THE ULTIMATE "NEW SHOP" ADVICE THREAD WITH FOLLOW UP!

Id like to start this thread by introducing myself (actually my situation) and also describing the intent of this thread.

I am 31 years old and I have owned/operated my own business (a Radio Controlled Hobby store) for about the last 9 years. I have come to the conclusion that I am burning out in my current industry. So, after much consideration I have decided to get out of the hobby biz and have sold my inventory, fixtures, phone number, ect... I own my building (still making payments) and have decided to keep it in order to open a Tint Shop/Detail Shop. I have enough parking for about 30 cars, so I plan to do a "Park to Sell Lot" to add some extra income. The location is great, as its on six lanes of traffic in a town of about 80,000 people in the state of Arkansas. The building is roughly 2400 sqft and has 3 sections. There will be a decent and cozy waiting area for the customers to chill, a office space, and the shop space is 24ft x 70ft with two 10ft doors at opposite ends of the building. The lighting is killer with 24 eight ft HO light fixtures. Air quality will be manage by the central AC unit. I definitely dont have unlimited funds but I have set a budget that I feel will be adequate based on what I have read hear on this forum (which Im diggin the forum). I will be competing with two other shops that I would consider to be legit and reputable shops and also about three other place that tint but suck at it. Hear comes the catch,,,,,, all I know about the Window Tinting biz is what I've read hear. I do plan to try to get a former tint shop owner of 17 years to teach me all he has time for.

So, onto the intent of this thread. As, I enter into this new venture I intend to drop questions here as they come up and then provide feedback (results, pictures, ect.) through out the entire experience. It is my hope that there are enough people here who both understand my position and are willing to take time out to give some solid advice. Sure there are many other threads with "new shop" content in them, but hopefully this thread will be the "one stop shop" for new shop info. Also by me posting the results of my experience those who have added to the thread will ge to see there efforts in action. Who knows maybe even the seasoned pro will find a new idea or two along the way.

You sound bright, and you'll need to be to be a tinter, but there has got to be an easier way.

I wish you luck, but you have chosen a very challenging trade.

i would highly recommend looking into other ways of learning how to tint. if you learn everything from your 17 year experience, youll most likely end up like him; a former window tint shop owner. there are other places you can take courses and learn. manufacturers have courses as well.

i highly recommend flat rock stan, ive only seen clips from his vids and info he has given here. but his knowledge seems very good and up to date.

I have most of his DVD set, and its well worth the money whether your a beginner or a pro. This industry is constantly evolving, and one reason why that guy might be a former shop owner now is that he didn't choose to evolve his skills with the times. maybe he was still doing BG's in 5 pieces. Times change, and over 17 years you can form a lot of bad habits. Stan is a professional teacher, and travels the WORLD teaching people how to tint. I doubt you could find someone better to each you anywhere.

what is that saying

"those who can do...those who cant teach"

...and those who can't teach, teach Gym.

Wow, I must admit that I did not expect to see what Im seeing. I thought I would get flamed for even mentioning learning by DVD! I did not wnat to admit that I have been watching every video I can possibly find. I really expected to get booed right out of here.

So I guess my question now is were can I find the best "how to" vids for tinting.

autowindowtinting.com I believe if you contact stan or alexia directly there is a $100 TD discount

Or be the Principal.

search member flatrockstan. he has a good school and you'll learn more than videos.

You need to learn in person...You are putting your lifes savings into a new business. Like the other guy said, sounds like you got ur sh!t together so dont just buy DVDs and expect to learn everything. Have you decided what brand of film you will be using? If so, contact a distributor and ask them if they do training. Buy a ticket and fly out there and learn the trade the right way. I am sure Stan's DVDs are great, but you need to go to a week long or two week long training session. Here is a LLumar Distributor who holds classes:

Performance Films Distributing
6365 Shier Rings Rd
Dublin, OH 43016
(614) 766-4602

Or maybe contact stan to see what he charges for 1:1 teaching. If you plan to hire help, have him come to you and teach everyone at once....Good Luck and I hope it goes well for you.

