How did you get your start in detailing as a career?

B

brownbob06

New member
I have a bit of a problem....or dilemma should I say?



I currently do general construction for a company here in NW Ohio. The company consists of literally me and the owner. The owner has a kid on the way and was applying at a factory here in town. He won't start there until August IF he gets in. While waiting for this company to call he was offered a job a GM (where he applied to literally 8 years ago.) He took the job but is not sure if he wants to stay there or if he is quitting soon. I got one week's notice (that's all they gave him) that he was starting there. He works 3rds so he wants to do construction during the day (part time basically) and have his brother work with me the rest of the day. His brother has told him time and time again that he does not want to do construction....



As you can guess this leaves me in quite a strange situation....I started detailing cars for family members and friends. I do a very good job and have a good eye for detail. Word spreads fast around here and I now have enough jobs to the point where just doing it on the weekends will not only eat up my whole weekend every weekend, but will be very inconvenient to customers because I have to schedule so far in advance (I'm sure you business owners know people want things done NOW! lol)



I would really like to start detailing cars full time but I know I need a little more experience under my belt with foreign cars before I make that leap. (I live in a small town in Ohio so it's big on chevys....a VAST majority of the cars I've done are GM cars.)



After writing this long post I'm not really sure what I want to ask lol....



How did you guys start out? When did you know "it was time?" In your opinion, would it be a good idea to talk to my boss about working part time and doing detailing a couple days of the week? His summer help also recently asked him if he'd need help this summer (home from college) so it's not like I'd be screwing him over and leaving him on his own.



Getting a detailing job isn't much of an option here either as the jobs I have found want you to work for minimum wage and that really isn't an option for me. Or they're dealerships that want things done quick...I won't lower my quality of work or standards for them.
 
I started out by going to cruise nights, car shows, going to where the nicer neighbor hoods are and actually knocking on doors and talking to the client, Craigslist, local car clubs the list goes on. Many wouldn't agree with a couple of my choices but, in towns that aren't very big or have terrible climates and the general popular could give 2 sh&ts about their cars you have to go to the extremes.



You'll know when your ready when, clients keep coming back, bringing referrals and, you feel that your stable enough for year round.



Last but not least make a website or at least a portfolio showing varies types of services you offer.
 
It really does take time and doing high end work can be inconsistent. Buffauto makes a great point about year round. The weather can basically shut you down for the winter, so going full time and relying on it for income is a huge leap of faith. I still don't rely on it and it is a balance that is hard to manage. As you do some volume you will also find that you need to spend a fair amount of money on tools and materials in order to be efficient.
 
I've worked construction and poured concrete up here pretty much since high school so I'm used to "layoff season" lol. I'm aware that I'll have to find something in the winter to make ends meet or lease a shop to work out of.



I don't want to get ahead of myself but my current job situation is unstable at best. Kind of feeling like I'm at a point where I take the chance or I wonder what could've been if you understand what I'm saying.



Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it!
 
I guess my first question would be, have you considered starting your own CONSTRUCTION company? It seems like this would offer more stability, maybe not, I'm not familiar with your area.



If you're good, you'll be busy. Once you're busy, then comes the challenge of being able to do multiple cars in a day. This is where technique/equipment comes in. I started cleaning interior carpet with a Bissell little green machine. You couldn't pay me to go back to using that thing. No way.



If you're going to do this, then get the right equipment and do it. Doing it on weekends for family/friends is one thing. Getting 4-5 cars knocked out in a day with you and another guy is where the money is.
 
Success Rate



According to a recent detailing forum poll, most detailer’s are self-taught, along with websites like YouTube and various detailing forums it seems an easy entry-level business. Unlike other trades there are no formal educational or vocational education requirements nor is there a requirement for professional licensure



This can be a tough business to get started in and build that all important customer base. Once established it provides an almost an instant return on your investment and a fast way to generate income.



