Looking for thoughts/opinions about a competitor

[Stokdgs]

Shane -
Great job -
Sounds like you are getting your business set up by the book..
In WA State, they have State Tax so I had to charge my Clients their Percentage of it, and then Quarterly, the State started hounding me for the State Tax I had collected that Quarter, and I had to pay it or get in trouble with the State.

If your State doesnt have that tax then good for you..

A good Velbon CX-570 tripod is not expensive, something like that will connect to most cameras that have a tripod mount hole on the bottom..

There are suppliers that will give a business a discount provided that the business spend X amount of dollars a year...

Until you get your business really going and its more or less constant, or at the least predictable (you know about how many vehicles you will do a year), and you have a good idea of the drain on your Inventory, and you are seeking to cut back costs, then perhaps you can weigh some options...

It`s YOUR money going out the door - and THEIR money coming in the door that has to always be More than is going out...
Dan F

[Stokdgs]

Quote - but supreme always ends up coming out of my customers mouths --

Your Clients must see some form of Advertisement from this place - ask them how they know about this place next time..

Maybe they send out those printed off your computer flyers in the Bulk Mail place at the Post Office ???

You can do that too if you want, and yours will be way nicer, to the point pics, with no distracting people, etc., in them, right ?

Dan F

[ShaneB]

I believe everyone knows them because they show up first in Google, have been around a very very long time (about since canton was really developed) and they have a loyal customer base.

Good news is that I have had a few of their customers call me because the wait at their place was a couple of days and I could take care of it almost right away. And every time they were wowed and told me their car never looked that good out of the other shop. One guy and his wife were in total disbelief and were speechless. I love the feeling I get when customers truly appreciate my work. Makes it all worth it.

I know my business will continue to grow, I was just looking for some validation on some of my thoughts about their process so I can be a little better informed about the competition. My business about doubled from my first year (2014) and I fully expect to be even busier next year

[ShaneB]

I haven`t ever really seen any advertising at all out of there. I haven`t exactly gone searching for it but that tells me they aren`t doing much to get it in front of me. I occasionally advertise on Facebook but rely mostly on my website as I don`t think I`ve gotten a single job out of Facebook advertising. actually most if not all new customers tell me they found my website

[ShawnF350]

Shane...I keep thinking about your situation....I had to go find these photos from a few years ago at my work.

The guy that owns the F350 Dually with the large trailer is a professional carpenter...who runs a business outside of his normal job.
The Moore`s construction isn`t real though.
Just a comedian coworker that made `Johnny D"`s trailer look like a Hotdog stand...and a make-shift trailer on his Subaru....

Kinda relates to your competition......lol
Hoping you get a chuckle out of it.

WHO WOULD YOU HIRE?

[ShaneB]

Lol that`s hilarious. Love the shopping cart trailer hahahaha

[Paintxpert]

Dont get too hung up on what the competition is doing. Always put out superior work and great things will happen. I do little to no advertising but remember: Your only as good as your last detail. Search: "Auto Polishing" you will find me usually in the top three from Google and Yahoo. Even Google and Yahoo call me every day to advertise and I never answer the phone. If your competition polishes with a wool pad without "wheel marks" they must know there way around "paint rejuvenation". I frankly would have to see that. I have only seen a handful of detailers who could polish with wool and not create a "hologram hell". It takes many years of expertise to do it. Be ready to take on their over-flow of paint corrections. YAY!!! 000_1785.jpg000_1786.jpg

[trashmanssd]

My favorite shot is the clay lube bottle. Guess they are really into going green reusing a Pepsi bottle.