dealer one steppers.

David Fermani said:
We use to and still do complete dealership bumper to bumper details which includes 2 buffing steps for $70-$90 per car. Wetsanding, overspray, tree sap, heavy tar and scratches were a little more. Focus on cutting corners and costs with efficient processes and cost effective products.
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This is the best advice. Remember, most care about how the surface "feels". Most assume if it feels waxed then it is.

This is why I like to use Megs Last Touch to remove my one stepper. I also don't go in polishing mode and spend to much time trying to remove defects that aren't being paid for. It should only take you the same amount of time to do a one stepper as waxing.



TIME IS MONEY. Extra labor is priceless. If you can get a guy at 12.00 per hour to produce 50.00 then you're in!
 
Justin Murphy said:
This is the best advice. Remember, most care about how the surface "feels". Most assume if it feels waxed then it is.

This is why I like to use Megs Last Touch to remove my one stepper. I also don't go in polishing mode and spend to much time trying to remove defects that aren't being paid for. It should only take you the same amount of time to do a one stepper as waxing.



TIME IS MONEY. Extra labor is priceless. If you can get a guy at 12.00 per hour to produce 50.00 then you're in!
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Justin, how would you break down the process you mentioned so it's profitable at the low cost? How long will each step take and what are the steps?
 
LUSTR said:
I'd really like to know the process as well. $90 for that many hours seems like a huge waste unless it's done by low-pay employees doing sub-par work. Would love to know otherwise.
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LUSTR said:
Justin, how would you break down the process you mentioned so it's profitable at the low cost? How long will each step take and what are the steps?
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Getting dealer cars out the door for resale and pacifying high-end clients by chasing after every swirl is 2 totally different industry focuses. Don't knock it until you've done it. Much less glamour, but way more earning potential. The paint correction is certainly not "sub-par", but by no means AutoWeek worthy. I'd bet the quality produced on the engines, interiors and doors jambs are as good or better though. Like Justin mentioned, dealers as well as the general public only care about clean, shiny paint. They could care less about being able to stare at it from 10 different angles without seeing a single imprefection.



We had 6 Detailers and 2 additional people that would prep, do final QC and make deliveries (plus myself). Dark colored vehicles were mostly 2-stepped with wool>foam. All the others received a 1 step or a hand glaze. Because the preppers got the cars ready, all that the detailers basically needed to do was quickly buff the paint, do the interior, windows, jambs, dress the tires and pull them outside for final finishing. Cars usually spent anywhere between 2-4 hours in the detailer's bay and sometimes alot less. Each detailer completed at least 3 vehicles per day and usually more. They were paid by commission for each vehicle they completed. Not uncommon for a person to do 20-25 vehicles (complete details/interiors/retail) per week earing them $1200 so I wouldn't consider it low-pay either.



As far as the products used, cutting power of many polishes can be altered by the pad you choose. There are some though that work well with wool and some with foam. Being able to immediately have a game plan for workflow on each job is key to not only producing quality, but speed. Another thing people don't consider when doing dealer work is saving time doing unnecessary steps to vehicles that don't require it. For example dressing interiors, waxing/sealing paint and taping off every piece of trim. That coupled with utilizing effecient processes will allow you to focus on volume.
 
You're so right Dave.

When I comes to really making money in detailing, you have to leave the hobby side behind. It's now about the products but the PROCESS. There is no need for a 50.00 wax or worrying about how long the sealant will last. You have to listen to your dealer aka client and just do what he WANTS...not what you want to do or what you think detailing is.



Just find some products that you can get at a volume discount. Build an assembly line process and do it over and over recording and finding ways to save time. Why do you think Ford changed everything with his assembly line?
 
One other thing.....

I would rather have 5 customers that spend 75.00 a piece with me than one that spends 500.00. The five will tell five...that five will tell five and so forth. The one high end customer will usually tell no one since he wants to have the best looking car all to himself!



Volume alone can pay for your advertising budget.
 
LUSTR said:
Justin, how would you break down the process you mentioned so it's profitable at the low cost? How long will each step take and what are the steps?
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Ok...

Say you have one guy hitting the paint while another is doing the interior. Just say you have 30.00 per hour in labor and materials. Should take 2 hours to take care of a 150.00 detail. That's 120.00 profit. If the volume is there, two more guys handling another car would boost you to 240.00.....in 2 hours! Just get 6 per day and you can see why some of us love volume. Heck, you yourself could be over in the corner doing a high end detail and loving life.......and getting paid.
 