However, it is vitally important to get it started right and to learn how to run a business as well as the technical aspects of detailing; my best advice is to obtain as much knowledge and professional training as you can, this can be obtained via seminars and by reading Internet detailing forums



If you get started with the proper training and education your chances of success are greatly increased. There is a lot more to getting started in the auto detailing business then knowing how to use the equipment, using chemicals and getting a car detailed. Just like any business there are financial considerations, books to keep, contacts to be generated, Insurances and permits along with sales and marketing concepts to be put into place in order to grow your new business venture.



Many people seem to think that being a professional detailer must be the coolest job ever, and in some ways it is. Working on both everyday driver vehicles and amazing exotic cars day in day out and doing something you love to do for a living is pretty awesome, but there is also a harsh reality to being a detailer that you should be clear about from the very beginning.



A large % of the people attempting to open a detailing business fail; as too many focus solely on the technical side of the business but never learn how to run a business properly.
 
I'm with Davinci. Do your own thing with construction, and you can also offer detailing to your construction clients! ;)
 
brownbob06 said:
As you can guess this leaves me in quite a strange situation....I started detailing cars for family members and friends. I do a very good job and have a good eye for detail. Word spreads fast around here and I now have enough jobs to the point where just doing it on the weekends will not only eat up my whole weekend every weekend, but will be very inconvenient to customers because I have to schedule so far in advance (I'm sure you business owners know people want things done NOW! lol)
Click to expand...



It sounds like you are building the volume to go full time but are you generating the cash flow to go full time? Doesn't matter how many cars a week you will be detailing if you are not making enough to pay yourself similar to what you made at the construction job plus benefits and withholdings.



How much are you making in a weekend full of work? You say detailing is taking up your full weekend so that is making me think you spend about 24 hours (two 12 hour days?) per weekend. How much are you getting paid for that full weekend? If you are only making $500 or less, you probably are not making enough to pay for supplies, liability insurance, etc., etc. and have enough left over for you to make a living.



One poster on here said the first thing he had to do to transform from weekend warrior to full time detailer was raise his prices. He realized his old rates simply would not have supported him. You may need to start testing the waters with higher prices and see how business load reacts.
 
Thanks guys, lots of good info from this post!



As far as becoming a general contractor myself, I'm not really very good at it. I'm decent at concrete, but that takes A LOT more to get into than detailing. Competition is fierce as everybody and their brother up here is a general contractor. Being undercut by guys who do it as a side job is really hurting the full time guys too.



I also don't like it enough to make a career out of it to be honest.



First thing that would have to happen, I believe, as Bert said, is prices would have to come up. And speed would definitely have to increase as well.



I'm probably going to keep detailing as I have been, work some for my uncle doing concrete part time and try to build up clientele.



I'd really like for this to work out... As the saying goes, find something you love to do and find somebody to pay you for it. This way you'll never work another day in your life :D
 
I got into detailing full time after being laid off a few times and then not being able to find a job to save me life, all the IT work went overseas. I already knew how to work on paint from my days of painting and buffing cars out of my parent's garage. I did tons of research and refined my skills after finding all the great info on this and other forums. I jumped into it with the bare essentials (not even), no working capital and no customer base. If I wasn't out of work and was able to find a decent job, I would not have done this without some decent start up funds. It's definitely been challenging but also very rewarding as I build more and more of a customer base and grow the business. I started mobile and then found a shop I could afford and don't plan on looking back anytime soon. If I didn't have the passion for cars that I do I prob wouldn't have made it as far as I have without the working capital, but when you have such a passion, nothing can stop you. I still don't cut myself a salary but take just enough to pay bills that my wife's income can't cover. Every penny I make still goes back into the business and probably will for another year at least. If you have the capital to get started I say go for it, but be very careful in planning if you are starting on a shoestring like I did. Make sure you can afford not to pay yourself for a while if the cash flow isn't quite there, it takes alot of time and effort to build a customer base in this business, in this economy. Good luck with everything.
 
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