Starting business - need advice on products

[bogdansbg]

Hello everyone,

I will start a new business this month and I need your advice in this field.

Here is what I want to do:

1. I have a garage where I will do so called "auto cosmetics" and everything will be done in a immaculate environment because I'm allergic to dust.
2. I will have 2-3 cars per week for cosmetics
3. Cosmetics will mean: washing, preparing, polishing paint of the car to remove scratches big and small, waxing and any other products to give a superb finish.
4. Maintaining the tires and wheels.
5. I will not do interior cosmetics for beginning.


I saw Poorboy's World products are affordable but I don't have enough feedback about them.
Second I was thinking at Menzerna's Super Finish (Nano) PO (http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-super-nano-polish.html) but I don't know if all cars here in Eastern Europe have ceramic paint (for polish).
I saw this kit that I think will suit me very well: Poorboy’s World Porter Cable 7424 Polish & Protect Kit (http://www.autogeek.net/popoprkit.html)

Here in Eastern Europe all producers send their cheapest and worst cars because the bad market. Only Luxury segment like Mercedes, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge and Japanese cars built in Japan are better than regular regional brands. So I will need products that can be used on almost any cars and to last long.

So, to start my business if you can tell me what and which one to pick. What tools, pads / applicators, towels, shampoo, polish, wax, finish ?

Please remember, I don't want the cheapest, but the best quality/price ratio. I want to show people what a good cosmetics mean, because this way I will grow my business and after I saw your pics here I can tell I will make a good impression in first month.

My initial investment in car care products is $500 USD.

Thanks in advance.

Bogdan

[Xtian989]

If you're just starting out and you're looking for a high quality to price ratio in car care products, I think the best route to go would be Duragloss....they have awesome products for awesome prices; they are easy to use, produce great looking results, and their sealants are extremely durable, which will really impress your customers who bring in daily drivers that if you were to use expensive beauty waxes on as LSP's, would look great, but not for long....

I like the Poorboy's line of SSR polishes for paint correction. They too represent a very high quality to price ratio

[bogdansbg]

The problem in my country and specially in Bucharest is that Dust is a Must, you can't run from it. If you wash you car in the morning, by night it's covered with a thin layer of dust. Next day is the worst day when you see your car covered with more dust. Incredible but I can show you :) We don't live like most of you on horizontal, we live on vertical blocks of flats and parking is near along road.

That's why I need good products that can repel water and dust.

Thank you for your post, I really appreciate.

I'm open all week for suggestions before I place my order with AG :D

[Showroom Shine]

Don't take this wrong,just trying to help. But if you need to know the questions that you have asked. Have you asked yourself, do you have enough knowledge & skill to start a business in that field. $500 in my opinion is not enough to really get what you need to START a business in detailing.How do you plan to stay away from the dust? You'll be making it!

[bogdansbg]

I am not taking it wrong, I thank you for your reply. I must know what other people say in order to take a good decision.

I was thinking with $500 to take Poorboy’s World Porter Cable 7424 Polish & Protect Kit and some other products to start polishing at least 5 cars to cover my initial investment.

[joholste]

one of the first things i would think that you would need would be on of the heavy duty painter masks with the filters, if you are allergic to dust, as Showroom said you will be making dust doing this just by applying and removing products

[SRHTX]

Don't take this wrong,just trying to help. But if you need to know the questions that you have asked. Have you asked yourself, do you have enough knowledge & skill to start a business in that field. $500 in my opinion is not enough to really get what you need to START a business in detailing.How do you plan to stay away from the dust? You'll be making it!

Boy, I agree. :whs: I have spent under $2k to get my business up and going. My point of view is if you want to do things right, you always have to get the best of everything.

Just my $.02

Stephen

[keke1987]

And you said "polishing paint of the car to remove scratches big and small"

if you wan't to do major correction on paint, you will need more than a pc, a flex or rotary will be needed.

[SRHTX]

And you said "polishing paint of the car to remove scratches big and small"

if you wan't to do major correction on paint, you will need more than a pc, a flex or rotary will be needed.

