Pro detailers...help please??

[KrazyTrain]

I have had in the back of my head the crazy idea to start my own side business. I have done a few detail jobs and they seem to turn out great for people and they are always very pleased with the results. This detailing has become a true passion of mine along with using Adams products. SOOO i have always been jelouse of people that had jobs doing what they love and i thought to myself why not start detailing cars to make some extra cash and see where it goes, maybe i can someday make a living doing this and quit my current job.

What i am looking for is any advice from you "pro" detailers that run your own business. I have a few questions also...

1) do you guys carry insurance? in case you mess up someone car? and is it expensive?

2) Do you work out of your house (garage) or do you actually have a building you work out of?

3) Do people bring their cars to you and drop them off or do you go pick them up and take them to your facility? Most full detail jobs take longer then what people will want to wait for.

4)Do you guarentee your work? and do you get alot of picky people complaining about every little thing?

5) do you run across people that want you to just wash the car and not do any paint corection on a regular basis like once a week or so?

 

As you can see i have never started my own business and quit frankly it scares the crap out of me but i have found something i love and would like to persue it. Any advise would be helpfull thanks in advance

[IMADreamer]

Hey Steve you should get this going well and then about a year from now need to expand and hire me, because my contract will be up then and I will be out of a job and have no clue what I'm going to do. It's just an idea.

 

 

Good though.

[Team Adam's]

1) do you guys carry insurance? in case you mess up someone car? and is it expensive?

Yes... its not necessarily cheap, but its certainly cheaper than paying to repaint a car.

2) Do you work out of your house (garage) or do you actually have a building you work out of?

Currently yes I just work out of my home garage as all my clients now are long time friends or people I've been doing work with for a long time. Back when I was more involved in detailing as my primary profession my friend and I had a mobile trailer.

3) Do people bring their cars to you and drop them off or do you go pick them up and take them to your facility? Most full detail jobs take longer then what people will want to wait for.

All of my customers drop their cars off. There are occasions where, if I'm doing work for a close friend, I will go pick the car up from them.

4)Do you guarentee your work? and do you get alot of picky people complaining about every little thing?

I don't have a written guarantee, but if anyone is unhappy with something I'll do whatever it takes to make it right. I've had customers in the past that would nit pick things, but for the most part people are so happy to see their car looking great they can't find anything to complain about.

5) do you run across people that want you to just wash the car and not do any paint corection on a regular basis like once a week or so?

ALL THE TIME!! Sadly hack jobs have made it hard for people to understand what an actual DETAIL is. Most people think it just means washing and waxing, they're not familiar with paint correction, interior conditioning, etc. A lot of my time is spent educating people about what a detail acutally is and why it costs more than the $50 detail they get at the local car wash. Biggest thing you can do for people is spot demonstrate. Have them bring you the car and do a 12"x12" section or get part of a stain out of their interior, even condition a panel of their leather seats. Seeing is believing a lot of the time.

 

As you can see i have never started my own business and quit frankly it scares the crap out of me but i have found something i love and would like to persue it. Any advise would be helpfull thanks in advance

 

Don't get so hyped up to make this a business... there are very few people out there who can make a REAL living detailing cars. More often than not you should start mobile detailing... its hard to jump right in with a brick and mortar location as the added overhead will drive your prices up, and not to knock your work, I'm sure you're good, but when you start getting into the upper echelon of pricing you're competing with some serious players... if you're not working with a rotary and EXTREMELY well versed in all aspects of detailing your time in that building will be short lived.

 

In any event start small... do work for friends, family, and coworkers in your spare time to get your feet under you. Once they've seen what you can do the referrals will start to come in and work it from there.

 

Be aware that though you may enjoy it now, detailing stops being as much fun when you're doing it full time. Good luck!!

[jjwvette]

Good luck Steve what ever you decide:rockon:

[Nitelord]

In any event start small... do work for friends, family, and coworkers in your spare time to get your feet under you. Once they've seen what you can do the referrals will start to come in and work it from there.

 

Be aware that though you may enjoy it now, detailing stops being as much fun when you're doing it full time. Good luck!!

