Expanded Too Quick!!

L

livinlowkey

New member
Although I have only been in business for a little over a month I already have 18 customers on a 1 year contract for a $30 maintenance package every 2 weeks, but I ended up tryin to get a contract with the police department in my area for 15 police cruisers at $80 per car (instead of the usual $120) also he talked to the officer that is in charge od their maintenance department and he gave me the contract for 30 vehicles at $80 per and 10 at $90 per. Although its only twice a year I get to detail all of these vehicles I make around $9000 just from them. But they gave me the run around and werent getting back to me for almost a month so I gave up on the contracts. Then they called me yesterday and told me I had gotten the contracts and the prices I had requested. But I already had done a mailing to a luxury neighborhood association and offered my services exclusively to them offering anyone in the neighborhood a group discount if I got atleast 50 residents who were interested. Needless to say I got 72 twice a month at $25per job. The reason I did this mailing is because all my repeat customers are from this neighborhood, and all the residents have atleast one horse trailer and 2 trucks. I have one employee but I need to expand and I am in way over my head I am think I have it figured out but Im open for suggestions. Anyone has any suggestions PLEASE email me Dirtydeedsdetailing@hotmail.com. I will respond. Thanks
 
Yikes! Sounds like you have a great need for professional detailing and I am happy for you! Where are you located? Maybe an autopian in your area would be willing to help out or something. Good luck to you!
 
I had no intentions of expanding my first year in business nor did I expect it to turn out like this. On one hand I am greatful I am doing so well but on the other I have no business background or college courses. Only online direct sales and network marketing. I have very creative marketing and promotional ideas and a unique perspective on marketing. So far they have done almost too well, and I feel as though I am in danger of cutting my own throat. Please give me honest opinions and ask any questions you would like. Also if there are any professional detailers in Ocala Florida or Gainesville please conatct me I may have a proposition for you. Only professionals please!
 
My quick numbers show you spending your regular week doing those maintenance washes with your helper, as long as they are all close to each other. Then every Saturday you need to do one $90 police vehicle or 2 $80 ones (I presume that's a size difference). Unless I added something up wrong, it totals about $60-65K/year, which hopefully leaves you enough to live on after you pay your helper, insurance, and expenses.
 
Actually my helper works for lunch.. As stupid as that sounds, my father works for me. He is medically disabled do to seizures so he can only work the morning with me. The only reason he does it is because all he has been doing in the past 7 years is sit at the house. So I will be needing atleast 2 fulltime people so that I dont over work anyone. As far as the price difference it does vary do to size. There are a few suburbans, 1 hummer and I believe he told me 2 minivans and a couple explorers ( I think)



So needless to say I will be keeping most of the money. I use chemical guys and can get like $2500-2800 worth of work from $400 worth or product so I dont have many expenses
 
Well, I don't know what your maintenance plan includes, but I was figuring you and a helper could wash 1 car an hour, if they are all in that same condo neighborhood, maybe that is a low estimate.
 
livinlowkey said:
I have no business background or college courses. Only online direct sales and network marketing. I have very creative marketing and promotional ideas and a unique perspective on marketing. So far they have done almost too well, and I feel as though I am in danger of cutting my own throat.
Click to expand...



The solution to your problem lies within the problem.



You need to find out more about what it takes to operate a successful business. The best way to do that is to consider taking some small business courses at a nearby college. You could also contact the Small Business Administration office in your area. Until you do some of these things I would not recommend that you sign anymore contracts.
 
here is a little break down for you



you have to wash 90 cars every two weeks all year long....thats 6-7 cars a day everyday, no day off!

you have to detail 40 cars in 6 months time - thats 6-7 per month



what I would try and do is get 10 washes out of the way per 4-5 days detail one of the next days, two if possible, and take the last day off!!!



set up a little map so you can group all the cars together and get as many done in one area as possible and cut down on your driving time....save the windows for last! hahaha....



