Four Things You Need to Know Before Starting an Auto Glass Business

Starting an auto glass business is a great way to start your path toward a rewarding career, both financially and in providing quality service to your community. But starting an auto glass business takes hard work and strategy. There are many things you need to know about the auto glass business before diving right in. Here are four of those things:

1. Starting an Auto Glass Business Requires a Market Strategy

Auto glass businesses are part of the automotive aftermarket. Just how big is this market? It’s huge. It’s worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. alone. And it’s growing. Globally, the automotive aftermarket is predicted to achieve a valuation of $722.8 billion in 2020 and to exceed $1 trillion by 2022. Capturing your part of this market requires an understanding of who controls the work. The three primary sources of business for auto glass companies in the automotive aftermarket are insurance companies, commercial/government fleets, and consumers. Each segment of the market requires a different marketing and sales strategy, has advantages and disadvantages, and exist at varying percentage levels depending on your local economy. Understanding these differences and developing a plan for what mix of your business will come from each segment is vital for starting a successful auto glass business.

2. The Auto Glass Industry is a Sales and Service Industry

While an auto glass business is an automotive business requiring some mechanical skills to perform the auto glass repairs and replacements, it is also a business that is successful based on your ability to sell your competitive advantage and value, and to provide excellent customer service. Insurers, fleets, and consumers all want as simple of an experience as possible while dealing with an annoyance—a damaged vehicle. Your business will grow based not only on the quality of your work, but also on your ability to sell that quality as an advantage to the customers in your market. Because most customers are not auto glass experts, they won't recall how smooth your urethane bead was or how you only used one dauber for your glass activator. The only thing they're likely to recall about your mechanical skills is if something goes wrong. But they will remember the quality of your service, the swiftness, the professionalism, and the brand.

3. The Auto Glass Industry is Technologically Complex

The above numbers show that now is a time of growth in the automotive repair industry. Part of the dollar growth in the auto glass industry is the result of increasing technological innovation and complexity. More vehicles on the road are taking advantage of safety systems known as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These systems are often controlled by cameras mounted to the inside of a windshield. When a windshield is replaced and the camera moved, it must be calibrated to function correctly and safely. As the complexity of replacing windshields and calibrating safety systems increases, insurers, fleets, and consumers are turning to established brands they trust to handle this complexity.

4. Partnering with an Auto Glass Franchisor has Advantages

Unless you are currently an expert in the auto glass market, selling auto glass service and value, and handling auto glass technology efficiently, partnering with an auto glass franchisor like NOVUS is going to provide significant advantages over going it alone. (Even if you are all those things, there are still advantages to a partnership with a global network.) NOVUS provides training in understanding the complexities of the auto glass market and support in developing your market strategy. NOVUS also provides sales and business operations training to help you learn how to provide excellent customer service and how to sell the advantages you provide as a NOVUS franchisee. Lastly, NOVUS provides the tools and training to handle the technological complexities of an auto glass business. NOVUS invented windshield repair, holds more patents in windshield repair than any other auto glass franchisor, and employs a full-time chemistry and engineering department to be sure its franchisees are at the forefront of auto glass innovation. These are just some of the advantages and support of working with a franchisor like NOVUS.

Contact us

If you would like to learn more about how to start an auto glass business or add an auto glass revenue stream to your existing business, please contact NOVUS Glass Repair & Replacement.