Wraptors Inc. recently expanded the commercial vehicle division at its head office in Mississauga, Ont.
SMC: How is technology changing your business operations?
CB: For jobs like colour changing, technology hasn’t changed much in our industry—only because we use very basic elements, from heat guns to the material. We buy our material from 3M or Avery, it already comes printed that colour, and you just install it, so there isn’t much technology involved in that process.
SMC: What is the key to staying successful in your industry?
SK: A quick turnaround, a warranty, a great team, and who you know.
SMC: What are your plans for the future of your business?
SK: We’re planning for future growth in the U.S., and possibly a location in Dubai.
CB: Our Orlando location opened on Feb. 7, and the newest location is opening on March 23, in Cape Town, South Africa. We’re doing the renovations, the painting has been done, and we’ve already hired installers, so it’s basically already a go. We’re just not able to get out there until then to do the opening.
We also want to open maybe two or three more locations in Florida before expanding to other states. I grew up in the U.S., and there’s so much potential there for growth. Stas has spoken about how he wants to do Atlanta, Ga. We were also thinking about somewhere in Indianapolis, Ind. I’d like to do Daytona, Fla., because it’s such a NASCAR world there. Then, maybe Tampa. We’re going to expand more on that side of the U.S., then hopefully jump over to Los Angeles next.
SMC: What factors do you consider when expanding Wraptors Inc.?
CB: You don’t want to saturate your market. We can’t expand any more in the Greater Toronto Area, because then we’ll start competing against our own shops.
In Florida, we have our Miami office in Fort Lauderdale, but we also want to do Boca Raton and downtown Miami. However, the more places you put out there, the more clients you’re taking away from that area, so you basically just have to make a big map and start putting pins in it.
I always do a search for each location, to see how many wrap shops are there and if there’s a good industry. We also like to go places where we know one or two people. For example, my sister is in Indiana, so I have a bit of a background on what the industry already looks like there, and how many people would be interested in getting wraps.
At the end of the day, Stas is really good at marketing, so if there isn’t an area for him to be in, he’ll create it.
