Getting into the business!

[bobbyd1018]

Ok, so i have decided to take may passion and my ocd to full time business! I have been in car sales for 12 yrs ... and as a yound kid (im 32) i have always enjoyed detailing cars... its something about the reward you get when you are looking at a before and after job and standing back looking at it and saying "I Did That".. Well i am wanting some great advice from you pros that have started up your business and have made a great living doing so! First off i want to say that i will have plenty of business , (all the car dealerships will use me for everything in my are plus the ones around me! I am wanting to go all out, so far in my research i have looked at getting a close in trailer from from rightlook since i REALLY like there trailer setup and as far as products al i have been use to is car brite1 should i use car brite or switch over t oa different brand?

[After Hours]

I really like the 9800 model trailer rightlook has! Do you know how much they go for? Good luck on your business.

[bobbyd1018]

Yeah the 9800 is the one i was looking at! Trailer with everything in it, plus wrap is $20,000..... also who would you guys refer as a good trainer to go to?

[bobbyd1018]

Looking to offer many things with my business such as ozone, lether repair, touch up chips, cigg burns, carpet dies, windshield repair and of course the main thing DETAIL! I would say i am good for the experiance i have... but its always nice to be tought hands on by someone who knows and does it for a living! There are many out there such as right look, detail king , car brite university and so on, but who would be the best in yall opinion to learn from hands on? If im going to spend the amount of money i am planning on spending i want to offer the best of services, and im unsure who to get good quality paint touch up, cig burn repair kit, carpet dies, and leather repair products from! Any help possible is great!

[rustytruck]

wow. That's a lot of money to invest right up front. It seems like the giant trailer is kinda the old way to go. For $ 20000.00 you could probably get nice used ford transit.

The trailer seems to be overkill I along with a lot of the mobile guys on here are going with the rinse-less wash system. I use a CG Eco pod so i carry much less gear.

As far as your target market being dealerships and you being mobile that may not be a winning combo. I only run my business part time. All my customers are retail customers and the thing they love is how i come to their home. Car dealers want an immaculate car and want to pay little. Retail customers want you to detail their car because they don't have the time. They are usually looking for convenience (not perfection) and are willing to pay for it.

Good luck. I got started for under $3000

[Toy_Cam_Ed]

Looking to offer many things with my business such as ozone, lether repair, touch up chips, cigg burns, carpet dies, windshield repair and of course the main thing DETAIL! I would say i am good for the experiance i have... but its always nice to be tought hands on by someone who knows and does it for a living! There are many out there such as right look, detail king , car brite university and so on, but who would be the best in yall opinion to learn from hands on? If im going to spend the amount of money i am planning on spending i want to offer the best of services, and im unsure who to get good quality paint touch up, cig burn repair kit, carpet dies, and leather repair products from! Any help possible is great!
Mike Phillips' Detailing Boot Camp - Sept. 29-30, 2012 (http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-boot-camp.html)

[Mobile detail]

My advice, Don't start up a detail business if you have a solid paying job now. My second advice is don't spend $20,000 on detailing supplies to start, that is just crazy. Look at Craigslist. There are SO SO SO many people who just like you, wanted to start up a detail business and go full time with it only to find out its a lot harder to get customers and make a living off of it. I can't tell you how many fly by night companies have popped up in my area in the last 5 years let alone since the start of spring.

If your gung ho about starting it up anyway, dealerships are not where your going to make your money at all. They are great for when your slow and need to collect a paycheck. They expect you to do it dirt cheap and want a lot of stuff compared to what they are willing to pay you for. I personally don't do dealerships because most of them have in house guys and pay min wage and any contract work, they pay no more than $100 for a full detail. And when I say full, I mean clay,polish,wax, dress, wheels,tires,engine, steam clean interior,dress/treat leather, stains, everything and they want it done quick and cheap and perfect.

If your doing this solo there is no way your going to keep up with the volume the dealers are going to suppsoedly supply you with.

