Time management/appointment booking

**Onthegeauxauto** · 12-04-2016, 02:25 PM

Hey y'all! Im gonna give a little back story first so y'all kinda know a little about me. Im a full time firefighter, been a career firefighter in Baton Rouge Louisiana for 6 years. I've always worked part time in the fire service as well with my hometown fire department. In July of this year my hometown department offered me a full time position and I decided to take it. Cutting roughly 25k-30k of my yearly income by not having a part time job. So since we are constantly washing/waxing and doing minor paint correction on our trucks, I decided to start a mobile detailing business. There is currently no mobile detailing competition in my area. I did this late July and started only a day a week or so. 5 months later and many hours detailing I've got a problem. A good problem but a problem. I have about 20 customers that I do bi-weekly to monthly. Basic wash/interior wipe down stuff. I've done a lot of facebook advertising and I've been doing a lot of full details also. Paint correction and Ceramic coatings have also picked up. I'm doing about 5k a month and staying a booked out over a month in advance for anything more a simple wash. Two car lots in my area also contacted me about doing their vehicles as they get them in each week. I work 10 days a month with the fire dept and detail every day I'm off except Sunday's. How do y'all prioritize the work you take and the work you turn away? I'm having to turn down twice as much as I take right now. I don't know if I should just be content with how it's going or try to expand. I'm worried about hiring people to work with me because I know there's a chance that the overall quality of work would drop off. I'm also worried about a getting a shop because I would have the extra overhead and obviously need people to work that shop with me. I've already raised my prices several times in hopes that it would level out but it hasn't. Any ideas?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

-Matt

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**GSKR** · 12-04-2016, 05:10 PM

Avoid car washing now that you have a reputation and the business is carrying itself by phone calls.If your knee deep into corrections and coatings hire someone for 90.00 a day.why I say 90.00 is because more than likely you will get someone's attention that's eager to work and learn and most importantly good work ethics.stay mobile that will be free exposure everyday your out there.people who expect and want the best will wait for you.2 options hire someone to do the work you don't want to do,or just chug along by yourself and work hard.If you can manage that monthly cash flow by yourself than just work by yourself and weed out all the low profit services like carwashing.That will break you and kick your butt for so little money.

**CarolinasFinestDetailing** · 12-04-2016, 05:15 PM

Hey Matt,

I spent many a day in the Red Stick as I grew up in Lafayette. As you are turning away work, it is time you start choosing your work are wisely if you aren`t ready to bring on help. Being busy is a great problem to have.

**Onthegeauxauto** · 12-04-2016, 07:31 PM

Great points. My concern with bringing on help is that if they are just helping me on the job site, I don't know that it would speed things up a lot. If I was to have someone wash on their own, I would be worried about the quality. In a perfect world, hiring help would be my solution. I used to own a lawn company. I built it to over 60 accounts in one year. My second year I hired help and I was getting complaints every couple weeks. I went through several guys, no shows, late and just plain lazy. It's hard to have someone work for you and expect them to take the same amount of pride in the work as you do. Is there some sort of directory or network strictly for guys getting into detailing looking for a job? I thought about trying to hire someone that worked for a dealership but ultimately I'm gonna have to teach them everything over I guess. Im just torn in what direction to go.
How do y'all handle rescheduled appointments due to weather? In south Louisiana it can be raining one day, sunny the next when you wake up and snowing by lunch lol. This week has been the worst so far because I've had to reschedule 9 or 10 appointments due to weather. It seems unfair to make someone wait longer for something they can't control but I also wouldn't want to make someone else move their appointment to catch up.
Any advise there?
Dealerships, how do I go about that? I've read a ton about how they don't want to pay a lot. The two that want me to work on their vehicles have already sat down with me and agreed on prices. I'm looking at about half what I make for a normal detail. Good thing is, it's always there. Rain or shine. So the issue there is doing enough work for them to keep them happy when it's good weather so I can get in there and work my butt off when it's raining. Do y'all deal with dealerships at all?

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**GSKR** · 12-04-2016, 09:14 PM

Nobody will take as much pride as you do as a business owner.you will have to hunt for that one person that you can count on.2 people on one car cuts time in half or even shorter.As far as dealer work I would stray from it.If your making 5k a month you don't need that headache for less money per car.As far as weather if people can't wait then don't worry about it.In this business it's a loyal clientele you only need a handful to be successful.I would just work by yourself with no headaches and do what you can do without killing yourself.