[Brent Deines]

As a former franchise owner (not windshield repair) I'm not big on franchises either but that doesn't mean they don't work for some people. The one thing that helps franchises succeed is that when you pay that much money just to open your doors you are very motivated to work your butt off. That is one pitfall to the windshield repair business as a whole. People buy a windshield repair system, but can't find time for training, and won't spend any money to promote their business. That isn't the way a franchise works. Franchises also tend to offer more support materials as they have more of your money to work with.

Most people have heard of Novus which is helpful for advertising, but doesn't allow you to build a brand identity. No matter how good of a job you do Novus gets the credit, not you. It's a trade off that has to be considered when buying a franchise.

I have a tremendous respect for Novus and although I don't agree with everything they do, I would put them near the top of the list as far as equipment and resins go. I think they also have a good training program and are very professional in the way they do business. They do attend some trade shows but I have not seen them do demonstrations, which always surprises me a bit. I think their systems are much better than many of the others on the market, so why not show them off? Who knows?

You have to crunch the numbers to see if it pencils out for you.

Dang, now I'm doing commercials for the competition.