LeadingEdgeDetail
New member
I operated my own Detailing business years ago, from 2004 until 2007. I was doing very well and building a client base, until I ended up moving ~300km away and sold my detailing truck and some of my equipment...
Fast forward to this year, and I am now in the serious planning and fundraising stages of going into business with a partner, who has many many years of autoglass experience. He brings many accounts with him to the business, and I believe would be the mainstay of the business.
I would also be detailing, the shop we pick would have room for at least 3-4 cars, so we could work together on both sides, he is more than willing to help detail, and I am more than willing to help with glass. I should input, I grew up in the glass industry as my father owned and operated a very sucessful one from 1981 until his retirement in 2003. My mother was the bookeeper for the business as well, so I know quite a bit about the operations side of things.
I know a lot of people want to steer clear of partnerships, and I am 100% certain that this one can work. We are currently working together with him as the Manager and me as Assistant Manager, and everything is tickity-boo.
The cross-promotion that can happen seems like a great complimentary advantage, when a car is here for a windshield, it can also get detailed... and when a car is getting detailed, it can also get the windshield replaced!
We would be opening our business in a town of ~32,000 people, with a town of ~125,000 people less than 15km away. The larger town is quite saturated with autoglass shops, but our smaller town can easily support a new addition. There are almost no *quality* detail shops in our immediate area, there are a few 'car wash' detailers, and I'm going to assume there must be at least ONE quality detailer... In our general area, there are many very wealthy people, Ferarris, Porsches, Bentleys, etc... all seen driving, and I would like to promote ourselves as the highest quality detailing outfit in business... which I know I can back-up with quality work.
I think we have settled on a business name of "Leading Edge Glass & Detail"
We looked at a couple locations today, and one had great frontage to a very busy street, 1700sq ft, so room for at least 3 cars inside with a nice showroom/office up front. Cost will be ~$2800/month including triple net. I have tried my best to work out our monthly operating costs, and my calculations seem to be between $12k and $15k per month...
I have figured our glass sales alone would easily average $30k/month, with spring and fall being busier than winter and summer...
I'm not sure how much detailing will add to the business, but I'm confident that it will benefit.
Does anyone here have experience running detailing and glass replacement in the same building?
For us, for the few weeks we have been discussing and planning, we can't seem to find a way this can't work... everything makes sense and it would go nowhere but up... a couple young go-getters is just what this area needs as far as both glass and detailing is concerned...
Thanks for reading, I had to get this out for some 'public' scrutiny, since I cannot discuss it with anyone outside my inner circle of family and friends until it is time to quit my job to start our own.
Fast forward to this year, and I am now in the serious planning and fundraising stages of going into business with a partner, who has many many years of autoglass experience. He brings many accounts with him to the business, and I believe would be the mainstay of the business.
I would also be detailing, the shop we pick would have room for at least 3-4 cars, so we could work together on both sides, he is more than willing to help detail, and I am more than willing to help with glass. I should input, I grew up in the glass industry as my father owned and operated a very sucessful one from 1981 until his retirement in 2003. My mother was the bookeeper for the business as well, so I know quite a bit about the operations side of things.
I know a lot of people want to steer clear of partnerships, and I am 100% certain that this one can work. We are currently working together with him as the Manager and me as Assistant Manager, and everything is tickity-boo.
The cross-promotion that can happen seems like a great complimentary advantage, when a car is here for a windshield, it can also get detailed... and when a car is getting detailed, it can also get the windshield replaced!
We would be opening our business in a town of ~32,000 people, with a town of ~125,000 people less than 15km away. The larger town is quite saturated with autoglass shops, but our smaller town can easily support a new addition. There are almost no *quality* detail shops in our immediate area, there are a few 'car wash' detailers, and I'm going to assume there must be at least ONE quality detailer... In our general area, there are many very wealthy people, Ferarris, Porsches, Bentleys, etc... all seen driving, and I would like to promote ourselves as the highest quality detailing outfit in business... which I know I can back-up with quality work.
I think we have settled on a business name of "Leading Edge Glass & Detail"
We looked at a couple locations today, and one had great frontage to a very busy street, 1700sq ft, so room for at least 3 cars inside with a nice showroom/office up front. Cost will be ~$2800/month including triple net. I have tried my best to work out our monthly operating costs, and my calculations seem to be between $12k and $15k per month...
I have figured our glass sales alone would easily average $30k/month, with spring and fall being busier than winter and summer...
I'm not sure how much detailing will add to the business, but I'm confident that it will benefit.
Does anyone here have experience running detailing and glass replacement in the same building?
For us, for the few weeks we have been discussing and planning, we can't seem to find a way this can't work... everything makes sense and it would go nowhere but up... a couple young go-getters is just what this area needs as far as both glass and detailing is concerned...
Thanks for reading, I had to get this out for some 'public' scrutiny, since I cannot discuss it with anyone outside my inner circle of family and friends until it is time to quit my job to start our own.