Weekend Warrior To Full-Time???????

[vinyl-4ever]

:eusa_wall I was wondering when you decided to go full time? I know alot of us are part-time repair tech's. This is for the one's that took the leap and went full-time. I am thinking about it but still have not. I do repairs every night after my other gig, all day Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. I do very little advertising and have not really tried to get any fleets yet. I live in a very populated area with alot of businesses. I am making more money doing part-time Windshield Repair and Headlight Restoration. Thanks in advance for your input.
Brian

[GlasWeldTech]

For me this was a no brainer. I was doing consulting work for myself and got tired of working out of the country. We started up with NO accounts and built it to what it is today. The fun part of this business was the selling point to get accounts going. I am surely not making what I did out of the country but I can speak my own language and sleep in my own bed nightly. You will know when it is time.

[mrchip]

when the day comes when your stomach is in knots and you hate the thought of going to work its time...stress kills...i was making a good salary and 100% benefits..but i hated going in ..dreading the day...and i had to make a decision..work for the company store or go on my own ..my wife was totally behind me and i went on my own..like you i was doing part time and built up some accounts so it was a good transition..i've never been sorry..i love my freedom..i answer to me i am the c.e.o. president..and top banana....if you are making more money part time just think what you could do full time..

[SGT]

when the day comes when your stomach is in knots and you hate the thought of going to work its time...stress kills...i was making a good salary and 100% benefits..but i hated going in ..dreading the day...and i had to make a decision..work for the company store or go on my own ..my wife was totally behind me and i went on my own..like you i was doing part time and built up some accounts so it was a good transition..i've never been sorry..i love my freedom..i answer to me i am the c.e.o. president..and top banana....if you are making more money part time just think what you could do full time..

I am not seriously thinking about full time just yet, working my way there though. Your post sure fits me as a prime canadate. After almost 18 years in the airline industry my body just can't process the stress like it used too and it is killing me. I dread going to my job, it is like a prison sentence, the passion and love of aircraft is gone. I am offically burned out.:eusa_wall I cannot tell you how good it feels to be free when I am doing WSR. No one to answer too but the Boss. Wait thats me. Think I will take a break!

Anyway for those ready to jump full time, just make sure you have a good plan in line and the time is right. Good luck.

[wilz]

Lovely posts gentlemen.

[screenman]

I am now 50 years old and have been self employed for 32 years I would hate to waste my life doing something I dislike. Get out there full time and prove yourselves as businessmen and get the rewards.

The one thing we cannot get anymore of is time do not waste it. The easiest time to change anything is right now.

A saying I try and live by is, do not put off to tomorrow that which you can do today.

I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very wealthy new year.

[Shepard]

I was a cop for ten years and own a consulting business but this summer I spent a couple-years-worth of a cop's salary to buy an existing mobile windshield repair business. 99% of the purchase price was blue sky... I bought what a wonderful father and son had built since 1982. For me, it was a turn-key business, with an average of 5 "repeat customer" calls each day... my gaudy/ugly vehicle magnets and my trademark red apron are responsible for another 2 jobs each day. $250 a month on newspaper and $3,000/yr with the phone books & $500 with the local RV park's map advertisement bring in the rest. I charge fleets $40 compared to the normal rate of $60... so I really don't work the fleets as much as I could.

Your most important step is to recognize the lifetime value of a client. If a potential client chooses another repair place - still be friendly and respectful to that person. If you see that the other place didn't get the resin all the way to the end of the crack- finish the job for free, call the person in a month to see how the repair is working out, send them a Christmas card, and call them again 1 year from your "re-repair" to see how it is holding up and how the person is doing. This year-long courtship will likely secure that person's loyalty for the rest of your business's life. You can scrape for 1500 new clients every year... but doesn't it make more sense to build a strong base of loyal repeat customers who will remember your name when their friend mentions a chip in their glass? To start, send a nice 1-page letter with personalized seri-flex chip savers enclosed to all the clients you have done work for as well as all your local friends and business associates.

Make sure that you educate yourself before taking the Full Time plunge. Being an excellent employee or technician in windshield repair, medicine, or any other profession is 100% different than running a business. Are you good at running a business? Can you get even better? If you are afraid of cold sales, are not interested in reading a few books on sales, marketing and running a business... maybe part-time is better for you.

If you are willing & ready to succeed and are willing to "do what it takes" then do it! Be a full-time person! I love it! Imagine a "bad day" at your "job" compared to a "bad day" fixing windshields... maybe you scratch a hood... no big deal, pay $500 for the repair, treat the person right and you will still have a loyal client. If I had a bad day as a cop, lets say I beat someone... $500 and a smile would not repair that problem!!!

Go for it, but first do a business plan that includes a cash flow, marketing plan...etc... run it by a banker or business friend... see what they say... make up some projected P&L's and balance sheets.

If you would like an excellent Excel cash flow template, send an email to me at shepard@servicebrokerageofjh.com and I will send it to you... it is fun to play with...

Recommended "easy-read" books:
High Trust Selling by Todd Duncan
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Cash Flow Quadrant (and his other stuff) by Robert Kiyosaki
Some of Tom Hopkins books or tapes on selling (He is a high-preasure real estate dude, lots of his stuff is not ethical ... but some of his good stuff is great...)

Good luck!