certifications-insurance

M

Missdetail

New member
For the professional detailers: do any of you have insurance or are you "certified" detailers? I am curious about how much insurance may cost and also if anyone here thinks being "certified" would help get more business...thanks for the response!:hotrod::hotrod:
 
The insurance part depends on how you are going to be operating. The cost of it isn't impacted by whether or not this institute or that organization says you know how to detail. The cost is based on the risk. If you are operating out of your house then it may be possible to include it in your homeowner's policy. If you are mobile you may want to get a seperate policy. The same holds true for a brick building business. The best suggestion I could make for you is to call whichever company you currently have insurance through and see what they suggest. You can also check online and get some quotes from different companies. Insurance rates are going to vary by state and by business structure, so it is hard to get an idea of what it will cost you without more details about your plan.

My thoughts on certification is that it is nice to have if you don't want to take all the time it costs to figure things out the hard way, but it isn't necessary for obtaining jobs. I haven't had one single customer who would know the value of any type of certification that I might have. They judge me by my work and not on how I learned to provide the results. It may be that in order to work for certian dealerships or shops that they will require you to have a certification of some sort, but it isn't required to do business on your own. I'm sure it might lend some credibility to your business, but if you are carrying insurance, are registered with the state and carry an active business license for your trade, then additional certifications just help show people that you are serious about the industry.
 
This may be a silly question guy's, but how do you obtain a detail certification?? :dunno: I've never even thought about this until reading this post.

As Jngrbrdman put it:
I haven't had one single customer who would know the value of any type of certification that I might have. They judge me by my work and not on how I learned to provide the results.
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Thanks for the input guys! You can actually get certified as a detailer, there is a school in Texas somewhere. I have experience, just curious if advertised as "certified" would bring more business. I think around my neck of the woods, there is only one guy that has insurance.(i used to work for him). I think having insurance is a great thing.
I have a lil idea floating around in my head though that I think would help draw business. Have a great week everyone!! :thanks
 
I know that you can obtain certification from an I CAR class. All of I CAR classes are more geared toward the body shop environment but this one and maybe another on automotive refinishing might help out. The only bad part about these classes is that some of them, due to the people attending, can really turn into pissing matches. You can also go to the automotive paints stores and check if and when manufacturers are giving demos on their products.
 
In other words think before you spray (paint that is). So being licensed in any given particular area, some more challenging than others, will be beneficial any way you look at it. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Thank you for this post. This is proving to be a challenging task yet I am optimistic of the reality and possiblilty of owning a successful small business.
 
Jngrbrdman said:
The insurance part depends on how you are going to be operating. The cost of it isn't impacted by whether or not this institute or that organization says you know how to detail. The cost is based on the risk. If you are operating out of your house then it may be possible to include it in your homeowner's policy. If you are mobile you may want to get a seperate policy. The same holds true for a brick building business. The best suggestion I could make for you is to call whichever company you currently have insurance through and see what they suggest. You can also check online and get some quotes from different companies. Insurance rates are going to vary by state and by business structure, so it is hard to get an idea of what it will cost you without more details about your plan.

My thoughts on certification is that it is nice to have if you don't want to take all the time it costs to figure things out the hard way, but it isn't necessary for obtaining jobs. I haven't had one single customer who would know the value of any type of certification that I might have. They judge me by my work and not on how I learned to provide the results. It may be that in order to work for certian dealerships or shops that they will require you to have a certification of some sort, but it isn't required to do business on your own. I'm sure it might lend some credibility to your business, but if you are carrying insurance, are registered with the state and carry an active business license for your trade, then additional certifications just help show people that you are serious about the industry.
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Jngrbrdman hit the nail on the head. Make a name for yourself in your area, show a few people what you can do, and business will come. It wont matter to clients weather or not your certified. It depends on if you want the title "certified detailer". As for insurance, count this as a priority and must have for your business...trust me. Im paying for $5000 worth of equipment that i dont even have because it was stolen and I didnt have a drop of insurance. You also dont want an accident to happen to a customers car and them find out you arent covered either :mad:
 
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