Glass & Mirror Business Guide
By Shane K.
About
The Author:
I worked as a glazier for 7 years before deciding to open my own glass and mirror business. I worked for a local glass company starting out on the ground floor with no experience. I learned the basics and was a helper on residential installations for the first couple of years. I then moved up to being a lead installer for residential and now I had a helper I was training. Starting in residential instead of the commercial side of the glass business will make you a better glazier. The reasoning behind this is in residential you install, handle and cut a lot more glass then in commercial glazing. The glass you do cut needs to be more precise and have cleaner edges then with commercial which will teach you to become much more proficient with glass cutting. Now with this being said usually a commercial glazier will make more money than a residential glazier.
What I liked about installing mirrors, shower enclosures and replacing window glass is that most jobs will take just a few hours to complete and then you move on to a new job. This keeps the day moving faster and every job and house you go to is different and you meet different people all day.
Commercial work is installing store fronts, fixing commercial doors, fabricating jobs in the shop, replacing store front glass, installing windows etc… These jobs sometimes you can be on for weeks or months at a time. Many times you will be doing the same work every day for a week or longer. You will need more tools and a more extensive knowledge of construction in order to be able to handle the problems that you will encounter.
Most people when starting out especially with a small budget will start their glass business by performing residential work. Once they start to build their business they will slowly start to take on some smaller commercial work until they are a fairly stable company with sufficient help to take on small strip centers. The amount of money you make in your business will go up significantly with commercial work but so will your risk so you need to make sure you know what you are doing before taking on a job to big.
Licensing & Insurance:
To get licensed in the glass & mirror trade most states you must take a written open book test to get your license. Much of the test is on the business side of owning a glass business so you will want to study the book and mark the pages you feel you are weak at so you can find them quickly. Once licensed always keep it current. The requirements to get licensed seem to constantly keep getting harder so once you have your license don’t let it expire.
Liability insurance will be costly because of the risks involved with handling glass. If you incorporate in many states you do not have to have workman’s comp on the officers of the corporation. Workman’s compensation insurance is a requirement for any employees you hire. This cost can be substantial for workers that handle glass. Office employees will also have to have it but it is inexpensive for your office help. When starting out small just yourself and maybe a partner you can get by without the workman’s comp but I highly suggest you have health insurance or if you can afford it get the workman’s comp because you never know what is going to happen.
If you have a shop you will need liability insurance that covers this property just in case a customer gets hurt while picking up an order or just stopping in to ask a question. You should take the time to fill out a quote for insurance now so you will know what to expect before you jump into owning your own business. NetQuote has always been one of the best places to get business insurance. It only takes 5 minutes to find out what it will cost and that will be one step you will have finished in getting your business up and running.
Liability insurance covers you from being held responsible for the other party's damages. Your person and your property are unprotected, it is designed to protect you from loss if someone else gets hurt or their property gets damaged.
Workman’s compensation is insurance that covers you the employer not the worker. This insurance is to protect you against loss if one of your workers gets hurt on the job. This is why many states do not require the owner’s to carry workman’s comp. You can’t sue yourself it does protect the worker as far as with workman’s comp they can be guaranteed someone will be able to have the money to take care of them if they get hurt on the job.
Advertising:
Advertising in the yellow pages is a must if you want to succeed in your glass & mirror business. It is worth taking the biggest ad you can afford. You will get plenty of calls to pay for the ad and start turning a profit. Make sure you offer 24hr emergency service in the ad because this will generate high profit installs. Keep the ad clean and precise you definitely want to mention you do window replacements, tub and shower enclosures and store fronts. Even if you do not do much in the way of store fronts you still can make good money by replacing door glass, closers etc…
Signs on you truck will bring you a lot of business. Just think of how many miles a week you drive and how many people will see your truck. This being said you need to keep your truck clean it represents you and your business. Have signs made for your side and back doors or tail gate. I would check with your local business codes because if you park your truck at home many neighborhoods will not allow you to have signs on your vehicles so you may want to go with magnetic signs so you can remove them. Make your own professional custom signs, banners, magnets, etc… with Build A Sign
Website is a very affordable way to get your message out to your potential new customers. With a website you can showcase your work with photos and testimonials giving new customers comfort in choosing you. Get your website going with HODI Hosting only $10.00 per month. Even if you decide to go with your own name as the business name make sure you choose a catchy easy to remember domain name so when people see it on your truck or business cards they will remember it. Sometimes it pays to write down a few different names and then search to see if one is available.
