Been giving some thought to ONLY offering coatings. Input appreciated.

R

Richard Grasa

New member
Automania's post about where the money really is has got me thinking about becoming a specialist in this area and offering only coatings like OC.



I would like some input into how you feel about this. I may start putting together a business plan to seek out funding to open a shop offering this service to the public and fleets, etc but especially the fleet type accounts and company cars.



How do you feel about hiring a salesperson to sell the jobs to fleet owners and businesses that give their employees a company car. It can be marketed as them being able to save money down the road on vehicle maintenance. Also, for the interior, CarPro's fabric and leather coating may be very marketable in this respect as well.



One issue that I would be worried about would be the limited amount of jobs you'd be able to sell in a given area as this is a long term product. But fleet and company vehicles are added all the time. Do you think it may be enough to sustain a business like this in the long term?



I'm not getting any younger and while I enjoy detailing and find it very rewarding, this may be the way to go down the road as these coatings gain more and more popularity. David's comment in that thread also got me thinking that I may not be able to sustain busting my butt as a detailer for alot of years down the road. I definitely feel the effects as I get older, it's not as easy as it used to be and now is the time to start thinking about what I will do when I can't handle it anymore. I'm really not interested in only running the business and having others do all the work as I'm a very hands on type person, so I don't feel that high volume detailing would be the way to go for me.



Any and all input would be great.
 
Why not do that and offer wash and waxes? Eric with envious offers an express service that is volume oriented as well as his high line service and Barry with presidential offers volume as well as a "signature" service. Optimum has offered some great products for detailers and owners. But I would not put all my eggs in the same basket. There is something to be said for being diverse. For me, offering so many options for clients means I stay busy.
 
It's great if you can market to new cars only and get a couple of cars a day, but coatings customers often don't come back for a long time. I agree with JC, it's good to get a maintenance package going also, because these cars still need to be washed.
 
While I think there is some money in specialization, there is much more money in volume and having grunts do the work for you.
 
I like the idea of doing washes as well. I could get a couple a person or two doing two bucket washes or ONR for the really clean cars. I like it and I think I'm going to really start looking into this. I could always add some small services like Aquapel and things like that as well that wouldn't require very strict quality control like full detailing.



For existing fleets, I wouldn't think they would be expecting 100% correction before applying the coating. Maybe one pass with compound if needed and polish it up to make it look good and coat, as long as there's no really nasty stuff going on.



I'm not necessarily looking for the absolute most amount of money to be made, but something where good money can be made and not have to manage an large crew to do lots of volume. I know sometimes you need to step away from the hands on and run the business and I may be willing to do that if I could have enough time to split it up some and still get out there in the shop.
 
JohnKleven said:
It's great if you can market to new cars only and get a couple of cars a day, but coatings customers often don't come back for a long time.
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That would be my initial response, too. Think about it: you may never see them again in your shop, literally :(



How much of a premium do you charge over doing a traditional sealant, Rich? (I think you've got to be cautious about pricing too high and chasing biz away.)



How many folks in the general public know about "coatings"? Should you offer it? Absolutely. Is there enough awareness to make it an exclusive at your store?
 
tom p. said:
That would be my initial response, too. Think about it: you may never see them again in your shop, literally :(



How much of a premium do you charge over doing a traditional sealant, Rich? (I think you've got to be cautious about pricing too high and chasing biz away.)



How many folks in the general public know about "coatings"? Should you offer it? Absolutely. Is there enough awareness to make it an exclusive at your store?
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I charge $250 and up for the coating, depending on size of vehicle and $50/hr for the prep work. I'm looking at it like something along the lines of a Line-X install shop. They don't expect a customer to return for more service on the Line-X, but they are very successful because it's a great product that lasts forever. But I could still get people back in with offering washes. OC is really starting to gain in popularity around here, so I can see this potentially working. Keep the input coming!
 
tom p. said:
How many folks in the general public know about "coatings"? Should you offer it? Absolutely. Is there enough awareness to make it an exclusive at your store?
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That's the problem, lots of people know about "coatings" it has been pounded in their heads by Consumer Reports and other sources to avoid them. Even my car guy friends roll their eyes then I tell them about Opticoat.
 
