In 1996, owning a large detail business in Tampa, I wanted to add additional services to my detail company. I ordered a mobile touchup and bumper system. The system came with a 2 day training in Sarasota. After attending, I slowly realized the system was for professionals with a vast amount of paint experience already in the field. Not wanting to give up, I contacted them again for more training, and they introduced me to a guy in Stuart, FL. When I went and met him, he not only promised to train me, he offered to help me set up in Stuart because he had too much work on his plate. Eager to learn and grow, I sold my detail business to my employees for little money and sold my house in Tampa.
Both my wife and I moved to the Stuart area to start a new life. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Port St. Lucie because we had no home or apartment and lived off credit cards. The idea was to train and get a rental somewhere. This is where it all goes wrong. After nearly a week of training, the guy training me said he was too busy to keep this up and told me maybe one day per week he would help. At this point, I’m pretty much living in a hotel with my wife and one year old. As you can imagine, desperation set in. I’m in a strange city, no money, no job, and no training. My wife was not aware of how bad things were as I put on a happy face and kissed her goodbye in the morning and headed off to work. I would literally sit in my truck for an hour every morning wondering what I was going to do and how I would survive this.
I started to go to dealerships and ask for work. One guy gave me a chance and asked me to paint a mirror on a car. It turned out to be the worst possible job ever. It was not a good match and the paint was very dry almost like sandpaper. I tried for 3 hours what should have taken 15 minutes. It was awful. Knowing I failed, I told him I was sorry and would leave. He saw the desperation on my face and asked me what else I can do. I told him I could detail and buff cars well. His name was Rick Pace. He said wait a minute and walked away. Thinking I was a total failure those minutes seemed like hours. Rick came back and handed me 4 keys to cars he needed detailed. I was ecstatic and worked very hard to make sure they were done perfectly. From that point on, every day I would detail cars and practice paint work.
After a few months, he introduced me to a friend who ran a dealership. I started there and took care of his cars as well. The next few years I worked day and night teaching myself how to paint, repair interiors, and acquire everything else we do today. The first 5 years were excruciating, and I was up against intense competition. I learned and pushed myself to do jobs nobody would do and eventually gained most of the dealerships in 3 counties.
Today, we have over 300 dealerships ranging from the states of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Expanding into Alabama, soon to be Tennessee, and further into the Southeast region. Contact us to find out more in being part of a working partnership that fosters successful growth for both managers and vendors by using the largest automotive reconditioning company in the United States.
- Gus Valdes, Founder/Owner of Southern Best Automotive Reconditioning Services Inc.