Starting business questions

[Ryanm]

I've always had a passion for cars and I love the finished result of a job well done. I do cars for friends and family so decided I'd pick this up as a weekend gig for fun and some extra money. It's nice when hard work doesn't feel like work when your enjoying it!

How do you know your ready to charge someone or that your work is good enough? I've never had any complaints but I've also only done work for friends and family. I can post some pictures of recent stuff. I'm trying to get better about taking before and after shots.


Second is insurance. I need to look into this topic more but I was just curious how someone the part time people covered themselves?

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[LSNAutoDetailing]

Good questions. That gray fuzzy area... start a business or not?? If your day job is consuming with time, travel and stress, you may want to consider starting small with the expectation of enjoyment only. This does a few things for you.

1.) Allows you to set your own hours (on weekends) - perhaps there is a weekend where you and the fam want to take a trip, or work calls and has to send you somewhere, then don't book a car. No stress there...

2.) Get a good tax/financial person. They will help structure your business to get the maximum deductions and will guide you through the process to get a EIN, register with state, and setup your business bank accounts. You'd be surprised at how much you can deduct.

3.) Find a good insurance broker. I have garage keepers with a per-incident coverage amount and liability. Folks not in the insurance business will tell you that a policy will cover this or wont cover that, but a good broker can find "riders" that cover just about anything (for a price) and add it to the policy.

As far as work being good enough? That's between you and your customers. Best thing to do is watch all the Mike Phillips videos, read articles here and see if your work-flow and work-ethic would stand up to the task if Mike was giving you a Skills Evaluation.

Lastly, join the IDA and try to get certified. This will put you through the tests and skills evaluation process and clear up any of those worries about being good enough, and it will give you a set of standards to follow and practice so you know when you are about to do something not right. It instills trust in you and your customers.

Being a part-timer doesn't mean your not a professional. It just gives you more options to chose what kind of clients and vehicles you want to take and how you want to specialize.

Wish you all the luck and success...

[Ryanm]

I don't know how many hours of Mike's and others tutorials and guides/advice I've watched on YouTube. I'm sure my wife thinks I'm nuts. I would love to take one of his classes if I wasn't so far away.

I'm working on improving work flow now. My last full detail was over 5 hours. I'm trying to be more efficient and maintain the type of results I would personally want for my car.



1. The selective and flexible schedule are two of the main reasons I'm looking to do this part time.

2. My wife has a part time business doing makeup for weddings/events and an accountant she uses. I will hit him up he handles all our taxes and I will follow her formula for keeping track of deductions. I've got a basic understanding of write offs etc so hopefully that will help.

4. I will give our agent a call who insures our house and cars. I've done some researching on garage keepers and that sounds like a for sure must to cover myself and customers.

Need to look into the IDA. Not heard of it or it's benefits or cost. Thks for the tip. I work in the medical field and it's certification galore for working in a OR.

Thanks!



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[Mike Phillips]

How do you know your ready to charge someone or that your work is good enough?

The next time you detail someone's car.


Reply to this thread and get a copy of my VIF form. Customize it to make it yours. Fill out the "Packages" section.

Mike Phillips VIF or Vehicle Inspection Form


Next time someone wants their car detailed walk them through the form by inspecting their car and then showing them your packages. Let them decide which package fits their budget and how they want their car to look and then close the deal.