Dan said:
That's the problem, lots of people know about "coatings" it has been pounded in their heads by Consumer Reports and other sources to avoid them. Even my car guy friends roll their eyes then I tell them about Opticoat.
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This is where a good salesperson would come in. They can call on the fleets and the company cars and spread the work to the public. Sure, it will take some time to spread the word, but being a top quality product it may be doable once word of mouth gets out. Demonstrations at shows, flea markets, etc could help. This definitely won't be an overnight thing, and I don't plan to stop detailing anytime soon, but looking down the road, this could be something.
 
I'm looking at opening another shop next year in my town, which is very affluent. The area my last shop was in sucked, should have done more homework because it changed alot and went downhill since I used to frequent the area. This may be something I can break off into a separate business in the same building and if it takes off I can close or sell the detailing business and concentrate on this.
 
After being in the high volume dealer detail business for 10 years I sold the business to open a protection services company. Had a business plan written and many of the 15 new car dealers I did business with were very interested in what I was planning on offering. Sold the shop, took the summer off and found a position with an insurance company where In still work today. Looking back, I still not onyl regret not moving forward with the new business, but also selling my detail business. Michigan began to collapse economically, I moved down to Florida where I spent nearly 7 years wasting time toward my career passion. 4 of which waiting for a transfer back home to Michigan. I'm finally back here and working on a new plan to take on investor(s) to open another high(er) volume shop and go full bore back into the protection segment. I think with the right product, this is a great market to reinvent so to speak. Much easier to train someone to apply protection to cars then it is recondition them. Alot more money per car along with much less touch time to complete them. I think there's alot of money on the table with these new coating products. It's just a matter for someone to think big and implement a solid stratedy for marketing it.
 
Develop good customer relationships, provide impeccable service, stress the importance of pro-active maintenance on the vehicles you work on, educate your customers and they will return for maintenance service and detailing even if you apply long term coatings. When a vehicle looks good consumers want to continue keep it looking that way.
 
As far as coating go they seem to be pretty good but.....If they are the real deal why are auto manufactures not applying them? Think about it if there are magic coating and they only cost $50 why not put them on and boast about how the new ford models never need to be waxed.
 
My partner and I have a priority...Turn about every 3rd new detail customer into a 2x per month maintenance customer. These customers pay $150 per month for 2 visits. It is the easiest work, requires the least amount in product and labor, and they are the best customers! Our goal in 2013 is to grow exponentially this way. At some point, it IS possible to have 50+ cars per month on this system. The "others"-- clear bra, DrivePur, etc. are profit over the monthlies. We are driven and making big plans.



I think the future of 5 hr. details for me is closing rapidly and I'm not sorry about that! :)



Rob
 
Dan said:
That's the problem, lots of people know about "coatings" it has been pounded in their heads by Consumer Reports and other sources to avoid them. Even my car guy friends roll their eyes then I tell them about Opticoat.
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That's whats good about car forums. Now that Opti-Coat is gaining in popularity and car guys are raving on line about how good it is I can see the market expanding pretty quickly. Look at all the FRS/BRZ Opti-Coat jobs we all got from their forum.
 
rustytruck said:
As far as coating go they seem to be pretty good but.....If they are the real deal why are auto manufactures not applying them? Think about it if there are magic coating and they only cost $50 why not put them on and boast about how the new ford models never need to be waxed.
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Why? They can't use a dirty wool pad and a rotary to apply them, that's why! :lol
 
I wouldn't want to paint myself in a corner and just sell one type of service. Up sales is key. Maybe one kind of coating would be a better corner to stay in as far as being consistent in application. I thought I remember the "Self healing" coating awhile back?? That went over like a lead brick! Manufactures(american) should focus on building better quality car than extra after services.
 
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