I completely agree, I am small potatoes around here. I really did not try to start this as a business, more as a favor to a friend and his company. I am fairly business savvy and decided rather than reach beyond my abilities I work into this slowly. There are several stations and 2-3 mobile guys locally. I have heard nothing really shining about the competition. I strive to have the image and quality while maintaining my rates as need be. I have luring prices on my website, but have photos and references to back up my work and rates.
I know my capacity for now and have done some direct marketing, 300+ businesses in my direct area, all with different fleet and vehicle sizes. I stay away from advertising and yellow pages for now. I have weekly increases on my site and have gained new customers based on that. If I stay within a dedicated area, with fuel like it is, I can keep my costs down and have cash to tuck away for better equipment.
If I have learned anything about this business over the past year it is not to sell yourself short... I did it once and paid for it, literally.
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