Typical Timeframe Until Profitability Occurs After Startup

[Silverhorse84]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks in advance for all of the great advice and resources for information regard the business of professional detailing. It has been a great help for me in many regards. The advice on the forum has helped me to gain some serious perspective on what it takes and what issues can occur in the business of being a provider of professional car wash and detailing services.

Formalities aside, I am nearing the latter stages of my business plan in which I will now need to start making some projections on the profitability of the business over the course of a 3-year timeframe on a month-to-month basis. I've developed some pretty solid marketing strategies based on information that I've learned from formal training as well as stuff that I've picked up from various resources, including here, but this is now the section of the plan that seems be the most daunting task of all.

So, here are my questions for the professional wash & detail business owners (mobile & shop-based):

1. How did you go about making forecasts on sales for your services? What was the basis for those projections?
2. How long did it take you to start seeing profits?
3. If you were immediately successful within 1-3 months of opening for business, what led to your success?
4. Lastly, once projections were made, did you hit your goals or did you find that you were missing the mark month over month?

Sorry for the long initial post, but I am see that planning is critical in business. Without a plan, business is destined for failure. And, while a plan does not guarantee success, it certainly can stack the odds in your favor. I forget where I heard this, but I believe it to be true: "Plan to work, work the plan."

I've got a lot vested in this business so far and any insight or recommendations on how to figure this next stage of the plan out would be really helpful.





Thanks,

-Silverhorse84

[L67James]

Welcome to the business!

I'm now in my 6th month of business, and it's been an interesting journey so far.

1. How did you go about making forecasts on sales for your services? What was the basis for those projections?
I made a forecast based on competition analysis that I mostly did through facebook. Most of the "pro" detailers in my area post photos of all of their work on their FB site. Through studying this I found that they were completing roughly 3-5 jobs a week, depending on whether they were low-end or high-end based. From this I decided that I would aim for 1 car a month for my first 6 months, as I built up my client base. This low target was mostly because I am still a university student, so 4 days of the week I spend studying, only leaving me 3 a week to detail/work.

2. How long did it take you to start seeing profits?
Almost instantly, because I already owned most of the products/tools required and kept my overheads absurdly low. I did this through using any free advertising I could find (FB, Yelp!, Google+ etc.), utilizing any tools/equipment I had already (using my own car rather than a van etc.), using multi-purpose products (Meg's APC, All-in-one polishes etc.) and such. I began by doing friends and families cars at a very discounted rate, so my profits weren't high ($270AUD in my first month) but I was "busy" (I managed a car a week).I hit real "profit" in my 3rd month ($690AUD), where I managed a car a week again, but at full fare. I now average ~$500AUDp/week.

3. If you were immediately successful within 1-3 months of opening for business, what led to your success?
Making a portfolio of photos for your FB/website from friends and families cars. People will have more trust in you when they can see your work for themselves. Also, don't be afraid to charge more than the low-end guys out there. People will respect a higher price and see it as justified as the job will be better also. Also, market like crazy, especially on free platforms. I'm yet to pay for advertising (minus business cards and a window sticker for my car, total cost $38AUD).

4. Lastly, once projections were made, did you hit your goals or did you find that you were missing the mark month over month?
If I go off my one car a month goal, I have smashed it. I'm currently on 21 cars in less than 6 months. Considering I do this purely part-time, I see this as fantastic.

All the best for your journey!

-James

[Silverhorse84]

Welcome to the business!

I'm now in my 6th month of business, and it's been an interesting journey so far.

1. How did you go about making forecasts on sales for your services? What was the basis for those projections?
I made a forecast based on competition analysis that I mostly did through facebook. Most of the "pro" detailers in my area post photos of all of their work on their FB site. Through studying this I found that they were completing roughly 3-5 jobs a week, depending on whether they were low-end or high-end based. From this I decided that I would aim for 1 car a month for my first 6 months, as I built up my client base. This low target was mostly because I am still a university student, so 4 days of the week I spend studying, only leaving me 3 a week to detail/work.

2. How long did it take you to start seeing profits?
Almost instantly, because I already owned most of the products/tools required and kept my overheads absurdly low. I did this through using any free advertising I could find (FB, Yelp!, Google+ etc.), utilizing any tools/equipment I had already (using my own car rather than a van etc.), using multi-purpose products (Meg's APC, All-in-one polishes etc.) and such. I began by doing friends and families cars at a very discounted rate, so my profits weren't high ($270AUD in my first month) but I was "busy" (I managed a car a week).I hit real "profit" in my 3rd month ($690AUD), where I managed a car a week again, but at full fare. I now average ~$500AUDp/week.

