25-Year-Old Entrepreneur Broke Out of Generation X Mold
7 December 1998
FEATURE/25-Year-Old Entrepreneur Broke Out of Generation X Mold, and Into Successful Auto Glass Business
DALLAS--Dec. 7, 1998--
Auto Glass Plus President's Unique Approach to Business is Key
Element to Company's Phenomenal Growth
While most of his friends from college were still discovering themselves in 1994, 25-year-old Kris Homer was discovering his competitive edge as president of Auto Glass Plus.
According to Kris, "Most service companies give customers only a ballpark idea of when they'll fix their auto glass, as sometime today. We narrow it down to a time frame of a couple of hours. But because they're not used to that kind of service, they're always pleasantly surprised that we keep our word."
Now 29-years-old, Kris Homer's unpretentious office in its unpretentious strip center is the central station for a business that has grown from one guy's garage to five cities since 1994. "Unpretentious" is the word that most describes almost everything about this thriving business, except the proprietary software that helps Auto Glass Plus schedule and keep appointments in a timely manner, belying the industry standard. It is software that exists nowhere else in the world, designed by one of Kris's two partners, Clint Duncan.
The company's strong orientation toward service echoes Kris Homer's background. As an industrious high schooler in Plano, Kris had his own lawn care company. So successful was this venture that after making $1,000 in a single weekend, Kris wanted to quit school and devote full time to the business. Fortunately, his parents vetoed that that idea.
While working for an auto glass company after college, his entrepreneurial spirit was once again rekindled when Kris and two other employees of that company, Clint Duncan and Michael Cootz, decided to start their own auto glass business. And the rest is history.
"We three balance each other. I'm the marketing guy, Michael's the techie and Clint's the computer geek. Clint's responsible for our scheduling software, which from what I know, is the most accurate in the business," said Kris. "Above all, what we strive for is superior, turnkey service above and beyond the customer's expectations."
As the company has grown from $500,000 in sales to an estimated $14 million in 1999, it's clear the three partners are on the right track, and definitely, the fast track.
