Alex Winward, a business student at BYU-Idaho is now in his second week as the business owner of Crystal Clear Chip Repair. His new business of repairing rock chips in windshields is located at the Chevron at 1670 E. 17th St. in Idaho Falls.
Winward got the idea from his brother and got certified in rock chip repair in Eugene, Oregon.
Winward explains that it costs insurance companies more money to replace whole windshields when rock chips spread, than it does to just pay for the rock chip repairs outright.
“It saves the insurance companies a lot of money and it saves the customers money because they aren’t paying anything out of pocket, so it is a win, win, win,” Winward said.
Winward says that is what business is all about.
“The whole point of business is to find a problem and solve that problem. Make people your business,” he said.
Winward plans to run this business throughout his time at college to enhance his resume and grow his business experience.
“Now’s the perfect time in my life where I can really go out and adventure and do something new that I haven’t done before,” Winward said.
But being a self-starter doesn’t come without challenges.
“This was pretty uncomfortable, starting this business,” Winward said. “I pitched it to five gas stations and two grocery store chains, and they all said no, and I was like, ‘Maybe this isn’t it.’ But I kept going with it and we finally got a gas station and are going up here.”
If you have a chip in your windshield, contact your insurance about free rock chip repairs or visit Winward's pop-up at the Chevron at 1670 E. 17th St. in Idaho Falls.
Winward's pop-up, Crystal Clear Chip Repair is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday and free with participating insurance companies.