I have contacted Stan. I will definitely be scheduling some time to take his courses when I get a little closer to the right time (probably when Im ready to start ordering to specialty tools and doing the final set-up of the shop).

LLumar seems to be the dominate brand that the other tint shops (the reputable ones) in my area are using. Im not sure if using the same brand as my competitors is the way to go or not. In one way it might be good because they wont be able to use brand bashing against me, but in another way would it be good to be different?

LLumar might not sell to you if you have other shops in town selling it, they are pretty good about borders...you might want to look into some other film if they are selling LuLu in your town anyway...you might not be able to compete with their prices if they have a lot of buying power etc. Check out some other films, call around, ask for samples, warranty info etc. You can be the best tinter in the world and have crappy film and have problems.

I thought it would be interesting to see some breakdowns of what days are the busy days and what days tend to be the slowest. This wont be the same for every shop Im sure but there's still knowledge to be gained I think. I'll give an example bellow and use my current store for the example.

The numbers given shall represent a percentage of the total volume done in a week(TWV).

MONDAY=closed TUESDAY=30%TWV WEDNESDAY=15% THURSDAY=5% FRIDAY=15% SATURDAY=35% SUNDAY=closed

as far as film, look into Globals QDP. It is very forgiving when shrinking, looks great, and is on the cheaper end since their vertically integrated and do everything in house.

as far as business wise, It all depends on the week. I'm mobile, and work mostly afternoons/evenings. Mon-Thurs are probably 30% overall, fri and sat are 25%, and sun is 20%. however, some weeks you'll get no cars all week and be slammed on the weekends.

as far as taking the class, do it as soon as possible so you can start practicing. the more practice you have the better. you can't just take the class and open up shop the next day. ordering tools is easy, you can get pretty much everything you need for really less than $100 not counting the heat gun, peel board if you want one, and such. take the class as soon as possible, and get as much practice in as you can.

Practice; Yeah I've got an idea for that which I will describe bellow to see what you guys think about it.

First (after some training) I will begin tinting friends and families rides. After that I will visit with some local car dealers who I have some contacts with. I will explain my limited but trained experience level. I will offer to tint a number of vehicles for rates that will just cover my materials. I will guarantee quality work even if I have to do a window multiple times to get it right. I will insure that I will have it right before I return the car. I will let them know that at some point my rates will reflect the "market value".

I feel that this will not only give me lots of practice on a variety of vehicles but it should also help me to build relationships early.

I come from the school of thought that if you can find a great installer you are better off running the company and building the business than spending your time in the back seat of a camry all day.

this is my goal in life. to have other people make my money for me

Well let’s see sum pics of what you have to start with. And also a floor plan of your shop would help to see how your shop should be set up.

To the original poster...

Do you seriously intend on starting a automotive related business right now ??

Did you bump your head recently ?? Seriously!

I think you are putting togeather a recipe for direct failure.... I wish you the best.. and I hope you make it if you move foreward... but you need to do some serious consideration AWAY from this place.

Understand here you are dealing with a lot of either established tinters/shop owners or new kids just happy to make a buck for a cheeseburger and smokes.

The forcasts for the automotive industry is GRIM.... Our economy is GRIM.... and you are considering one of the most luxury purchases to specialize in....

I know I don't generally go with the popular flow.... but there are 3 places I wouldn't be starting up right now....

1) Newspaper
2) Home Building
3) Automotive Accessories of ANY type...

Until this whole mess hits bottom and the future estimates turn around... I would steer clear...

this man speaks the truth. My fathers auto company is doing the worst they ever have since the early 90s, and just recently laid off 15 more people. The whole auto industry as a whole is not doing the best right now. If you think the restaurant industry has a high failure rate, the auto accessory is just as bad. One of the local truck customization shops that was booming the last 5 years and had several locations just went bankrupt and closed a couple months ago. They dumped tons of money into it based on their locations and stores(all wood flooring, tile in the shop, etc) and now its all gone.

