assembly jobs because I can’t tell a customer I will have his engine together. The jobs I’m taking on are more freshen-ups and possibly easier-to-get-parts types. It’s hard to make a living when you can’t get the parts or tell the customer a date. The piston companies are telling you eight to 10 weeks, and it makes it a little rough to do anything.

“I recently started building engines for a pulling team. They supply most of the parts, but I have 10 big Brad Anderson blown Hemis that I’m taking care of for those guys, which is a multi-engine tractor team.

“It is definitely making us change our business outlook,” he continued about the parts shortages. “It used to be somebody would call me up and I would say, ‘Sure, I’ll put an engine together,’ without thinking much about it.

“The last new engine I built, it took me three days just to find the connecting rods. I can’t charge my customer three days for me hunting and calling trying to find connecting rods. It has become unprofitable to build engines for them,” Williams said.

Adam Bolyard has been involved in Adam Bolyard Racing for more than 10 years in Franklin, Indiana, and is the sole proprietor of his shop. He bases most of his business on personal reputation.

“Normally, I decide on which ones to accept based on personal relationships,” Bolyard said. “If I know people and have done business with them in the past, that is my first priority. If it is for people that I know and like and are pleasant to work with, I take care of them even if I have to go above and beyond on my schedule to make that happen.

“I also try to do more higher-end stuff, so the more exotic or challenging, I like to take those projects on,” Bolyard added.

When to Decline a Job

Nudelman bases his decision to decline a job by the customer’s budget. “There are a lot of dreamers,” he observed. “The Internet can be your best friend or your worst enemy. They see this stuff that is sold online and want people to compete, but I can’t compete with Jasper. We do custom motors, restorations. I do everything from Mercedes to 1970 Mustangs and things like that. I can’t do it for five grand, and you have to be careful with what you buy. And who is buying this?

“I had a mom, dad, and 16-year-old in here the other day. Dad asked for a true 500-horsepower small block, and I said, ‘$15,000 to $18,000.’

“He was like, ‘OK.’

“I said, ‘I won’t do it. He’ll kill himself.’ Dad said he would let him drive a Corvette because it doesn’t put out as much horsepower. 

“I have to be careful. I’m a father. The last thing I want on my conscience is somebody getting hurt by something I built,” Nudelman added.

Morris determines his decision based on the engine style, which must be boosted. “It also has to be in the engine platform that we do,” he explained. “Third would be price. Sometimes we end up turning away things because we have a high-price threshold. We do high-quality work, we stand behind our work, this is what it costs, and sometimes people aren’t willing to pay that. Sometimes, it weans people out from that.”

Profitability is what determines what Bolyard will accept or reject. “If we can’t make money on it, then it’s not interesting. It really has to be something you are really passionate about as well. I have a TQ midget to run, and nobody manufactures headers anymore except for Schoenfeld. I’m trying to fix that and produce bigger numbers on the dyno. I’m doing that right now, and I’m trying to figure it out and hope to sell some.”

Preserving Customer Relationships

Telling a customer the reasons for declining a job may be awkward, but Nudelman explained his approach. “I have to be honest and say, ‘I don’t have the time unless you want to wait. I can’t do what you want, so I have to be honest. If you are looking for a rebuild with Edelbrock heads and all these pieces that add up, if I can’t make a profit on it, I can’t do it.’ It’s being straightforward and honest. I’ll tell them, ‘If you find something on the Internet, that might be the way to go.’”

“We can be super nice about it, and if it is not in our wheelhouse, in the normal threshold of what we do, I just tell them that,” added Morris. “If somebody wants me to do a normally aspirated Olds 455 for his 1970 442, a stock rebuild, I’m sorry, that’s just not in our wheelhouse. If we did do that, it would be very expensive because that is not the platform that we do,” again, pointing to his main niche, boosted engines only, 1,000 hp and above.

However, Williams said, “So far, that hasn’t been an issue because they understand. Most of the people who are interested in building an engine of this caliber are fairly professional themselves. They know we are all facing these problems in every industry. I haven’t had any grief from them. I just tell them it’s unprofitable to do it. 

“I’m just not accepting any new jobs at this time,” he continued, but he added, “check back later. If they want me to do the machine work and they put them together, that’s fine. But I’m not just doing the assemblies.”

Bolyard admitted, “Normally, you can tell pretty early in the conversation or process if you want to take on a job. If I don’t want it, maybe it’s not profitable, or it’s for a customer who is difficult to deal with, then I price them out. I price them so high you know they will turn it down, and then you kindly send them on their way.

“I like to deal in higher-end clientele,” he continued. “You get better classes of people who don’t bark at you about price. I’m pretty expensive, my rates are pretty high, but I do neat work and the quality is there. Higher-end customers want the quality.

“It’s not about the money, it’s about the product,” he added.

Sharing Advice

Our sources offered their advice to other racing businesses about how to politely decline work.

“Be honest,” said Morris. “If it’s not in your wheelhouse, it’s not in your wheelhouse. I’m a big proponent of, ‘This is what we do.’ I try to stay in my lane as much as possible. I don’t do mod motors because other people do a great job with it, and I don’t have the manpower or resources to do it and recommend they go somewhere else. I send the work that they do away to them, and they should send the work they can’t do to us when it fits our platform.”

“Everybody has to look at their own individual situation,” advised Williams. “You have to do what you have to do to make a living. Everybody knows the cost of living is going up. Everything is going up, so you have to make as much money as you can. 

“The Saturday night sportsman racers are generally not your best customer to make money because they are scrounging around for every dime that they can. My outlook is, do a really good job and go for a pro series team with a big budget. If you do a real good job and get picked up by somebody like I did, you can make your living that way.

“I found a pro team and work on a salary. I don’t have to spend all day searching for stuff,” concluded Williams.

“Don’t burn any bridges,” said Bolyard. “Always be professional in how you communicate or decline a certain customer or project. Sometimes, you can price it right to where it won’t make sense. There are ways to decline someone without insulting them.”

Sources

Adam Bolyard Racing
instagram.com/bolyardac/

Dan’s Machine Shop
dansenginebuilding.com

Steve Morris Engines
stevemorrisengines.com

Williams Precision Engines
wpespeedshop.com