chris, thanks. actually i lived there for about 3 years back when i was in the army. was stationed at ft stewart just outside of savannah. wouldnt mind going back down south one day. point to that whole story above is that the automotive refinish business is a tough one. always dealing with people who usually always want the job as cheap as possible. this makes for an industry thats not the easiest to make money and promotes speed over quality of work. commercial clients are really the way to go if thats possible.
aae, i really only have 2 major clients. i still have a bunch of other customers but just a small job per year from each one of those. the one place i used to work at 20 years ago. they had a need for a faux wood finish. they saw some of my work so the president of the company called me, had a meeting and all down hill from there. i got into doing faux wood on garage doors by doing one for a builder then the dealer who installed it saw it, contacted the president of the garage door company because he knew they were looking to bring a wood finish to their doors. same deal, had a meeting, went to canada to do some training for the paint system, came back and have been doing those ever since. its funny i havent actually tried to seek anyone out. it just kinda happened. i can tell you this, almost everything has paint on it. not just cars. take a look around. almost everything. its just a matter of seeing what companies are near you that might need finishing services. if you can offer unique finishes that will set you apart and it can help the company sell product then your in! look for more expensive products also. they help. the boats and houses that my work goes on are all $1mil and up so my cost just gets lost in that. easier to charge more money on something that is expensive.
