Intro

[t4k]

I'm with you Brent. No matter how great your methodology, business plan or your ability to sell is, if you do inferior work because your tools, chemicals or supplies are considered secondary you will lose work and customers. I would prefer to do great work and get more business by word of mouth than to come out of the gate on fire and promising the world and then failing later. I have seen too many companies go by the wayside because they don't back up their word.


I am a small one man business that takes great pride in doing a good job for each and every customer, because I am only as good as my last job!

[mrchip]

I concur with Glasstarz and Brent...tools and procedures are VERY important l to haveing success in this endeaver...you say you drape car in plastic and cut out h/l and tape ..not good on windy days and also too time consuming..why not pop hood (that will keep material from going over much of car) and put blanket around h/l (buinched up) will keep material from getting over car...much quicker and effective...also how long will your hardcoat keep h/l clear?...and most impotant getting damaged film off h/l...600 just won't get it off..you need much more aggressive sandpaer to get it off....too save on tape and more effective protection around h/l you can use strips of presentation covers(sold in Staples) too protect most of h/l....most of h/l work is at used car lots or wholesallers..they are the ones that sell cars that are old enough too have messed up h/l..most new car dealers only keep cars 3 yrs old and they don't have problems yet...

[ray6]

We do raise the hood. The plastic is essentially over the motor and fenders. Many times we can use this plastic for multiple cars.

We normally use 600 grit after the chemical strip, then move to 1200 (machine) and follow with light hand sanding to 2500/3000 grit, followed by the hardcoat. We don't routinely do any polishing unless it is a special case (premium car) and charge accordingly.

We are currently building a sunlight simulator that will give us a 30X multiplication factor, so coatings can be aged about a month per day. We have some new materials we want to perfect, but without a way of accellerated testing, we can't use or sell them.

Our longest actual coating tests are only 14 months exposure, but the light loss has only been 6%, so we will probably issue a 24 month guarantee when our products go public.

I think I worded a previous post badly. I meant to say that it's not that tools and materials aren't important, but if you were to look at unsuccessful HLRs, more would be due to business/sales practices rather than restoration practices.

[harrellbenjamin]

LOL It looks like you have read most of our posts.Nothing new in your process and lots here have been doing them very $$ successfully ( 2 plus years for me).I too wonder when you are going to let us in on your marketing secret and franchise system LOL to do what we already know and do now?

[GlassStarz]

Hey ben Where Ya Been?
Once you have done a few you dont really need to do all the masking etc I worked outside under my portable umbrella ( roll it from car to car instead of moving the car who wants to get in and out of a dozen cars in over 100 deg ?)worked in 107 deg weather 12 sets of lights in 3 hrs 15 min some people like to make this harder than it needs to be.

As far as the wizard Ray if you read his posts in his first post he starts with he and 4 others are going to open a buisness selling supplies but in later posts he says no im not selling anything just passiing info and later we may sell some supplies My question is which is it?
So you did some research and found there is a market for Headlight Refinishing Duh we all know that. Its why we are here.
This is a board owned by Delta Kits a company that sells a damn good Headlight System they did some research and decided it was a viable market
Maybe if you had started with "Hi im glad I found this place full of guys like me I am doing so well im expanding and heck I might even start selling the stuff myself" you might not have rubbed some the wrong way your preaching to the choir here
Again not intended to slam you just point out that HL Repair is a great field we have done the same research you claim (maybe if you had come here first and read the posts you wouldnt have had to do so much everything you claim to have discovered is touched on here at least a dozen times)
Share Techniques Share Ideas Share Experiences Share Sales Tips
Dont Preach and Dont come here trying to sell something the nice company that sponsers this board does that and he really doesnt push his stuff on the board in a big way seriosly what a great place and what a great guy to provide it

[freightshaker]

Aw, guys. Quit beating around the bush and just say how you really feel.:eusa_danc

Seriously, though. I concur with you fellas. Everything you need to know to start a HL restoration biz is right here on this board, thanks to Brent, who's kind enough to provide it, and all the people who are kind enough to post on it.

One of the "secrets" peddled in internet marketing circles is to join a forum, become a "valued" member with a lot of input, and then sell your product after everyone has warmed up to you. Trouble is, most of the time you can see it coming a mile away.

[t4k]

LOL It looks like you have read most of our posts.Nothing new in your process and lots here have been doing them very $$ successfully ( 2 plus years for me).I too wonder when you are going to let us in on your marketing secret and franchise system LOL to do what we already know and do now?

Sir Ben, Glad to see you back in all your glory!

[ray6]

Well, so far I have been called a mesiah, a wizard and an expert. Let me try to clarify things with my last post.

We are a group of 4 individuals working on starting a company that serves the independent contractor. We have developed a product line which consists of materials, marketing aids, training materials, etc. We are in a beta test stage and are currently doing work for select dealers.

We are not experts. We do not say our materials or procedures are better than anyone else's. In fact, our position is that as long as you use proper materials and methods, you will most likely get acceptable results.

At some point we will be selling our products. We never intended to use this forum as a selling tool. We have never even mentioned the company name or website. I am fully aware who sponsors this forum and thought we were helping other HLRs by explaining our business model.

As I said before, many HLRs are good at restoring, but maybe not so good on the business end. If you are, good for you. If not, maybe you could try something new such as a business model.

There was never any intention to sell product on this forum. In fact, it is prohibited by the forum rules. I also don't agree that using a business model to increase productivity is not a valid idea or that many people on this forum wouldn't benefit by developing one or using ours.

Our goal was to add to the pot ideas to help other HLRs. I thought things like using a polarizer to take before and after photos or using a half-restored headlight to show dealers were viable ideas. We were about to include some ideas on adding services to headlight/windshield repair such as using ozone to de-oderize vehicles since you're already there. However, from the response I've gotton recently, I must be trying to sign you up to some franchise deal.

Ray6

So, to make sure everyone understands, we do not sell franchises and we don't claim to have a better method.

[freightshaker]

Ray6, you have to understand, forums like this get hammered all the time by people trying to sell something instead of being a member of the community.

But maybe we have jumped the gun a little. You make a lot of good points, especially about the business end. Man o man, I could use all the marketing and "getting business" pointers anyone can throw at me right now. I got laid off so I'm throwing myself into this and trying to get it going and I hope I can before I go under.

So I'm going to shut my pie-hole and listen to whatever you have to say.

[jac59]

Ray6, you have to understand, forums like this get hammered all the time by people trying to sell something instead of being a member of the community.

But maybe we have jumped the gun a little. You make a lot of good points, especially about the business end. Man o man, I could use all the marketing and "getting business" pointers anyone can throw at me right now. I got laid off so I'm throwing myself into this and trying to get it going and I hope I can before I go under.

So I'm going to shut my pie-hole and listen to whatever you have to say.

I agree with you freightshaker.
some will be hammered i have been there but not this fourms some others on a diffrent kind of bizz.
Im in the same boat tring to get some business i have done some H/Lr and made some good money and but then around here most dealers just buff the lights their self they have small shops.
So right now i have to try to find locations to setup and hope to make a sell any dollar or 2 helps.
The thing is i have to make a new sign so people would know what i do make it plain and clear and simple cause there are some stupid ppl out there just dont get it if you know what i mean. i have had some asking if i replace headlights or what i do.
Wordings for banners signs or magnet signs or window wraps things like that would help with others ppls ideals and the how the way to mobile.
Points like how to get them coming.