:iagree: I will have an '03 MB E 320 tomorrow that has some marks on its trunk. I think we will have to wetsand it down to get the marks off the vehicle. Here is what the MB looks like right now. Tomorrow will be a different story.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/srhtx/Mercedes%20Benz/DriverTrunkScratch02.jpg
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r269/srhtx/Mercedes%20Benz/DriverTrunkScratch01.jpg

[PerroneFord]

Don't take this wrong,just trying to help. But if you need to know the questions that you have asked. Have you asked yourself, do you have enough knowledge & skill to start a business in that field. $500 in my opinion is not enough to really get what you need to START a business in detailing.How do you plan to stay away from the dust? You'll be making it!

While the money is an issue, the bigger part of what you are saying here is really the experience and skill. Anyone can buy a PC and some pads and polishes and call themselves a detailer. But those of us who are serious about it, spend a LOT of time practicing and learning before we would do it for money.

I only recently started doing details for money, but practiced an entire year before getting started. And it's certainly not a business for me. It's just a hobby.

Let's look at the basics in terms of cost. To have a realistic amount of products on hand to do a good job with a variety of cars you will need:

Wash (~US$100):

2 - 5 Gallon Buckets
2 or 3 Washmitts
Car wash soap
Grit guards would be helpful
Drying towels

Clay (~US$50):

1 Fine clay
1 Aggressive clay
Clay lubricant


Polish (~US$300):

1 Compound
1 Medium Polish
1 Light polish / finishing polish
1 Porter Cable DA Buffer
4 Cutting pads
4 Polishing pads
2 Finishing pads
10 Microfiber towels


Wax/Sealant(~US $40):

1 Sealant product
1 Carnauba product


Wheels and Tires (~US$75)

1 Aggressive wheel cleaner
1 "Safe" wheel cleaner
2-3 wheel brushes of various shapes

Trim (~US$20)

1 Trim product
2-3 applicators


Glass ($35)

1 Glass Cleaner
3-5 dedicated towels for glass


This pricing does not include shipping, customs, or anything else you might need to pay for. I would honestly say, that to do this properly, you should try to budget $750-$1000 and plan to spend 2 months doing every friend's car you have. Do it for what it will cost you in supplies and maybe a bit more. But before you start taking stranger's money for detailing, you need to have a good idea of how to detail cars. You can learn a lot on the internet, but this is a hands-on business, and many things can surprise you.

I did not mention a paint thickness gauge but would consider that mandatory in many cases. I did not mention any all-purpose cleaners in my pricing, but that's something you're going to want most likely. I didn't mention any products for convertibles and that can easily add $75-100 to your startup supplies cost.

In terms of experience, how will you know when you can use the aggressive wheel cleaner or you have to stay with the mild ones? How will you know whether the car that just came in can be handled with only a medium polish and a 1-stepper, or if it will need compound? How do you know if a scratch can be removed or is too deep and will require painting? What kinds of lights are at the facility? Are they bright enough and/or close enough for you to make critical decisions about the nature of the work you're doing? Will you need insurance? What happens with you make a mistake with the compound and go through the clear coat of an $80k Mercedes?

Much to think about, and you're startup costs are too low.

[Blackthorn One]

I agree with the above post. You NEED to get experience on your own cars, or friends cars, or body shop panels to the point where you know how to do pretty much everything that comes along, and be able to accurately assess how much work needs to be done on each job. You NEED experience first. For example, I took an ROP class on auto detailing where I learned how to use a rotary. The High School where they held the class had a body shop and they had just painted this pick up truck that I was to work on. Man, was I glad to get that experience. I was careful, made no mistakes, and did a nice job. After that, I was confident enough to use a rotary to polish and wax a Corvette and a Ferrari with one at the first shop I worked at. Again, no problems. I would still rather get a Flex for it's safety, without more practice with the rotary. There is just too much liability working with a buffer. However, I've polished and waxed a lot of cars over the years since I was about 11 years old.

