Q: We've been window tinting & custom vinyl graphics installers out of our house for the past year. We're opening a shop & going all-out in the preparations, because we want everything just so. We aim to provide a high quality service, and we want our shop to be as professional as we can manage.

We want to add PPF to our offerings, but we haven't worked with PPF at all to date.

We intend to go to PPF training, but with the shop opening and "planning for unplanned" expenses incurred therein we haven't acted on our intentions just yet.

We even have an extremely new Graphtec 48" plotter (a CE3000-120) purchased with PPF in mind.

Outside of training, and thinking in terms of inventory and equipment... What kind of initial investment are we looking at to get going with PPF? (although the film rolls are pricey, we don't have to stock different varieties... do we?)

And on the subject of training: My husband is the installer, he's a lightning fast learner, and very particular (read: anal). Since he has experience with window tint & vinyl installs (including vinyl installs over interesting contours) How much of that is related to installing PPF?

Finally, with the shop opening in October, window tinting won't be a major item in the winter months, how seasonal is PPF?

Hopefully these aren't ridiculous questions. Is there anything big I'm missing?

A:Your plotter is going to be your biggest investment, second would be film. There isn't any reason to stock more than one brand, which brand is the best has been batted around on this forum so enough said there.

Your going to want 12", 18", and 24" bulk rolls to make best use of the patterns offered by most of the design houses.

You husband sounds like he will make a very good PPF installer. Since he's already doing tint and graphics, he probably has all the other tools needed in his pouch already.

As far as seasonal, well kinda, but it shouldn't be. People can buy cars in the winter might not think about tint until it gets warmer out and the sun is blasting them. Paint protection should be applied as soon as possible especially during the winter with all the salt and sand put down.

I was talking with an Audi owner last week from Denver and he said, "Our State bird is a rock.".

A: Yep, its awesome in the summer, BUT in their area of the country with a considerable snowfall and the glare from the snow....ding, ding,ding...selling point!

Its great that you have some experience w/ graphics, as I find that this is more in line with installing ppf. obviously your exspendatures can be subsidised by the amount you charge. If at all possible, you can purchase kits from people, therefore your not putting the huge expense out until your husband is proficient. That way its a dollar for donuts type deal. You aren't sitting ona ton of inventory and can learn form the installs. The down side to this scenario is if the kit has flaws or the install doesnt go well. Then you have to reorder and reschedule. not the best situation, but certainly can be overcome with beforehand communication with the customer.

Best advice would not to be so anal in the begining, as the faster you can get the film in the proper spot the better. Also use more slip in the initial phases that way the film wont grab as fast...ie; more workable stretch time.

A:Like Speed said, with a tinting/graphics background, your husband should find the transition for installing PPF fairly easy. One of the most important things I would strongly, strongly recommend would be training. There are several companies out there who offer training classes, some will vary in price, and my suggestion is to call each place and see what the cost of training is and what they have to offer. I will list which one's I can remember that offer training - Ultra-Shield, Star-Shield, Venture Tape, X-Pel, Maryland Performance Works, and I am sure that I am missing others, so someone else please fill in where I might have left off. According to your location, I believe Maryland Performance Works would be the closest, and I have taught their at his facility personally, he has everything there (climate/temperature controlled training facility with hoods/bumpers, plotters, film, tools, etc etc) and he even offers "field days" where you can go along with him and his installers to local dealerships to apply the skills you have learned in the classroom on real vehicles. I know he has his training course listed on his website along with pictures you can view at www.proformauto.com. If you want to take a little trip further south, depending on how long you can be away from your place, (Florida/Texas) they as well have full service facilities. Again, I would recommend calling each and see which one suits your needs as some offer marketing sessions, how to get into dealerships, installation on real vehicles, etc etc. Good Luck!

A: Although the film rolls are pricey, we don't have to stock different varieties... do we?

No. Pick a brand of film, a software provider, and a training facility and you are good to go. One roll of 12, 18, and 24 (or your film co's sizes) is more up front buy maximizes profit buy providing the lowest unit cost.

Since he has experience with window tint   vinyl installs (including vinyl installs over interesting contours). How much of that is related to installing PPF?

The experience is good but not entirely related to PPF. Vinyl and tint is more about heat shrinking while PPF is about stretching. But they are similar in that you will be working with a sticky two dimensional material that doesn't want to fit nicely on that three dimensional surface you want it to go on.

How seasonal is PPF?

While most car related businesses are seasonal, PPF can sell really well in the winter! While it is a lot harder to install in the winter months, there can be business. After each storm, most people who were on the fence thinking PPF was too expensive for their budget were ringing the phone off the hook begging us to fit them in, The dealers were selling them well too. In fact December '03 was one of the highest grossing months last year! You really need sales people saying to everybody, listen there is a million tons of sand out on the highway, you really should think about protecting your new vehicle with PPF!

Is there anything big I'm missing?

Just realize that there is a learning curve and you will probably go through multiple pieces in the beginning to get the installs looking how you want them to look. Don't worry too much about using multiple kits in the beginning (you priced that into the model right), think of it as continuing education! Training is worth its weight in gold! I would have loved it if the company that trained me offered a phase 2 course or even a phase 3 course. Something more advanced that you could down the road.