I have been in the WR business for the last year or so and things have good so far here in Malaysia. There has been good days and bad ones esp when someone calls you out to their location, some 10 miles away with the travelling time of a hour or so (the traffic is bad over here), and to find an 'unrepairable' windshield.
Anyways, coming to the point, I have just added a new service to my WR business which only takes a few extra minutes and make a decent profit. Its windshield related as that's my main forte. I'm selling Wiper Blades!
These Blades are the Silicon type and comes with a LIfetime Warranty from the manufacturer/distributor. Its made in South Africa and its called Dura Edge. I'm personally using them for my 3 cars and so far have been very satisfied with them. Profit margin is at 40% and I have yet had a single complaint. :eusa_clap And even if there's a need to service anynof my clients if they have a complaint, the distributor has agreed in writing that they would do all the after sales service!
There are lots of other form of services/businesses that we can add onto our business just to get a little extra $. Anyone else have any other add-on services that may be helpful to the rest?
Do you carry all diffrent sizes around with you or presell and bring the right size along with you to the job? Seems like you would have to carry around a massive amount of blades if you were selling "on the spot" while doing a repair.
Sounds like a good deal overall but please give us alittle more info.
other than wsr (which I do most if) We offer PDR and Scratch repair(Rick does this). I was really surprised at how excited people are when you go to fix a bullseye and end up fixing their bumper, or dings in their car. it works for us. And we always have a happy customer. Dawn
As for the different sizes of Blades, I do normally have about 40 - 50 pieces in my trunk each time I'm out. The amount of space for this is so little that I still have room for my WR equipment (The Eliminator from GT) and all the other stuff I need plus my 3 pieces of golf clubs (just in case I have some time in between repairs and no where to go, I head to the driving range). My car is a 4 door Sedan with the average trunk space of a normal Sedan.
The sizes of Blades vary depending on the make of car and normally its different sizes for each Blade on the same car ie, 18"/20". My inventory for the day is normally:
14" - 2 pieces - only about 3 makes of cars I know have this size
16" - 4 pieces - only about 10 makes have this size
18" - 10 pieces or more - most common
20" - 10 pieces or more - most common
22" - 10 pieces or more - most common
24" - 4 pieces - only 1 make of car has this (BMW 5 series - model E34)
26" - 2 pieces - very rare (Honda Accord 2003)
The manufacturer/distributor also provides me with the recommended sizes of each make/model and that guide helps alot. Yesterday I did 6 WR but sold 7 pairs of blades (1 client had 2 cars but only 1 had a chip, sold blades for both his cars).
I like this idea, I have been thinking about it for a couple of days but can't seem to find any info on how to get it started Who do I buy from, what is the typical cost?
Consumer reports did a study and they found the difference between an expensive pair of silicone blades to a cheap brand is only about 2 months life difference.
The key is to carry and install the wiper refills. Less expensive inventory and easy to install. Original wiper frames are usually of better quality than aftermarket. No sense in throwing away the customers original frames.
The reason I asked the the detailing price question which was ignored, is to bring the point across that WSR is far more profitable than detailing. We can do say 3 repairs an hour + if working a fleet or forecourt, so concentrate on the part of your business that get you the best bucks per hour. I would much rather spend time selling or marketing than I would polishing.
