Considering HLR

[BRICHARDSON]

Something you may consider is going to a junk yard and purchasing a bad headlight(s). Restore half of it. You will be able to practice and show your customers what a restoration should look like.

[just chippen away]

I am in the Tucson area.

I am about 72 miles below you......

Are you planing on doing dealers or retail...?
Go and watch the dealer venders and see what they do. (don't let them know you are intersted in this line of work and ask questions)
Each one will most likely be differant, From cheep fixers to cadilac workers...

[KTinAz]

Just saw an ad for a new car dealer offering headlight restoration for $59.95 in their service department. Still haven't convinced myself I can make money at this.

[t4k]

Just saw an ad for a new car dealer offering headlight restoration for $59.95 in their service department. Still haven't convinced myself I can make money at this.

It is a little tougher now because everybody has gotten in to it.

[Brent Deines]

Prices are all over the board, that's for sure. I don't know if Wal-Mart is still offering headlight restoration in this area but they were by far the cheapest for quite awhile. There are some dealerships offering low prices as well but when I stopped in and asked one about it the other day the service adviser said he didn't think they had actually done any so he couldn't recommend it. It was almost like a lost leader add to sell replacement headlights. I'm sure we have lost some business to Wally World and the dealerships but I think our clientele is different. We charge more than twice as much as some of the others in town but if we get a chance to actually speak with a prospective customer I doubt they go anywhere else.

It would be very interesting to know how many headlight restoration jobs are being done in a given area, but I haven't figured that one out yet. Could be depressing if I found out everyone was getting more jobs than me!

I'm probably shooting myself in the foot by saying this, but if you don't think you can make it you're probably better off not trying. If you find something you are confident that you can succeed in and give it your all you'll have a much better shot at it. That's one good thing about starting out broke like many of us did, you have nothing to lose!

I'm curious, what got you interested in headlight restoration in the 1st place?

[KTinAz]

I am lucky that I have a 40 hr week job w/benefits already. I have been looking for quite a while for something I could do part time also. I don't want another boss or employees and like the idea of making my own hours. Also looking for something I could still do when I retire for some extra income.
My daughter said she had bought a kit at a parts store to try on a friends car. That,for some reason,caught my interest and I started noticing how many vehicles need this service. Started doing some research and ended up here.
Thanks for your honesty Brent, at least I know you are not just trying to sell product. Guess part of my problem is I have never done any kind of sales and probably lack a little self confidence. However, I think this is a good opportunity as long as the market isn't saturated with people undercutting each other's prices.

[Brent Deines]

I am lucky that I have a 40 hr week job w/benefits already. I have been looking for quite a while for something I could do part time also. I don't want another boss or employees and like the idea of making my own hours. Also looking for something I could still do when I retire for some extra income.
My daughter said she had bought a kit at a parts store to try on a friends car. That,for some reason,caught my interest and I started noticing how many vehicles need this service. Started doing some research and ended up here.
Thanks for your honesty Brent, at least I know you are not just trying to sell product. Guess part of my problem is I have never done any kind of sales and probably lack a little self confidence. However, I think this is a good opportunity as long as the market isn't saturated with people undercutting each other's prices.

I just re-read your original post where you already explained what got you interested in headlight restoration, but thank you for humoring me.

In my opinion starting a part time business is a great way to determine your potential and help build your confidence. You may find there is a lot more potential than you thought or you may find out it's not right for you.

A "huge" benefit to starting part time while you still have other income coming in is that you aren't so tempted to develop business by cutting prices. There will always be someone with lower prices than you so it's better to spend your time developing a customer base that demands quality and is willing to pay for it than participating in a price war. You have to be willing to let some of the "price is all that matters" customers go and focus on the big picture, but that is very hard to do when you need every dollar just to put groceries on the table. The temptation to low-ball can be almost overwhelming when you are starving but it's never a good way to grow a new business.

There is a forum member, SGT, who was in a very similar situation as you are when he first got started repairing windshields. He has a good job with benefits so he started a part time business. He's a very busy guy so he doesn't post much these days but if he's still reading the forum maybe I can suck him into this conversation. I don't know how much headlight restoration he does but I think his perspective would be very beneficial to you.

I would love to sell you a headlight restoration system but knowing that we invest a significant amount of time into helping new customers get their businesses up and running it's better for both of us if you don't buy unless your heart is in it. On the other hand, the only way you can be sure you won't succeed is if you never make an attempt.

[just chippen away]

If you do not have the faith in yourself to sell yourself, You may not be cut for this kind of service... You need to be able to conivince the customer you are verry good at what you do, then show it when the work is done. This kind of job is 75% sales, 25% work the way I look at it..
Some are not cut out for sales and some are....

I for one, could not be a car salesperson because I can not stand behind the car I would be selling knowing it may be a lemmon, but I can sell this service because I know what I have the ability to do for them...

Getting started could be a lot of negitivity, and that is what some can not handle. That could be enough to make one to quit at that point....

If you are not willing to go through this getting your feet wet, you may need to find another line of work... If you do not mind a slow start, then give it a try.

[KTinAz]

Just Chippen Away,
I think I would prefer to do retail, but would consider either if it brought me business. Still looking for people doing this in my area to assess pricing and competition.
I assume you are doing WSR and HR. I was curious about how you think the business climate is in your area, as we are fairly close to each other. Do you get enough jobs? How has the bad economy affected you. Do you think you are getting a fair price for your work, or is competition hurting your business?
Thanks for your insights.

[just chippen away]

KTinAZ
I do both W/S repair and H/L Restore. Even down here we are getting the hacks with sandpaper in one hand and car wax/polish in the other hand for 25 bucks... The bad thing is the customer does not look and the quality of the work at that time, they look at who is the cheapest.... I have already re-done a few H/L's from the hackers and the customer at that time can now see the difference in the work....

I do charge more than most do, but I get referrals from the customers I have done at that point.... I do not even pay for referrals, I tried, they refused my money...
I do my H/L's early in the day to beet the heat if possible.
We do have hackers coming in from out of town trying to grab their quick buck off the unknowing,,,
When I started I was the only one doing H/L's 6 plus yrs ago, now there is the dealers doing them in service as I use to do their lights also...and some detailers adding their polish kits....

I could go a week with no H/L work and some weeks a set a day or even two a day.... I could be called in to do W/S chips and upsale for H/L's or the other way around and do a package deal for both....

You would be better off doing both as to just H/L's. They work off each other...