was it worth it?
Like many going into a new industry you start from the bottom. At the beginning stages of this journey. Our brand was that of a simple and basic service. We started in the slums of our barn shed and driveway cleaning minivans and dirty cars no fancy services, just a good detailed cleaning . At the time i was making about $10 an hour on average per job. Today id say i was nuts but it was because of those hard working small paying jobs that we steadily evolved and grew . Now there were many challenges but the best one to majorly help level up and help our brand in the end was our move to become a fully Xpel certified shop.
Through out the journey I started to become obsessed. I didn't have hobbies. Cleaning cars was my hobby. About 6 years ago when this all started I was working full time in a Level 1 trauma ER during night shift. I didn't have a big family yet. No children no major responsibilities as I do now so on my time off I cleaned cars. But through out the years i started to look into other shops, big shops who worked on all the nice high end, luxurious, exotic cars. What did they do different to stand out like that? Xpel would be a big brand I came across . At the beginnings working out of my very cheap shop and detailing mobile unit It was just a unrealistic day dream of being like one of those shops. I wasn't at that level . I wasn't fancy. But I definitely was hard working and patient.
If we fast forward from the barn days to 4 1/2 years . Dont worry we have a very thorough timeline story of the evolution of our brand coming soon. But right about after we learned window tint we reached out to Xpel. Once i was introduced to window tint my fascination with film work started and Xpel ppf was one i wanted to be apart of. We were considered and a rep reached out. Did i think we a small , dingy looking shop could fit in? I didn't think so but it happened and they gave us a chance. Maybe if we joined we could see more progress and be like one of those cool fancy shops. Little did i know the requirements and costly start up fees that became a challenge but the best move for the future.
If you are in this industry or a client looking for something like paint protection film. Did you know the majority of brands can "certify" you by just paying their start up kit fees and a quick course that doesn't test you to truly prove you are proficient. Well Xpel does and thats where I almost gave up. To be a xpel paint protection film installer there are training courses you have to travel to required to complete before being allowed to purchase their films and certify you . The big requirement there though is they test you at the very end. If you pass congratulations you can purschase their film and start offering the service to clients. You fail , you just spent thousands of dollars, youre not allowed to purchase the film , youre not allowed to offer the service, and you are now upset becuase you failed. Well.....I FAILED! The drive home after that exhausting week of super long laser focused training, just to go home with nothing was infuriating. But i think its because of that failure that made me a proficient installer i am today. Instead of throwing my hat down and calling it quits, i took that in instead of a motivator. My biggest pet peeve is failing. I have to see it come through im not someone who leaves something incompleted.
But that is where Xpel as a brand and its installers far surpasses those that go into this industry. Because of this those who rep the Xpel brand fall in a category of installers that stand out and can guarantee top quality work. We knew xpel would be the best to bring to the Tri-cities for paint protection film and even window tint and ceramic coating. Being one of the Johnson Cities and Tricities first stop for auto protection we strive to uphold to xpels quality and our brand Autosthetics.
