Paintless Dent Removal Success Story

CERTIFIED AUTOMOTIVE RECONDITIONING TRAINING PROGRAMS

I have been in auto sales for 12 years prior to moving to my wife's homeland of Newfoundland, Canada. Moving here as an American citizen, I am not allowed to work for at least a year until my residency status has been approved. I am not one to just sit around and play "Stay at home husband" and feared what I was going to do with my time. I planned on owning some property to rent out but that takes a very little commitment of my time. Then a friend of mine, who is in the auto body business, told me there were no PDR companies here in Corner Brook.

I found my calling!

In my tenure in auto sales, I relied heavily on the 'Dent Wizard' guys and was shocked to know that the 11 dealers just in my immediate area had no one to turn to! I immediately started looking into what the investment would be and started to really get excited when the numbers stated churning in my head.

I researched quite a few companies and talked with sales reps at each of them. None of them seem to compare with the training or value that Superior Auto Institute seemed to offer. I gave them my deposit and started getting my company ready. We developed our own logo, had shirts, jackets and hats made to order, chose our company color (royal blue) and got ready to embark on an awesome adventure. As I said before, I am unable to 'work' so I hired my brother in law to do the dent removal while I would be the salesman who sold my 'wife's' company. He and I got ready for an exciting trip to California!

The trip out from Newfoundland was a grueling 17 hours to sunny Southern California. Once there we enjoyed a nice weekend of relaxation before a week of training.
Alex was our trainer and picked us up early Monday morning. We were introduced to all the wonderful staff at SAI and got to work. Spending only 2 days in the office, we quicly moved on to real cars on the auction line. We quickly learned that PDR was not as easy as we had thought. Alex was a phenominal trainer and took the time to really make sure that Jeremy and I knew what we were doing.

Upon our return to Newfoundland, we spent the next month or so practicing on friends cars and getting ready for the launch. Being that there is no competition here in Corner Brook, and frankly, not enough dealers to support two PDR companies, I wanted to start off big so no one else got any ideas of starting a competitive company. We had our company vehicle decaled professionally and the day it was done, I hit the road selling the company in our full uniforms and armed with literature and business cards.

The reception was awesome!!! The dealers were thrilled that someone had finally started a PDR company here on the Western side of the island and put us to work immediately! Our first job was on the hood (bonnet) of a brand new Dodge Caravan that not only had a deep dent but a good sized scratch in it as well. Jeremy got the dent out on site, I filled in the scratch with several layers of touch up paint, we buffed and polished it and hoped that the customer would be pleased. The dealer was THRILLED with our results. We made their customer happy and saved them hundreds of dollars!

Since that first dent almost 4 weeks ago, we have been so busy that I have had to hire another employee. Winter here is a difficult season and even at this slow time, we have not stopped working. With that in mind, I knew if I didn't hire someone and get them trained by Spring, I would have to turn away a lot of business and lose an amazing amount of money! We have also found that the dealers here do not have ample space for us to work on site in the winter months so I have purchased a large garage for us to work in. I realize that this is not a very good investment for most PDR companies as it is best to stay mobile, however, every dealer in our city is not more than 10 minutes away so driving time is limited. Also, many dealers do not have a paint reonditioning or "detail" person so we have gotten into buffing and polishing entire vehicles to get the light scratches and swirls out.. Again, this opportunity only has presented itself with the training that Alex gave us!
So far in just the 4 weeks we have been up and running we have grossed over $3000! Realize this is a low number as Jeremy is still gaining experience and as he gains more and more, he and our new employee, Rejean, will be able to turn out more vehicles. I fully expect by Spring to be pulling in $8-10,000 per month and, in the Spring of 2011, to open another branch in the central part of the island.

We recently had my personal 17 foot enclosed 'toy' trailer decaled for added exposure and presented our "rig" to the public in The Santa Clause parade this past weekend! We decorated the trailer as a float and even had the decal company make little Santa hats for all the 'Bee's" on the truck. We were a huge hit and have had several calls on our services from it already. We have also purchase another vehicle, in the company color, and will be using that to go and get vehicles. We have advertised with the local Cancer Society here by purchasing their 50/50 tickets they recently sold as a fund raiser. Our logo was on every one of the 2000 tickets available for the public and sold all around town. We have had posters made up and the dealers here have been more than gracious in allowing us to hang them in their service departments for bored customers, waiting for their vehicles, to read. One dealer is even putting together a package to sell to their customers in the finace office for protection against dents on their new car!

Everyday seems to get more and more exciting!!! It is so incredible, after 15 years in sales, to be selling my own company for the first time! I get to sell ME! However, I must say that I was looking forward to the simple life here in Newfoundland, taking it easy and allowing my employees do all the work. Well, that just has not happened! I am busier and working harder than I ever have... and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Robert Bulmer
President
Paradise Island Inc.
Dent B Gone
Rhino Properties
709.660.2280

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