Quick tips for new detailing businesses from current owners!

[VP Mark]

Hi everyone! I thought we might start a thread where the more veteran business owners on the board could post some quick tips they think might be beneficial for the newer members looking to start or starting a business.

Let's do it this way. Keep it simple, and put your tips in bullet points. Feel free to add later! Lets focus on small concise thoughts or tips that will be helpful to others. I'll start:



Have a business plan, and be serious about it. It will be the guiding light for your business.
Learn your expenses. KNOW how much each detail costs you.
Don't worry so much about perfect paint. Most of detailing, especially when you start out, is going to be about excellent interior work.
Invest in your business, but not just chemicals. You need tools, equipment, office supplies, marketing materials, ect.. Running a detail business is not just about what chemicals you use.

[Evan.J]

Get as much hands on training as possible
Develop a menu for your target market
Know your menu inside and out and know your prices for everything you offer.
Always present your self as a professional (the way you dress)

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Invest the time or money or both in a quality, easy to read and navigate website.
Sign up on Facebook, Google+ and other social media sites.
Sign up for as many business directories as possible. Such as yp, google local, bing local and yahoo business.
Don't cheat yourself by under selling your services and working ridiculously hard for little money.
Detailing tools for interiors such has DA brushes, steam cleaners, extractors, brushes and an air compressor greatly improve the speed and easy of cleaning interiors.
Customer referral program, give your customers a reason besides excellent work to want to spread the word about your business.

[Pureshine]

:iagree: With all the above:)

Be patient it takes time to build a detail business
Look professional
Be honest with your customers don't sell them something they don't need
Do quality work and business will come

[Romans5.8]

Umm- is it okay if a detailing CUSTOMER (Before learning to do it myself) who is a newbie chimes in!

The one thing that always drove me nuts were menus with huge complicated lists of processes and products that I know nothing about. I'm sure that's great if you had me on the phone, but it's complicated and I had no idea what it meant, so I didn't even call. Just tell me what you're going to do and how much it's going to cost. Clean the interior and wash the car? Great. Eliminate scratches and swirls? Awesome. But the average joe has no idea the difference between a Meg's UP single step polish and a 3-step polish with Menzerna products. You just need to tell them the former will deliver decent results, and the latter show-quality. When you get them on the phone or in person, THEN you can educate the customer on what makes the packages different. But so many of these menus are so incredibly complicated for a non-detailer to understand.