How do you run your detailing business?

How do you run your detailing business?

  • I have a full detail shop that me and my customers can meet at

    Votes: 5 7.9%

  • I detail out of my garage or house

    Votes: 32 50.8%

  • I am fully mobile and will go wherever the customer needs me to go

    Votes: 11 17.5%

  • I am mobile but I require power and water

    Votes: 7 11.1%

  • I sneek washes behind someone else's business and hope nobody sees me using their power and water...

    Votes: 8 12.7%
  • Total voters
    63
I've been working part time (weekends) out of my garage for many years. I have developed a good customer base of cars that I want to work on.
 
Out of my 2-car garage that is fully insulated, sheetrocked and has over a dozen 4' shop lights with Daylight tubes.
Licensed, insured, pay my State taxes quarterly, and almost cry everytime I have to transfer that money.. :)
Have a great neighborhood with lots of very nice high end vehicles, and a super connection with an awesome Indy BMW shop that refers me their Clients all year long.
Would love to have a Shop but land here is so expensive, the only thing you can do is go Down to make more space, as in underground parking garages, etc...
Dan F
 
I detail full time out of my garage, and offer very limited mobile jobs. there are pros and cons to the way i do it.

Pros, working from home:
Little to no overhead (rent, power etc)
Can easily make lunch at home to save money
No commute (saves on gas money)
Don't need to carry as much insurance since people other than me aren't in the "shop"
Can do household chores in my downtime or between custoemrs

Cons:
I don't want random people dropping by my home, so i can't list an address online
I don't want people who aren't friends of friends dropping off at my house, so sometimes I have to go pick up vehicles (this takes extra time)
Had to jump through hoops with the HOA to make it legit.

All in all, I love working out of my home, since I can make a bigger profit on fewer jobs. There are a few things to work around, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not too bad.
 
I have 2 shops one that I have a small army of employees that help at(Orinda) we do a higher volume there, I'm the only one who does any heavy correction, and I have one guy I've trained that can do some light polishing. Rest of the guys there pretty much just wash cars and do interior details. Then I have a space I lease from Walnut Creek Customs that is called (Dark Side Detail) and I do a bunch of higher end stuff there and almost never have help with any of it. Also where I do all my PPF installs, vehicle wraps, stereo installs, and tinting. My Dark Side Card says "Vehicle Appearence Specialist" As i do way more than just detail there. I will say in Cali they do not make it easy on you to run out of a shop I always think about how much money I would save if I just went mobile. Kinda goes both way I guess.
 
Jsmooth said:
I have 2 shops one that I have a small army of employees that help at(Orinda) we do a higher volume there, I'm the only one who does any heavy correction, and I have one guy I've trained that can do some light polishing. Rest of the guys there pretty much just wash cars and do interior details. Then I have a space I lease from Walnut Creek Customs that is called (Dark Side Detail) and I do a bunch of higher end stuff there and almost never have help with any of it. Also where I do all my PPF installs, vehicle wraps, stereo installs, and tinting. My Dark Side Card says "Vehicle Appearence Specialist" As i do way more than just detail there. I will say in Cali they do not make it easy on you to run out of a shop I always think about how much money I would save if I just went mobile. Kinda goes both way I guess.
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This is truly the way to do it. I've turned away more volume work than I made. Can't keep up with the high end. Restoration has me buried. I need a split space or two and 4 people (just for detailing). Sometimes being experienced in all aspects is too much for the plate for one person. I'm just hesitant to hire unless I can guarantee long term employment and good pay/benefits.
 
Jsmooth said:
I have 2 shops one that I have a small army of employees that help at(Orinda) we do a higher volume there, I'm the only one who does any heavy correction, and I have one guy I've trained that can do some light polishing. Rest of the guys there pretty much just wash cars and do interior details. Then I have a space I lease from Walnut Creek Customs that is called (Dark Side Detail) and I do a bunch of higher end stuff there and almost never have help with any of it. Also where I do all my PPF installs, vehicle wraps, stereo installs, and tinting. My Dark Side Card says "Vehicle Appearence Specialist" As i do way more than just detail there. I will say in Cali they do not make it easy on you to run out of a shop I always think about how much money I would save if I just went mobile. Kinda goes both way I guess.
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You are one talented person Jsmooth!:inspector: Or at least you sound like it!:D
 
Im mobile and sometimes work from home on rare occasions.

I like being mobile because it gets me out and usually to pretty nice neighborhoods better then my own that are pleasant to work in.

I like working from home too but find I get too distracted with phone calls and home "things".

Being mobile is a little hard because you have to adapt to everchanging situations and environments . Sometimes people have really steep or dirt driveways or kids may be playing too close by or space can be really limited .But you learn to make it work .

You also have to figure out what to do when a bathroom is not available!
 
ca.detailchick said:
Im mobile and sometimes work from home on rare occasions.

I like being mobile because it gets me out and usually to pretty nice neighborhoods better then my own that are pleasant to work in.

I like working from home too but find I get too distracted with phone calls and home "things".

Being mobile is a little hard because you have to adapt to everchanging situations and environments . Sometimes people have really steep or dirt driveways or kids may be playing too close by or space can be really limited .But you learn to make it work .

You also have to figure out what to do when a bathroom is not available!
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I agree ^

I like being able to show the customer the progress being made as the day goes along :inspector: It also makes it easier for me to hit them like a hammer with my hourly rate :rockon
 
I agree with detailChick, I love being mobile, being able to go anywhere to get a job done. But it's like a double edged sword, you have to deal with rain, extreme heat, icey cold, people kicking you off their property, cops, guns, knives, I mean it's endless. But when you can successfully get a job done and the customer is happy, you're happy, the car looks amazing, that's what keeps you going...
 
Addicted2Bling said:
I agree with detailChick, I love being mobile, being able to go anywhere to get a job done. But it's like a double edged sword, you have to deal with rain, extreme heat, icey cold, people kicking you off their property, cops, guns, knives, I mean it's endless. But when you can successfully get a job done and the customer is happy, you're happy, the car looks amazing, that's what keeps you going...
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With the crew you described in an older thread I'd just ride around and watch.:D
 
Essentially, I'm mobile but require water and electric. I've managed to foster some good relations with several key clients, so I have 3 shops I use in my region (no cost), and I've used my parent's garage on a few occasions (my apartment doesn't even have space for me to detail my own car). This works well as I can work out of these "hubs" over my region, which is roughly 125 miles. I cover the outlying Madison area, all the way out to Milwaukee, and on several occasions down to the north side of Chicago. Fortunately I have family/friends all over so I never have to pay for a hotel!
 
Addicted2Bling said:
I agree with detailChick, I love being mobile, being able to go anywhere to get a job done. But it's like a double edged sword, you have to deal with rain, extreme heat, icey cold, people kicking you off their property, cops, guns, knives, I mean it's endless. But when you can successfully get a job done and the customer is happy, you're happy, the car looks amazing, that's what keeps you going...
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:lol2:



Stop working in parking lots. Get rid of your 'rig' ;)
 
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