Detailing as a summer business...marketing, products,legality, etc?

B

BT1

New member
Hello All.

I am new to the board and have been reading through many posts over the past few days. Lots of great information here from you all! I do, however, have a few specific questions:



I am a college student starting up a mobile detailing business for the summer here in Minnesota. I have worked for a professional detailing company and am a car enthusiast as I am sure many of you are as well so I have a few cars under my belt. I have a pretty nice flyer made up with the two detail packages that I have decided to offer. The first package is basically a wash, cleaner wax, interior vacuum and wipe down, wheel/tire cleaning&dressing, window cleaning. $59 cars $69 for SUVs. The next package I have includes all this except a 2 step polish&wax, carpet&upohlstery shampoo, crevice cleaning,etc. $89 for cars and $99 for SUVs. I checked around w/ other local detail shops and set my prices lower, especially on the 2 step package. I will be doing my services either at the customer's home or business, or pick up the vehicle and drive it to my house to do the work. Now to my questions....



What advice would you give for obtaining new customers? I have been handing out flyers in mailboxes. (Not actually "in" the mailbox though) Also I have talked to people if they are out i their yard/driveway. Any tips/ideas/marketing "secrets" you can give would be great!



How do you all deal with the issue of soliciting? Where can I and can't I hand my flyers out?



I don't have enough money to purchase products such as Zaino/Klasse right now so I am sticking w/ Meguiars/Mothers/Eagle 1. What are some "must have" products that can be purchased @ Auto Stores/WalMart, etc?



What products are better for dark cars and what products are better for light cars?



What extra supplies are a good idea to have that may not immediately come to mind?



I do plan on getting insurance to protect myself in this summer business venture.



Any other advice that any of you extremely knowledgable people can offer that will help me get my small business off the ground and running smoothly would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot!!



Adam
 
Adam,



You might want to just check out Top of the Line or CMA(topoftheline.com) as they have products that, when purchased in bulk, can actually be cheaper than what you find at WalMart. Try to get a California Water Blade (Costco $12) as that will speed up the drying process. I follow up with MF towels, but you could follow up with a "fake" chamois or terry cloth as well.



Best of luck.
 
BTW, I just finished using the P21S system ... WOW! No white residue AT ALL with their carnauba. I bought the whole kit for less than $40 (Shampoo, wheel cleaner - which is unbelievable, paint cleaner/polish, carnauba, sponge, terry cloth applicator, window wipes, and a case). It would last you 10-20 cars. I've done 4 and can barely tell I've used any of the products. The paint cleaner will probably go first if used on every vehicle (which isn't necessary). The shampoo will run out second, but you don't need much to get a good bucket of suds with this stuff. You might try Zymol's wash at Costco as well, less than $7 for a gallon. That will last you the entire summer.



A good quality wax (Pinnacle, P21S) will save you lots of time as they don't have that annoying white residue. That's worth the extra $ right there. Your clients will be impressed.



BTW, I've used the P21S on a '99 Volvo S80, '99 Infiniti I30, '96 Saturn, '00 Taurus. Worked great on all of them (two are metallic and two are white).
 
AWDTurbo Sy, you may want to do some searches for "essential products" or similar, you will likely turn up lists of products which will be good for you....



also you should read all the threads in "Professional Detailing", they will give you some great tips on running a detail business.



one thing you mention particularly caught my eye, about you driving customer's vehicles to and from your home..... you should definitely be careful doing this. By driving their vehicle, you are putting yourself at the mercy of whether or not they have mechanically maintained the vehicle, and if not you risk an accident.



Thus, you should be sure to get some limited liability insurance to cover your butt in this case, or in the case that you screw someone's vehicle up. Its not that expensive, you should check with your insurance agent to find out about it.



good luck, and happy detailing to you! :xyxthumbs
 
The first package kinda seems expensive. More than I charge. I can do a cleaner wax with my basic wash package in around 1 1/2 hours on a medium sized car so I charge about $45+ for cars and $55+ trucks. I also will tell the customer the price before I begin and give a reason for it being higher or lower.
 
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