Newspapers can be a good source of business if you have small local papers that are geared towards just your surrounding areas. With newspaper ads you have to be consistent in running your ads for them to work. You need to run the ad the same days each time for a long time and they will start paying off in a big way.
Word of mouth will be what determines your success so always be neat, clean and polite. Always try and do the best work you are capable of and if you get a complaint about a job take care of it right away. Go to all your interior decorating businesses in your area and try and talk to the owner or decorators. Normally you give interior decorators 10% off your normal price when billing them. Stop by and talk to as many property management firms you can give them your card and give them an idea of what you charge to replace say one of their store front door glass or a door closer. Go to realty offices and make sure every realtor gets one of your cards.
You can join agencies like McGraw Hill which you will receive dodge reports that will have a list of construction companies seeking bids in your area. It is fairly expensive for someone starting out to join but if you want to start bidding bigger jobs you will need to. Not all the jobs are huge some will be builders wanting you to put bids in for mirrors and tub enclosures for a neighborhood they are planning on building. This can be another source of business by doing the model homes in these areas and then the builder will offer certain items as upgrades giving you higher profit work.
Location for Your Glass & Mirror Business:
Most glass supply companies will not deliver to you if you do not have a business address and one that can be accessed with a large glass truck. When looking for a location look for one that is located on a busy road so you have access to walk in customers. Usually the walk in business you receive will pay the difference it costs to have a more visible location. By being on a busy road you will also be seen by all the drivers that pass by each day this is also great advertising so you need to keep this in mind when choosing your location. Make sure you have access to a marquee for your business or windows that are visible from the street that you can put signage on.
Try to make a small showroom that looks professional. Purchase the displays that your shower enclosure company sells they look good and will help you sell more enclosures. Mirror a small wall use 2” bevels over the seams it looks more decorative and if you sell your jobs this way you will be more profitable. Using bevels cuts down your time on the job and can cover a wide variety of mistakes. Many of you will say you should have butt seams and yes a good butt seam job looks great but you are in business to make money and overlays will make you more.Make sure you find a location that has high enough ceilings so you can work with the glass safely. You will also save a lot of headaches if you can find a location that has access to easily put a case of glass in your shop. If you don’t you will need to haul each sheet in and put it on a rack inside. A long shop can work well when laying it out. You can put the showroom in front and the shop in the back. Use the long walls to build your slant racks to hold your stock glass. And put a few a-frames to hold your finished work and shop work to be installed or picked up.
Services to Offer:
When you are starting out you need to be able to offer at least these basic services.
Custom table tops, ¼” plate that you cut to fit tables that the customer brings in or you make a pattern of out on the job. You can use your wet belt to give a nice polished edge. One day you may be able to afford an edge machine but for now the wet belt will do just fine. In the showroom it is nice to have a couple of 3/8 or ½ inch round tops for resale usually 48” and 60” round.
Window glass replacements, you need to be able to handle windows customers drop off and have glass in stock to go to customers and replace their glass. It is a good idea to have some various stock window beading.
Shower and Tub enclosures, you should have a couple of standard sizes in stock unless you have a local supplier you can purchase from as you need them. When you are starting out you have time on your hands so purchasing the units KD (knock down) and you assemble them can save you some money.
Storefront door glass, if you offer 24 hr emergency service you definitely need to stock the most common sizes, the size of door glass depends on the manufacturer of the door.
