Success Story - Huron County Collision

Huron County Collision: Starter Company Plus Success Story

Huron County Collision is an autobody repair facility that specializes in insurance work, rust repair and rust restoration. Located in Vanastra, Michelle and Doug Dunn opened the business a year and a half ago after establishing a local client base in the surrounding area.

“It takes a lot of guts to get a business like this going,” said Michelle. The couple spent many hours dreaming about the business, sitting at Tim Hortons and exploring how they would get started and get the business off the ground. “We have been so well supported by the community, because of the people around us, helping us get established and reach our goals. In all honesty, a lot of businesses fail within the first five years. We’re almost two years in now and not only are we continuing to thrive, but we are actually expanding and growing our business, despite the pandemic.”

After learning about the Starter Company Plus program from the Economic Development Officer of the Municipality of Huron East, Michelle and Doug jumped at the opportunity to take part.

“I had a great experience working with Huron County Economic Development. I came into it more on the grant side of it. But learning how to create a business plan and then building our own business plan gave us the push forward that we needed. It opened our eyes to the market availability and helped us understand our competitors and how we could fill the gaps. The process helped us take everything that was floating around in our heads and put it on paper. It made our dreams achievable and we could break it down into steps.”

“Going through the grant process, it was really validating to get the support,” said Doug. “There’s an overwhelming need for tradespeople in this area and we encourage other tradespeople to go apply for the grants,” said Doug. “The program made starting your own business less overwhelming.”

Doug and Michelle’s pitch included requesting the funding needed to create a large paint booth for the auto shop. Their sales pitch was based on the premise of using the grant money to support other local small businesses to help with the lighting, air filtration and other trades needed to make this dream a reality.

“We’re from here. We know the people, we know the community and the businesses and the teams of people, suppliers, salespeople, dealers and garages. We create reciprocal partnerships and we love supporting our neighbours and other local businesses. There is a need here in the area for our type of work. Not everyone can produce quality and there is always room for quality,” said Doug.

“We offer our customers exceptional value and provide quality high-end service. We don’t just repair your vehicle, but we do it correctly and we stand behind our work,” said Michelle. Huron County Collision values transparency and letting customers know what’s happening behind the scenes while providing a quality product. “We aim to offer timely service and get your vehicle in the shop as quickly as possible,” said Michelle.

“We take the time to have real conversions with our customers and make sure they are informed. COVID has caused some delays with sourcing parts, but we keep our customers in the loop, so they know what’s going on and take pride in our customer service.”

Huron County Collision is open for business and Doug and Michelle welcome customers. Visit huroncountycollision.ca/ or give them a call for more information.

To learn more about the Starter Company Plus program, please click here.