Are you hurting yourself in the long run?

[Lock]

This question is geared more towards those who have years of experience with window tinting. How do you feel knowing that the tips and words of encouragement you are giving others may in fact hurt you in the long run by creating more competition?

 

 

It's got to be frustrating knowing that years ago you basically had to figure stuff out and learn your own tricks rather than just looking it up on the internet .  If something didn't work out, well you just had to change up your strategy. Now days we can look up a car for tips before we even work on it. I understand this information will only help you if you put in the time and effort to excel, but it seems to speed up the learning curve.

 

 

I wonder how many people would have just given up had it not been for the tips they are able to find so easily. 

 

 

My example of this is on my very first Volkswagen Beetle back glass that I did a few months back. To my surprise I was able to one piece this using the lift and pull method first try. My mentor has never used this method and therefore never showed me it. The only reason I knew about it was because of youtube and tintdude. I know that if I hadn't had access to this info there is no way I would have figured out how to do a professional one piece job on a beetle so soon.

 

 

Not trying to toot my own horn or say how cool I am . I understand many of you have more experience and are better installers than myself. I just wonder if this is a concern for any of you? Who knows maybe there are many installers who feel this way and keep their secrets to themselves. I for one will always pay if forward because of all the help I was given.

[Devil with bad attitude]

No hurt at all my friend.

Just no one listens to experience and scores on the board.

devil

[Thirtyfive]

I think the opposite. I would absolutely no way in hell in any chance be the tinter I am today, or the person I am, if it wasn't from personal experience from mentors first hand. The net (e.g. TD) has been a wonderful resource.

Although, the best thing it has done for me by a long mile, has put me in a network of local good quality ethical guys. These boys have never missed a beat in giving me all I want and need. I can do a very high quality job - because I learned from somebody who believes that is the only way.

I learned my knowledge on my products - from somebody who would send me all te info I needed from across the country at his own expense because he knew it would put me ahead of the others..... Which it has..... Unbelievably.

I can put together even a really professional quotation, and conduct estimations on site and have the project manager believe I am the ducks nuts..... Because someone said, here's what I send, this is what I say.....

I believe it's who your around.

Not always good though, especially if your at my stage, and your keen - your like a sponge! You just absorb. I was lucky I found these boys when I did, because I was with the worst crowd and worst shop in Sydney when they found me..... Believe me I was absorbing their putrid shit when I was there......

I think the ones who are worried about you becoming their competition aren't gonna show you their secrets anyway. The ones that do, firstly IMO see you have the industry's best in your heart....

Their also not afraid of a bit of competition, their normally already quite successful and actually don't mind palming some work off to you when u need it.....

What I've found anyway.

[TintWizard]

I look at it this way (30th year in auto tinting this season) if an experienced tinter isn't all that good then the competition was going to eat him up anyways. If an experienced tinter is good, it just cuts down a waiting list they should have when the season is in

[TintOhio]

I have to credit you with a good point LOCK..  I have thought about that as well actually, and I do believe it would make things easier, I couldn't imagine how quickly my skills would of progressed with access to tintdude/youtube.  I think about that when I get those customers that say "I know how to tint, I just don't have the time" or "I used to tint" (I am sure you have all come across a handful of those)

[jh812]

Ditto on the customers that say they know how or used to tint. Also I do not believe most of us would be where we are today with out places like this.

[ultratintsouthport]

I think the opposite. I would absolutely no way in hell in any chance be the tinter I am today, or the person I am, if it wasn't from personal experience from mentors first hand. The net (e.g. TD) has been a wonderful resource.

Although, the best thing it has done for me by a long mile, has put me in a network of local good quality ethical guys. These boys have never missed a beat in giving me all I want and need. I can do a very high quality job - because I learned from somebody who believes that is the only way.

I learned my knowledge on my products - from somebody who would send me all te info I needed from across the country at his own expense because he knew it would put me ahead of the others..... Which it has..... Unbelievably.

I can put together even a really professional quotation, and conduct estimations on site and have the project manager believe I am the ducks nuts..... Because someone said, here's what I send, this is what I say.....

I believe it's who your around.

Not always good though, especially if your at my stage, and your keen - your like a sponge! You just absorb. I was lucky I found these boys when I did, because I was with the worst crowd and worst shop in Sydney when they found me..... Believe me I was absorbing their putrid %&$# when I was there......

I think the ones who are worried about you becoming their competition aren't gonna show you their secrets anyway. The ones that do, firstly IMO see you have the industry's best in your heart....

Their also not afraid of a bit of competition, their normally already quite successful and actually don't mind palming some work off to you when u need it.....

What I've found anyway.

"You can have anything in life that you want, if you'll just help enough other people get what they want." ~ Zig Ziglar.

It's a good feeling to be able to pass on advice and see someone do better because of it. Do I worry that I'm training or helping my future competitors? No, not really. Because even though I taught them everything they know, I DIDN'T teach them everything that I know.

Besides, being good at this game long term is about more than just film on glass. It takes optimism, confidence, PR skills, professionalism, balls of steel, the ability to say NO, market prediction, thick skin and a god-damn sense of humour... Being a good tinter doesn't make you good in business. It just makes you a good tinter.

If someone wants advice and genuinely appreciates the help, I'm there for them. But if you come to me for info so you can steal/ripoff my ideas and methods, I'll bury you.

You don't survive for 15, 20, 30 yrs in business by being Mr Nice-Guy the entire time. You gotta protect yourself too...

[Tint Eastwood]

If we expect to keep our industry out of the mud, we must build bridges....

[Lock]

Good to know that's how you guys feel and I agree.  Its very frustrating when I talk to people and they tell me they never want window film installed on their car because it always turns purple. There is so much misinformation out there.  Its sad knowing that these installers don't take any pride in their work and are just looking to make a quick buck  . As a result we all get thrown into this same negative pool.  It's important to educate people and the best way to do that is to have quality installers who do care for their customers and want them to be satisfied for years to come. Which is why I think it's great that so many people are willing to share their own experiences to help the industry move forward in a positive way.

[TTS]

Elevate the people around you and they in turn will elevate you...