Does anybody tint part time?

Pnut0321 · December 30, 2017

go 2 guy been wanting to do what u did for awhile now just I need more than 300 week to live

Go2Guy · December 30, 2017

IF it wasn't for 2 people and one event I probably wouldn't have had the courage to do it

. . .
1] Is is a Friend and long time Tinter that i met, When I met him he assured me there is no shortage of cars to be tinted, he also started to send me some work and told me if ever got 2 slow all I had to do is give him a call and he would send me some work. THIS WAS VERY REASSURING , I have yet to call him for being "slow" but the reassurance is comforting
2] My momma who told me to jump off the cliff and learn how to fly on the way down. . . . she said if you never jump you will never learn!!!!
3]while debating jumping off the cliff one day i made like 600 in one day and this was a wake up smack in the face, I made 2 weeks of work in ONE DAY that was the straw that broke the camel's back!!!!! what i did was I went to part time at my old job for 2 months to see if could do it[10 hour days 2 days a week 4 days tinting ] after that i quit for good and have never looked

Between all this IT IS STUPID NOT TO DO IT .

LIKE NIKE SAID JUST DO IT. . . . Yes im very slow in clientele as most guys are knocking out 4-6 cars a day and im doing 2-6 a week! but I DON'T CARE.. . . . Im not trying to be rich and im not trying to work 40 plus hours a week, so my advice to you is to find out how many cars a week you need to to make a living. . . .and set that as your goal

one other thing to note: 1 week i could make 150 the next week i could make 1200, So what i do is i pretend i live on my old pay checks and if i make 1200 for a week I know i made what i need for the month . its probably not the best way to run a business but im learning the business side of things as i go. . . DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited December 31, 2017 by Go2Guy
typos corrected

billzkey · December 31, 2017

I did it part-time last year, until I had some health issues that forced me to stop. Now, my health issues are back in check and I may give it another whirl next year. I'm good friends with someone who owns his own tinting business and I am welcome any time! In other words, I am lucky.

I will, however, be tinting my wife's new Kia Soul soon.

Pnut0321 · December 31, 2017

Go2Guy very good advice thank u very much wife has a month to go in school then something is def gonna change I do a couple every weekend was trying to wait to my weekends r overbooked but need to change something

Mulkogi · December 31, 2017

Do you all recommend part timing for this? I work as an aircraft mechanic full time but get off at 1pm so after that it gets pretty boring sometimes. Also soon i'll be changing to a 4on 3 off schedule. What are the costs and the income ratios?

ErieTint · January 1, 2018

Tinting part time right now. Still have a full time job but ordered film, went through training, rented a shop and filed for an LLC. The plan is to be doing weekend and (as I get faster) after hours work until I am fast enough to replace my full time income.

Learning more and more every day and this site has been a huge help. Have a '14 Jetta in right now that is giving me absolute fits. Learned the hard way to double check here first for any tips and tricks, especially before blindly quoting a price when you're still new in the game.

Tint Slayer · January 1, 2018

10 hours ago, ErieTint said:

Tinting part time right now. Still have a full time job but ordered film, went through training, rented a shop and filed for an LLC. The plan is to be doing weekend and (as I get faster) after hours work until I am fast enough to replace my full time income.

Learning more and more every day and this site has been a huge help. Have a '14 Jetta in right now that is giving me absolute fits. Learned the hard way to double check here first for any tips and tricks, especially before blindly quoting a price when you're still new in the game.

Where'd you go for training?

ErieTint · January 1, 2018

2 hours ago, Tint Slayer said:

Where'd you go for training?

I went through the program at LLumar's facility in Martinsville Virginia the second week of October. Class went really well, instructor was super cool and there was only one other guy registered so it was pretty hands on and focused with instruction. Had to open an account and place an opening order to get registered for class, I would say that was the only downside. I did have help from my rep and a friend who used to tint with what to buy size and VLT wise though. They got me pretty well set up and I've only had to order one additional roll so far for a local PD's new K9 car.

Have been moving pretty slow getting things going but I am still working a full time job. I picked up a Graphtec plotter from my friend mentioned above and got that set up and running right before Christmas. Having doors cut for me is HUGE because my hand cutting skills were "meh" at best. I would like to be at the point where I could do a full vehicle in about four hours or less. Pulled in, cleaned, shrunk, tinted, cleaned again and back out in four hours or less. Figured that isn't too lofty and is a pretty good metric to shoot for. That would give me two or more vehicles per day ability wise. Would really like to replace my full time job with this once I am fast enough. I have a list with close to 30 people on it right now that I am slowly picking away at based on our schedules coordinating.

Helf8704 · January 2, 2018

20 hours ago, ErieTint said:

I went through the program at LLumar's facility in Martinsville Virginia the second week of October. Class went really well, instructor was super cool and there was only one other guy registered so it was pretty hands on and focused with instruction. Had to open an account and place an opening order to get registered for class, I would say that was the only downside. I did have help from my rep and a friend who used to tint with what to buy size and VLT wise though. They got me pretty well set up and I've only had to order one additional roll so far for a local PD's new K9 car.

Have been moving pretty slow getting things going but I am still working a full time job. I picked up a Graphtec plotter from my friend mentioned above and got that set up and running right before Christmas. Having doors cut for me is HUGE because my hand cutting skills were "meh" at best. I would like to be at the point where I could do a full vehicle in about four hours or less. Pulled in, cleaned, shrunk, tinted, cleaned again and back out in four hours or less. Figured that isn't too lofty and is a pretty good metric to shoot for. That would give me two or more vehicles per day ability wise. Would really like to replace my full time job with this once I am fast enough. I have a list with close to 30 people on it right now that I am slowly picking away at based on our schedules coordinating.

@ErieTint Thanks for your response. I would like to go the same route you have went, my big hangup on striking out on my own from the start is mastering the skills needed well enough to where I feel confident charging for those skills. I know after completing a training course it will still take a lot of practice to get the skills down and really feel confident. Places like this definitely help, but I think it would still be a hard transition. On the flip side, as someone who worked in a shop for almost 12 years and now has complete control of my schedule in my current position, I would love to continue to have control of my schedule with my current family needs.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Helf8704

ErieTint · January 2, 2018

4 minutes ago, Helf8704 said:

@ErieTint Thanks for your response. I would like to go the same route you have went, my big hangup on striking out on my own from the start is mastering the skills needed well enough to where I feel confident charging for those skills. I know after completing a training course it will still take a lot of practice to get the skills down and really feel confident. Places like this definitely help, but I think it would still be a hard transition. On the flip, as someone who worked in a shop for almost 12 years and now has complete control of my schedule in my current position, I would love to continue to have control of my schedule with my current family needs.

@Helf8704 My attack on that has been keeping my prices lower than where I will be once "open" and being very up front with everyone. I have only been doing this a short time and I am not afraid to tell my "customers" that. I tell them there may be some small things but if they are willing to work with me then I will do what I can for them. I explain that I will take care of any major issues or failures. Thankfully, at this point, all but one car I have done are friends of mine and are supportive in my journey and me wanting to do something on my own.

Still working full time is slowing down my learning progression a little but I am OK with that. I still have bills to pay so my 8-5 pays the bills and tint is weekend money plus learning and practicing my skills. The goal I have set at this point is to be doing tint full time within the next six months or so. Fingers crossed that business stays strong and my skills keep improving.