Need Opinion on Tool Kit Please

[Blind Squirrel]

Regarding franchises, Novus or any other, I've checked out franchises since about 1980, the first being Servicemaster. After studying their contract and weighing it out, I threw it away. Why?, because as an independent, my choice is to keep my financial records private, pure and simple.
Since then I've seen many "service business franchises" and simply put, I have yet to see even one that will provide a proportional amount of promotion and advertising in relation to your franchise fee and royalties, that will make your phone ring and have people saying, "oh, please, come and repair my windshield".
So, golly gee whiz! you have their "recognized name" but you still have to get off your butt and go out and build a business with your skills, personality, persistence, and plain old "want to".
That's when you will find that the name could as well have been "Billy Bob's" or "Hank and Minnie's".
BTW, I worked for a Novus franchisee a few years and got excellent training. Their equipment and resins are quite good also. I wouldn't hesitate to use them, but I don't think they are available to "us guys".
That franchisee is now out of windshield repair (after 23 years) and says he seriously regrets getting into that arrangement.

[crackhead]

Yes, NOVUS did in fact invent the windshield repair process and all of the other systems, equipment and resins resulted as a "knock off" of what NOVUS has been doing since 1973. Does that mean that NOVUS is the best or that others are bad? No, it doesn't. There are others with fine equipment and quality resins. From my experience, NOVUS equipment and resins were the best I have used.....however I haven't tried everything that is out there.
I do windshield repair part-time now, however I have a close friend who owns and operates a NOVUS franchise and he is very happy with it. He pays 8% in royalty fees but does a tremendous amount of business but he also works his butt off to be successful. That is the key....hard work. However, it doesn't hurt to run a WSR franchise that has the nation's oldest and most recognized name. I do my repairs with a bridge I designed and built myself and use disposable injectors that my friend supplies me with. Its a living.

[chips1144]

Crackhead, you should read the history of glass repair, a link is on this thread, Novus didnt invent it, they sold it, Dr Frank Warner of Jackson Hole Wyoming invented glass repair as we know it today, previous to to that 3M made a machine that was very large... Its very interesting.

[crackhead]

Yes, I've read it but it's simply not entirely accurate. As is often the case, someone's proclaimed history of something isn't always correct.

[screenman]

I used to own 3 Novus franchise areas in the Uk and I remember Dr Warner coming over to talk at our seminars I always thought he was part of Novus. He was certainly a very Knowledgeable guy in terms of screen repair etc.

[repare-brise]

I started using the Glass Mechanix system in May of 2003. The system worls great, the resins are plentifull(9 different resins depending on work being done) and there support is excellent. Since starting my mobile only business I now have 4 employees and will be hiring another in March. Anyone can do the job, but it takes good customer relations and perceveriance to succeed. This is not a get rich quick business, but a long-term success built on honesty and hard work. The only suggestion I have regarding the kits is get live testemonials(ask for phone numbers), and DO THE TRAINING, not the video.

Yvan Lacroix
www.repare-brise.net

[repare-brise]

Ac

The trick to crack repair is patience,good resins, good lighting and patience. Did I mention patience, a 2 foot crack can take 15 min on one car and 2 hours on another, but the average is about 20 min per foot. On my web-site I have a before and after of a crack(the site is in french but the pics are in all languages except brail).

Thank You

Yvan Lacroix

www.Repare-brise.net