The Auto Glass Repair Company
A specialized, mobile automotive trade where the bay is often a van and utilization is the profit. A rock-chip repair is near-pure margin; a windshield replacement carries heavy glass and now demands an ADAS camera recalibration the insurer pays for. Here is how an auto-glass shop actually pencils, why recalibration is the new profit center, and why glass sourcing decides the margin.
Read the launch plan: every step from deciding to opening, free →The Snapshot
Is this worth your attention?
Estimated Typical bands for this kind of business, estimated from adjacent public data where no direct benchmark exists; treat them as rough. Estimates, not forecasts; a specific business varies with its location, lease, equipment and owner. Last reviewed 2026-07-07. smbnest is a self-assessment tool, not individualized advice.
A fit if you...
- Can learn a specialized, safety-critical install-and-calibrate trade
- Want an essential automotive service with insurance-backed demand
- Will push ADAS recalibration and build insurance direct-billing
- Can run scheduling, mobile routing, and the claim paperwork
Probably not if you...
- Want a passive, absentee investment from day one
- Dislike precise, safety-critical work and recalibration steps
- Are unwilling to learn glass handling and ADAS calibration
- Have no appetite for insurance billing and claim management
Step Inside the Layout
A live look at one tool inside
This is the actual 3D floor from the full model. Drag to explore it. Inside, you configure the space yourself and watch the economics move with every choice.
Sources and method9 public sources, with the year and a link where the source gives one. The benchmark bands on this page are estimated from adjacent data and labeled as estimates.
Sources & Method
Figures are estimated from the public sources below and from adjacent data; the bands are labeled as estimates
How these numbers were built: installer wages come from the BLS OEWS; industry structure from the Census Bureau (NAICS 811122, Automotive Glass Replacement Shops); sale multiples and owner earnings (SDE) from BizBuySell’s 2021 to 2025 auto repair and service benchmarks, a group that includes glass shops; SBA loan performance from an analysis of SBA lending records; financing terms from the SBA; and survival from Census and BLS business dynamics data. The repair and replacement mix, ADAS attach and pricing, and insurance-billing share come from secondary auto glass trade summaries and are treated as directional. The opening kit prices each line for three vans from dealer and distributor listings and Novus Glass’s franchise disclosure, checked in October 2026. Utilization, ticket, the roughly 45% glass cost, the labor stack, rent and overhead are planning estimates; replace them with a real shop’s numbers.
Installer wage figures come from BLS OEWS data (SOC 49-3022/49-3023) and industry structure from Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 811122), both cited in this file. Glass-cost ratio, ADAS attach rate, and insurance-billing share are calibrated to secondary auto-glass trade summaries (Auto Glass Safety Council and related sources), already flagged elsewhere in this file as directional rather than primary data; treat exact percentages as industry-typical and verify against a real shop P&L.
This is just the surface
The full model is the complete, interactive deep-dive, and every business here is built to the same standard: a live economics simulator you tune to your own numbers, an interactive 3D walkthrough, a location scorecard, an owner-fit assessment, a buy-versus-build comparison, and the full breakdown of how it makes money and what quietly kills margin.
then $29 a month
Time to choose and start, then month to month.
$99 today for your first 3 months, then $29 a month until you cancel.
about $17 a month
The best price: a year to decide, open and run it.
$199 today, then $199 each year until you cancel.
Renews until you cancel. Cancel any time from your account; you keep access to the end of the period you paid for, and your saved plans stay in your account. What membership opens
smbnest is a self-assessment tool. It does not give individualized financial, investment, legal or tax advice. Figures are estimates and benchmarks, not forecasts. Speak with a qualified financial adviser and a licensed attorney before you start, buy, finance or sign anything.