pay someone 8 bucks an hour to come wash cars with you to get them done in a timely manner - should take about 20-30 minutes per car with two people max...so say you get 10 cars in a day, thats about 5 hours of your time and his/her....you made 250 dollars for the day, but give your helper 40...not bad for 5 hours of work....thats still 40 bucks an hour....have him jump on the inside, and you work on the outside to make things go fast as possible while drying the car....on the detail days, go at it alone and save the labor rate....



seems like you are trying to figure out a way to get it all done like you said you could....since you have your dad for free labor, add one more guy to your crew and get even more cars done in one day....3 guys on one car should lead to 15 minute washes! thats 4 cars an hour roughly! so say 3 to be on the safe side...so 3 cars an hour for 3 hours, then your dad leaves, then its just the two of you doing 2 cars an hour....its possible for you to accomplish the task at hand with an extra set of hand all the time....good luck....



also, what is in your maintanence plan???? spray wax??? and are people paying 25 for the whole month, or is it each time you come out?
 
Do everything you can to speed up the process on the washes. If you can get a good deionized water setup on your truck, you can rinse and walk away without having to dry. Using a foamgun will speed up your washing a bit too.

Also consider personnel costs and finding people you can train - someone who is an established pro detailer is not going to work for 10.00 an hour, but if you can find motivated college/high school students, etc, and train them, you can get good work dirt cheap.

Finally, for interiors, buy a good extractor. It's a real time saver, I really wish I had bought one last detailing season.



My plan would be to try to get the areas where your doing washes in daily "routes", so that you do clusters of cars that are nearby together. This worked out really well when I used to do lawn work. Soap the car up with the foamgun, hit the rims with a good rim cleaner (I'd highly reccomend spending the extra cash for Poorboy's S+R, chemical guys blue rum cleaner sucks on heavy dust), pressure wash off with DI water, pay attention to the cracks etc, then apply tire shine, wheel well dressing, pack up and leave. You should be able to wash in around 25 minutes, add another 15 or so if you want to vaccuum the interior, etc. Having two vacuums could be a real time saver here, as you could do the drivers side and your helper could do the passenger side, etc. Figuring in driving time and all, you should be able to do 45 cars monday-friday working from say 8am to 5pm.



With a helper, you could definetly knock out three details for the cops on friday, once again its a matter of getting a good process down. Wash, spray with DI, vacuum out the interior, extract the seats, spray the interior down with protectant, spot polish scratches , etc with a rotary/compound, then do the entire car with a rotary/green pad/Optimum polish or equivalent, remove it with Optimum Spray Wax. If he does interiors and you do exteriors, you should be able to do a solid job in 3 hours or less per car.



It's all going to come down to how efficient you can be. If you can get good help, and a good process down, there's even room to expand. Making an investment in the right equipment is HUGE too, I learned that one the hard way. With the kind of business you'd be looking at, I wouldn't think twice about getting a 15' enclosed trailer and dropping 8-10k into it.
 
livinlowkey said:
So needless to say I will be keeping most of the money. I use chemical guys and can get like $2500-2800 worth of work from $400 worth or product so I dont have many expenses
Click to expand...



Based on your numbers, it sounds like you are making 7 times each dollar spent on supplies. (2800 divided by 400 = 7)



For example; on average it takes about 2 to 4 ounces of product to polish and wax a car. At $16 per 16 oz container, that works out to $2 to $4 per car. Add in a few other products and you are up to about $8 to $10 per car to do a complete detailing.



On the low end, figure a complete detailing pays between $150 to $200. That works out to 15 to 20 times each dollar spent on supplies.



Are you sure you are only getting $2500-2800 worth of work from $400?
 
Frank, I'll jump in before livinlowkey answers...he said he is only getting $80-90 per detail and $25-30 for a "maintenance", so I think that explains the difference. Just a quick question about your numbers, though...$16 per 16 oz. container? I would think a pro would at least be using something like Meg's 80 series which comes in 32 oz. bottles for $15-20, and is even more economical in gallon sizes. I doubt that most of the pro detailers here, even using high end name brand products, spend $8-10 on materials per detail--anyone care to comment?
 
Ok thanks for all the help guys..



