Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray Brito
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My father was a tow truck driver his whole life and ran a roadside assistance business in Miami for several years before moving to Palm Bay in central Florida. Him and his business partner got a contract with AAA to do roadside assistance and I started working for them in 2006 as a technician. My father passed away a few years later and I continued working for his business partner for another 10+ years. In 2018, I moved to Jacksonville with my wife and kids to continue working for him under his AAA contract and ended up leaving the job in late 2020 in search for something bigger. As a AAA light service contractor, we handled roadside assistance calls when AAA members have a dead battery, flat tire, lock their keys in their car, or run out of fuel. We drove service trucks carrying new batteries for replacements as well. I had so much experience in the industry that I thought it would be smart to go into business for myself. I started subcontracting through a few other companies who served as kind of a middle man between me and the motor clubs and insurance companies who provided roadside assistance service calls. It was rough at first being on my own and taking on all the expenses that come along with starting your own business. Insurance is extremely expensive for what we do because of the amount of driving we do and the dangerous nature of the work we do: a lot of which is on the side of busy highways with sometimes little to no room to work. Juggling pricey insurance, fuel, vehicle expenses, inventory, marketing, and other misc expenses while supporting a family and struggling to get steady work was very challenging. I was doing door dash and Uber on my down time just to make ends meet. I started to add services offered to better provide solutions for stranded motorists and increase profits. Replacing batteries and tires quickly became my main two services and my bread and butter sort of speak. Slowly but surely, I was able to secure several direct contracts with companies like AAA, Uhaul, Allstate, and about a dozen or so other motor clubs, insurance companies, and other fleet companies. The biggest game changer was my wife setting up our website, google business profile, and online marketing. I was paying a marketing company a lot of money for about a year with no results and my wife was able to get the phone ringing in no time and between direct customers and contract work, we were finally steady and becoming profitable. The workload became too much for me since I was literally doing everything myself and so I had to get help to handle the work. I have a few technicians running calls while I handle all the behind the scenes stuff while still running service calls. We are still working hard to provide more services and solutions for people’s problems when their vehicles break down while we try to expand.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was a rough start with all the start up costs and expenses with little to no work coming in, but I was able to make it work for until we were able to find steady business. We also lost our Google business listing for about a month with no explination from Google as to why. That was a pretty big hit because that’s where the majority of business was being generated from.
We’ve been impressed with Mobile Battery and Tire of Jacksonville, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an emergency roadside assistance and mobile battery and tire business based in Jacksonville Florida serving all of Jacksonville and surrounding areas. We specialize in handling all battery and tire related issues among other roadside assistance services like unlocking cars, delivering fuel, and other other automotive services like starters and alternators. We pride ourselves on our experience, knowledge, transparency, and professionalism. We set ourselves apart from other roadside assistance companies by providing a much wider list of solutions to roadside breakdowns. We won’t just come out and jump start your car when your battery goes dead. We will run a diagnostic to test your battery and charging system to determine what caused the issue and if you need a new battery, we carry new batteries on hand which we can install on the spot. If your starter or alternator is the issue, most companies will just tell you it will have to be towed when we can do the repair on the spot. If a customer gets a flat tire, we won’t only come out and install their spare tire like other roadside assistance companies. We provide several other on site tire solutions like repairs, spare tire rentals, full tire replacements, and more. Two of the most important things in this industry are price and ETA. When people break down, they want to know how long and how much. MANY companies will lie about both, unfortunately. They will tell you one price and then add on extra fees after the service is completed or they will give you a short ETA to get the job only to make you end up waiting much longer. We are 100% transparent and when you call, you will get an honest ETA and price up front. We also stand behind all of our work and everything we sell with a warranty on parts and repairs.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Covid 19 was an incredibly slow time for us since most people weren’t driving, but we had to make it work and change with the times.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mobilebatteryandtireofjacksonville.com
- Instagram: @MobileBatteryTireJax
- Facebook: Mobile Battery and Tire of Jacksonville on Facebook