Just a few thoughts. Regardless of how you position your product, you must have an effective marketing strategy working for you. Without it, you will not get the customers, their repeat business, and their recommendations of your business. As for calculating costs; lets not forget marketing, insurance, labor costs (w/c & payroll taxes) either. This would be more of a factor when doing volume work for a dealership. More insurance coverage would be needed and obviously much more labor costs/taxes involved. This would take away from the already low margins of doing this type of work. Obviously if you reach a certain scale with your operation, it may be well worth it.
 
dealer work NEEDS volume!!! even if its two a day working by yourself at 125 a piece, you are still making better money that most people. If you can live off 4k a month, you are set...that is if the dealer can give you 2 cars a day day in and day out. if your lifestyle needs a 4K budget just to live, I would find a couple of people to work for you doing all the dealer cars while you do the higher end cars...thats the angle I am going to start doing next year
 
David, I was never knocking it... I might actually be going after some of this work if an opportunity that came up pans out. I just never did a "dealer" job so I'm wondering how exactly it compares to the work I do currently. I can see myself finishing up a basic one-step within 2-3 hours fairly easily by lowering the attention to detail, polishing time, etc. I'm just curious how those of you that have tons of experience with the dealer work divide up the time... how long for the wash, clay, do you even clay, etc.
 
toyotaguy said:
dealer work NEEDS volume!!! even if its two a day working by yourself at 125 a piece, you are still making better money that most people. If you can live off 4k a month, you are set...that is if the dealer can give you 2 cars a day day in and day out. if your lifestyle needs a 4K budget just to live, I would find a couple of people to work for you doing all the dealer cars while you do the higher end cars...thats the angle I am going to start doing next year
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This is one reason I moved to offer pressure washing services. I've even pressure washed a few dealership storefronts and cleaned their windows! Most of us mobile guys are setup to offer power washing but just don't pursue it. It's added a ton to this years bottom line.
 
Justin Murphy said:
One other thing.....

I would rather have 5 customers that spend 75.00 a piece with me than one that spends 500.00. The five will tell five...that five will tell five and so forth. The one high end customer will usually tell no one since he wants to have the best looking car all to himself!



Volume alone can pay for your advertising budget.
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Exactly Justin. Great way of thinking about it. That’s how businesses grow exponentially and how 1 man show detailers are pigeon held into a low ceiling of income, profit & growth.



brwill2005 said:
Just a few thoughts. Regardless of how you position your product, you must have an effective marketing strategy working for you. Without it, you will not get the customers, their repeat business, and their recommendations of your business. As for calculating costs; lets not forget marketing, insurance, labor costs (w/c & payroll taxes) either. This would be more of a factor when doing volume work for a dealership. More insurance coverage would be needed and obviously much more labor costs/taxes involved. This would take away from the already low margins of doing this type of work. Obviously if you reach a certain scale with your operation, it may be well worth it.
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I wouldn’t call it a “marketing strategy” more than a business plan for growth while using basic client-centric business common sense. Marketing mostly centers around advertising and this isn’t needed one bit with dealership detailing. Even though I did a good amount of retail work, I did 2 advertising campaigns in 10+ years and each time it didn’t really pan out.



As far as expenses with high volume work; the economies of scale are dramatically less with this business model if done correctly. The expenses such as rent, insurance and utilities are not that different from a business producing $150,000 and one doing $500,000. Product expense per vehicle should actually be less as the products are purchased in bulk and you are able to demand a greater discount from the supplier in many cases. And with my business, the workers were classified as sub-contactors and were paid a percentage of the detail. They earned the same % on a $20 wash as they did on a $250 detail. Whether you detail 1 or 1000 cars for a dealer, Insurance coverage is pretty standard. When doing work for dealers as they usually require you to have a $1,000,000 liability limit. So, bottom line, the profit margins are much greater as your sales go up and your expenses are reduced. Say your break-even point is $12,000 per month. Your profit margin would be a lot more when you hit the $30,000 mark than it would be at $15,000 or even $20,000 mark.





LUSTR said:
David, I was never knocking it... I might actually be going after some of this work if an opportunity that came up pans out. I just never did a "dealer" job so I'm wondering how exactly it compares to the work I do currently. I can see myself finishing up a basic one-step within 2-3 hours fairly easily by lowering the attention to detail, polishing time, etc. I'm just curious how those of you that have tons of experience with the dealer work divide up the time... how long for the wash, clay, do you even clay, etc.
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No worries Ivan. Doing high volume work requires a totally different mindset in respect to the final outcome requirement on each job. You really need to have the ability to “see through” each project at inception. Establish a game plan and constantly keep your mind turning as you are always focused on getting the car done in the least amount of time. I could ask my detailers at any step in the detail what they had left to do to finish and they could quickly name them and give me a completition time. You also need to be able to do each task right the 1st time as redoing it a second time wastes time and ultimately profit.



