Troy Mason: breaking through in a crowded market.

• Author: Watson, Mark
• Position: Around Utah: People - TechnaGlass - Column

Low-cost rock chip repair and advertising in a prime location on Salt Lake City's State Street ignited Troy Mason's business back in 1992. Mason is CEO of TechnaGlass, which celebrates its 25th year in business this year. The company experienced tremendous growth the past decade after Mason decided to lower the standard price on chip repairs for windshields.

"I started this company just like everybody else with rock chip repairs for $60, and I'm sitting at my first location on State Street next to 1-15--a prime location--and I see all this traffic going by and only getting three windshield repairs a week," Mason says.

He possessed all the skills as the technician, store manager and owner at his first location, but at a rate of three jobs a week, Mason knew his business could quickly close. Opportunity struck when he noticed a neighboring business advertised with a pole sign along State Street, and he asked if he could use a portion of the sign to advertise his business.

"So I hung a sign that said 'Rock Chip Repair $9.95 Anytime'," Mason says. The sign could be seen by drivers on State Street and 1-15. "That did the trick. I went from three windshield repairs a week to 30 in a day."

Mason learned the business from his father, who worked in the industry his entire life. "It was his first job after he got out of the Marine Corp.," Mason says about his father, Bruce. "My father spent his last 21 years working for me at TechnaGlass."

Mason grew up in West Jordan and served in the Air Force for eight years. He returned to Utah to pursue a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Utah.

"I was able to get a job doing piece-rate work on Monday...