"Everything you see, we did ourselves," said Earsley, walking through the shop's completely remodeled office and into the 10,000-square-foot production area. "We both quit our jobs and worked basically nonstop for a month and a half to get this place ready to open. When you look at pictures of what it was like before, it's unrecognizable now."

The two followed similar career paths before opening their shop, Earsley said, becoming interested in the industry in high school and working as apprentices and technicians at several shops before they met while working at Salantino's Collision in Tacoma.

"That is a super nice shop and really showed us what can be done in this industry," he said.

They each moved on to other shops and opportunities, but remained friends, spending their weekends hunting, fishing, and dirt-biking together and continuing to think about opening their own shop, Earsley said.

"Brit and I still talked about it all the time," he said. "We started meeting every single night, putting our business plan together, and getting all our finances in line."

It was at that point they said they learned the former body shop space adjacent to the Bruce Titus Chevrolet dealership was available for lease.

"It sat vacant for eight months, and at first we didn't want it because it was such a mess," Balant said. "But we gutted and remodeled and expanded the office, and painted the place inside and out. We knocked down most of the interior walls out in the shop to make it more open and over two nonstop days used 130 gallons of white paint out in the shop to brighten it up."

The space did come with most of the major equipment the shop needed, they said, including a Rotary lift and three Continental frame racks. DuPont provided a mixing bench, and 3M, Kent Automotive, and Wesco Autobody Supply provided some of the cabinetry and start-up supplies needed.

"We buy most of our materials from Wesco," Balant said. "They deliver twice a day and have everything we're looking for."

The two said they are eager to replace the old paint booth in the facility and are in the process of purchasing a Nova Verta booth.

"That will really help with production," Balant said. "It's sort of like the BMW of spray booths, a real high-quality booth."

Within months of the shop's March 2007 opening, Balant and Earsley said knew they were ready to add some help; they now employ five others.

"We have a general manager and office person because we found it was best if Brit and I were out in the shop, turning the hours, and put someone else in the meet-and-greet position," Earsley said.

In addition to wholesale work through the dealership and an increasing amount of word-of-mouth referrals, Premier Collision Services was also selected as a Safeco drive-in claims center, he said.

"One of our main goals is getting on with more insurance companies, getting the people who make those decisions out here to see the building and what it is really like now and not what it used to be," Earsley said. "We also put together a binder with photos of the shop and information about us that we've sent out to the insurers."

"We're big on quality and matching OEM style with repairs," Balant said. "So far, customers and insurers can't believe the quality of our work, and they're real happy with our turnaround time. They like how we follow up on everything and keep them updated."

The start-up has not been without its challenges, the two said.

"We're having to learn 10 new things every day," Balant said.

"I think one of the biggest things is that while you own your own business, you've got the insurance companies telling you what to do," Earsley said. "So you never feel like you have total control. I think that was frustrating at first.

"But I think what helps a lot is that Brit and I have been talking to most of the adjusters who are coming in for five years now. They know what to expect from us. They know we're asking for what's going to be done and done right."

Finding the right employees has also been tough, they said.

"There are good techs out there, but they're often happy where they are," Balant said.

That's meant some long hours for the new shop owners, who are both married.

"Brit and I are sometimes here 17 hours a day," said Earsley, who added that his three young children sometimes skate around the shop. "Sometimes we have to quit just so we can actually make it in the next day.

Still, the two are clearly enjoying their new venture. And they said they still make time for the hunting, fishing, and vintage motocross they've enjoyed on the weekends.

"It's been a huge success for us," Balant said. "We're really enjoying it."

"A lot of people spent a lot of years just talking about wanting to do something like this," Earsley added.