What is your experience with tents?

[GlassStarz]

I think if the carwash offers detail and other related services your in if its a self serve no attendent your out

[Jeremiahswindshieldrepair]

I have done alot with tents since this question was first posed by myself a couple years. The trick to a tent is not to stay in one spot too long. What I was doing back when I posted this is I was finding a spot and staying there even after it ran out of steam. Most spots will run out of the initial rush of customers within 30-45 days so you have to rotate locations to keep them fresh. They can be successful if you don't run them dry

[gold star wsr]

I have done tent set-ups from time to time without too much success. I have been offering mobile service too almost from when I started wsr. But I made the decidion during the time when my hubby was laid up that I didnt want to do mobile any longer. I worked out an arrangement with a friend of mine to have a permanent location in her parking lot, and keep regular hours there. I began this April 15th. This has been working out very well for me. During the 'dry times' I have been working on the signs that I will be using to replace my banners which have seen better days. I am having a ''Grand Opening" celebration on May 14th, which coincides with the season's opening of the outdoor flea market/craft fair that goes on every Fri & Sat through the summer and into the fall as long as the weather is good. Customers who call are totally understanding about my decision to discontinue providing mobile service, and are not the least put off by having to come to me. They all have to come right past me sooner or later anyway, since its the only main road in the valley. Right now, the road is being re-surfaced ... this is a big plus for me!!! Lots of loose gravel all over the place.

[scratchy]

Isn't it amazing how adaptable this business is Goldstar? In just about anything else trying to pull a u turn like that will close the doors. For example, our work coming out of the yellow pages vs the location setup is going to save our bacon this summer when it is 100 or above. I did the location all last summer and the heat was brutal especially at high noon. I had to switch from coitstering to the location method to beat the heat because I couldn't walk around and then go into an office to give the pitch sweating like a pig. When all three, coitstering, location and yellow pages are put together on a weekly basis... watch out! The work is going to be huge.
This business can be anything you make it.

[gold star wsr]

Rather than using a tent, we have a small motor home that we purchased used in 1998 and had permanent signs put on it... it sounds impressive... and really it is a nice RV, but we paid less for it than a car would cost. It is fully equipped, though, and last summer we had it equipped with an awning, which really expands our comfort, plus it looks nice too. So this is what we have parked at our location. My friend let me put it close enough to the end of her building that I can plug into an outside outlet. This way I have ac power, so I dont have to run the batteries down. I purchsed an ''open'' sign from Sam's club, which attracts some attention. I will keep you all posted on how this develops. As I said, so far it is working very well.

[Bois]

Gold Star, I also have used an RV on occassion at flea markets when I stay the whole weekend. It's nice to have A/C, toilet, make own lunch and a dry place to sit when raining. Mine's a 1990 30 ft. that I bought for $7K and put another $9k in fixing up the motor, etc. Drives good & evenything works.

Dale...