 

I totally agree. It's fun while you are doing it at your own pace. Keep it small and with as little overhead as possible. If you still love it in a year or two, go big if that is where you still want to be. I love doing it evenings and weekends. I have two customers that I visit once a week every week. (they get boring), but I still love it.

 

Good luck and yes, I'd get insurance. Even friends & family have problems that sometimes can't be worked out.

[KrazyTrain]

Thanks for all the input guys i appreciate it.

 

I wont get to involved, i am working out of my garage doing this and i have a pretty good set up there. My biggest question was people bringing their cars to you, seems like a hassle for them to drop a car off for a couple of days to do a full detail??? I am by no mean a seasoned veteran at this i just enjoy it. I also was afraid if it became a job i wouldnt enjoy it any more. My neighbor wants me to do his Cadillac so guess ill just keep doing like im doing and see where it goes. Ill work off of word of mouth for now.

 

Thanks everyone

[Superdutytd]

I agree unless you can do a full correction and interior in 5 or 6 hours (rotary) or run 10-20 cars through the shop per day doing washes/waxes its hard to make good money in this business. Using a PC is tough to do major paint correction quickly. I've moved up to a Flex polisher but that would still not be fast enough should I do it professionally. Dylan i take it that your premiums are based on experience and all that jazz?

[GerryC]

do work for friends, family, and coworkers in your spare time to get your feet under you. Once they've seen what you can do the referrals will start to come in and work it from there.

that's all that I do - just friends, friends of those friends, and family. I find detailing very therapeutic for my OCD plus I get paid on top of it

 

9 times out of 10 I'll have talked someone into at least claying the paint after showing them the bag test. Like Dylan said, explaining what you do any why you do it, and then letting the customer see the difference in before&after, makes them realize the importance of each step between the wash and the wax

 

then there are a few who are either cheap or don't care as much about the condition of their vehicle who just want it washed and waxed and nothing else, I do just that just to placate them, because it wouldn't be worth my time - if they don't want the whole shebang then they wouldn't appreciate it if you did it anyway

Edited August 19, 2009 by GerryC

[Sundog Detailing]

I have had in the back of my head the crazy idea to start my own side business. I have done a few detail jobs and they seem to turn out great for people and they are always very pleased with the results. This detailing has become a true passion of mine along with using Adams products. SOOO i have always been jelouse of people that had jobs doing what they love and i thought to myself why not start detailing cars to make some extra cash and see where it goes, maybe i can someday make a living doing this and quit my current job.

What i am looking for is any advice from you "pro" detailers that run your own business. I have a few questions also...

1) do you guys carry insurance? in case you mess up someone car? and is it expensive?

 

yes, doesn't matter about the cost,just HAVE to have it.

 

 

2) Do you work out of your house (garage) or do you actually have a building you work out of?

 

Jenny and I are building a shop in the spring, but have been working out of my garage.

 

 

3) Do people bring their cars to you and drop them off or do you go pick them up and take them to your facility? Most full detail jobs take longer then what people will want to wait for.

 

I never deliver a vehicle, once it leaves the shop it is no longer pristine. I offer free shuttle service within the valley.

 

 

4)Do you guarentee your work? and do you get alot of picky people complaining about every little thing?

nope, I'm OCD and never had a complaint, I go farther than I should most of the time and the customer ends up with more than they paid for because I can't help myself.

 

5) do you run across people that want you to just wash the car and not do any paint corection on a regular basis like once a week or so?

 

yes, and I'm happy to do it, at least they are paying me and not a crappy carwash.

 

As you can see i have never started my own business and quit frankly it scares the crap out of me but i have found something i love and would like to persue it. Any advise would be helpfull thanks in advance

 

Starting a business should be scary as hell. Just make sure you have the ability to survive when you start, have money in savings you can live on. It took some time to develop a reputation and get steady work, without my savings I would have been up the creek without a polisher.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Sundog Detailing

[FinishedDetailing]

There is plenty of money to be made detailing cars. After 2 years, you have to go after "retail jobs". Dealerships...bodyshops etc. Just depends how much effort your going to put in. My shop does Detailing, window tint and paintless dent repair. I live in chicago so spring summers are great, fall is ok, but winter NOTHING so keep a part time job you can go full time at in winters, unless your budgeting and starting out bigger to cover yourself thru winter. Good luck!