Sliding glass door replacement glass, you should have some standard sizes in stock and be able to change most jobs the same day.
Sliding glass door rollers and a couple of wood handles to keep in the showroom for sale.
Plywood in stock for board ups, especially if you offer 24 hr emergency service. You should be able to do a board up the same day.
Replace pivots and closers on commercial doors each door manufacturer will have different pivots so you need to keep a variety in stock. Also have some lock cylinders in stock.
You need to be able to install Stylmark pass-thru doors so keeping a couple of lengths of material and rollers etc… in stock is a good idea.
You should be able to install a mirror wall within a week after you measure it especially when starting out.
What to Charge:
You should always do estimates for free you will make up the cost of doing estimates because it will be built into your pricing.
Always add a service charge to all out of shop work. For instance if you are replacing a broken window you would charge for the glass and a service charge say $45.00. This is the easiest way to increase your prices when the price of fuel goes up or decrease when it goes down by raising or lowering your service charge. Now if the cost of the glass goes up significantly you will have to adjust that also. There is much more profit in window glass and plate glass than in mirrors. First off when is the last time you had someone notice a scratch in their storefront glass and you get basically the same price per square foot for plate as you do mirror and mirror cost twice as much.
When charging for tub or shower enclosures multiply what it cost you for the unit by 2 and add your service charge.
When charging for clear or tinted glass like plate, ssb or dsb take your cost of the glass and multiply it by 6 this is the installed price plus the service charge. Even with tempered safety glass would be 6 times your cost unless the customer is picking it up than I would charge 3 times your cost. When I say your cost on clear plate, ssb and dsb I am talking about case cost because in order to compete with other shops you will have to price out your Job’s as if you were buying plate, ssb and dsb by the case. This is why you eventually will want to purchase it this way. Tempered and tinted glass, just go by the sheet price and you will be ok. Some shops will beat you out but you will get some and make good money on it.
If the customer is picking up just the glass with a seamed edge then multiply your cost by 3. If they dropped off a window for you to put the glass in then charge 3 x plus a $15.00 shop charge or whatever your minimum shop charge may be.
On table tops all edge work is sold by the inch. Depending on what they want done. Seamed edge is included in the cost of the glass because all glass should be seamed for safety and ease of handling. I would call around your area and see what they are charging for polished edges.
Emergency after hours calls and weekends I would charge $175.00 to board an opening up. I f I actually replaced the glass instead of boarding it up I would charge the $175.00 plus the normal glass installation price.
Helpful Tips:
The first thing you should bring into a house is your drop cloth. If you show the people you care about their things they will not watch you like a hawk.
Have polo shirts made up with your business name on them. Looking professional and clean will go a long way in your success.
If you need a certain tool to perform the job correctly buy it. In the long run having the right tools for the job will increase your productivity and produce a more professional job.
Keep you truck stocked with the tools and supplies you need. Making trips back to the shop or to Home Depot for something you forgot will really eat into your profits.
Purchase good quality mirrors, cheap mirrors will cause you a lot of headaches down the road after 6 months or so.
Don’t ever put plate glass in a opening that should have tempered glass by code. Even if you can use plate glass if it is a large piece or a dangerous set spend the extra money and use tempered glass. Always think about safety before money.
When you tie off glass on your truck always put cardboard between the rope and edges of any raw glass.
Never hang your arm out the window of your truck when driving, I have seen glass cut through the ropes and take the mirror right off the truck.
Never carry glass in the cab of your truck or van if you get into an accident you will understand why.
When setting thermal / insulated units make sure your setting block is big enough so that both pieces of glass in the thermal unit sits on the block, if not then one piece will sag over time and break your thermal seal.
Here are some links to good suppliers to use when starting out.
- http://www.craftdiston.com/
- http://www.pgtindustries.com/Pages/Main.aspx
- http://www.crlaurence.com/
- http://www.glasstopsdirect.com/
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