Windshield Repair Forum

Ok let me start by telling you what todays plans were supposed to be. It looked great on paper. wake up at 6:00 get the little one off to school, bring the wife in to work (25 miles away) . cash my next to last check from my previous employer, go to the local printer and hand over the saved file i designed for my business cards, call the state office and file the rest of my paperwork, go to the bank and open my business checking account, print out more iron on transfers for my polo shirts, sew the rest of my NGA/NWRA patches on the sleeves (lends credibility), then donning the shirt i finished yesterday patrol the local businesses and go cold calling till i had to pick up wifey. THAT WAS THE PLAN I SWEAR!!!!!!

here is what actually happened, woke up 6:30 got the little one off to school and the wife to work (she's a manager at the mall). hung around the mall for a30 minutes (it's so peaceful first thing in the morning before opening when all the old mall walkers are out). decidied to get on with the day, went out to the truck, turned the key and NOTHING. this can't be happening i thought, turned the key again NOTHING!!!!!. that's when a flurry of explitives that would have made andrew dice cringe exploded from my mouth. ok i thought just a dirty battery terminal so in i go to sears to buy some much unneeded tools. 2 new battery terminals later and NOTHING. ok now im mad as a midget playing basketball. so i start to think and it seems like the nuetral safety switch is bad so i walk 1/2 mile to the parts store for a new one. back into sears for more tools, 5 miutes later the switch it out of the tranny and the tranny fluid is flowing out at an alarming rate, a quick switch and in she goes. ok all better try the key and NOTHING!!!!! DAMNED IT F@#$%@! son of a @#&^ piece of .... ok you get the picture. next it's back into sears for more tools and i remove the starter ( with alot of scraped knuckles and "why in the hell would they do that !?!?" expressed, when suddenly i hear a SHREEEEK!!! " what in the ...????" i come out from under the truck and there is a woman standing there with her 2 friends laughing and hyperventillating. as it turns out 2 legs protruding from under a parked car surrounded by a pool of red tranny fluid oddly resembles a vehicular homicide LOL. finish removing the starter and crry it 1/2 mile to the parts store to be checked AND IT WAS GOOD. back to the jeep i go. ( if i hadn't just lettered it yesterday i would have burned it). clean the starter terminals reinstall it and.......VROOOOMMM . ..... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... the starter terminals were dirty for the love of pete. so now my day is pretty much gone, the wife leaves work soon so it's pointless to leave. i go to the bookstore across from the mall in search of "JAY CONRAD LEVINSON" (Thanks Again Coit). when to my amazement a cadillac escolade with a ding. i rip open my shirt revealing the yellow uppercase S on my chest and leave a card in the drivers door ( a little risky but heck how could the day get any worse?) and after finding my book i return to the mall when ..................




RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGG!!!! " good afternoon thank you for calling chip patrol.. we repair what others replace Bill speaking may i help you??" " yes i think you left a card on my truck and i'd like to know how much the service is."

SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

yes only one job but that one job was the difference between a bad evening and me being able to take an objective look at the day and realize that with all the turmoil i still made the sale... will be repairing it thursday..

Take the reigns guys your the only one stearing whatever horse you've chosen to ride.

I'm being a little more conservative than bill4117.I'm hoping to score some jobs with some regularity and hopefully 1 dealer or fleet account before I drp the bomb to my supervisor.As much as I detest this square peg square hole factory job; I am going to miss those regular pay days for the first while.

Oh and keep us posted bill4117 on your progress as I am sure that I am not the only one on the diving board getting ready to jump.

truth be told i jumped out of necessity. it's not for everyone but before you leave please take this advice for what it's worth.

1. get a game plan..... decide your target audience , insurance, fleet, dealerships, or retail. this will help you build an overview of how you will approach the business. ( a little at a time , all at once, moonlighting ect.)

2. read as much marketing material as you can, this business is 10% work and 90% sales and research. remember you are doing your customers a service, some people get into the train of thinking that the customer is ALLOWING you to work on their vehicle.... BULLCRAP ... you are providing the service so show the amount of confidence that it entails ( a homeowner doesn't ALLOW the fire dept. to put out the fire do they??)

3. if you can save a few dollars do so it don't hurt, my wife also works full time which provides a cushion.

4. be organized .. i can't stress this enough, the old cliche "plan your work , and work your plan" comes to mind. i have opened a repair business in the past which did well, i closed it due to another job offer (dumb). the biggest thing i brought with me is the fact that customers know if you have "the organizational skills of a hand grenade" (yes i made that phrase up lol) they can sense it and will shy away from it.

5. LOOK PROFESSIONAL... search the local retail stores for clearences. i chose POLO style shirts, $30.00 a piece marked to $10.00. i bought 3 went home and printed my logo on iron on transfer paper. and im sewing on my NWRA/NGA patches. for short money it gives me a professional appearence.

6. believe in your abilities. you are the best in this business, no one is better, no one cares more about the job, no one will do a better job for that customer than you. if you truly believe that selling it will come naturally. saving someone from a shoddy company should become second nature. if you don't believe this strongly PRACTICE some more.

7. realize the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. try to be better tomorrow then today. so many guys (myself included) have fallen into the snare of thinking they know it all only to find out what they know is wrong. take dr spock (not the star trek dude) dr of child psychology for example. so many books written only to confess in his later years that he was wrong.

8. THE MOST IMPORTANT....... HAVE FUN!!!
if you were having fun at your past or soon to be past job. you would never have concidered leaving. you are in business for yourself to finally have that feeling of "ya i want to get out of bed and work today" enjoy the freedom, keep a smile on in front of the customer, the service will sell itself if you truly believe in it. just think .. if you had a cure for cancer how would you approach your customers???? approach every one the same way... (i have something to simplify and improve your quality of life) keep a smile on.

just a nickels worth of free advice ... hope it helps

Thanks Bill4117..i'll take your advice,ponder it and try to practice what you preach.