3. If you were immediately successful within 1-3 months of opening for business, what led to your success?
Making a portfolio of photos for your FB/website from friends and families cars. People will have more trust in you when they can see your work for themselves. Also, don't be afraid to charge more than the low-end guys out there. People will respect a higher price and see it as justified as the job will be better also. Also, market like crazy, especially on free platforms. I'm yet to pay for advertising (minus business cards and a window sticker for my car, total cost $38AUD).

4. Lastly, once projections were made, did you hit your goals or did you find that you were missing the mark month over month?
If I go off my one car a month goal, I have smashed it. I'm currently on 21 cars in less than 6 months. Considering I do this purely part-time, I see this as fantastic.

All the best for your journey!

-James

Thanks, James. That's great information. I was kind of thinking along the same lines as you, but wasn't totally sure as it seemed like I just guessing. Did you make any adjustments to your forecasting based on the season of the year or expected whether patterns?

[L67James]

Thanks, James. That's great information. I was kind of thinking along the same lines as you, but wasn't totally sure as it seemed like I just guessing. Did you make any adjustments to your forecasting based on the season of the year or expected whether patterns?

Definitely. I started at the end of summer here in Aus, so I was hopeful that I would be busy enough during the next few months to build up a client base. During winter I slowed to a car a fortnight, but this was mostly due to me not advertising as much because I was busy with uni work.

With spring now here I aim to market a bit harder through FB and hopefully attract more work as it's obviously one of the best times to be in the detailing industry. New goal is 5 cars a month.

-James

[Silverhorse84]

Definitely. I started at the end of summer here in Aus, so I was hopeful that I would be busy enough during the next few months to build up a client base. During winter I slowed to a car a fortnight, but this was mostly due to me not advertising as much because I was busy with uni work.

With spring now here I aim to market a bit harder through FB and hopefully attract more work as it's obviously one of the best times to be in the detailing industry. New goal is 5 cars a month.

-James

Are you offering just full details only, or are you doing details and car washes as well?

[L67James]

Are you offering just full details only, or are you doing details and car washes as well?

Whatever the customer wants usually. Mostly at the moment I'm doing cut and polish jobs and full details, I haven't had a basic wash and wax for a while now.

The cut and polish jobs are the best profit margin for me so that's why I keep pushing them. Also easy to upsell to a premium sealant or even a coating to make a few extra bucks for the same amount of time

-James

[jarred767]

Get silverhorse, congrats on getting stuff set up before hand and having a plan in place, it sounds like you are quite organized.

When I started almost 9 years ago, there was no intention for it to take off the way it did, so there was also no plan in place. I just kinda learned on the run, then went to school online for some business stuff and while it wasn't an overnight success, over time it definitely grew and now I can barely keep up, especially in the summer months.

I was able to turn profits fairly quickly, but for the first 3 months or so, I put every penny back into to business to improve products and tools and advertise a little more (I've since learned that word of mouth and onlin free advertising is much more effective). Putting all the money back into it was only possible because I had another full-time job at the time, but it definitely helped jump-start things.

Once you get it going, and if you do good work, it shouldn't be too hard to keep the ball rolling. Good luck with the biz!

[thebamboo23]

you can be profitable from your very first detail

buy a hand brush for carpets/seats/etc, small brush for vents/nooks, cheap microfiber towels, and a 32 oz bottle, and a gallon of apc, a cheap vacuum, and glass cleaner

you can get all that under ~$100

Charge $150 per interior.. you can probably do ~13 interiors with one gallon of apc

[Silverhorse84]

Get silverhorse, congrats on getting stuff set up before hand and having a plan in place, it sounds like you are quite organized.

When I started almost 9 years ago, there was no intention for it to take off the way it did, so there was also no plan in place. I just kinda learned on the run, then went to school online for some business stuff and while it wasn't an overnight success, over time it definitely grew and now I can barely keep up, especially in the summer months.

I was able to turn profits fairly quickly, but for the first 3 months or so, I put every penny back into to business to improve products and tools and advertise a little more (I've since learned that word of mouth and onlin free advertising is much more effective). Putting all the money back into it was only possible because I had another full-time job at the time, but it definitely helped jump-start things.

Once you get it going, and if you do good work, it shouldn't be too hard to keep the ball rolling. Good luck with the biz!

Thanks for the insights. Your story is one that I hope to achieve some day soon. My goal is to start the business debt free, market it heavily, do a good job every time that I perform a service. My ultimate goal is to be able to crack a six-figure salary with the help of a helper or two once demand picks up, build my brand, and incorporate this business into a larger vision opening other car wash and detail-oriented businesses. It seems that having a full-time job and launching a mobile detail operation is nearly impossible. How did you balance the two situations?

Did you run into any struggles with meeting customer demand during the time that you were launching your business? I currently have a day job and my current schedule during the day seems like it would be a major stumbling block. Any advice you or experiences you can share would be helpful.

Thanks,

-Silverhorse84