Expert Interview: Angela with Zilla Wraps

Have you ever driven down the road and spotted a really cool looking car? Angela is the co-owner of Zilla Wraps in Ft. Worth, and they specialize in making your car turn heads. It's not everyday you see a woman in the car industry, but design is more than fashion and home interiors. You will love her graphics, and the cars are pretty awesome too.

Tell us a little about yourself, your family, and what you like to do in your free time.

I’m 38 years old, have been married my husband, Scott, 4 years.  We have a 16 year old daughter and two dogs.  Our family loves spending time at home.  We don’t like crowds and would rather have a quiet home cooked meal than go out.  We like to spend time together playing in our swimming pool during the summer.  I don’t have much free time now-a-days, but when I do, I like to work on web design and graphic design.

Why did you decide to start a car wrap business?

We were ready to own something and have the freedom that owning a business represents.  Since we got married, we had talked about starting our own business and went through many different business ideas.  We finally decided to start a car wrap business because Scott has over 12 years of experience managing an established vehicle wrap company. He knew and loved the business.  A car wrap business also allows me to do what I love – be creative and design things.  I designed our website. I do the majority of our vehicle wrap designs as well as managing the back end processes like accounting and payroll.  In addition to those things, cars are cool.  We get to be around really cool vehicles all the time!

What is has been your favorite design so far?

My favorite design so far was a boat wrap design that made the boat look like a military tank.  This is Jimmy McDavid’s boat and he loved the wrap.   I spent a lot of time on this one, it has a lot of detail and up close it really looks like rusty metal.  The vinyl was laminated with matte laminate so it has a metal look to it and isn't shiny.  

What is the best/worst part of owing a business?

The best part of owning your own business is the total satisfaction of knowing you call all the shots. All your success is because of the decisions and actions you've taken so when things go well, it can really put you on top of the world!  When you’re successful, you reap all the benefits instead of having your hard work go to line someone else’s pocket.  The worst part of owning a business is knowing that if you make the wrong decision or if things go south, it’s all your responsibility and there’s the very real risk of losing it all if the worst happens.  The stress that comes when business is slow or not going very well, really affects you because it affects your pocket book and your livelihood.  It affects whether or not you can stay in business and also if you have employees, it could affect their livelihood as well.  

Do you have any advice for those that may be thinking of starting a business with her spouse? 

My husband and I are lucky because our strengths compliment each other.  He’s great at sales, customer relationships, managing a business and is fine with taking calculated risks. I’m the organizer, detail-oriented, analytic person who likes to play it safe.   My advice is to make sure you discuss and agree on the roles each of you will take with the business and don’t step on each other’s toes.  Trust your spouse to take care of his part of things and don’t try to manage him or question his decisions.  Expect him to give you the same respect and freedom to do your part.  Major decisions need to be discussed and decided together, but allow each other freedom to make small to medium decisions alone and get things done without interference.   This will free you each up to focus on what you need to do and have peace of mind that your spouse is taking care of his part. 

Finish this statement. I wish someone would have told me that starting a small business...

When you start a small business you are responsible for EVERYTHING.  There are a lot of balls to juggle.  Accounting, bill paying, answering phones, paying taxes, payroll, getting all applicable permits, website design and maintenance, social media, and so on.  In the beginning, be prepared to work a lot of hours and not have a lot of personal time.  Since we started the business in January, Scott and I average about 60-70 hours of work a week and sometimes more.  When we do sit down and stop working, we are so tired we usually just fall asleep.  But all the effort is worth it! 

Thank you, Angela for taking the time to answer some questions. Zilla Wraps is offering a special, so go check it out! 

So, would you go into business with your spouse? 

Amanda