Hello.. I was looking into starting a small windshield repair business part time.Since I am so new,, I was wondering how to tell if there was a need for this when 4-5 others are doing it in my town. My population as of 1997 was 145000. Any info would be appreciated I don't wanna spend a couple thousand if I can't get the business.
thanks
jeff
http://www.spy-eyes.com
New business
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Anonymous
New business
Welcome aboard Tooldini,
I don't have an exact answer but I have some food for thought. You want this to be a part time business I see. First, can you afford to spend the money at the present time? If so, and you truly work at it I am confident at the very least that you will make back your initial investment. How long that will take depends on your effort. I wont lie to you, it will take work to get your business rolling. Second, did you do any preliminary homework such as call you competitors see what they charge, see what kind of work they do, what kind of warranty they offer and any other benefits that might make a potential customer choose them. If you have and you feel you can offer a better product/service then eventually the word will spread. This my friend is "Competition" and it is a wonderful thing.
I don't think you could ever figure out how many of 145000 people have vehicles in your future coverage that have windshield damage. Nor how many of those vehicles go to each one of the WSR's in your area that you speak of and what would be left for you. Maybe someone else knows a way to track the demographics you are interested in and could answer that more effectively.
What ever you decide, we are here to help so just ask and remember "Knowledge is power".
Pay it forward,
Brian@ SafeGlassTechnologies.com
I don't have an exact answer but I have some food for thought. You want this to be a part time business I see. First, can you afford to spend the money at the present time? If so, and you truly work at it I am confident at the very least that you will make back your initial investment. How long that will take depends on your effort. I wont lie to you, it will take work to get your business rolling. Second, did you do any preliminary homework such as call you competitors see what they charge, see what kind of work they do, what kind of warranty they offer and any other benefits that might make a potential customer choose them. If you have and you feel you can offer a better product/service then eventually the word will spread. This my friend is "Competition" and it is a wonderful thing.
I don't think you could ever figure out how many of 145000 people have vehicles in your future coverage that have windshield damage. Nor how many of those vehicles go to each one of the WSR's in your area that you speak of and what would be left for you. Maybe someone else knows a way to track the demographics you are interested in and could answer that more effectively.
What ever you decide, we are here to help so just ask and remember "Knowledge is power".
Pay it forward,
Brian@ SafeGlassTechnologies.com
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Anonymous
New business
thanks.
I would like to go full time. See I have an adult business on the net and a spy store bringing in a few bucks and I work 10 hours a day at my job. I would love to be able to quit and work for myself.I actually had a chip repaired last Saturday at my home.The job only took 10 minutes and it was cold out. I was wondering if he did the job properly. Shouldn't he have warmed up the glass? I also notice small air bubbles in the resin.Is this normal? I wouldn't think there should be any air in the resin once the job is completed a few days later. they charged me 20.00 and then billed my insurance companying. State farm I think pays like 39.05 or something. this person had 3 guys doing 10-12 repairs daily 6 days a week.They actually contacted my mother thru a cold call and she referred them to me.I was questioning the tech somewhat about the business because I had been interested back in the late 80's. He said this is the sweetest little business to be into.Also the businesses around here that do it,, do really do any noticable advertising except yellow pages.I never see flyers or newspaper adds or haven't noticed them anyway. Is it possible to get referrals thru your local auto insurance companies? thanks for any help guys
Jeff
I would like to go full time. See I have an adult business on the net and a spy store bringing in a few bucks and I work 10 hours a day at my job. I would love to be able to quit and work for myself.I actually had a chip repaired last Saturday at my home.The job only took 10 minutes and it was cold out. I was wondering if he did the job properly. Shouldn't he have warmed up the glass? I also notice small air bubbles in the resin.Is this normal? I wouldn't think there should be any air in the resin once the job is completed a few days later. they charged me 20.00 and then billed my insurance companying. State farm I think pays like 39.05 or something. this person had 3 guys doing 10-12 repairs daily 6 days a week.They actually contacted my mother thru a cold call and she referred them to me.I was questioning the tech somewhat about the business because I had been interested back in the late 80's. He said this is the sweetest little business to be into.Also the businesses around here that do it,, do really do any noticable advertising except yellow pages.I never see flyers or newspaper adds or haven't noticed them anyway. Is it possible to get referrals thru your local auto insurance companies? thanks for any help guys
Jeff
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Anonymous
new business
Jeff,I'm new myself and it sounds like maybe you should stay in the adult website business.
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Anonymous
new business
Hello tooldini,
Sounds like you have your plate full, but if you have room for more this would be a great way to make money. As for your questions I don't wont to pass judgement on the quality of someone elses work. It sounds just by the questions you have asked that you already formed your own opinion.
Technically speaking I will tell you that we always try to do our repairs with the glass at a temp. between 70-75 Deg. and we monitor that during the repair. You should not have air bubbles in the resin of a completed repair. I will also tell you that my repairs take me around 20 to 30 min including all paperwork. I could easily do them faster but I am a perfectionist.