Time frames depend on how your shop is set up. The most important step is the prep because if a vehicle isn’t properly prepped, it can waste valuable time trying to correct mistakes throughout the detailing phase. A full prep should ultimately take no more than 20-30 minutes to do. That includes washing the exterior, acid washing the wheels, degreasing the engine, wheel wells and door jambs, powerwashing the floormats and claying/4000 sanding the paint. Because the vehicle is being polished, you don’t need to dry it. It will totally dry while you do the Interior (30-40 minutes). Dress tires and wheel wells and do the Exterior (1-1.5 hours). Pull it outside and spend about 20-30 minutes doing your final wipedown, windows and door jambs. Done!
 
sacdetailing said:
Guys, you are totally right, Ive been noticing lately that i need to cut down on my use of products, buy everything in bulk.
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I have sold all the waxes and polishes I had sitting around. Yeah it was fun collecting and testing and blah blah blah. It wasn't making me money! I saved up enough to buy 5 gallons of tire dressing (Stoner's Trim Shine is the best I've used), window cleaner concentrate, car wash, and a gallon of D151. I also got 5 gallons of Wheel Brightener and ZEPS Industrial Purple Degreaser and 1 gallon of APC+. Bam.....350.00 bucks and I'm set to MAKE MONEY for a long time.



You simply have to ask yourself two things....

Is the a hobby or business?

Where do I want to be in a month/year/5 years?
 
David Fermani said:
No worries Ivan. Doing high volume work requires a totally different mindset in respect to the final outcome requirement on each job. You really need to have the ability to “see through” each project at inception. Establish a game plan and constantly keep your mind turning as you are always focused on getting the car done in the least amount of time. I could ask my detailers at any step in the detail what they had left to do to finish and they could quickly name them and give me a completition time. You also need to be able to do each task right the 1st time as redoing it a second time wastes time and ultimately profit.



Time frames depend on how your shop is set up. The most important step is the prep because if a vehicle isn’t properly prepped, it can waste valuable time trying to correct mistakes throughout the detailing phase. A full prep should ultimately take no more than 20-30 minutes to do. That includes washing the exterior, acid washing the wheels, degreasing the engine, wheel wells and door jambs, powerwashing the floormats and claying/4000 sanding the paint. Because the vehicle is being polished, you don’t need to dry it. It will totally dry while you do the Interior (30-40 minutes). Dress tires and wheel wells and do the Exterior (1-1.5 hours). Pull it outside and spend about 20-30 minutes doing your final wipedown, windows and door jambs. Done!
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Thanks for the reply. Makes perfect sense and it's roughly what I expected task/time wise. I can definitely see how it takes a few cars to actually get the process down, especially after doing the more meticulous detailing for so long. Expect a PM or two from me in the next few weeks. Thanks again.
 
Justin Murphy said:
I have sold all the waxes and polishes I had sitting around. Yeah it was fun collecting and testing and blah blah blah. It wasn't making me money! I saved up enough to buy 5 gallons of tire dressing (Stoner's Trim Shine is the best I've used), window cleaner concentrate, car wash, and a gallon of D151. I also got 5 gallons of Wheel Brightener and ZEPS Industrial Purple Degreaser and 1 gallon of APC+. Bam.....350.00 bucks and I'm set to MAKE MONEY for a long time.



You simply have to ask yourself two things....

Is the a hobby or business?

Where do I want to be in a month/year/5 years?
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you are totaly right. this is what am doing now, changing for volume work.
 
I just want everyone to know that I'm not against high end detailing by any means. I was just looking for a way to add income and not have to worry about extensive training and liability. This why I added house washing. I can send two guys to handle a house, be done in 3 hours max, and net 400.00. This has also worked well with volume detail work.
 
yeah, winter is slow for higher end details, so am getting some money from dealer details. When i would have high end clients i will work for them and send my brother who will be working for me to do dealer cars.
 
sacdetailing said:
yeah, winter is slow for higher end details, so am getting some money from dealer details. When i would have high end clients i will work for them and send my brother who will be working for me to do dealer cars.
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Perfect plan.



This is off subject but you should really look into glass cleaning. The last dealership I was at let me handle their store front windows. Took me and my partner 45 minutes and knocked out another 125.00. They now want it done every month. Find 15 of these per month and you're in good shape. Best thing is, it's easy to learn and takes 50.00 to get what you need. After that, it's just a bottle of Dawn every six months!
 
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