There is a wide range of problems that you run into. In my experience, most people just want the oxidation removed to bring back the color, and then give it a nice wax to really make it shine, and they accept any scratching that has always been there. That is pretty easy straightforward work. If you can get that kind of work for a while, you can make a little money, while you develop experience with the buffer, preferably on junk panels from body shops. After you are sure you can do most anything, THEN you can start doing real details. You can't just jump into detailing without any experience and produce top notch results, or even acceptable results in any reasonable time frame.

[frosty]

I'm starting into it as a hobby. Doing my own stuff and other peoples when they have situations I know I can do. My first order was for a PC XP, pads and I was at $580. I've since probably spent another $400 so I would move my expecations at least up to 1k.

Also, I think this guy who seems to be a big AG supporter has a very good site which makes a lot of recommendations about every aspect of car detailing and products to use. I would recommend you take a look at it.

What I've found, most everybody that's been doing it a while will say that 90% of detailing is your technique and 10% of it's product.

I wasn't worried about the money when I first started buying but I am if I start trying to make money. I've been looking at the Meguiar's line and after confirmation of what I've been thinking from another member, I'm going to go with them because of their bulk pricing.

One other thing, I tried the PC XP and it's a fine machine but if you are running a business, time is money. I haven't gotten my Flex 3403 Rotary yet to try. But I'm sending my PC XP back to exchange for a Flex 3401.

I'm not saying the PC isn't capable but from what I've read and experienced it's time consuming to correct moderate to heavy issues. Even in my spare time I don't care to waste and extra 2 to 3 hours of my time.

P.S. I'm relative new to serious detailing so keep that in mind but seems I'm a couple steps ahead of where you're at and thought I'd share my opinion.

[sullysdetailing]

Boy, I agree. :whs: I have spent under $2k to get my business up and going. My point of view is if you want to do things right, you always have to get the best of everything.

Just my $.02

Stephen
X2

I have spent
over $2000 easily on products and tool (brushes buffer ect)
$175 for magnets
$10 a month for my website.
$100 Business Card and $125Post Card and I made the design So you looking at an extra $50 on each for the design if someone does it for you.

You at least need $5000 to start

[Da Fats]

I think the biggest thing overlooked also is that many people are going to be more interested in a good int/ext detail over doing full or partial paint correction on their daily drivers... You will need to be able to do both interior and exterior details unless your coming in with an A++++ paint work game or are an "interior Specialist" and have a reputation in your area to keep you busy.

A single pass with a PC can take 4 hours... throw in 2 or 3 step correction... thats alot of time and time + money... and most people wont invest that type of money into there daily driver.

[GaryD]

I think the biggest thing overlooked also is that many people are going to be more interested in a good int/ext detail over doing full or partial paint correction on their daily drivers... You will need to be able to do both interior and exterior details unless your coming in with an A++++ paint work game or are an "interior Specialist" and have a reputation in your area to keep you busy.

A single pass with a PC can take 4 hours... throw in 2 or 3 step correction... thats alot of time and time + money... and most people wont invest that type of money into there daily driver.

I'm new to detailing, my two buffer polishers alone were $600, $200 on microfiber towels, headlight lens restorations $100, polishes $200, pllymer sealants, wax,$100, glass cleaner, trim conditioners, leather conditioners, tire shine, degreasers, soap, buffing pads, including the edge 2000 ones also, washing soap, acid rain spot remover, the list goes on and on. My vacuum cleaner was $400. My total deductions this year alone are over $5,000.00 but part of that was the building of a shelter. I got a $100 worth of magic erasers. I have 3 gallons of flomax. My first week in business I did 3 vehicles, 2nd week 5, this past week only one. I have one scheduled this week. I've not even put my sign up yet. If you do good work and use quality products, they will come by word of mouth. Most people that bring there car to me, tell me to do what it needs, most times that is polish and wax. I put down a polymer sealant, then polish, then polymer sealant, then a gloss enhancer. I clean the carpet and seats, trunk, try to cover every sq feet of the inside and out. It usually take me about 8 hours to do one decent. It depends what the cars paint is like to what I do to it. I try to look at it as if it were my own car. I'm out to please the customer. I like learning how to do things better, in the shortest amount of time. I do my good paint vehicles by hand most of the time, I don't like using buffers unless I need to cut some. I'm learning as I go, so far so good.