Ill see what I can do. Im not the most computer savy guy around though so Im not real sure about how to attach the drawing but Ill get something. I would just post pictures but the shop still has shelves and product all over.




I feel ya but have you ever heard someone say "this recession will thin out the herd" or "only the strong will survive"? Well I plan to be strong enough to be a member of the herd. I know its easier said than done but I have never been one to take the easy or safe approach.




Again I realize there are risks involved here. I am fortunate though in that I dont live in a region that has been affect in the ways many other regions have been. Yes, we're seeing the impact, but not like most places. Our industries have always fared well during times of recession. I stopped by the truck accessory place down the road (which also sells detail supplies in bulk) and they were slammed. There was barely a place to park. I spoke with their manager, who is also a customer of mine, and he said they are having one of their best years to date.

to the original poster.....
Have you ever worked on cars before? I think it would be best if you actually take the class first and see if this is going to be your gig. It would suck when you set up the shop and everything and month down on the road you finally realize that this isnt your gig. Try it out first for month or so on your car and friends car and see how much you like tinting and go from there.

"I feel ya but have you ever heard someone say "this recession will thin out the herd" or "only the strong will survive"? Well I plan to be strong enough to be a member of the herd. I know its easier said than done but I have never been one to take the easy or safe approach."

you can't just jump into this industry and "be strong enough to survive". The ones in our industry who are strong enough to survive are the ones who have been around and tinting for 5, 10, 20, sometimes even 30 years. To expect to just be able to open up a brand new shop in this economy and expect to be able to make it is almost a ludacris idea. It will take you at least 2 years before you are putting out work that is good enough to start earning you a reputation around town as a quality tint shop. Do you have enough capital to invest to keep you afloat for that time period? As in most businesses, you can't expect to make any money your first year, sometimes two.

yeppers....fyi, if you are going to start your biz, the first couple of months you will probably be "busy" with friends cars, family cars, and friends of friends who want a deal on tint, but once you are done with their cars you will slow down a lot...especially if you have several window tinters in town that can do a good job with good film. And most customers who will pay more for warranty work will realize that you are a new biz and your warranty is only as strong as your business.

You can do it, just don't expect the biz to support you for a year or so, you will need to invest a lot of time and money into getting your name out there. And if your competetion views you as a threat, they will have specials/deals to put you out of business. This industry is pretty cutthroat especially with the economy slowed down. A lot of us here on this forum are fine with competetion because we have an established business, or because we are located throughout the world...but if one of these guys set up shop a couple of blocks from me, I probably wouldn't take them to lunch...lol...well maybe....

Honestly if you have a couple of tint shops in the area, you might want to put an ad in the paper or on craigslist and hire an experienced window tinter, then you can leave him to tint and you can sell your biz. For every car you tint, your name will get out there, but even for experienced guys, that means 2-4 cars a day, which might only be about 4-10 additional people that know about you. As a business, we need 4-12 new customers a week (we do other stuff besides window tint, so some weeks we only need a couple of new custys) and marketing the first year sucks...btw, what is the name of your shop/biz...I might have missed it...

This is just my opinion...

Screw automotive tinting. Lots of work with little payoff. Look into doing flat glass. You can be trained and producing WAY sooner than with automotive. Automotive is difficult to learn b/c every vehicle (model) has different characteristics. A VW Bettle is a "pro" vehicle to tint, where as a Silverado is a "beginner" vehicle. With flat glass, there are big and small windows, and different frames (maybe 5-8), and thats it. You dont have to have a shop, you can run it from your house. If the flat glass biz takes off, then you can try the automotive.

Less overhead with flat glass.

BTW, I do both, but would like to eventually phase automotive out completely. Unless I can hire someone to do automotive and make enough to pay him and the rent for the shop.

Of course I have worked on cars. Im not a certified mechanic or anything, just a guy who likes anything with wheels and a motor. In my younger days I did about way to many stereo installs to keep track of. Ive always been told that I have an eye for customization on a car.

