Small town

[lsidman]

Hey, I'm new to the board and was wondering if any of you run this type of buisiness in a small town. I'm thinking of starting a window repair and replacement shop her in town and was looking for some advice from a small town guy

[StarQuest]

Not sure if this info helps......but I have a few friends in this business that work out of small towns. Bottom line is they all drive 125-175 mile daily routes to make money from other small towns. Is that something your prepared to do?

If so....you'll probably be successful as are they.

[lsidman]

I don't really want to drive that far everyday but would maybe do it twice a week. I'm also going to be replacing. I could go to Omaha its only 50 miles away.

[Delta Kits]

We have quite a few people that make a decent living in very small towns.

What size are we talking?

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

[lsidman]

The size of the town is about 6000 but it's starting to grow. I work at a bodyshop right now and want to get out of the fumes and dust. right now I do all the windshield repairs and some of the replacements. We don't do a lot off repairs maybe 2 a week but he does not advertise it.

[paintlessplus]

Welcome aboard - I live in a small town pop.1450 between LIncoln and Omaha. I have been in business for a little over a year. I am a member of 3 networks and occaisionally get requests to travel out of my 20 mile radius for repairs. The last was to go to Clarinda Ia. I declined beause of my proximity to larger closer areas. My advice is to join Lynx and SGC and establish yourself a larger repair radius. The next thing I would do is to stop by every local insurance agents office and drop off brochures/ cards/ pens /whatever. These guys need your services desparately when a customer calls with a claim. They can't steer you work but...they need to know you are around. In a small town it can be a headache trying to find a good repairer. You need to be the aspirin ! Above all DO NOT JACK THESE GUYS AROUND. Be professional show up and do good repairs in a timely manner. You know how people talk in small towns ...don't have them talking bad about you. Try to spend money with local merchants and let them know you're in business. BUY LOCAL ! Get vehicle signage. Advertise in the local church bulletin. Get aquainted with other local auto repair shops.
To be honest, most people in rural farming communities don't buy alot of WSR because many are unfamiliar with it. My WSR business started slow but is steadily growing. I would start with good training and a good kit ( I use Deltas) and make my move when it warms up a bit... It's 10 below here now, work does slow down in the winter. Good luck, Bob/ Paintless Plus PDR/WSR Springfield Ne.

[lsidman]

Thanks for the advice Bob, I live in Harlan, IA. I think I will Take your advice and talk to the local insurance agents first. The bad part of testing these waters is if my boss finds out he'll be pissed off, like I said we do repair at our shop.

[GlassStarz]

Dude my town has 600 people Burlington our biggest town (45,000) is 45 minutes south not really a big deal small towns are loyal and word of mouth is big its alot easier to keep a customer in this environment.The downside is if you dont give good service or screw someone everyone knows about it before you get home. I drive 75 miles most days

[Bois]

I started 3 months ago in a town of under 8,000. There's also a university which has an enrollment of another 8,000. Business has been very slow. Of course, students have been gone for winter breack. Most WS damage are large cracks. Country folks don't believe rock chips are worth repairing. And, most don't carry comp. insurance. When the WS cracks, sell the car. Most business are doctors and retail. No office parks to speak of (sorry Cloister). And, used car dealers sell "cash cows" - they don't repair the WS.

Anyhow, I've made my presence known to the City (already did a fire truck) and school district for bus work. All of the insurance agents know I'm here as well as all vehicle repair, lube and tire shops. I did 4 vehicles for the local funeral home - check it out.

I've widened my area to include 3 counties - a 30 mile radius from home. Total population of over 125K. Many days are spent on sales calls. Check out county maintenance yards, sheriff, state police, etc.

[gold star wsr]

The town I am in has a population of just about 500, the entire area here has a total of about 4,000. Its a valley about a mile wide and 26 miles long, I am in the middle, and I work mainly from end to end. You should find that the local people are fiercely loyal once you establish yourself with them. But you cannot expect to sit on your duff waiting for the phone to ring. You have to make yourself visible, advertise and educate people about the benefits of wsr. If you are planning to do replacement as well, you shouldnt have any problem staying busy, especially if the vehicles in your state have to pass yearly safety inspection (unfortunately, my state doesnt have that). There is a fella here who does all sorts of glass replacement including windshields ... he stays busy all the time. His advertisement says "I do everything but eyeglasses". I wish you great success in this business.