BodyShopBids is a great example of a real life situation that turned into an idea for a startup then a successful business. BodyShopBids.com is a startup that was founded by a young entrepreneur named Brad Weisberg who transformed a real life experience into an idea for a startup.

The idea began when he walked out of a restaurant in 2005 to find a dent in his silver Infiniti G5. To fix the dent, Weisberg collected repair estimates from several repair shops and he was surprised when he realized how different their prices were.

Weisberg decided to design a web application that allows drivers to send photos of their damaged cars to body shops who will bid on the repair cost. Furthermore he thought how convenient it can be if drivers can send photos using their smartphones and get the best repair deal in a short time.

Weisberg secured funding of $250,000 for his idea from a Chicago incubator and venture capital firm launched by Groupon founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell.

This startup gained success by having more than 1000 body shops to sign up with the website and participate in the bids. In addition to the BodyShopBids website, the app is already running and it has processed more than $4 million in claims and BodyShopBids.com keeps percentage of that as a profit.