Mobile Bumper Fixing Business

[fbe36]

Hey guys. I'm new to the forum so I hope I'm not breaking any rules. I have a business idea and I'd love some feedback.

A lot of people in the city (and country) often get their bumpers smashed in various different circumstances. Often you'll see just their bumpers damaged but the rest of the car is often fine. It's a noticeable eye sore for a lot off people.

I used to work at a body shop. Sourcing and painting a bumper is not super difficult or overly expensive to get started. I already have the space to paint. I just need a van and some common tools.

I go to the customers house or work, take pictures, source a bumper, quote the customer, and paint it. Then I haul it to their house, take off the old bumper, and put the new one back on.

To be clear. This is the bumper COVER, the plastic piece that you see. The actual bumper is behind the cover and is a structural piece of the car. I stay out of anything structural and avoid getting sued, required certs etc.

Please let me know your thoughts. How much should someone charge for this? Is is viable?

[frost7777]

@fbe36, I don't know anything about vehicle body work, but I like your idea.  Seems like the general population is supper busy and are struggling to finding the time to even line up the estimates for something like this.

Were you involved with the estimates at the body shop you use to work for?  I would start at that price and go up from that point.  You are offering an additional convenience to the customer so that should be reflected in your price.  You are going to end up investing more time in completing your estimates and repairing the vehicles then a fixed location body shop, simply because of the travel time involved.

The nice thing about this scenario is that you are estimating each job, so you should be able to adjust your pricing on the fly without ruffling too many feathers.  Not winning any bids, maybe lower the price.  Can't find time to complete all of the jobs you have lined up?  The customers may be willing to pay more for the convenience.

[haflander]

First, I'll reply to you with some personal anecdotal stuff. I have a truck, very unmustachian. A year ago I backed into a car when we both were pulling out of spaces in the parking lot. The dent is moderate. Not huge but not small either. Only recently I started thinking, I have some extra money, maybe I'll get it fixed. I got a few quotes, each around 1000 for everything included. Personally, I'd guess that if you quoted the exact same price people would get at the bigger chains (Service King) along with the added convenience of doing it at their home/work (maybe even at night or on the weekends so they wouldn't miss work), they would be all over that. I would guess that you know prices better than me; talk to estimators you know from the old job. Another factor is that my price is for a truck's steel bumper (collision places claim that they can't repair a steel bumper), so I'm guessing the plastic bumpers for cars/SUVs are cheaper.

Second, I'll ask if OP or anyone has any suggestions for my personal situation after reading the above :) My dad is handy and works on his old cars so I thought about buying a bumper and replacing it ourselves over a curse-filled weekend. However, the part itself would still be ~500 for a chrome (not matching my truck's color) bumper. I came to a revelation when my gf said "it doesn't really look that bad to spend ~1k." Wow...yes, she's a keeper. I've settled with how it looks for now and trying to learn to just be ok with things that are suboptimal in an effort to save money toward my FU fund. I guess I would still think about fixing it but only if the cost made sense. Plus, there's the very real possibility that I would fix it and then promptly f*** it up again soon thereafter. Or more likely, someone would rear-end me. God knows it's just a matter of time until karma catches up with me in the form of someone hitting me. In which case, fixing my bumper would then be on their dime, with their insurance :D