Gotta tell ya, you guys paint one grim picture.

we just want you to know its not as easy as it may seem. its an art like auto paint. and its difficult to get goin in a good economy, so right now would be extra hard.

in our industry there are so many shops that open up and are out in less than 2 years. you came on here nice, so we r just being honest.

I understand I suppose. My current industry also sees many people trying to open shops and RC tracks. Most never last. However most have poor business models and lazy owners. I think in many cases its the same way with detail and tint shops. All to often people open these places with a few hundred bucks, a crappy location, and a less than professional image. So its no wonder they fail.

Can I make it, who knows? I plan to find out.

we wish u the best. does your building have good frontage? if not look into your phone books so u have a way of getting customers right off the bat. u dont wanna have to wait almost a year b4 u get any advertising

If you are very professional you stand a chance. Most dealers biggest downfall is a lack of focus on the business side of things. Its even evident here, we would all rather talk about install techniques and films than management and marketing strategies.

Yes Im located on the right side town and Im on the heaviest traveled highway in the region. I have excellent exposure. Im in the wealthiest school district in the state of Arkansas were the snotty little high school kids drive Vets and HD Trucks.



Finally some words of encouragement.

then thats good. invest in good signage and u should already be scoping the phone books. remember they take a while to actually come out. you dont want to b in business a whole year without even being in the phone book. so get in there asap

Ooh, Now there's a good tip! I had not thought of that.

How many adds do you think will do it? By that I mean should I go for both of the local phone books and also some of the internet "books"?

internet is a big player. I don't advertise at all in the phonebook personally. Almost all of my business has been generated from Craigslist in some way shape or form. Its free, so you can't beat that and has huge viewing numbers. Currently I do probably 35% direct first time jobs from CL, 20% second cars/referrals and 45% dealer/shop/contract work

I should add that we probably don't discuss a lot of things due to the information being of a proprietary nature, tips on an install can't really hurt business.

just b in everything u can afford

I can't afford anything, so I only use free measures. CL, flyer drops, putting cards all over, etc

Scotty...why do you openly advertise tinting windshield on your CL ad? Just curious. Its good to see you arent advertising $99 tint jobs, but you still have to got to them.

because MI allows it with a medical exemption from a optometrist/dermatologist (I have a opto for caritakonis?Sp?) and I do a lot of them since a lot of people have letters. I probably do 3-4 a month I charge a lot for them since I don't really like doing them they always seem to be a pain, but if they want to pay I'll do it

I was a tint terrorist in Michigan anyone remember that post with the Civic?

i do. 2.5% galaxy style

Holler

Dude IMO there aint no fast track learning in this biz. If you jump into this with that overhead you will lose. guaranteed. No bout the tint biz is seeing its share of the downturn but dont fear the economy. I have done best in the worst of times. It sounds like you are a bright business owner. Stick to what you know best running a business. Find yourself a tinter form a great relationship and stand around and watch. After hours practice practice practice.. When you feel confident being on your own, your on. Use those DVDs as coasters. Or send me the $3500.00 I need to restock my beer fridge. Good Luck.

Couldn't agree more. If You think Your going to learn enough from watching a few video's Your in for a big surprise. I started out just doing back windows for a YEAR! Then I moved on to side glass. There is a STEEP learning curve in this business. Boomer is right. Hire a good tinter and work with Him. Don't be afraid to mess stuff up, cuz believe Me Your gonna!

If thats the case then say you support that local school/mascott and pay for advertising at their games. Ive seen a lot of high school games (outside sports) with commercials (posters/billboards) outside along the fields. Youll probably have to pay the school or donate something though. But good advertisemnt isnt going to be free. Even offer a student discount for that school so they "think" they are getting a good deal. Youll have every 17 year old with a car who wants fool around in their car buying tint from you... haha.

everyone else I've always heard starts on side windows since its a lot easier and then goes onto Bg's