Officially a small business owner. Check out my website!

I started a little Headlight Restoration business to supplement my income and keep me a little busier. Here is my website:

www.shinyheadlights.com

I think people on here can relate to trying to make more light come from out the front of a lens .

Thanks for looking everyone!

Very interesting service you provide in San Diago. Is this something that is available by others, in other cities?

Bill

I'm sure you can find someone in most cities around the country. It's a low overhead business so startup was not difficult. The hardest part was the hours and hours of reading and the weeks of research. I wasn't about to charge someone until I knew I could do it right the first time.

I've updated my website with more of my restorations. Thanks for everyone whose looked!

Nice work!!

I remember being in a body shop something like 9 years ago and asking a pair of guys if there was anything you could do to fix the "yellowing" you get in the plastic covers. The first guy starts to smile because he knows they get this question a lot and he knows exactly how the other guy's going to respond. The other guys says, very methodically, "You take your whole headlight assembly off....you hold it like this [pretends he's holding it over his head]....and you go like this [pretends to smash to the ground]....and then you buy a new one."

haha, yah it is indeed methodical. I would say that smashing the old ones and buying new ones would be the easy way out. It requires very close attention to detail of sanding scratches to ensure you remove scratches from heavier grit--the polishing and rubbing compound will remove almost anything above 2000 grit, but it's not hard to leave a couple scratches around an edge from 800 grit that will show up after compounding if not careful. I enjoy it though! There is nothing like a shiny new lens, especially during night driving.

Nice site. You should probably match the white balance on the first few photos. The "after" shots are very blue. Also you should hide the counters since that's more of an amateur website thing.

Good luck - Greg

It may be difficult to do, but let's eliminate completely the commercialization of this site's offering. The discussion of a newly developed site may be a reasonably permitted topic, but the commercial offerings being posted in CPF is not.

CPFMP is the proper place for commerce. CPF's Cafe is not.

Nice website. Good luck!!

Empath said:

It may be difficult to do, but let's eliminate completely the commercialization of this site's offering. The discussion of a newly developed site may be a reasonably permitted topic, but the commercial offerings being posted in CPF is not.

CPFMP is the proper place for commerce. CPF's Cafe is not.

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I did not make this thread with the intent of getting customers, I made it with the sole purpose of showing members my business and how it relates to this forum. I will make sure this thread does not turn into a sales thread. I hope people can enjoy it for what it's worth!

EMT40SW said:

Nice website. Good luck!!

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Thanks! I'm still trying hard to maximize my Search Engine Optimization on Google so that my website shows up. If anybody has any tips on making my website be seen please feel free to throw them on here...Maybe others would benefit as well.

greg_in_canada said:

Nice site. You should probably match the white balance on the first few photos. The "after" shots are very blue. Also you should hide the counters since that's more of an amateur website thing.

Good luck - Greg

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Awesome advice on hiding the counters! I didn't really think about it. I learned the counter trick in web design during high school, but never really thought of it as an amateur thing--more just something to help me know how many times it's been seen...also in the back of my mind I thought maybe search engines would be more likely to make me seen if I had a higher hit count..but I guess they already know that information anyways.

I haven't altered ANY of the photographs--it's all just sun placement. Photobucket and weebly do, however, offer photoshopping tools...maybe I'll see how it looks.

Thanks again for the advice! It is always welcome.

Any of you creative folks have any ideas for making a business card? I considered a headlight shaped card, then I though "wow that would be cheesy". I have been alternating between using a template provided by vistaprint.com, or just finding a really cool photo online and using it. I don't want it to be too complicated or flashy cause I think professionalism is important, but I do want it to be keepable.

Ilikeshinythings said:

Any of you creative folks have any ideas for making a business card? I considered a headlight shaped card, then I though "wow that would be cheesy". I have been alternating between using a template provided by vistaprint.com, or just finding a really cool photo online and using it. I don't want it to be too complicated or flashy cause I think professionalism is important, but I do want it to be keepable.

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Of course you plan on asking permission for use of the photo right?

was.lost.but.now.found said:

Of course you plan on asking permission for use of the photo right?

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Naturally.

This is a great idea for a business.

One idea: have you thought about talking to auto body shops, or high end auto detailers, for sub-contract work? Also, have you thought about going to car shows, local ones where the afficionados go, and set up a booth?

How long, may I ask, does it take to do a pair of headlights? $80 seems pretty cheap. Maybe you should raise your rates?

I read your "about me" section, and although you have other, better, plans, this is the type of business that could really take off.

Good luck!

-John

jaundice said:

This is a great idea for a business.

One idea: have you thought about talking to auto body shops, or high end auto detailers, for sub-contract work? Also, have you thought about going to car shows, local ones where the afficionados go, and set up a booth?

How long, may I ask, does it take to do a pair of headlights? $80 seems pretty cheap. Maybe you should raise your rates?

I read your "about me" section, and although you have other, better, plans, this is the type of business that could really take off.

Good luck!

-John

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Thanks for the props. I have talked with some auto dealerships but none of them are interested. It is a great idea to talk to auto shops and high end auto detailers for sub-contract work, but a lot of the shops already offer a service like this. I am going to get my business cards and then I will focus more on going out and networking.

My $80.00 sits right in between what the cheaper guys offer and what the "big guys" offer, however I think I pay closer attention to detail and use better products than any of them...but that's just because I care about my reputation and I wouldn't feel right doing a haphazard job and chargin somebody for it.

Thanks again--I will pursue your advice!

edit: It took me 2.5 hours to do the Subaru in the first 4 pictures on my page. It was my bosses car. He was very happy with the outcome!

Oh yah, one other thing I was thinking about doing is going out and finding cores at junk yards that are still in decent shape, restoring them and selling them on my website and other advertisement sites. OEM headlights are expensive!!

Ilikeshinythings said:

Oh yah, one other thing I was thinking about doing is going out and finding cores at junk yards that are still in decent shape, restoring them and selling them on my website and other advertisement sites. OEM headlights are expensive!!

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Nice idea, hope this helps:

http://autos.aol.com/gallery/best-selling-cars/

Sounds like an interesting business venture. I would take an old headlight out of a junker, tape it off and restore one side. It would make an easy to carry sales tool.

I recommend removing your birth date from the Web site. Since your full name is visible, this could lead to potential identity theft.