Just so that everyone knows I have been looking into taking night classes for business, but its always nice to have an extra opinion or two. Thanks again for everything.
 
Can you break down how many cars you do a week and exactly what you do to them? It might make it easier for us to see if there is a way to arrange your week so you aren't so stressed. It also sounds like your prices are too low. What part of the country are you in? If you are going to bust your hump, you should get paid for it.



It also sounds like you are either overspending or wasting a lot of product. I can't remember a month where I have spent anywhere close to what you are spending and I am taking in significantly more than you per month.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Frank, Just a quick question about your numbers, though...$16 per 16 oz. container? I would think a pro would at least be using something like Meg's 80 series which comes in 32 oz. bottles for $15-20, and is even more economical in gallon sizes. I doubt that most of the pro detailers here, even using high end name brand products, spend $8-10 on materials per detail--anyone care to comment?
Click to expand...



Mike,



Actually, your numbers are more in line with what most pro's spend and use, including myself. I was just trying to use an example of prices that most people could easily understand. I wanted to try to keep the numbers as simple as I could.



And you are also right about the $8-10 on materials per detail. At pro buying prices in gallon sizes it would be more like $4-5 per car. And for detailings that pay between $150 to $200, that would work out to more like 30 to 40 times each dollar spent on supplies.



Any way you look at it, you should be able to get a lot more than $2500-2800 for $400 worth of product.
 
I agree that I use too much product per car. I dont do it so much any more but when I first started using CG products I wasnt quite sure if I used as little of their product as I was when I used all Pinnacle if it would be as effective.

As far as detailing goes I do approximately 32-38 cars a week.(only in the one upscale neighborhood) I give that neighborhood a group rate of $25 per car/visit. I go to each house every 2 weeks. I also do about 5-10 other repeat customers around my area and a few complete details here and there on the weekends only. I have been working 7 days a week to make up for my previously blotchy schedule and to get my name out there. The 32-38 jobs I do and my other repeat customers arent large time consuming jobs they take about 45 minutes to an hour for each with both of us working. I can do the same times if I work by myself so it doesnt matter if I work alone. It is possible for me to do 10-12 per day if I work myself to the bone, but only if they are in the same neighborhood or general area. I dont have much drive time to cut back on cause most of my business is within 2 mile of each other.

My prices go as follows $30 for a wash/dry dress wheels, dress exterior trim, windows inside/out, vacuum interior and wipe off dash, doors, door jams and spray air freshener. I charge $25 for anyone who has me come back every week or every two weeks. If you think I should add anything on that or charge more let me know. My 2 other packages are about the same except I offer air purging the interior, and a 3 or 6 month wax or sealant, leather conditioning and MY SIGNATURE, DIRTY DEEDS DETAILING BAR OF SOAP. I know it may sound stupid but I get remembered, every time. On the packages with a 6 month wax/sealant I also offer a 48 hour rain guarantee. I will come back and give it a quick detail on the exterior if they call back and request it. I live in Ocala Florida so I feel its one of those things that makes me standout from other detailers. I mean at the worst I will have to do 2 quick details on top of my daily routine. So I dont think its hurting me any. The other thing I do is go over the car and give a complete description of the damage on it as well as a price quote in writting and a signature of the customers satisfaction of my work and that he agrees it is completed. I try to do the little things that the other guy wont do. Thats what makes the difference between a great job and perfection.
 
How are you scheduling those 32-38 cars a week? Are you able to work in one area all day? If not, see if you can move some of your schedule around to minimize travel time. My brother has a lawn service and even though his area is pretty small, with 140 yards a week, he sets them up so he can do 5-10 without having to move his truck.



You might want to consider offering a discount on next service vs a quickie re-do if it rains. Even just two per day probably eats up an hour of time.



If you can handle it time-wise, make sure you are upselling polish/wax jobs so you make more per ticket.
 
I do most of my jobs in the same neighborhood. Only about 2 miles apart at max. So I can do 3 complete details a day as long as they are not too bad, or like 8-10 basic wash and vacuums.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top