Do you want to start a paintless dent removal business and you are concerned about its profitability? If YES, here are 3 ways to make it more profitable.
There are millions of cars on the road today, and with a million other people planning to buy cars in the near future, the number just keeps skyrocketing. One thing that remains a fact is that if a vehicle is constantly in use, it will likely pick up a dent or two before the end of its life.
Some of that damage will be major and may require traditional body shop intervention. However, most of the damage is usually minor requiring minor touch ups.
The dents that fall into this category include; dents- caused by shopping carts, door dings and hail damage. Paintless Dent Removal is now when you remove these dents without affecting the paint coat of the vehicle. You can start up a business where you offer the bludgeoning car market this revolutionary, money-saving, fast and efficient mobile service for repairing car dents.
As a Paintless Dent Removal specialist, the profit potential is massive. While running this business, you are free to operate from your vehicle with very few overheads.
Repairs can be completed in hours rather than days and at a fraction of the cost of a conventional body shop repair. Most insurance companies are now estimating vehicles with minor dents and hail-damage for repair by paintless dent removal. So, by and large, this is a good business to start.
But you may be wondering if this business is actually profitable with all the hype and if the industry is still available to take on more paintless dent removal businesses. Let’s find out.
Is a Paintless Dent Removal Business Profitable?
Depending on the geographical area, a good paintless dent removal tech can make between $70,000 and up to $200,000 a year, if they are very experienced and equally reside in major cities where they can very easily find jobs. Technicians working for large dent removal companies are making far less than this because of the commission structures of most of these companies. In rural areas, the wages can be about 30% to 50% lower than in major cities.
Retail PDR is far less crowded, but even in this market $140,000 – $200,000 is about the best an experienced tech will do in a major city. PDR techs that are just starting out can expect to struggle the first year, and take from two to three years (depending on their training and natural ability), to get to a good wage level.
In short, the days of making a quarter million a year are over in any Paintless Dent Repair related market in the U.S. In some countries where PDR is just catching on, wages can be hard to estimate because this trade is still new there.
Throwing more light on the profits earned in the PDR industry, if you fix like 5 dents in a day, at the rate of $45, you will make $1,125 per week and $58,500 yearly. If you fix the same 5 dents at $35, you will make $875 per week and $45,500 per year.
All these analysis go to show that the paintless dent removal business is indeed very profitable but this profitablity depends on several factors. These factors include your ability to get clients, your competition and the location of your business.
3 Ways to Make your Paintless Dent Repair Business More Profitable
Although PDR may seem like magic to industry outsiders, the skill set that is required to perform PDR isn’t overly complicated. Outfitted with a simple set of PDR tools and a basic understanding of the necessary techniques, most auto technicians are capable of performing paintless dent repair jobs even if they are new to the business.
Paintless dent repair specialists can earn a portion of their revenues by providing services to vehicle owners and by contracting their services to other auto-related businesses. But the key to profitability for a PDR startup is diversification.
To maximize profitability, you’ll need to not only perform PDR services — you’ll also need to equip others to perform PDR. Here are some of the ways you can maximize your earnings in the paintless dent removal industry;
1. Offering Training
If you have all the knowledge required to run a profitable paintless dent removal business, it would pay you more to teach others this skill. You can start offering PDR training courses for auto dealerships, repair technicians and auction house personnel.
Although your long-term vision may be to expand to a full-fledged PDR training school, for now you can build your reputation by providing basic PDR training on location.
2. Sell PDR tools and supplies
As a PDR specialist, you are uniquely positioned to provide auto technicians with the equipment and supplies they need to perform paintless dent repair for their employers. These days, a business website equipped with an ecommerce platform is the way to go for PDR startups interested in selling products to a geographically diverse customer base.
3. Dabble into Manufacturing
Many PDR entrepreneurs leverage their expertise by manufacturing unique tools and supplies for the paintless dent repair marketplace. Even though the addition of a manufacturing division won’t be easy, it will give you access and control to a larger share of the PDR industry supply chain.
Conclusion
Many PDR companies are pushing the envelope with the size and severity of repairs. New adhesives in glue-pulling and new tool lines are helping to usher in techniques that can be used to save panels from replacement.
There was a time that the average PDR technician with the average skill set would never be able to do larger, complex repairs. But today, the PDR industry is making major strides in viability and usefulness, and as such, the business is getting much more profitable.