Greetings from Minnesota

I guess we need to have a formal introduction here. My name is Clint, and I have owned an auto glass repair and replacement shop for eight and a half years. I worked for another auto glass company for a little less than a year before they went bankrupt. They grew to 27 locations in 10 states in only eight years until the growth rate destroyed them. I started from scratch basically; I was servicing about 20 accounts as a scratch removal and rock chip repair technician. I had no business ownership experience so I had no idea what kind of unpredictable whirlwind of a business I was getting myself into.

At first I was working out of my home, the same way it seems most shops get their start, and my wife was handling the paperwork. She handled it for a couple of years before she kicked my “business” out of the house. It was a good thing she did, because our marriage was much better off with marriage and business separate from one another. For years (eight in fact), I concentrated on growing the gross numbers; some years it was 100 percent growth, some years it was only ten. The problem was that I had no idea if I was making money or losing money. I had no plan other than growth. I soon found out that was a dumb move.

It’s now year eight and I finally have a business plan and a budget; I also have key indicators so that I can know the direction of my business as it happens rather than 45 days later. I now feel like I am on top of my business rather than being crushed by it—I am sure many shop owners know what I am talking about. This is an exciting time in the auto glass industry. There are so many changes, so many challenges. I started after the auto glass boom so I really do not know what it was like 10 years ago so that kind of gives me an advantage of looking forward rather than looking back.

Now you know about my business, but I am also a husband of 16 years and a father of four beautiful kids. The oldest is 15 years old and the youngest is five, so I always have something to do. We have a Bernese mountain dog, two cats and a frog; gotta love kids. I love to wake-surf, rock climb and most of all I go on dates weekly with my wife.

I will be blogging here every other week or so and I hope you find my view points intriguing. I am learning as I go, and life is good.

Many blessings in your endeavors.