Starting Up Part Time Detailing

[tw33k2514]

Depending on where you live you will want to file a dba with your local county clerks office.

Every state/county is different.



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[Calendyr]

If you want to do basic services, you will need to manage time and cost otherwise you won't make any money.

It's hard to make money doing basic washes because of the commute time. Let's say the client lives 20 minutes away from you.

You need to get everything ready in your truck/car. Say 10 minutes.
Drive there 20 minutes. Meet the client and setup at least 15 minutes. Do the work say 1 hour if you are really fast and good but more likelly 90 minutes on average. Put everything away in your truck and get paid an other 15 minutes then drive home 20 more minutes... total: 170 minutes on average so let's round that up to 3 hours.

Let's say you charge 40$, you have to pay for gas and products. You will use around 5$ Worth of products and a few bucks in gas... let's say 5$ more. So you have 30$ in your Pocket for 3 hours of work... 10$/hour. Not exactly a decent pay.

One of the things you can do if basic washes are really your goal is to do it for companies. Have minimum number of vehicles to do at the same time. Usually 3 is a good start point. This will drastically increase profit.

Otherwise, try to offer more expensive packages that include more work. Doing both interior and exterior would be a good starting point. For me, 100$ is the minimum I would do. Less than that is just not Worth my time.

Get Renny Doyle's book: How to start a home-based car detailling business. You will learn a lot of the things you NEED to know in there.

Then if you are still interested in Starting your business, get Mike Philipp's books about proper techniques.

There is also tons of videos on Youtube about every aspect of detailling.

Last, try to get products that will save you time. For exemple, using a no-rinse wash will cut down the time it takes you to wash a car. If you get one with wax that's an other time saver. You will need to optimize in order to make it Worth it.

[rustytruck]

Why not call around and see if an established detailer in your area will hire you for the summer?

[brondondolon]

Since you are in Jr high its very unlikely you have a car of your own that you have practiced on . It is likely that you have practiced on your parents cars though so i wont take that away from you. The idea of a person in Jr high using a polisher, even one as forgiving as a GG, on a car for pay is some what unsettling. Not saying that you are a bone head and will burn though the paint or sling wax every where as i dont know your skill set. What I am getting at is a lot of people are gonna see you as a kid with a grinder to their paint in my opinion. Plus the cost of a polisher and pads youre upwards of $300 so you gotta figure how long it will take before you see a return on your investment. So here is my advice since i have brothers around your age.

No need for a business license as you arent really going to be a business. Id throw up an add on craiglist saying $50 wash and wax most vehicles. Then id print out some flyers and put them up on the cork board at community centers, grocery stores, and even pass some out to your teachers. But then again how do you plan on getting around and transporting all your equipment? So heres another idea. Print out a bunch of flyers and knock on your neighbors doors and tell them who you are and what you are doing. I think thats your best approach.

Now in your position as far as products go I would go fairly cheap on this. Meguiars makes some very easy to use stuff. When i say easy i mean if it gets on trim it wont leave a chalky residue. Id pick up a fairly nice wash mit, 5 gallon bucket, stoners glass cleaner, a decent shampoo, micro fiber towels, wax applicators, LA totally awsome, megs nxt gen wax, and a run of the mill tire dressing. All that together will be around $70 to give you an idea.

Its totally fine to use a customers water and power. Just make sure to give them advanced notice. All you have to say is "is there water and power on site" or something similar. Some of us who have been doing it for a while and who are a legitimate business still use customers water and power and have never had an issue.

I hope this helps