As for the billing you and then the insurance company, I believe what they did is called double billing and that might be illegal. I don't know what the legalities for this are though.
We charge the insurance companies $65.00 for repair and if there our any cracks associated with the repair we bill for the Crack repair $79.00 and also the rock chip as the second repair at $25.00. If the customer wants to pay cash we always offer different specials so the price is $50.00 for a rock chip repair. We only bill one or the other never both.
As for insurance companies referring work to you well that depends on the state you live in and that states anti-steering laws. If you choose to, you can sign up with glass networks, a contracted company used by insurance companies that they outsource their billing to and you may or may not get referrals. Most Insurance companies use these networks. On paper it is supposed to be fair and balanced rotation among shops but in reality it is not. Most of these networks are tied to specific glass shops. So guess who gets most the referrals. I personally direct bill the insurance company and bypass the networks.
I sure hope this help. Any other questions just post.
Pay it forward.
Brian@ SAFEGLASSTECHNOLOGIES.com
Pay it foward,
Brian
Sounds like you have your plate full, but if you have room for more this would be a great way to make money. As for your questions I don't wont to pass judgement on the quality of someone elses work. It sounds just by the questions you have asked that you already formed your own opinion.
Technically speaking I will tell you that we always try to do our repairs with the glass at a temp. between 70-75 Deg. and we monitor that during the repair. You should not have air bubbles in the resin of a completed repair. I will also tell you that my repairs take me around 20 to 30 min including all paperwork. I could easily do them faster but I am a perfectionist.
As for the billing you and then the insurance company, I believe what they did is called double billing and that might be illegal. I don't know what the legalities for this are though.
We charge the insurance companies $65.00 for repair and if there our any cracks associated with the repair we bill for the Crack repair $79.00 and also the rock chip as the second repair at $25.00. If the customer wants to pay cash we always offer different specials so the price is $50.00 for a rock chip repair. We only bill one or the other never both.
As for insurance companies referring work to you well that depends on the state you live in and that states anti-steering laws. If you choose to, you can sign up with glass networks, a contracted company used by insurance companies that they outsource their billing to and you may or may not get referrals. Most Insurance companies use these networks. On paper it is supposed to be fair and balanced rotation among shops but in reality it is not. Most of these networks are tied to specific glass shops. So guess who gets most the referrals. I personally direct bill the insurance company and bypass the networks.
I sure hope this help. Any other questions just post.
Pay it forward.
Brian@ SAFEGLASSTECHNOLOGIES.com
Pay it foward,
Brian
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Anonymous
Re: new business
thanks that did help. I still have a lot of free time,, the adult biz only takes me about 1.5 hours at night and I am looking to quit my factory job.I think my main concern is how difficult will it be to round up about 7-10 repairs a week. I do have some money to use for advertising.Also how many of you do cold calling on the phone? thats how these guys got my business.It wasn't any annoying call like some are.it was cut and dry.you either have a chip you want repaired or you don't LOL It wasn't like he had to try and sell something you don't want or need. thanks again
Jeff
Jeff
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Anonymous
new business
Tooldini,
I would have to be real sure I could financially whether the storm before you quit your day job. If your other resources are pulling in enough income for you to live at the level you want then go for it. If it will be hard on you then I still say go for it but don't quit your day job initially. Wait and see how things progress.
You want 7-10 jobs a week, well once again that will depend on your level effort. If you are determined to succeed the you will succeed.
As far as the cold calling, I live on the east coast and people are not very receptive to this type of solicitation. All I would here is click. May in your area the disposition of people is better.
As for advertising I am still waiting on some replies to another post for some insight on what has worked best for them. I have relied on word of mouth and flyers for my business and it has been good but I want to step it up a notch in volume.
Just because something did not work for someone else does not mean it wont work for you. Remember nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Good Luck to you.
SAFEGLASSTECHNOLOGIES.com
Pay it foward,
Brian
I would have to be real sure I could financially whether the storm before you quit your day job. If your other resources are pulling in enough income for you to live at the level you want then go for it. If it will be hard on you then I still say go for it but don't quit your day job initially. Wait and see how things progress.
You want 7-10 jobs a week, well once again that will depend on your level effort. If you are determined to succeed the you will succeed.
As far as the cold calling, I live on the east coast and people are not very receptive to this type of solicitation. All I would here is click. May in your area the disposition of people is better.
As for advertising I am still waiting on some replies to another post for some insight on what has worked best for them. I have relied on word of mouth and flyers for my business and it has been good but I want to step it up a notch in volume.
Just because something did not work for someone else does not mean it wont work for you. Remember nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Good Luck to you.
SAFEGLASSTECHNOLOGIES.com
Pay it foward,
Brian
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
Re: New business
part time at first to test it,, can't afford to just quit yet,, real close though,, maybe I shouldn't have got a new car LOL but I am going to give it a try this spring
thanks
Jeff
thanks
Jeff
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