Had sweet gig and lost it

Post your windshield repair tips, questions, advice! Note there is a sub-forum specifically for business development questions.
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ujslost
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Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by ujslost »

I just started about a month ago. I had a sweet little spot at a quick lube place. Buddy of mine owns it. Was charging me zero to set up my tent and banners. Some days make $60 and biggest day was over $700. I should add that I also do replacements. Keeping in mind that winter is on its way. Me and the quick lube owner talked about me getting an enclosed trailer to set up in. But he was worried about city ordinances. So he talked to the city and they basically said "yeah we seen that guy out there and were about to come down and see what was going on. So basically I will have to abide by all city ordinances, have to carry the same insurance a permanent building owner would have to carry. Pass fire inspections, and building codes. In other words they made it impossible for me to do the trailer idea and basically said the tent and signs/banners/flags Ive been using were against city ordinances.

So my question to you guys since I am doing this full time and I am going on week 2 of NO income. What is it that you guys do in your towns and what challenges do you face? Both winter and summer times of the year? Here I have went full time and this is my only income now with Christmas and the slow season of this business about to be upon me. I might have to find a part time job in this one horse town.
Nomad
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by Nomad »

Maybe you can get outside the city, like a county island or just outside the city limits, or maybe in a suburb that is more business friendly. Maybe pay your buddy to work from inside his place and under his umbrella.

City ordinances are not laws. In most states the legislature is the only body that can create laws. There is no state that I know of that lets the legislature delegate this authority. City ordinances are like the rules that a business makes for its employees, and it only applies to the people that are employed by the city. Such arguments may have little effect on the powers that be, since they are getting paid by the city and the fines that are levied against you are where the city gets a lot of its money. It is a direct conflict of interest. I am telling you this so in case you do get accosted by a city employed thug that you might have at least some arguments in front of a judge. You will have to do a lot of research on your own to go down this road.

You can also go to businesses and offer your services to them, put up flyers in break rooms and lunch rooms etc. Go to the local school bus barn and see if they need somebody. Search the forum for Coitster's posts on how he gets customers. Do an end run around the bureaucracy. Set up at swap meets and flea markets, advertise on craig's list. When you get a customer, ask if you can put a sign on his property that people can see from the street. Start a website, get references, video references, put them on your website. Make yourself visible. Get baseball caps with your business name on them, shirts too, make sure your car has your business name on it. Hand out business cards to everybody.

Write a letter to the editor in the local paper telling how the city is putting you out of business with their regulations, and how does this benefit the people that live in the city? If you do it right you can make them look like fools and tyrants that have no interest in the free market or the residents of the city. Make it look like they are squashing the little guy in favor of their good old boy network. Which I expect they are. Tell them that you will run for office to prevent the treatment that they have given you from happening to anyone else. Bureaucrats react and respond to pain, be a pain.
Chipndale
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by Chipndale »

Work the environmental benefit, I have overcome all issues by pushing the true value of repair. Remember according to a research group in the EU, the carbon footprint of one replacement is equivalent to thousand of repairs. PM me for details.

"The replacment of one windshield is equal to the energy necessary for conducting 10,000 repairs".
mobile tech
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by mobile tech »

Go mobile. ;)
ujslost
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by ujslost »

So here is what has ended up happening and I think it worked out for the best. I went to a locally owned (not big chain store) tire store. Talked to the owner which I kind of knew but wasn't yet friends with. I asked if he would be intrested in adding windshields to his tire/suspension shop. I also heard he was short handed. I asked to rent 1 bay and put my business sign on the side of his building. And in turn I would pay rent or help with mechanic/tire work when I wasn't busy in exchange. He thought it over for a few days and we made a deal.

Now where we live there are a ton of car dealers. Everything here is nearly automobile oriented. Glass shops, mechanic, paint, used cars, new cars, clean up/detail shops. Yeah there are about 5 glass shops here already. Well turns out he has a dealer that brings his cars to him for mechanic work and you guessed it, windshields also! But he farms the windshield out to a shop 1 block over.

What I ended up with is this. A full time job as a mechanic at his shop, I get to do my glass repairs and replacements there so as long it doesn't interfere with his current business. The glass he has been farming out to the other shop will now go to me (he said about 10 replacements a month. I do get to put my sign on the side of the building. We are keeping his business and my business 100% separate. So I am not growing a glass shop under his business name. And once Ive grown to the point I need to relocate to a shop that meets my needs. My name is already out there and the public is familiar with me and my business. I can do my chip repairs during business hours. But my customers will have to wait if I am busy until I finish what ever job I am working on at that particular time.

Best of all. I keep all my profit. I do not have to cut him in on any of it. He has been in business for 2 years and said he is glad to see me bettering myself and starting my own business. He wants to help me with that and understands alot of the worries and pitfalls that come with starting up a new business. I feel like God has blessed me with this opportunity and given me a way.
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Brent Deines
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by Brent Deines »

Congratulations! That sounds like a win-win to me. Tents have their advantages but I always enjoyed having a fixed location and found it lended credibility to my business. If you work hard and do a good job as a mechanic the owner of the tire shop will likely cut you some slack so you can be doing repairs while turning wrenches. It's tough to do a replacement at the same time as a brake job but a repair often takes very little hands on time so you can be doing two things at the same time fairly efficiently.

Do you belong to a local businessman's association? If not you may see if you can find one that doesn't already have a glass repair/replacment business owner and see if you can join. Often you can make a lot of good contacts with car dealerships and other automotive related businesses who will send you business just for being part of the group.

Keep us posted on your success.
Brent Deines
Delta Kits, Inc.
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Semper Fi
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by Semper Fi »

Awesome, sounds to me like you worked out a sweet deal for everyone involved. Never give up, there is always a solution.
Semper Fi - USMC
Don’t give up! Don’t ever give up!
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RebelTitan74
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Re: Had sweet gig and lost it

Post by RebelTitan74 »

It does sound like you found a sweet gig. I know for me just doing mobile repairs has been working for now. I do have a lot of connections that will allow me to borrow space in there shop like on a rainy day or it's going to be to cold out.
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