If your still set on starting up, I would look into getting the basics and seeing how strong your market is first. $20,000 is a crazy amount to start with especailly if your looking for training and haven't been doing this full time. Its back breaking work and gets boring doing it day in day out. Yes there are a lot of times when you see your finished product and have a sense of pride, but cleaning up after dirty soccer moms and fixing paint htat someone washed their car with a brillo pad gets old after a while. And people are cheap for the most part, they don't wanna pay for what you fully do.

Another thing that you have to think about, I read all the time "I know I will do good because word of mouth will spread, I'll get a web page, and I know a lot of people". Thats great. If it were so easy to have a successful detailing business everyone would be doing it. Think of it this way. Lets say you work 5 days a week. You average 2 cars a day. Thats 10 NEW customers a week. which in turn is 30 new customers a month. Now those 30 new customers (which your really lucky if you find 30) won't need a detail for at least 3 months if not 6 to a year. So next month you have to find 30 more new people. And so the cycle repeats.

I've been doing this for 12 years. I still have a hard time finding new customers all the time and there are times where I am flat out dead. I do work for the local police department, major league baseball team, major companies, and numerous local customers, and a lot of body shops. I still have down time.

Sorry for the rant and I'm not trying to kill your dream at all. I just get tired of reading everyones posts of "I wanna quite my job and start a detailing business". Its like detailing is some magical business that will make you rich and is super easy to start and will just build itself. It won't.

[bobbyd1018]

Thank you for your honesty and i can totally understand how you feel! Im not saying that this is going to make me rich over night and nor do i expect that but i have enough capital built up so i can manage it correctly and i specialize in marketing so advertising isnt a problem, but the problem with me being a perfectionist and offering the finest product to my detail line i want to be sure of! I know spending that kind of money is probably retarded when it comes to buying a trailer, and as far as a transit connect van from ford that is a very good idea and has been thought of already!!! Trying to see what training seminar yall suggest and where i can buy quality supplies from such as the leather repair and everything stated in my last post! Again thank yall for your input!!

[rustytruck]

Detail king in Pa. They offer training in all that kind of stuff. There is not a huge market for that stuff.

[dad07]

Mike Phillips' Detailing Boot Camp - Sept. 29-30, 2012 (http://www.autogeek.net/detailing-boot-camp.html)

:iagree:start here.......and now your part of the most knowegble forum there is which is connected to best supplier of supplies and has the best customer service who employs the best teacher there is.........

:welcome: to AGO!

read and read and read!

[ryance39]

I would seriously suggest rethinking your "business". a field like detailing is built off the ability and mastering of detailing. To me it's a little scary that you are still looking for "classes" about detailing but are even considering spending any money on your "business" when considering starting a business detailing you should already know everything there is to know about detailing. That's just my opinion though..

[tuscarora dave]

Renny Doyle or Mike Phillips or both.

[bobbyd1018]

I can see where maybe i come off like a Rookie ... but the fact is i have been detailing on the side for over 14 yrs for many friends and people who see my work! I never did it full time because my family has been in the automotive business and my father was a dealer , my uncles, and my grandfather were dealers... so i spent most my life in the shadow of the car business untill they hung up there towels after 50 + yrs and i decided to stay on... but just to find out after dealing with cars for all this time im finally burned out, just not the same anymore! SO... i look at what i enjoy and i really enjoy the art of detailing!! The only reason why i want to go to a seminar is not to learn for the first time, its to take a pros advice and see the difference in what i do and make sure im doing the proper methods, its always nice to get a fresher up course! Being in car sale i would always go to training course like joe verde just to get a fresher up, thanks for everyone input.... I am actually thinking of starting off not so big.. :xyxthumbs:

[A-train]

Not a full-time pro here, but I have looked at Righlooks set-up and even called Steven and talked to them about their trailers. In my opinion you would come out far cheaper with the same result if you did it yourself. Were talking buy a trailer, have it wrapped, get a generator and a water tank. They are marking them up so much, yeah they are catchy to the eye but you could stash away so many products with the money left over. Also unless you are from there you will have to have it shipped or take a road trip. Shipping on a trailer to the east coast was going to cost me $1400 so make sure you factor that in. Good luck with your business!

[bobbyd1018]

You are very correct, i think they are about $5000 to high in my opinion, im probably going to end up doing it like you said so i can put that extra money in supplies and advertising